What's in your salad?

The other day we were having a salad with dinner. As my four year old picked up the salad dressing, she noticed the label and exclaimed,"Why would they put a nose in the salad?"

Pretty good description of a mushroom, don't you think?

And They're Off......

These two are enjoying a little more time to get ready as we start later this year. Of course it means we end school later as well. Truly gets us hopping to get to those after school activities.

Karebear was excited to not have to go on the first day (at our school 8th graders get to start a day late). 

How did she spend her extra day off? 

• Reading of course! 
• She got to pick her favorite lunch-tomato soup. 
• She just couldn't spend the whole day away, though and headed into school in the afternoon to take pictures for year book.

Yellowstone Bear World

Located just outside of Rexburg so why it's called Yellowstone we have no idea.

While we were excited to see bears in the wild we sure enjoyed seeing some animals up close. Our local zoo currently doesn't have bears so this was truly worth the stop.

We loved watching the baby bears.

There was an option to pay and feed the bears. We just drove around after the feed truck. It was just as good and a lot cheaper.

Riding some rides was just what we needed to break up our drive home.

A car was the perfect first ride for this timid guy

.

They probably have the best petting zoo I have ever seen

It even came with a kiss!

Bud Boy was content to feed the ducks.

We said our trip would be complete if we saw a moose. 

The one they had here would have to do.

Yellowstone-the everything

We saw a variety of water falls including the Mesa Falls which we toured on our way up.

It was here that Jolly J found this caterpillar.

Thankfully this wasn't the only wild life we saw. We lots of elk, swans, a grizzly bear and two cubs. We also saw a black bear and 4 cubs.

There was a wolf that kept teasing the momma bear. It was quite neat to see the bear chase the wolf away.

We also enjoyed some stopped traffic time for the bison. We even got to see two bulls fighting!

We spent three days in Yellowstone Park. Each day it would cloud up about 4 pm and rain for the rest of the day. Getting caught in rain and even hail a few times just added some excitement while we enjoyed the sites.

The Fountain Paint Pot was neat to watch

After seeing Old Faithful go off. We toured the area around here. We truly loved seeing many geysers go off  thanks to our unplanned good timing.

Riverside Geyser

We loved the colors of the many hot springs!

Grand Prismatic Spring

Lower Mammoth area

We would highly recommended taking Uncle Tom's Trail

to the see the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone Canyon.

For the dads of this group they were having a road rally as well. It was neat seeing lots of old cars as we traveled around the park.

On Sunday we enjoyed a day with Dad! (this is a big deal when he is the bishop). We took a walk around the Big Springs area where we saw lots of trout and the Johnny Sack's Cabin.

One day we rented a raft/boat and floated down the Big Springs River.

 We took a chance to play in the COLD water. 

Bud Boy loved throwing rocks and 

the rest of us loved looking for fish 

(well most of us did; Karebear really wasn't too keen on the fish).

We probably wouldn't have made it down without this little man at the oars.

For our teenager daughter the trip was complete after some shopping in West Yellowstone. We even enjoyed some carnival rides when we stopped at Bear World to break up the trip home. But that deserves a post all it's own...

Yellowstone-the cabin

Our family vacation this year was six days in a rented cabin just outside of West Yellowstone in an area known as Henry's Lake.

This cabin was perfect for us and had everything we wanted, except a DVD player. We thought this funny as they had a 42 inch television and DVD's, but no player.

It had a loft where all the kids could sleep in their own beds.

A stocked kitchen (minus the food of course). We even had a dinner bell!

It had some of the coldest water we have ever drunk (something we are now missing).

Thank goodness Bud Boy didn't have to pump the water for us.

We sure enjoyed, though, the decorations they had throughout the house to reminds us of times past.

We were impressed that it even had toys and games. Bud Boy couldn't get enough time with the cars and the "tire" truck.

It truly was a trip where we enjoyed a little of everything.

I Looked Out the Window and What Did I See?

We recently returned from a family vacation. The next morning when I looked out my kitchen window I was taken back by the size of our tomato plants.  

They were huge!

We had gotten our garden in a little late this year. Before our week long vacation, the plants were only half this size. They truly must have had perfect weather while we were gone. As I was trimming these, I was excited to see many green tomatoes. Can't wait until they turn red-there truly is nothing like the taste of a home grown tomato!

