recipes for good times

Recipe for a fun Farm Residency Activity:

1 part awesome residents/families

1 part ATVs

1 part horses

1 part BEAUTIFUL pasture

1 part awesome weather

1 part smores

Nate is JUST ABOUT in heaven while on this.

Brave girls-sooo surprised Abby actually rode!

Wouldn't be complete without the Smores!

And messy Smores faces.

She just looks like she belongs on a horse.

Such an animal lover this girl is.

Ok, let's be honest. I was more scared than Emma.

I, on the other hand, am NOT a horse lover.

Cute country girls.

Nate ended up being the designated driver of the ATVs for the kids who had dads on call.

(Not that he minded :o)

Recipe for a Rip-Roarin' Massive Slip'n'Slide:

4 parts AgBag (large portion)

1 part Grandpa willing to set it up

1 part tent stakes

1 part hose

1 part hill

1 part cousins

1 part great end-of-September weather!

Cousins. So nice to live close to family!

Ok, don't act like your childhood dream wasn't a slip'n'slide this massive.

I know it was. We could've charged admission for this...it was fun.

Go speed racer!

Fun. Really.

Emma didn't quite get the speed the other girls did. :o)

Sharing apples after the hard work of the slip'n'slide.

So did I try it you ask? Heck yes I did. Jean shorts and all. It really was fun. However, when you run, jump, and land on your rear to go down the slide, the impact jars your brain a little more when you're not a kid anymore. I think the kids thought I was nuts. :o) You only live once, right? (and NO this video is NOT of me jarring my brain on the slip'n'slide :o)

sapporo ichiban

i, like my friend andrea, have no good title for this blog post. so sapporo ichiban it is. which a friend once told me means "number one noodle" in japanese. (it's their kind of Top Ramen).

we've just been doing the usual lately. trying to enjoy these last warm days before they are all but gone for all too long. we said goodbye to my mom, as she moved to california. i'm so happy for her, but so sad for the girls! (and me). we miss her! one of the last nights she was here we made a cafe rio dinner together. it was fun and i think she's hooked now :o) this picture was in the process of cooking. and yes my haircut is too short and it makes my face look fat. and yes i was wielding a large knife in the picture. she has a spatula for her weapon, you just can't see it.

this is my mom singing to the spatulas. HA! she's going to strangle me for this picture. love you mom!!

our sweet little abs. no reason for this picture, really.

and THESE are my new pull-out cupboard shelves. let's be honest folks, why on EARTH do they build DEEP kitchen cupboards with short shelves?! you can't ever get to anything in the back. so all of your food goes to waste. of course i had complained about this cupboard a couple of times, so nate turned them into pull-out shelves. and i think he did it for about $8 a shelf. worth it? every penny. I LOVE THEM! (and i love him too of course!)

oh, did you need something in the back of the bottom shelf? lemme pull it out for you...

cute kiddos...savoring every last drop of summer weather. abs, ems, and our cute neighbor hayden.

caitlin opted out of the LARGE pool in the backyard. instead she wanted to do homework. ite.

big girl pants!

and she's POTTY TRAINED!!!

(these are her 'pull-up-panties' she wears at night)

i'll openly admit that i've cheated life in the potty training department. caitlin took 4 days from start to no accidents, abby took 1 day, and emma took a day-and-a-half. for real. i tried for a day to potty train emma in arizona while we were packing and watching brody, but it was just too busy. so i told her when we moved to utah, she could wear panties. but then the yard took a lot of work, and we decided once the girls started school, it was going to be time. so we started on thursday...and she learned so fast!! she must have an awesome bladder, she only has to go about every 4 hours. and she hates wearing diapers or 'pull-up-panties' at night, she insists on wearing 'regular panties' when she sleeps. unfortunately i'm not into the sheet washing every day (here's to you mom-diggity-dawwwg)...so i make her wear them. :o) GOOD JOB EMMA...we are so proud of you!!

the 'sticker chart'. candy didn't work too well as a bribe, but this worked like a dream.