Quite possibly the cutest girls around...

Rylie is growing up.

Rylie started school this week. Okay, so its just preschool but she is pretty excited about it. We've had lots of fun talking about the fun songs they are learning and the fun things she has been doing at school. Saige keeps asking when she can go too. The pics are of her today and I will post some of her 1st day soon.

A Sophisticated Mom...

I'm not usually a big promoter of other people's blogs but I had to post this link. This is my friend Jaime's blog and she always has amazing recipe's online. I hope you enjoy the posts as much as I do.

http://www.sophistimom.com/

Another look at my garden...

So, Do you remember my post about green tomatoes? Well, I was given the advice (thanks Aunt Sherri) to pick a few of my tomatoes and place them in the sunny window sill in my kitchen. As you can see, they are slowly but surely beginning to turn red. I went out today to check out the progress of my other plants and I saw one lone red tomato. I was so excited that I brushed the spider off of it and began to eat it. I didn't think to take a picture until after my first bite.


I also saw something peculiar looking back at me from my pumpkin plant. Let me remind you that we planted our garden late this year so instead of planting seeds I opted to plant starts purchased from the store. I didn't think to be concerned about the accuracy of the tags in each pot.
Does this look like a pumpkin to you?



I am happy to report that my jalepeno peppers are doing great! Yummy! Now I am excited to make salsa.

She cracks me up!

Today while watching the Olympics with Evan Rylie had a profound question..."Daddy, Why are those boys wearing panties?"

Saige's First Time to the Beach

Here are a couple more pics of Rylie's birthday which was also Saige's first time to the beach. What more could a 2 year old want when they have the worlds biggest sand box!

Rylie's 4th Birthday!

Rylie celebrated her 4th birthday on July 23rd at the beach in Oregon. We celebrated with a little party at the park just above the beach and then hit the beach for some fun in the sun. We had a great time! I love the sound of the ocean!

YUM!

For my birthday Evan got me a food dehydrator. I am so excited to start making my own fruit roll ups, beef jerky, and dried fruits and vegetables. And all of this minus the sugar, and preservatives. I bought a bunch of strawberries today and I can't wait for them to be done. They smell so good as they dry. All I can say is YUMMMO!

Rylie is not so sure about the whole concept of "taking out all the juice." She says "but I like the juice mom!"

Blue tongue girl!

This was on our way home from Oregon...I guess the hours and hours of driving didn't get her down too much.

Fresh produce...YUM!

So, this year I finally planted a garden. I must admit that my vegetables are pretty tiny and insignificant but I am so excited to have grown them myself and I can't wait to bite into them. There is some kind of satisfaction that comes with planting seeds and watching them form into beautiful plants and then food. I just wish my tomatoes would turn red...I have a bunch on my plants but they are all green and have been green for weeks. Any suggestions?

A beautiful thing...

Evan and I had the opportunity to go tour the new Real Salt Lake soccer stadium. It was so fun. That stadium is amazing! There isn't a bad seat in the place. We are now choosing our seats for our season tickets. Its going to be so fun! Anyone want to join us and get seats together?

**Oh, and I couldn't wipe that cheesy grin off of Evan's face. He was a happy man!

My little ballerina

Rylie finished her first session of dance classes yesterday and they had a little "performance" to show off their new skills and a cute little dance. She had so much fun going to dance class each week and I was actually impressed with how much she learned in her class of crazy 3 & 4 year olds. I'm sure this is just the beginning of many years of dance.

A tribute to Gino's

So, there is this pizza place in Oregon that holds a special place in the hearts of my family. We have always gone to "Gino's Pizza." In fact, It is a highlight of any trip to our home town. We have pictures of Rylie's first time to "Gino's" when she turned 1 and now this year we were there when she turned 4. This trip was Saige's first taste of the best Pizza ever. There really is no way of describing the taste of a "Gino's Special" or a pepperoni and black olive pizza made the way that only Gino's can make it. Not only is the pizza worth mentioning but the atmosphere is like no other. The red, velvet wall paper and yellow wall sconces create the perfect atmosphere!

**It has been rumored that Gino's will be undergoing a renovation which will change it forever...may the velvet wall paper rest in peace.

Oregon Trip...much more to come

So, I have much more to add in order to update you on our Oregon Trip. I'll try to keep my comments to a minimum so you don't have to read too much but there will definitely be lots of great pics. So, keep checking back to see all of the highlights.

Beautiful Girls

Rylie, heading in from the chicken coup.

Kids and Dirt...what could be better??

A very happy and dirty Sophie




Nothing like a little dirt in your eyes

A Very happy and dirty Rylie

My parents live on a ranch called "Crooked River Ranch." They have 5 acres of land and it is very dry and dusty. The kids absolutely LOVED playing in the dirt and chasing the chickens. We had some VERY dirty kids by about an hour into each day. It made me smile to see my girls get down and dirty. I have lots of memories of playing in the dirt and just being a kid. Saige wasn't so sure about going out with the other kids...not because she didn't want to get dirty but because she was scared of the chickens.

Oregon Trip

So the entire purpose of the trip to Oregon was to surprise my Dad for his 60th birthday. Now you must realize that my Dad is never surprised. He always figures things out before they happen and this year we finally got him. My Brother and Sister and their families went too. It was great to celebrate his b-day with him and to spend some time with him and Mom. I just wish they lived closer.



All of the grandkids that were there sang a song to Dad that my sister wrote...it was so cute.

The kids LOVED riding around on the 4 wheeler and on the trailer.