What in the WORLD!!!

I came downstairs a couple of weeks ago...it was really late at night & I find Jordan doing this...

OK, you say...what's so crazy about this picture...take a closer look at what he is ironing. YES, that's right...PJ's! Well, I guess from a person who HATES to iron anything...this was quite the sight. I couldn't resist taking a picture! You crack me up!!!

All I have to say is...go for it babe!! No, really Jordan has MUCH better laundry skills than I ever will! Since he is spending a lot more time at home these days, he has been washing and folding laundry like crazy!! He even helped Isabella organize and fold all her clothes in her room last week! You are hired!! I love it, especially since I really don't like laundry. You go ahead and iron your PJ's whenever you want!!! Take a guess at what his closet looks like? Yes, Immaculate! I will be sad when he goes back to work! But for now, it works for us!

Cherry Pick'in...

Wednesday night I was talking to Stephanie ( a really good friend & neighbor). She mentioned that she'd been wanting to go pick cherries. I told her I have been wanting to do this too...but the cost of gas just to get up there (about 40 min. away) just didn't ever seem worth it. Well, when she said that she would drive how could I resist??? So, Tuesday morning we headed to Greenbluff with all our kids to go do some cherry pick'in! Neither of us had done this before so we really didn't know what to expect. The wonderful thing about Greenbluff is that there are so many farmers to choose from. We drove all around until we picked one called Orchard ??something (bad bad memory!!). It was the cutest place! We have been up to Greenbluff before to pick apples, pumpkins & peaches many times before but had never stopped at this place. We just grabbed a bucket and all & any of the trees were open for pick'in. The kids had a GREAT time! We needed a ladder to pick a lot of the cherries but Kennedy & Luke did some exploring of their own and were able to find some trees that were their perfect size. They were beaming when they saw they could actually reach and pick some on their own! I was surprised to see that they had picked so many (they had to share a bucket of course!).

Luca & Kennedy

Tell me, doesn't this look like FUN?

Bella showing off her cherries! Luke & I going for the "high ones, momma" he said.

Kennedy & Luke. Riley & Bella.

I gave Steph a hard time because I didn't realize she had her glasses on for the picture. She said it's because she wasn't wearing any make-up! I think Bella has a nice future ahead of her in photography! Nice baby!

Two little Cutie Pies...

Luke has a friend, Kennedy that he loves playing with so much! They have been friends ever since they were born. The nice thing about these two are they get along really well!! Luke wanted to have a play date with her...so I suggested going to the free movie and then having a picnic. We ended up seeing Charlotte's Web. The were so good in the theater. No potty breaks, no crying because of scary parts...nothing. Just lots of laughs...pure enjoyment! Wow, Is this what it's like to go to a movie with kids and enjoy it?? Nice. Because there's NO guarantee that this will happen next time. Anyhow, Kennedy stayed for a picnic. They were outside on this blanket for about 1/2 hour just talking 3 year old talk. SO DARN CUTE!! I love this age!

Edible Playdough Day!

Luke picked edible playdough out of the Summer Fun Jar on Monday. I decided to make it into a little cooking lesson (we have to mix summer school in somewhere, right?). The kids LOVE cooking & baking with me!! Most of the summer fun ideas I got out of my mom's cookbook she made a couple years back. The Goffredo Family Cookbook (highly secretive! Just joking! I believe in sharing recipes!! Plus the likelyhood (is that even a word??) that others will actually make my recipes are slim to none...just because there's really nothing "simple" about most of them). Yes, Isabella I have saved you and your brother a copy for when you have a kitchen of your own! This Edible playdough recipe I got from a magazine years ago. It's pretty yummy, especially if you like peanut butter! First, you need to find some MORE than willing helpers!

Then in a mixing bowl, stir together 1 cup oats with 1/2 cup of dry non-fat Pow'd milk.

Next, add 1 cup of peanut butter (creamy or w/ nuts). For the final ingredients...add 1/4 cup of honey. You will want double this if you have more than 2 kids.

After lots of taking turns stirring. Enjoy the creativity!

Bella with her version of a snowman! Luke had fun just making "cookies."

