Sources of Joy

Summer, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...



1. Hiking in the mountains




2. Backpack rides and 3. Lazy eyes ;)



4. Cabin time by the lake



5. My little herb garden. Heavy on the basil of course.


6. Our first crop!!
I'm so glad you forget how good garden fresh veggies taste- it's the best surprise every summer!


7. My wee little garden!
I can almost taste the tomatoes!!! please hurry, I'm DYING for a fresh sandwich!
...and BLT's, tom/basil/mozzarella, fresh pizza, tomatoes and cottage cheese....


8. Our cage-free chickens! hoping for fresh eggs any day now!
more pics of them later, they were such cute chicks!



9. another little darling




10. And this little darling of course




11. Beach time, in beached whale position.



And any sun/swim time for that matter. Our record is 8 straight hours at Candice's pool.
We're so glad you moved so close to us, and made the best decision ever to build a pool.



-1. dead plants

er, can't win them all!

the hunger

It's hard to say who wants a baby the most...

1st contender: Claire



The mini mama.

• Loooves every baby in sight, even those bigger than her.
  
• Wants to "hold it" any time we pass a child smaller than her.
  
• Still learning how to contain her excitement.

2nd contender: Bruce



The proud papa.

• Claire has him double wrapped around her finger.
• He can still run and chase her no matter how long his work day has been.
• Secretly wishing for a little boy
  

3rd contender: Snee



The happy mama.

• Loves to cuddle.
• Can't get enough of Claire.
  
• Wanting a reason to sew another quilt.
  

The good news is that the hunger will be satisfied for all...

baby #2 expected in the new year, January 2012!

birthday bliss

I grew up saying my favorite holidays were Christmas, 4th of July and my birthday. I love my birthday. always have, always will.

This year was fantastic, as expected, being my golden! My entire weekend I was surrounded by those I love most and filled with great amounts of good food- what I love most. I have to commend Bruce for going above and beyond to make my day extra special...he's come so far.


Flash back 4 years when we were newlyweds. It was my first birthday married and I remember the usual anticipation for the day, and unfortunately found myself bored, lonely and let down. I think Bruce worked all day and when he came home and saw I was disappointed he said something along the lines of, "we celebrate birthdays up until 8 years." and then i shed a secret tear. Yeah, he was the 11th child, but I wasn't! So he learned- we celebrate in our family!! birthdays, holidays, the first day of summer, etc.

and to prove the lesson was learned my birthdays have gotten better and better thank you very much. past celebrations have included surprise parties with catered food, a party limo with a homemade video featuring friends and family, breakfasts in bed and massages, sweet cards, sushi parties.
and just like that I've become the spoilt birthday brat i aspire to be.

this year was no exception.
just listen to this menu- he knows food is the first way to my heart.

friday: cafe rio sweet pork salad
saturday: sushi with the girls, sundae bar after including all my sweet favs: vanilla and chocolate fudge ice cream, strawberries, bananas, brownies, double stuffed oreos, reese's shell, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, pecans. did i mention i have a sweet tooth? ouch
sunday: breakfast- i sleep in while he bathes the baby. i wake up to a sweet smelling little darling and cinnamon french toast, cheese danishes, strawberries, egg, spinach, hashbrown casserole. mmmmm
dinner- roasted pork loin, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy, spinach salad with strawberries and candied almonds. dessert- cream puffs and left over ice cream with reeses shell- a very dangerous left over!

oh, and of course all these meals were enjoyed with friends and family- the perfect combo.



AND THEN..........Les Mis!!!!!

(um, pretend this is a good picture in focus, not minimized)

loved it. i know the play is old news but it still gives me chills and who doesn't love a night on the town, all dressed up?


well, if there's any reason to look forward to aging, then it's the celebrating!
happy birthday to me.....! thanks for all the calls and well wishes- i love you all

We'll run for O-town!

Us, and 5,000+ other people!

