Gardening!!

This year we have had a wonderful garden. Been having fresh vegetables in all different ways. I wanted to just share some of the ways we have been using them. Yummy!!

We grew Jalapenos, Sweet Bananna Peppers, habanero peppers. We have been putting them in chilli mac, omlets, salsa, etc. Yummy!

We have so many tomatoes growing this year. They are divine! We have been slicing them and just eating them with salt n pepper. Adding them in omlets, salsa, tomato sandwhiches, etc.

The squash is one of our favorite things. I have been makin my grandmas famous squash. The kids can't get enough of it.

Are you hungry yet? We also have a cabbage growing that Marian got from school. Can't wait to cook it up.

1st day of School

School started and the kids were excited to go. William Jr. is finishing up his last year at the Jr. High. Can you believe he is in 9th grade? Antonio started Jr. High this year and he is in 7th grade. My big boys are growing up. (sniff) When we pulled up I said that I had forgotten to take their pic. They sighed and ughhhed. So I came up with a idea..... Just lean in the window and smile. No one will even notice. I think they liked that idea.

Then I told them to go stand by the tree and act like they were talking. They said just hurry and take it. lol They could not ruin their image. So as they walked off I said "I love you, I mean peace out". Why do they have to grow up???

Marian is now in 4th grade and Jose is in 2nd grade. They were so excited. And I think their teachers are going to be awesome. Marian was such a good big sis. She told Jose where they would meet after school each day. And then told him if he ever needed her, to come to her class. And took him to it so he would know where to go. Sniff. As we walked Marian to her class there was all these boys in line. They came up hugging her and telling her how glad they were she was in their class. Should I be worried?!?!?!?! Then I walked Jose to his class. And proceeded to give him several kisses. I hear this.... mom you are embarrasing me. Look up and his teacher was just a giggling. I told her she was gonna have a lot of fun with him .

When I was done taking pictures, Jose asked for me to take a picture of his ear. My reaction was, What!! He said I want you to remember my hobbit ear. What the heck!?!?! I laughed my butt off. He says some crazy things. So I took the picture and he was happy. Boy I just love my kids!!

2009-2010 School year here we come!!

Mt. Timpanogos Hike!

Will and I got to hike the Timpanogos Mountain yesterday. One of the largest mountains in Utah. It was a beautiful hike but I don't know if I could ever do it again. Maybe to go up with my boys when they are older. On this pic I have a fake smile. I was in some pain and out of breath. The higher we went the thinner the air and the harder to breath. Our hands were so swollen by the time we got to the top and we don't know why.

Will ended up hiking fast to the top with Blake. I could not keep up. So Kevin and Sabrina ended up hiking up with me most of the way.

I love the views up there. Slowly but surely we were getting to the top.

Taking a must needed rest.

Funny story about this chipmunk. He climbed the flowers to eat them. I sat there for a minute and watched. Turned around to walk away and all of a sudden something was squawking like crazy. We turn around and he had a flower in his hands and yelling at me in the middle of the path. It was so funny.

Had to do the typical crossfit squat on the top. It was 20 degrees and so windy. brrrrrrr

I went a head of Sabrina and Kevin and was waiting for them on the saddle on top. I was hiding behind a rock because I was freezing.

Okay where do I begin with this picture..... I have to say Will is my hero. Like I said earlier he got to the summit before me. I was resting on the saddle and mentally trying to get myself up. When Kevin and Sabrina got there I said just go up with out me I am done. I was feeling a little sad because I did not make it to the summit with Will. So they were getting ready to leave and I turned around and saw Will coming down. He came over to me and said come on sweet heart lets go. I was thinking to go back down the mountain. So I was like okay. He said no I mean to the top. He came back down to get me so we could do it together. That made me feel so good and I even choked up. I love my husband!!! I know the last 30 minutes was the hardest. And he did it twice.

Take notice how small the path is behind me to the summit. It was even more scarier as you went up. Me and heights don't mix.

Proof I made it to the tip top. This is inside the little shed on the top of the summit. This is the historic marker.

At the top they had a book for you to sign your name. The top one is Will's. Although he wrote he was 39. HaHa he is only 38.

My signature. My hands were so swollen and cold I could hardly write.

This is my favorite pic of Will and I. Boy do I love him! I am so happy we got to go to the summit together. He said the look I gave him when I first saw him coming down made it worth going up again. (once again choking up)

Kevin, Sabrina, Will, and I. We made it!!!! Kevin proposed to Sabrina on the top. Notice huge rock on her left hand. I got some really good pics with his camera. The rangers said they were the first to get engaged on top so they took their pics to put on the web site. Once again we were FREEZING!!!

The clouds were the coolest thing every. They were moving sooooo fast right along the mountain. It was amazing.

Loved the clouds. The only bad thing is we could not see the valley from the top at first!

There was still a lot of snow on the ground up there. brrrrr

Loved the views.

The clouds went away long enough for us to get some pics of the valley. Look how beautiful Utah Lake is. To the right is where we live.
Love the views once again.
Look how high we are.
Will told me to stand in front of the red, white, and blue wild flowers he wanted a pic.
I think this is my favorite pictue. I am so glad I hiked the mountain. I did not think I would get to the top mentally. But I did it! One of the hardest hikes and something I never would have imagined me doing. I am glad I was able to do it with Will also. My knees are screaming so bad but it is worth it.