The kids had so much fun with this playdough that they played with it for almost an hour! I thought for sure it would be gone by then. I love doing these things with my kids! It makes me happy (most of the time) and It's so fun to see their eager little faces learn something new!

Last Monday...not to be confused with the Monday that just passed-the one before that. Anyways, Our friends Lindsay & Aaron invited us over for Family Night. Their little one, Eli is so cute! Lindsay made some soul-satisfying, mouth-watering brownies. Boy were they devoured fast!! They have two baby goats that are so cute! Max & Molly. Bella was a little intimidated by them at first but then warmed up to them. Lindsay told us that goats don't have top teeth. I didn't know that! Luke followed them around practically trying to force feed them. Poor goats. Luckily they were pretty tame. It was so nice of them to invite us over!!! Lindsay is definitely one gal that I miss talking to (she moved-not far, but I don't see her that often)...she is so full of spunk & always smiling! Super good friends to just simply 'hang out' with. We are so blessed to have some wonderful friends!! I'm sure we'll come visit again soon!! Bella & Luke have not stopped talking about Max & Molly!

Last Tuesday... the kids chose "Sun Smores" from our 'Summer Fun' jar. This is what they looked like after we "put them in the sun" to cook.

...(note to self...um, next time we decide to make "sun smores", chose a sunny hot day!) Don't get me wrong, the sun was shining...it's just that it took 2 hours just for the chocolate chips to melt and try explaining that to 2 impatient children!! What, my kids impatient? Ha Ha. I wonder where they get from? ME! One of my many not-so-perfect parenting skills. So after many hours they FINALLY were able to enjoy the sun-kissed Smores!!! Yummm!!

By the way...we had this for dinner!!! My favorite new sandwich!

I call it...HOMEMADE (of course) PESTO, SUNDRIED TOMATO, GRILLED CHICKEN MOZZARELLA ON A TOASTED CIBATA. Try saying that fast!! YUMMM! I LOVE pesto anything!! Any takers for coming over for dinner tonight??

Saturday was my kind of day! We woke up early (OK, not so early...9:30AM) & got our lunch & waters ready for a hike with our friends...Sheree, Abbey, Gabe, Brent, Lisa, Jake & Alex. Jordan had a 10 AM tee time. He missed out in ALL the FUN! Brent & Lisa took us to Mineral Ridge Trail. Somehow I missed this sign saying that it was a 3.3 mile hike.

I have to say, I am so proud of all the kids! About 1/2 of the hike was up hill. We got through it with ZERO bug bites (yeah..Bella!), a couple whines, many breaks, a little blood, a few crashes & lots of "turn & burns." Thanks to Brent for making the trail fun for the kids, who surprised them with their own power bar at the summit. My kids were in heaven with their own! No sharing required! The views at the summit were AMAZING!!


We are so blessed to have all this nature right in our backyard! I totally recommend this hike to ALL nature lovers, walkers & runners!

This takes me back to my hiking days....I learned to LOVE hiking in college. When I wasn't studying and maybe should have been studying we were hiking! Some of my favorites in Utah are...Adams Canyon (Layton), Indian Trail (conveniently located right outside the doorstep of my home-Ogden), Mt. Ogden, Mt. Timpanogos (Alpine), Spanish Fork Canyon, Angels Landing & The Narrows (Zion) and soooo many more but my ALL time favorite to this day has to be Escalante. We hiked ALL over that place!!! Lets just take a little flashback down memory lane, shall we?

Tabi, Kari & I in Coyote Gulch, Escalante. In some of the places it's a pretty tight squeeze!

This is one of my favorite hiking pictures (left) Tabi & I. Looking up picture is Tabi, Kari & I.

Tabi & I on Angels Landing hike in Zion's National Park!

Left: Dani (not pictured) & I on some trail in Zion's. We were trying to see who could catch the most air. The best time to see "unofficial" waterfalls in Zion is on or after a really rainy Memorial Day. My favorite. Waterfalls!! I LOVE them!!

Right: Me, doing who knows what. My best guess is that I'm trying to balance so I won't fall down. The Narrows in Zion's. AAHHH, I LOVE HIKING! I hope that our kids learn to love it too. They actually have no choice at this time in their life!