Summer adventures

My cute niece Makenzie just graduated from High School. She decided that for her senior trip she wanted to come and spend a week in Price with Scott and me. I reminded her of what Price consisted of, and she still decided to come here. I was worried about what I was going to do to make this trip special, because really, you only get one senior trip. Unfortunately I could only take limited time off of work so she got to spend a lot of down time by herself but we tried to find some fun activities to make the trip memorable.

The day after she got here, we went to Scofield Resevoir where they were having "Pleasant Valley Days." Every town in central Utah, at some point in the summer, has an event like this with booths and good (greasy) food, entertainment and lots of other activities that brings everyone together. Being up in the mountains I anticipated the weather to be a little cooler. Boy was I wrong. We lasted for about an hour and a half before we were both miserable. We did stay to watch the "Rubby Ducky Derby" that they have each year. People can sponsor a rubber ducky, by paying $5, and win a price, if they come in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or last. The proceeds are donated to a local charity. I bought one and we watched the race. People line up on the banks of the river to see if their ducky wins a prize. It's a fun tradition for the community. Here we are waiting ever so patiently.
And here they finally came!
On the 4th we didn't have much to do during the day so we took a drive up to Joe's Valley Reservoir. We had never been up there but had heard good things. The weather didn't hold out long enough for us to do much, but it was a pretty drive and an every prettier reservoir. It makes me want a boat.
Playin' on the unstable dock.
The following weekend, my parents came down with Nick and Sydney (Kenzie's brother and sister). The kids had never been to Price in the 3 years that we had lived here and were excited to come down and see what it was all about.

My mom, Kenzie, Nick, Sydney and I went to the USU-CEU Dinosaur Museum. I am embarrassed to say that I had never been there before. I was pretty impressed by the artifacts that they have. They even have an alligator, and we happened to be there during feeding time. Watching an alligator eat live mice is pretty disturbing.

They had some fun activities for kids, including fossil brushing.
We had a great opportunity to take some fun pictures.
The next morning, Kenzie, Nick, Scott, my dad and I left my house at 5:30 and headed for Arches National Park, where we made the hike to Delicate Arch. It was hot, and we got lost, but we had a great time and the reward at the top of the trail is always worth it.

Nick, Dad and Kenz under the Arch.
We had some extra time before we were supposed to meet up with my mom and Syd in Moab, so we ventured over to some other Arches. Kenzie, Nick and I were too sore and hot to do anymore hiking so my dad and Scott made the hike to these Arches called the North and South Windows.
After meeting up with my mom and Syd, we drove 90 minutes south to a town called Bluff, Utah. We were all so exhausted and it was over 100 degrees outside but we were too close to this special little town not to go. Some of my ancestors helped settle this town and 3 years ago my dad, his siblings and some cousins went down and built a small cabin (in 3 days time) as a memorial to these pioneers.
A plaque about my great great grandmother.
It was such a fun and memorable week with Kenzie and some other members of my family. I'm so glad that they were able to come down to Price and spend some time.

Strawberries everyday

Last year we planted 21 small strawberry bushes. Only 2 survived and it's a good thing because they have taken over the area! We only got a couple strawberries last year but this year we are getting quite a bit.

This is the bigger of the 2 bushes.
I usually pick them every other day. This is about how may I get every other day and they are mostly big and super sweet! It's awesome!

We also planted a raspberry bush. It was a scrawny little thing at the beginning of spring and it hasn't stopped growing since.
And my blackberry bush.It's going to be a berry good summer!

Missouri- Part duece

Our trip to Missouri really was more than just dealing with the aftermath of a deadly tornado. I was able to get some girls time in with my 2 sister-in-laws who I ADORE. Seriously, I gained 3 amazing sisters-in-law when I got married and spending girl time with them is always a riot.

We were able to spend some time with friends while there. We had a BBQ at Scott's parents house and were able to visit and have an enjoyable time.

The Friday that we were there, Scott and I decided to be "touristy" and visit Branson. He had been there a few times before, but I never had. I have to say that it is one of the most beautiful cities. We didn't have time to take in any shows, but we drove around, ate some lunch, snapped some pictures, and did some shopping at the Tanger Outlets and Branson Landing.

Below are some pictures taken from the car (thus the low quality)



Branson Landing

On our way home from Branson, we met the fam at Lambert's. We never pass up a chance to go there when we are in Missouri. Great food and an awesome atmosphere. If you are ever in the Branson area, you won't be disappointed by making a stop to this place. It's about 25 minutes north of Branson in Ozark.


One of the highlights of the trip was meeting this little angel, seen below... (Not Scott, I'm talking about the baby!)
This is baby Erin. She is our foster niece. She is such a sweet baby and it was so fun to play with and give loves to.

Well, that was our trip in a nutshell. Besides the tornado and the most horrid allergies I've had in my life, we had a pretty good time!

Happy Birthday Scotty the Hotty!

My man is officially 1 year away from being the big 3-0. (Well, in all reality he's less than a year away since I'm 4 days late in blogging about his birthday.) I had to work up in SLC on his birthday but I was home by evening and we got to spend a nice evening at the "fancy" restaurant here in Price, and then he opened presents and we both fell asleep, super exciting. There was one present that I had to get to him late because it took some time to make, and I couldn't make it while he was at home. He's been talking for some time about a sherbert watermelon. I had no idea what that was, but apparently that was one of his favorite treats as a kid. He explained to me what it consisted of and I figured it couldn't be too hard to make. I used my trusty friend Google and of course it helped me find a way to make this tasty treat.

So here's what I did:

I got a metal 2 qt. metal bowl and wrapped it with plastic wrap. (SUPER important step)

Then I put a layer (about a pints worth) of soft lime sherbert along the bowl and stuck it in the freezer until it was pretty solid.
Then I put a layer of softened pineapple sherbert over the layer of lime sherbert (about a pint) and put it in the freezer to harden.

Then I took some softened raspberry sherbert and put it in a bowl (about 1 1/2- 2 pints worth of sherbert) and mixed some mini chocolate chips in it.

Then I filled up the rest of the bowl with that mixture and stuck it into the freezer til it was rock solid.

After it had set, I turned it upside-down on a plate and put it into the freezer until we were ready to eat it.

You can't tell by the look on his face but he was VERY excited about this. It was well worth the work just to see him so excited.

Here is how we served it, like a slice of watermelon, and it was oh so tasty!

I just have to say that I love this guy more and more everyday, and I've never been so happy. Here to many more birthdays to come!