Happy Birthday Stetson Boy!

His birthday was actually yesterday but things were too crazy to get the post in sorry Stetson. I can't believe my little Stetson Boy (he used to think his middle name was "boy") is 7 years old. My how time flies by. What can I say about Stetson. He is the light of my life, the joy in my day, and the sweetest most caring little boy I know. He tells me at least once a day out of the blue, "love ya mom." He always makes me smile. Thanks Stetson for being such a funny, imaginative, sweet boy. I will always love you forever!

Okay, enough of the mushy stuff let's get to the good stuff, the celebration! Boy, oh boy, did we celebrate. First of all Stetson told me he wanted a castle cake with knights, (he has been enthralled with knights since he was 2 years old,) I said "no problem" ta da I made this way cool cake!

He wouldn't let us cut it up, so we ate some leftover cake pieces I had saved, and the cake is still in my fridge. We are going to have to break down and cut it up today. Yummy!

Then he opened presents. He got a bunch of Star Wars figures to play with and a huge set of Legos.

Then we went to the Excalibur in Las Vegas. We have gone to the dinner show "Tournament of Kings" every year for his birthday for the last 3 years. Before dinner started the announcer wished him a Happy Birthday, everyone cheered for him, he couldn't figure out how they would know it was his b-day, aaah ya gotta love how naive kids are. We absolutely love this show! Tickets include dinner, (a whole roasted chicken) you eat with your hands, cheer for your country's knight , pound on the tables, and yell "Ha Zah". It is such a fun time, I would highly recommend it. We took the whole family and even Maverick was entranced by all the jousting, realistic fighting (with real weapons), pyrotechnics and non stop action! It is so worth every penny to see Stetson in heaven, watching, and cheering his heart out for "our knight" to win! It is one of the few family shows left in Vegas.

Kennedi, Stetson, Keaton (Stetson's friend), Tyra, and some oriental kid that made me sooo made he got in the middle of my picture.

Our country was France. Our knight was flirting and waving at Tyra all night. He came out after it was over and let us get a picture with him. This little kid popped his head in right as I was taking the picture, i was so mad, can you tell I am having some unresolved anger issues against this poor little kid. Oh, well just let it go Jody, just let it go.

After the show we played a few carnival type games. The kids were so excited they could pop these balloons with the darts and win super cool swords for the boys and flowers for the girls. This was by far the best booth for the money.

After we had spent all of our money on the carnival game, Maverick and Justin entertained us in the gift shop. Maverick was so funny, he wouldn't take off this Viking helmet~ we had to get it for him, he thought he was so cool and tough in it. Although he got sick of it and I ended up lacking a hand to hold it and wore it all night, ha, ha, ha!

There must me something about Tyra that already gets the boys to swoon, maybe it's her cute little voice or big blue eyes. She really won a tiny monkey on this game and the worker upgraded it to this giant monkey! She was so happy and excited, she couldn't believe it! So much fun! It was truly a night to remember! Thanks Justin for taking us all, you are the best!

Trip to Zion National Park......

Last weekend we went to Zion and did a little hiking. It was absolutely breath taking. The park is so pristine and grand, truly amazing. We have vowed to take advantage of living so closed to a park that bring people from all over the world to see it's beauty. We heard less English spoken than any other language, their were people at the park from literally all over the world, and it is right in our back yard! We plan to go more often. Justin and I want to hike the narrows in the next week or two, if anyone interested in coming with we would love it! Let us know. "The Iron Rod"

The kids had a great time. We hiked to the middle Emerald Pool, which is about a mile and a half round trip. This picture is at the lower pool. I was amazed at how well Maverick did. He walked the entire way and wouldn't even let us touch him, he climbed on his hands and knees up the steeper rocks and stairs, he is so independent and stubborn, but kept right up with the other kids.

Middle Emerald Pool

In the little stream we stepped over Kennedi found these sunglasses and right before her Steston found a pair, then Tyra said "Mom I want to get a pair" like she thought they were fish that grew in the steam or something. It was pretty funny.