My daughter has been doing a Young Women Personal Progress value project this year and working in the garden with us. It has been so nice to not have to coax her into helping. I am looking forward to having her help to can tomatoes and marinara sauce. Only fitting since spaghetti & meatballs is one of her favorite foods.

Here's the recipe for our time tested marinara sauce. We have been using it for years!

32 cups peeled, quartered tomatoes.
7 peppers chopped (the original recipe calls for 3 red, 4 green. I usually do all green as that is what I often plant)
4 small onions chopped
3 Tablespoons garlic powder
3 Tablespoons basil
2 Tablespoons oregano
1/2 cup salt
1 cup sugar
8-10 cans tomato paste.

Put in a large pot and simmer for a minimum of 2 hours. (I usually do all night).
Fill jars and process in a pressure canner (at 13lbs. for 3001'-6000') 25 minutes for quarts or 20 minutes for pints

Makes approximately 9 quarts.

What's round, orange and tangy sweet?

You've got it-Apricots!

My neighbor let us come and pick some

which we have been busily turning into this.

It truly is one my kids favorites!

Here's how we do it.

After washing and taking out the pits, the apricots are put into a blender. We add in a banana or a cup of crushed pineapples to sweeten things a little.

Blend it all up and then spread onto dryer sheets. 

If your dryer didn't come with sheets don't worry neither did mine. Well, it came with one but it's way to thick to do anything with. Just go to your local hardware store. Buy some thick plastic sheeting (4 or 6 ml). Cut it to fit the size of your drying racks. Viola-drying sheets! I don't spray the sheets with anything. The leather and plastic just pull apart when dry. It takes about 12 hours. I rotate the trays once.

The apricot puree also makes great popsicles

Pour the puree into plastic nut cups. Place in a Popsicle stick that has been cut in half (or one year I was lucky enough to find sticks that small so check in your local store). Then slide into the freezer over night. My kids love it that they are told yes whenever they want a Popsicle.

We also love apple leather! Most of the time I just cheat and spread out applesauce on the dryer sheets. I can then make leather all year long. Perfect for school lunches!

Big River

The cooler air was sorely welcome. It had been a long, hot day with temperatures threatening to break 100. As the white suburban wound it's way up the canyon, the middle aged couple enjoyed watching for waterfalls. After exiting the tunnel they reached their destination.

"Did you get my jacket?" the husband asked as they boarded the small bus. His wife assured him that she did as she settled into the crook of his arm, content to enjoy the short drive to the base of the the ski lift. From here they loaded onto a wagon pulled by a blue tractor. It slowly, but surely climbed up the hill.

Upon exiting the wagon, they walked hand in hand up the stepped walkway. Soon the green, grassy hillside came into view. Immediately memories returned of when a group of teenage girls dotted those hill sides, eating picnic dinners with their fathers. They then enjoyed watching the play, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The perfect show for girls who one day dreamed of romance.

After turning in their tickets, this husband and wife settled into a spot on the grassy hillside. As she looked down on the stage she couldn't help smile. It truly was a good thing they had started doing plays here again a few years back. There was just something magical about having pine trees for a back drop. All too soon they could hear the announcer welcoming everyone to this year's show.

After what seemed like minutes it was intermission. People everywhere could be seen pulling on jackets as the temperature had dipped once the sun went down. The line for hot chocolate was quickly growing. Surprisingly, though, so was the line for the tractor. Upon closer inspection it was mostly filled with parents with young children. The hour was late but one would surely miss out if they left now. While the second half was the most entertaining it was mother nature that captivated the night. The stars lit up the dark night, with the big dipper as the center spotlight to finish out a magical evening.




If you haven't ever had the chance to experience outdoor theater we would highly recommend it. It's a date night tradition we look forward to all year.



On a side note. We left the kids to spend a night with Grandma (Thanks mom!) for we knew we would get home late. Finally! I had the chance to sleep in (my youngest has an amazing internal clock and is up before 7 no matter what time he goes to bed). Want to guess what woke me up Saturday morning? My husband out watching cartoons. Truly his kid sized internal clock still works as well.