Camping Trip

This past weekend we went camping up to Bryce's uncles land. It is up in Idaho, hidden back in the trees. It was so much fun. We went camping with Brandon, Jaydale, their kids, Carrie, and Brad and Olivia. Because of all of the fires we have had in Utah this year, we were not able to have fire.

We have been working on our own little campground on this five acre piece of land. It is nice because it is in the trees with alot of shade. We dug a fire pit and put rocks around it. We also chopped alot of dead logs to make a big pile of wood for the next time we can build a fire. We cleaned out areas for tents and areas for campers.

Cooper had a great time playing with his cousins. He spent alot of time hiking through the trees with Maverick and Porter. They also climbed trees and played in the sand and water. Thanks to Kylee and Kassie for helping me watch Cooper and keep an eye on him! They were big helpers.

For dinner, we made dutch oven BBQ chicken, cheesy potatoes, and peach cobbler. The other night we enjoyed cowboy beans and cottage cheese salad. It was fun to just spend time relaxing and visiting with each other. Plus, the weather was nice and cool.

Cooper's Craziness

Cooper is at such a fun age right now. He is just starting to learn so many things. He is really into coloring right now. We have notepad and a bunch of washable markers. Everyday, he goes to the drawer, pulls out his stuff and sits down to color. I love it because everytime he uses a new marker, he always asks me the color.

He also just learned how to use the mouse on our computer. Sherrie told me about the website: http://www.jumpstart.com/. Under games and toddlertown, the little ones can color by moving the mouse to a bucket of paint and then clicking on parts of the picture. He gets so excited when he does it. I was shocked to see that he understood how to work the mouse. But, it is good for his hand-eye cooridination.

Every morning, he comes into my bathroom, stands on the toilet, and goes through mom and dad's perfume and cologne. He opens the lid, smells them, and then lets me smell them. Next, he gets dads deoderant and puts it on his armpits. Then he tries to climb into my sink, get his toothbrush, and brush his teeth.

I told Bryce the other night when I was putting Cooper in the bath: "you know your child is getting big when he takes off his own clothes, diaper, and goes to the cabinet to get his bucket of toys out to put in the tub." We are looking forward to adding another child to our home. Cooper will be a great brother and example.

Garden Time!

This is our second year to do a garden and it has been alot of fun, besides the fact that the soaker hoses keep breaking. I love working out in the garden and it is so neat to see the actual fruit and vegetables. Cooper loves to help me pick the tomatoes and zucchini. I just bought him a shovel, rake, and hoe set, so he enjoys playing in the dirt. In fact, I was bending down trying to pick some tomatoes and all of a sudden I got a huge shower of dirt all over me. Cooper shoveled a scoop of dirt and tossed it over his shoulder! It was fun. But I am hoping that I can teach him the importance of work and that is why I like him to come out and water the garden with me.

We have been eating alot of zucchini: 1. zucchini bread with chocolate chips 2. grilled zucchini
3. steamed zucchini :I tried a new recipe last week called zucchini casserole.....very good!! 2 cups diced onions, 2 cups diced celery, 1 cup grated zucchini, 1 lb. pork sausage, 3 cans chicken and rice soup, 1.5 cup of minute rice. Cook sausage and add all ingredients in large baking bowl. Leave uncovered. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Makes a large amount. Anyhow, I would like to try to make some fresh salsa this week because I have a million tomatoes. So, if any of you have a good recipe, let me know.

Summer Fun!

Bryce and I have been doing alot of cooking on our grill this summer. We decided to try shish-ka-bobs one night and they turned out sooooo good. We marinated chicken and tenderloin chunks in some steak marinade for about 3 hours. Then we just piled on the pineapple, green peppers, onions and meat onto the sticks. We then seasoned them with secret 60 and cooked them slowly. They tasted so good that we decided to make them while the family was here. We were all in the kitchen making our own custom shish-ka-bobs. YUM!!


A couple of weeks ago, we all went fishing out in Paradise, Utah. Kyle has a friend who has a stocked pond on his property. Everyone caught a fish..... yep, that's right.... even Bryce. This was the first fish that Bryce can ever remember catching. I love to fish. I haven't done much fishing as an adult, but we fished alot when we were kids. Bryce and I decided it would be fun to get a fishing license so we could go a little more.

We have had the family up visiting us the past couple of weeks and it was so much fun. We spent alot of time in the water. Sherrie and Brian came up first and we went to Cherry Hill water park. The kids had a great time there. We also went boating with Paul and Steph. Micaela did a great job knee boarding and we even got Wesley on the knee board, much to his dislike. It has been a very hot summer so we have been staying inside or close to the water.

This summer, Bryce and I have been watching Army Wives. It is on LifeTime on Sunday evenings. It is from the makers of Grey's Anatomy. Anyway, it is pretty good, so you will have to check it out sometime.On July 7, 2007 (7-7-07), Bryce made me watch 7 brides for 7 brothers. That was also mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary. So, it looks like we both had a great time that night!! Congratulations mom and dad. That is awesome and hopefully we can all follow in your footsteps of a happy, long lasting marriage.

My First Attempt at Blogging!

Howdy, Everyone! This is my first time to do a blog, so I am new at the game. It has been fun, however, to look at Jen's blogs. We have had a really busy summer. We moved into our new home in mid-April and we hurried and fully completed our basement in two months. We also planted a garden in our backyard. I really love gardening and working outside so that has been exciting to watch my veggies grow. We planted green beans, onions, tomatoes, red potatoes, zucchini, banana squash, and watermelon. Everything has come up except the banana squash. Cooper loves to help me water the garden and pick the veggies.