This was a common sight to see on out hike. Maverick finally figured out that on the Camel backs you have to bite and suck at the same time.

Buddies!

Homemade Bread.....

With the cost of bread going up (around $4.00 a loaf for the good stuff), I decided to try my hand at homemade. I have NEVER made bread or even attempted it before. I already had a nice wheat grinder I had never used, and tons of wheat. Cami gave me a little lesson, and away I went. I make a double batch (12 loaves) and freeze it. I figure it costs about .50 cents a loaf to make it is so yummy, and is much healthier then store bought bread. I am so proud of myself! I still can't believe I can bake bread, it always seemed so hard! Thanks Cami for all the help and the great recipe. I'll post the recipe below for any who are interested.

Whole Wheat Bread

6 cups warm water
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey
14 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons wheat gluten
2 tablespoons dough enhancer
2 tablespoons self-rising yeast
2 tablespoons salt

Directions
In the Bosch mixing bowl (can be done by hand, but won't be as fluffy) add warm water, 110-120 degrees, oil, and honey. Don't mix. Then add 8 cups of milled wheat flour--don't mix. On top of the flour add bread dough enhancer (buy at Macey's or Allisons's Pantry), gluten, and yeast. Mix on speed 1 until smooth. Let stand for 10 minutes. Next on speed 1 add the salt and the rest of the flour. If the dough is too sticky, add 1/2 cup flour. Set the timer for 10 minutes on speed 2. With Pam on your hands--form dough into 6 loaves. Spray bread pans with Pam and place dough in each pan. Allow the dough to rise 30 minutes. Place bread pans into a cool oven, then turn on the oven to bake loaves @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information per slice
Calories 111
Total Fat 2.6
Saturated Fat .2
Carbohydrate 20
Dietary Fiber 3
Protein 4

Cove Fort Days.....

I don't know how many times we have driven past the Cove Fort exit and said to ourselves we should stop there one of these days. We finally did on our last trip up to American Fork. They were having their annual celebration days. It was well worth the stop and a good break for the kids. The Fort is of historical significance to the church not because there was ever a battle here, but because it was used as relief for pioneers traveling to the St. George Temple. Many made the journey to get married in the temple, hence the nickname "honeymoon trail" was given to the stretch of road between Salt Lake and St. George. President Hinkley's grandparents ran the Fort. They lived there and would offer hot meals, soft beds, and what ever they could to help refresh the weary travelers for the rest of their journey. They always had an amazing garden, and sister Hinkley was always cooking and baking for the travelers. Today there are probably 20 missionary couples that live on the grounds, garden, and give tours of the Fort. There was a very calm, peaceful feeling on the grounds of the fort. It was beautiful. This is the entry to the Fort. They are the original doors, and stone. The stonework was truly beautiful. It is set up in a square with a courtyard in the middle. All of the living quarters make up the perimeter of the square.

The kids got to sit in a covered wagon.We got a ride in the Wells Fargo Stage Coach, which was so cool. It sits on leather straps to absorb the jarring from the bumps, olden time shocks.

They also got to ride in a covered wagon.

There were all kinds of neat pioneer games and activities. Here Kennedi is using a loom to make a rug made out of the fabric scraps. The pioneers made such beautiful handy work, it was amazing to see how they did a lot of it.

Stetson had a go at it too.

This ox was so huge. It was neat to see the old wooden yoke on him too. There is a beautiful barn on the property (sorry I didn't get a picture) that the church rebuilt to the exact dimensions, and specifications, and without any nails~they used wood pegs. It was amazing! We had a wonderful time at the Fort. I am so glad we finally stopped to learn a little more about the pioneers.

Denton Family Reunion.....

The Denton's (Justin's Moms Family) had their annual reunion in Sterling, Ut. this weekend. We had so much fun! They had all kinds of activities and entertainment for the kids. It was a regular carnival. Justin's aunt Mary was in charge and did an amazing job! It was so fun seeing all of his cousins that was haven't seen for a long time. While the adults were busy talking and catching up the kids were busy with this....... A fishing pond,Blow up slides and basketball hoops.