Bruce is faithfully fulfilling his life's goal to promote Ogden in every way possible. We were happy to support their marathon last weekend...and even happier that it's over!

Please enjoy these post-race pictures where we're all smiles, because I can't say they endured the 26.2





Training was actually a blast! Thanks to our Saturday running group- Amelia and Candace. I occasionally ran with Slick my speedy bro. But his pace often left my bowels in an uproar after so I had to limit those runs, not to mention he was in Logan.

Race day was beautiful- clear skies and a perfect temperature. My problem was I couldn't contain my excitement and shot out too fast and didn't save up for the painful last 6 miles. and painful they were. Thoughts of how I could sprang my ankle or slit my writs started to enter my head.

Observe in my face:


errrr....embarrassing. and dramatic.



THANKFULLY Bruce was at mile 18 and ran the rest of the race with me. I near became his dependent and he my coach to make it to the end.

Seeing that little buttercup at the finish was a breath of fresh air.




Anyway, perfect day, great race, beautiful scenery and the people watching never disappoints:



everyone wins

out of bounds

One of the silly little things I'm critical about myself is my smile. You probably don't know that I actually have crooked lips when I bear my full pearly whites. So, that being said I usually try to keep my smile slightly restrained- so my lips are more even. Petty, I know, but we all have our things, right?

Well, there's those times that no matter the control I try to exhibit, my excitement and happiness can't be contained and the full, unrestrained smile shines through.

And my wedding day was one of those special days when I was bursting with so much joy and happiness and love that no amount of control was going to hold back my smile. This picture is evidence.

Happy 4 years Bruce. You still make me that happy.


xoxo

Goose Eggs for Easter

ouch!


luckily she's quick to forgive ;)

where dreams come true

I've known Bruce roughly 5 years and as long as I can remember he has been dreaming and talking and salivating over these immortalized pumpkin pancakes on Sunset Blvd, CA.
So you better believe it was a pretty big deal when we actually revisited the cafe! Just looking at the menu was a treat in and of itself...
take a look, seriously, how do you choose between these dishes?!!!
The Griddle Cafe

We narrowed it down to: Yellow Brick Road
Tis the Season, Mounds of Pleasure, A Time to Love, Scotch on the Rocks......

o.k., it was super hard to narrow it down! We ordered the "mounds of pleasure" and "kicking and screaming breakfast tacos." The other orders:
Stef : "addicted to noisella french toast"
Amelia: red velvet panCake
Marva: poached y papas Benedict
GJ: some giant breakfast burrito

and the delivered masterpieces? decadent beyond belief.

-The benedict was possibly one of the best I've ever tasted. ever. Genius to use potato skins in place of english muffins!
-The french toast was nutella-rific. I almost forgot it was actually french toast and not just nutella smoothering some bread form.
-Red velvet pancake- cake for breakfast. literally. with the cream cheese icing to prove it. delish!
-Breakfast tacos- no "kicking and screaming" about them, but nothing to complain about.
-Mounds of pleasure= mounds of coconut+chocolate in cake form, baked in pancake shape. rich and gooey, melt-in-your mouth. giving the candy bar the true breakfast challenge.

So the question: with all the richness was it too much? after like 5 bites, probably. But did we make a decent effort in clearing them? yep.
I'd say an hour later we were all still feeling the sugar overload.
But two hours later I could've had just one more bite and secretly wished we'd boxed the remains. :)

But for Bruce! Years and years of dreaming about this place, talking it up so much and making it a must while in California?
sadly, failed to fulfill.

He wished he'd just relive the pedestal memory- the pumpkin pie pancakes and cobb omelet.
sorry Bruce.

And my dreams came true staying at Amelia's in-laws house! a pool and hot tub, lemon, orange, grapefruit and avocado trees. And still 30 minutes from the beach (I think, I seemed to fall asleep every time I got in the car, sorry bruce!) I'm convinced I could become a resident of the lovely Glendora. Thank you Stowells!!