APRICOTS!

Today we ran upon some unexpected FREE apricots! And how can I turn down free produce? I CAN'T! Especially when we love apricot ANYTHING so much! The kids all helped pick and we got a lot done in a little time! And the apricots were beautiful!

Some were even the size of small peaches!

Aubs pouring hot syrup into jars!

We ended up with 10 pints of Apricot syrup, 6 half pints of low sugar jam, and 12 half pints of regular apricot jam! With a few more to do tomorrow (fruit leather maybe?) I just love the feeling of putting beautiful canned goods on the shelf and love that my girls get so into it too!

Pioneer Day FHE

For FHE we went to Uncle Andy and Aunt Kelly's for a BBQ, a Pioneer lesson, and Fireworks. It was really fun and we listened to a neat story about Elijah Knapp Fuller -- Rand's Great Great Great Grandpa. It was really neat and we even played some pioneer games -- Kelly told the kids about journal writing and the fact that the Pioneers wrote in their journals and now we have them to read about all of our ancestors and what they did! So each of the kids got a journal and they went in the back and started writing! Then it started to sprinkle and out popped a rainbow! It was so beautiful and such a neat moment in time!

A full rainbow!

Happy 24th!

Loved this pic that Aubrey drew in Sacrament mtg yesterday! Perfect for Pioneer Day!!!

Thought it would be fun to pretend we were at the parade and sit on lawn chairs in the family room to watch the Days of 47 parade! Our 4 little cuties!

Lagoon Trail

After dinner on Sunday we took a little walk down the Lagoon trail! It was a beautiful night!

Climbing to pick cherries!

Our friends just got home from Guatemala and gave Carter this cute sombrero! He loves it! He said, "look Mom! I'm a scarecrow!"

A beautiful flower at the end of our walk!

My kind of Camping!

So we were supposed to go camping up in the Uintas for the 24th of July weekend! Well, they called and cancelled due to all the run off and flooding. So, My Dad was leaving out of town and suggested we use their backyard! I love any time I can go back to the home and yard I grew up in and so we jumped at that! They live on an acre in Btfl. and it is full of trees, grass, and plenty of room for fun! That day the kids and I made Pioneer biscuits and they had fun cutting them out with me.

When we got there we got setting up and they shook their jar full of cream to make Pioneer butter! It was so yummy!

Dad and the kids got the tent up!

The perfect little spot!

G&G P. came over for the fun too!

We cooked Dutch oven chicken and cheezy potatoes! Mmmmmmmm

I love to cook DUTCH OVEN!!!

After dinner the kids got to ride in Grandpa's car!

And Ry made them all homemade water weenies for water fights!

Running like crazy!

Then came time for the fire!

And marshmallows!

And one of the best parts was the Bountiful city firework show. We have a perfect view from Dad's front lawn! And the show went for 30 minutes+ It was amazing and so much fun!

Then it was time to hit the sack! At least almost -- Gracie and I slept inside and the kids and Ry were in the tent-- By next year I think Gracie should be a full fledged little camper! But can I just say-- I love camping like this -- Bathroom close, kitchen close, and everything you might need! It was a fun time and a great memory maker!

PICKLES!

This year in our garden I planted a few pickling cucumber plants and they are already going nuts! I picked enough to do a batch and got going! Back in Flagstaff, I founf an antique pickle crack and finally used it! It's perfect for letting the cucumbers soak in pickling lime!

They soaked for a good 24 hours to get really crisp! Then I got pickling! Ended up with 6 pints - We'll see how many pints we end up with at the end of the season -- It's kind of fun to do it little by little!

Yummy dill pickles ready to go on the shelf!

Baby baby grand!

So on one of my "run in to the DI for fun" visits, I spotted this and about died! The perfect prop!!! It didn't have a bench and needed some cleaning up but for 5 bucks -- I couldn't resist. Then I found a baby stool inside that was green but fit perfect for 2 bucks and I was out of there! 7 bucks and the perfect prop! I had a shoot earlier in the week and after I got the stool painted, I had to try it out! Gracie is in heaven with it and was just the cutest model!

I think she is her Daddy's little girl for sure!

Just a couple more years and lessons will be on the way!

Cooking class

So on Mondays we are doing a little cooking class with the kids-- Their friends Moms are each taking a turn and they come over and learn a recipe and we make a huge batch and then they go home with the recipe and treats for their Family FHE! We had a blast and they had fun!

Cute little cooks!

Everyone gets to help!

Orange glaze for the orange bars!

So I have to tell ya, I was a little excited about this one. This was kind of a last minute switcharoo! I make my Mom's almond bar recipe almost monthly if not more -- It's one of those, (easy, yummy, way not fat free but so good, everyone wants the recipe, kind of treats! Well, two of these families have a nut allergy and I also have made them so much my kids know the recipe by heart too and I wanted them to learn something new. So I put a twist on it and it WORKED! We made orange cake bars! And they were yummy! So I thought I would share both recipes! In a seperate post! (BTW, Someday, in the near future, I am putting together a recipe blog of all of our favorite family recipes from my Mom. I have been working on doing a cookbook forever and thought, I will just do it little by little in blog form and then make the book through blurb-- So as soon as that happens, I will post a link on here! Fun and Yum!

Almond Bar recipe and Orange bar recipe

MOM'S ALMOND BARS

4 eggs beaten

1 C. real butter (melted)

1 Tb. almond extract

2 C. sugar

2 C. flour

Blend all ingredients into a thick almost paste-like dough. Spread in a greased 9x13 and back at 350 for 30 min. or til edges are golden brown. Cut into squares and then cross-ways down the middle to make wedges.

ORANGE BARS

4 eggs, beaten

1 C. real butter (melted)

1 Tb. orange extract

1 Tb. OJ

2 C. sugar

2 C. flour

Combine all ingredients and spread in a buttered 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min, til edges are golden brown.

ORANGE GLAZE

1/4 C. unsalted butter melted

2 C. powdered sugar

1 Tb. fresh orange zest

3 Tb. OJ

combine and spread on top of the bars while they are still warm. Cut up and serve!

Garden PEAS!

Nothin I love more than fresh garden PEAS! YUM!

And nothin I love more than my cute little PEA PICKERS!

Where have we been?????

(Our cute, crazy little AMERICAN family)

Busy, busy, and more busy! Holy cow! I have been meaning to update our family blog for the longest time! And I don't think I quite realized how far behind I've been until the other day-- I got a phone call from one of my favorite people on this earth! A dear friend who is on a mission with her hubby in St. Louis! She called to make sure we were all ok-- I've updated my blog very regularly ever since I started it and I haven't posted since MAY! She was worried that something had happened and that we were maybe going through something. Cindy- I love you! Your call made my day! And it's a good excuse to get back up to date little by little -- So I'm going to start backwards! From Now and then go back to May-- Truth is....I feel like we have never been so busy-- All good things but a lot of them! And with 4 little cuties home all day - whew- It gets crazy! So watch for more posts in the coming days! Love all you dear friends and family!