(Markell, Kennedi, Camri, and Stetson)

"Willie" the clown came and did a magic show and balloon hats. He was a cute little old man that was pretty funny.


Colt (Justin's cousin, watch for him playing football for University of Utah this year!) was such a good sport to help out "Willie"!

Tyra got to help with a magic trick too!

Camri, Kennedi and Markell

The kids had a blast hanging out with their cousins!

Saturday morning we met for a delicious breakfast at the park and then went to Palisades and played in the paddle boats, canoes and rafts! Doug and Cozette (Justin's parents) went out on the paddle boat and got caught out on the water in a wind storm! What a fun adventure. I went out with all the little kids too. They are so fun!

Junstin went out in the canoe with his cousin, Clay to try their luck at fishing. I can't believe they didn't tip over. They were teetering back and forth until Clay finally told Justin to quit paddling. Clay paddled out and back all by himself. No luck with the fishing, but were just glad they made it back without tipping over! It was a super fun reunion and my thanks go out to all that helped with the planning and organizing. It was great! Can't wait until next year.

Kennedi's Slumber Party.....

For Kennedi's birthday party I let her have a slumber party. What was I thinking? I let her invite as many girls as she wanted, thinking that it's summer and they won't all be able to come. All but one girl came. We had 11 crazy, loud, hyper,fun little 9 year olds sleep over! It was kind of crazy but they all had so much fun. I figure it's a one time thing, for Kennedi, I have the best memories of my one slumber party I hosted and I wanted her to create her own memories. So here is a peek at the the big party! This is the crew.
First we tied fabric on flip flops to make their own funky look! (the stuffed dog in the middle was a gift they wanted in the picture)

we made hair ties to match...

Oh yeah baby, we even did the chocolate fondue fountain. It was a huge mess. The girls had chocolate all over but it was so good. We dipped strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, pretzels, and peanut butter cookies. YUM!

Justin got up and cooked a gourmet breakfast for them complete with pancakes, bacon and eggs. Holy Cow can these girls eat! We cooked two pounds of bacon and they ate every last bit.

They had a blast! We played games (Apples to Apples was their favorite), watched movies, ate junk food, laughed, did some sleeping, and had a great time!

Congratulations Kennedi & Stetson!!!

We had our Summer League Championship swim meet this weekend in St. George. Eight teams were there from Southern Utah, and surrounding areas. In some events they were swimming against 15-20 kids. I think my kids are part fish or something. They did so great! Kennedi ended the season undefeated and took first in every event she competed in! Butterfly is her strongest stroke and dominated the event. The next closes swimmer was about 4 or 5 sec. behind Kennedi. Stetson did great too. He was swimming against 8 year olds and still took second in freestyle, second in backstroke, and third in I.M.! I was so proud of them. It is so fun watching my kids excel and compete in athletics! I love it! We are the crazy parents in the stands cheering the loudest for our kids, (Grandma Muggsy comes to mind)! Way to go kids!

Kennedi's times:

25 meter freestyle~20.16

25 meter butterfly~22.15

100 meter IM~ 1:51.39

Stetson's times:

25 meter freestyle~29.64

100 meter IM~ 2:28.04

25 meter backstroke~29.80

Kennedi

Stetson

(starting backstroke in the IM)

Happy Birthday Kennedi Jo!

It's hard to believe I have a 9 year old. Wow, where does the time go? Kennedi has truly grown into such a beautiful young lady! Some words I would use to describe her are, smart, talented, driven, competitive, athletic, social butterfly, happy, leader, creative, fun, witty, and I could go on and on. Our family has been so blessed to have Kennedi be a part of it. I love her so much. I love just hanging out with her, and talking with her about life! Happy Birthday Kennedi! We love you. This was Kennedi's birth announcement!
4 weeks old

7 mo.

9 mo.

1 year! What a mess. I love this picture because it shows her "flaming" red hair, (no pun intended) It really looks like flames, so funny.

4 years

8 years!