I want to ride my bicycle.....I want to ride my bike!

Last night for FHE we decided it would be fun to go on our first bike ride as a family. For my birthday Ben bought my a bike stroller but Caleb was too little to sit in it and it has sat in our garage ever since. So we broke it out and we were off. We rode our bikes to Ben's grandparents house and back. Maybe 5 miles...??? It was a beautiful night...perfect for a bike ride! It was especially funny to see little baby Caleb bouncing with every bump. He enjoyed it though and even fell asleep on the way home. Yay for bikerides!

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Our trip to Nauvoo

This was Caleb's first ride on any airplane. He did great, he slept on both flights! We were living on fumes from only 3 hours of sleep the night before, so we were very grateful.

The first sight-seeing adventure we went on was to the Carthage Jail. The sister missionaries took us on a great tour and told lots of stories I had never heard before. If only I can remember them all though.

On Friday we attended the Nauvoo temple with Ben's parents! It was awesome!! The spirit was so strong and everything about the temple inside and out was majestic!

One night we attended the Nauvoo Pagent. It was just a reinactment of what occured while the saints lived in Nauvoo. The actors were great and made me have a new appreciate for all the sacrifices they made. The actors made it so realistic!! we even participated in some pre-show games. We stunk at the stilts!! Ben rocked in the potato sack races!!

At the Visitor's Center they have a Memorial for Women. There is somethinf like 18 different statues dedicated to women. So "The Women" took a lovely picture.


The Jospeh, Hyrum and Emma Smith memorials.




At the end of our Nauvoo visit, we did Hinckley suggested and took a walk down The Trail of Hope or trail of tears on Parley Street (The path the saints took as they left Nauvoo) and read the journal entries of those early Saints on the signs posted along the way. It was sad to turn back and look at the beautiful white Temple, standing on the hill, and imagine how those Saints must have felt. I tear up just rethinking it in my mind.

I have also posted a slide with more pictures (at bottom of page). Our visit was so much fun and I am glad we went. I would love to go back again and spend more time in that beautiful and sacred city!!!

New Pictures of my babies...

Recipe Monday...yay!

This recipe is very great for summer parties or pot lucks! My mom used to make this alot when I was little and to this day it is one of my favorites!

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Black Bean and Corn Salsa

1 can black beans, drained
1 tsp. cumin
Juice of 1 lime
1 c. chopped cilantro
1 c. corn
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp. olive oil
¾ c. salsa (any kind)
Diced avocado to taste
4 finely chopped tomatoes
Diced green pepper to taste
Diced onion to taste
Garlic salt and pepper to taste

Mix together – yum yum!

Moose, Bears and Mosquitos...Oh my!

BEWARE: This is long and maybe a little boring with lots of pictures!

Last Thursday we headed to Island Park for a little family get away with my parents and siblings. It was so much fun. Unfortunately we didn't see any Moose, Luckily we didn't see any bears (other than at IMAX and a big pile of poop behind the Boat House) and we were oh so fortunate to see plenty of mosquitos up close and personal. We had alot of fun together talking, playing horseshoes, going to West, fishing and just being together as a family. I look forward to doing it again next year!

This is my dad (Super Grandpa) hanging out with "the girls". We went to the IMAX and watched the movie about Bears. And we couldn't resist making a little detour to the Candy Store in West. It was expensive but fun.

This is Emily and Taylor (Caleb in the background in his baby carrier) on the back of the paddleboat.

On Saturday Ben and I decided to go Paddle Boating at Mack's Inn. I think it was a good experience but I am not sure I would do it again. The current was so strong that we kept getting marrooned in seaweed and rocks. We spent more time getting unstuck than we did anything else. At one pont we had a whole family looking down on us from the Mack's Inn cabins. They were throughly entertained by our stupidity! If nothing else they got a chuckle and I got a chuckle. I was laughing so hard at one point in time that peddling was out of question. From the picture above you can plainly see that Ben didn't find it that humorous!

After paddle boating we just sat on the dock and played in the river.

Saturday night Ben decided to take me on a romantic 4-wheelin' getaway. We rode for an hour all alone and enjoyed just being together. The trails we went down were so pretty. There were also so many wild flowers out that made it colorful and just plain enjoyable!

Chris and his new puppy came up and went fishing with us. The view was beautiful down at the lake! Averi even had fun!

Emily and Taylor with a cup full of wildflowers.

Week 3 Recipe

This cake is one that Ben's Grandma introduced me to and used to make alot. It is so delish!!! I forget I have it, but it is easy and fun to make for any occasion.

Amish Cake (Recipe straight from Amish country PA.)