New Edition to Our Family!

Well as you can see we have a new edition to our family. The kids have been begging for a new dog since our Min Pin died. They have stated emphatically that they will take care of feeding, watering and picking up any landmines the dog leaves in the yard. Wills' family always had a dog when he was growing up and he's a sucker for anything Marian wants so he finally caved in. So after alot of looking we finally found one that meet the requirements. One, it had to be a breed we liked and two it had to be cheap. She is two months old and seems to be pretty smart. Like your typical puppy (or baby for that matter), if she can reach something it's fair game for being chewed on.
~Sparky giving the puppy the HooDoo Voodoo Eye aka the Stink Eye~ Sparky has been our house cat for almost 2 years now. My kids brought him home when they found him half dead on the side of the road. (Remember I said Will is a sucker when the little princess makes a request) Sparky thinks he is the king of all he sees so he can be a little tyrant at times. Kind of a miniaturized, furry Darth Vader if you will, so we were a little concerned about how he would react with the puppy. He actually did pretty good. In typical cat fashion he ignores the puppy until she goes to sleep then he comes sniffing around. Obviously the peasants can't see that the king might be curious! My guess is that it won't be long before they are putting the smackdown on each other.


We still don't have a name at this point. We'll have to see what her personality is like before we can come up with the appropriate name.

We are so excited for the boys to come home from Nevada on Sunday. They do not know so it will be a big surprise. Plus our bomb technicians already have landmines in the back yard that need defusing. It will be good to have a dog back in our family.

River Rafting Trip 2009

Okay so I tried to arrange the pictures, but it was to big of a pain. So the ending is starting at the beginning. We went on our yearly trip again river rafting with Will's crew. Craig and his wife Courtney are awesome enough to arrange it for us. We went to Snake River in Wyoming. I ended up really sick before we left, but it was still so much fun. The first day we went rafting we were not sure if we were going to do it again the next day because it was soooooo cold. Ended up being beautiful the next day so we went twice. Our camp ground was right over another river that was amazing. We did a lot of cooking smores over the fire, eating, river rafting, and visiting. The kids would rise early and play tell they would just pass out in the chairs. I love the great out doors and want to go more often. We had such a good time as a family and we can't wait to go on more trips.

The last night we were there William Jr. talked Craig O. and Jack to go down the rapids by our tent in the duckies. William said it was a lot of fun but hated the mosquitos. (I have to say, I did not get bit once)
We were waiting on the bridge for them to come down the river. Will of course did our tradtional picture of sneaking a grab for the picture. Ha! Ha! I just love him.

Tony's dog Roudy wanted to get in the water so bad. When one of the kids through a rock in the water he went after it. We thought he was going to take a ride all the way down the river. The water was moving really fast. I think he was scared just as much as we were. eeeek!

This is Craig B. and his daughter Madison. Craig luckily had a lot of supplies to help us make our breakfast. We were not very prepared. His camper was also the local hangout. (I think Antonio had a crush on Madison) lol

This is Tony's wife Kristen and her new little baby. The little girl was Dave's and Robins. Kristen was my local coffee shop buddy.

This is Craig and Courtney. They are who make this trip possible. Plus they are just really cool people. I hope we can go on more trips with them. Craig had been teaching Will how to guide the raft so we can get our own raft.

The little girl Lyndsy is Craig O. And Courtneys. The man next to her is Paul. He has the raft that we call the tank. The kids love riding on his. He is not on the crew but a friend of Craig O. We are greateful for him to. Without his raft we would not be able to take as many trips during the day.

This is Craig and his wife. Yup you read that right. We had three Craig's on this trip. Craig is a retired fire fighter. Now he is a Harley man. This was their first year coming with us. Hope they come again next year.

This is Dave and Robin. I met them last year. They have two little girls and one baby boy. Dave always has good stories for the kids about his toes. Kids love to hear about them.

This is Tony(Will's captain also married to Kristen) and his new baby girl. He is also the one with the dog that almost drifted down the river. He is a lot of fun to be around.

Brian also is on Will's crew. He was very funny. I think he was given the name Bear. (inside camp joke) He thought it would be funny to come to our tent in the middle of the night and sound like a bear. The only problem is he did not know Will had a gun and that Will pulled it out. He did not do that again. lol (by the way there was a bear on our camp site the night before)

William and Antonio could not get enough of the river. They had to go everytime. I am just glad they were not on the raft that flipped over.

Marian and Jose were ready to go. The day before Jose was so cold he was balling. I am surprised he went again. I have some tough kids.

It is always a long process for everyone to get on the raft and get going.

My girl and I getting ready to go have us some fun. She was so brave and sat at the front of the raft. Go Marian!

My sexy Fireman and I. Boy I love him!

We rented port-a-potties for our site. And boy was I so very grateful for them.

Our tent was set up right next to the river. It sounded so amazing at night to fall asleep to. I wish I could always hear that sound when going to sleep.

This is the view by our tent to the left. Plus all of our kitchen set up.

This is the eagle that lived on our site. Craig did not realize it when he set up his tent. There was so much bird poop all over the top of his tent.

It was so beautiful and such an amazing trip. I think everyone had as good of a time as I did. And I cannot wait to go next year. Already counting down days. I took a water proof camera but have not gotten it developed yet or put on a disc. When I do I will post them.