½ c. butter
3 c. flour
2 ¼ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, you can always use milk and apple cider vinegar)
2 tsp. baking soda (put in milk)

Cream sugars and butter together then add buttermilk, soda, flour and vanilla. Bake at 350º F until done. Take out of oven and spread on topping. Put back in oven until bubbly (about 10 min.)

Topping

6 Tbsp. butter
1 c. sugar
4 Tbsp. milk

Today I put Emily down for a nap and did some scrappin'. Caleb even helped by grabbing the mouse several times and punched a few keys here and there.

Emily was about 6 months old in the picture and boy was she cute. I still think she is cute, just little girl adorable instead of baby adorable.

Camping...Adventure?

This past weekend we decided that we would have a family camp-out (in our backyard). We got all excited and even went and bought SPECIAL camp-out food-which consisted of strawberry milk and Little Debbie marshmallow filled oatmeal cookies. We thought it would be really fun to bring our TV in our tent and watch movies until we all fell asleep....well WRONG. Lesson learned: It is all fun and games until mommy gets mad, daddy falls asleep and Emily throws up all over. So we watched Mary Poppins and at 1:00 AM Emily was wide eyed and bushy tailed-NOT wanting to sleep. I told her that we had to go inside because we had given her plenty of chances....she gets mad and mommy gets thrown up on, not to mention all the blankets and Ben's nice mummy bag were then covered in pink chunks of who knows what. Let's just say that we came inside and didn't wake up until 10 the next morning. The tent still stands in my backyard. I am somewhat sad that all the time and effort was put into it and we never used it-I guess this is just another lesson learned.

P.S. Caleb was a trooper! He fell asleep and through it all he never woke up and went right in his bed when we decided to head in the house! Way to go Cabbie!

The flash was a little bright and made Caleb have the "Deer in headlights" look.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

White Chocolate Berry Dessert

8 Squares (1 oz. each) white baking chocolate

6 T. Butter cubed

2 eggs

1/2 C. sugar

3 tsp. vanilla

1 C. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Filling

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

3 squares (1 oz. each) white baking chocolate, melted and cooled

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 C. sugar

1/3 C. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Topping

1 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed

4 squares (1 oz. each) white baking chocolate, melted and cooled

1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced

Melt white chocolate in doulbel broiler, stir until smooth. Cool.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar until lemon-colored. Beat in melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Combine flour and salt; beat into egg mixture. Spread in 9 x 13 baking dish; set aside.

For filling, in a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and chocolate. Beat in the egg, sugar =, sour cream and vanilla just until combined. Carefully spread over bottom layer. Cut through filling with a knife to swirl.

Bake @ 3500 degrees for 40-45 mon. Cool on wire rack.

Just before serving, fold whipped topping into white chocolate. Fold in strawberries; spread over dessert.

This is so yummy! I made it on the 4th. It takes sometime, but it is well worth the effort!!

Ten Tiny Toes

One of my best friends Elisa came from Boise to visit for the weekend and she took some pictures of Caleb. She did great job!! He is growing so fast I need to soak in as much of this as I can.

Come on and Celebrate!

We had so much fun over the 4th of July. It was nice to relax, catch up with family and friends and most of all eat YUMMY YUMMY food!!! We spent the day with my family and then came back to Blackfoot and enjoyed a concert performed by the community of Blackfoot--KUDOS to them because it was really enjoyable! It made me really appreciate those who are fighting for my freedoms! After the concert we set off fireworks and then came home and listened to everyone else set off fireworks---all the way into the next morning. Lucky-I know! The next day we just hung out as a family.

One highlight of the weekend was Caleb got his first haircut---he is only 3 months old, but he needed it!

Favorite Recipe Tag

So here is my favorite recipe tag: Although it is only a tag I think I will start posting a recipe every week because it is fun and I like to try new things:

Pasta Salad:

12 oz. bag bow tie pasta
12 oz. box radiatore pasta
20 oz. can pineapple tidbits
2 cups chopped celery
4 green onions, sliced
1 pkg. craisins
1 cup cashews or almonds
1 cup grapes, sliced
4 cups chicken breast, cooked, cooled and diced
1 cup mayo (Do not use Miracle whip)
16 oz. bottle of Coleslaw dressing

Directions:
Cook pasta, rinse with cool water and let cool. Mix with other ingredients.

Variations: (You can play around with these ingredients omiting some and adding others)
*Add coconut
*Replace the green onion with red onion.
*Add cilantro
*Add corn
*Add green or red pepper
*Use Cool whip instead of Coleslaw dressing

Have fun and I hope you enjoy!

I tag Adrienne, Daynna, and Tracy!