Take Part in Art

Friday we took Trax and went to the Utah Arts Festival downtown. When I was in college I worked at the Advisement Center for the College of Fine Arts and Communications, in the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU. I was surrounded by art and artists all the time. From musicians, to graphic artists, illustrators and painters, to actors and singers. I loved going to plays and was required to attend for some of my classes. I really liked my Humanities classes and learning all about the history of art and culture. I also loved looking at the the different student exhibits. So, I absolutely loved this art festival. The kids really enjoyed it too. Gretchen who is a little artist herself (she likes to draw and color), kept noticing the variety of booths and the different art. All the kids loved the children's area, where they got their faces painted, tried out some musical instruments, and got to do a little painting themselves. After Dylan got his face painted and I was pushing him around in the stroller, he was roaring at everyone we passed--it was so cute. I want to make this a tradition and plan to go every year!

Yee Haw!

For the past 3 summers we have made it a point to go to the local rodeo. We always see someone we know from our quaint town. The kids like to watch the animals and cowboys and cowgirls. But, I think they like the treats we bring even more. We also really enjoy the fireworks show at the end.

Swimming lessons

We have been doing swimming lessons for the past few weeks! All three kids are taking at the same time, in different classes. We've got Dylan in Pre-level 1, Taylor in level 3 and Gretchen in level 4. They've all done a good job! Taylor and Gretchen both braved the high dive. Taylor just jumped the one time and called it good. Gretchen has been back up there a few times.

Lagoon

Last week we had a fun time at Lagoon! It was a great day to go, not too crowded. The kids had a great time. We hit the kiddie rides first and that's where we took all the pictures. I have to say, Gretchen and Taylor went on all the big rides, too. Gretchen loved all of them, including Wicked. Taylor seemed kind of in shock after Colossus, first he said he hated it, and then he wanted to go again. I think their favorite might of been The Bat. There were no lines, and they kept riding it, then getting off and running around and getting on again. They probably rode it 7 times!

Midway moments

We spent the Saturday before Father's Day up in Midway with Mike's family. It was a gorgeous evening, for some fishing and picture taking. Isn't the scenery just beautiful? We love going up there.

More Midway Pictures

Funny Dylan

Dylan has been dressing himself for quite a while now. And sometimes he tries to be funny and wears many layers of clothing at once. I think he has on at least 4 shirts here, you can only see 3 of them. After a couple of minutes he started to get hot and stripped those off as fast as he could.

Pony Rides

My friend, Eve, invited us to her little girl, Natalie's birthday party last week. And they had a pony there in the backyard, giving rides to all the party guests (well, you know, the kids). They just loved the pony. The whole party was so fun, we were so glad we got to go!

Tagged---4 things

Four Jobs I've Held:
* Sales Associate, JC Penney (high school days)
* Front Desk Clerk, Homestead Resort, Midway, UT
* Server, Lone Star Steakhouse
* Academic Advisor, BYU

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over:
* Anne of Green Gables series
* Man from the Snowy River
* Somewhere in Time
* any of the movies based on a Jane Austen book (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, etc.)

Four TV Shows I Like:
* So You think You Can Dance
* Medium
* Top Chef
* What Not to Wear

Four Items I Couldn't Live Without Each Day:
* Sports bra (a MUST during exercise)
* Make-up (at least cover-up and mascara)
* Bobby-pin (I like my side-sweeping bangs, but by the end of the day, they start to bug)
* Dishwasher (It was broken for a while, not fun)

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
* On vacation with the family
* On vacation with just Mike
* Other than that, I'm pretty happy right here

Four Things I do almost everyday without fail:
* dishes
* make my bed (it does say almost everyday)
* exercise
* laugh at something one of my kiddos or Mike says

Four of my favorite foods:
* Bajios Shrimp and Pineapple salad with added mango salsa
* Any kind of berry, raspberry is probably at the top of the list
* Cheesecake
* Dove chocolate promises

Four items I wish I had right now:
* a new Driver (for golfing)
* a great swimsuit that fits just perfectly
* tomato cages (my tomato plants are getting big and not growing straight)
* a wedding ring that I could get on my finger (a few months ago I jammed my finger playing b-ball and my knuckle is still swollen and my ring won't fit!)

Four things on my "to do list" right now:
* weed
* fold and put away laundry
* take a shower
* pick up last minute Father's day presents (and food for the get-togethers)

Four people I am tagging:
* Jamie
* Kristine A.
* Audrey
* Emilee M.

When I grow up...

Taylor's class did a fashion show for the kindergarten program. They were supposed to dress up like what they wanted to be when they grow up. Well, Taylor wanted to dress up like a Jazz player and said he wanted to be an NBA basketball player when he grows up. Quite a change from last year in preschool when he said he wanted to be a farmer. He was so cute in the program. When it was his turn he was supposed to walk from one end of the stage to the other, turning a circle at each end. He came out and kind of froze right in the middle of the stage. Afterwards I asked him why he didn't do the walk on stage, he said he was too nervous. After the fashion show, the class sang some songs and then they watched a DVD slideshow of pictures from the year. Taylor sang his songs so well. I was really proud of him. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for coming and watching our big Kindergarten graduate!

2nd grade talent show

For the end of the year, Gretchen's class did a talent show. It was so fun to watch and see all the different talents. There were two kids who showed how they had trained their dogs, a few pianists played some songs, there were rope jumpers, comedians, gymnasts, and then our hula hooper. Gretchen did a cute little routine to I like to move it, move it! And I found that fun hula hoop that actually has flashing lights---which really enhanced the routine ;-). I cannot believe I will have a 3rd grader come the end of July! It was a fun year for Gretchen, I know she learned a lot and made some good friends.

Decadent Chocolate Cake Recipe

As requested by Stephanie & Audrey...

Decadent Chocolate Cake

Ingredients for cake:
1 cup water
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 stick sweet butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups less 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 egg whites

Frosting:
2 Tbs butter or margarine
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 Tbs heavy cream (or evaporated canned milk)
1-1/4 cup confectioner sugar (sifted)
1 tsp vanilla

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Knock out excess flour. Pour boiling water over chocolate and butter. Let stand until melted. Stir in vanilla and sugar. Whisk in egg yolks, blending well. Mix together sour cream and baking soda, then whisk into batter. Add flour and baking powder and mix well. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir 1/4 into batter thoroughly, then scoop remaining egg whites on top of batter and fold in gently. Pour batter into prepared pan. Set in middle of rack in the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until edges pull away from sides of pan and cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Unmold and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: Place all ingredients in a sauce pan over low heat. Whisk until smooth, adding more sugar if needed.

**It seems kind of complicated, but it is so worth it. The cake is moist, the frosting is fudgy and the combination is incredible!**
One tip: Use the Pam baking spray with flour already in it (instead of greasing and flouring) in the bundt pan. It works so well. I used to have the cake stick in spots when I tried to get it out, but not with this spray!

Taylor turns 6!

It was a busy week. We had our anniversary and then Taylor had his 6th birthday on Friday. He is about 4 months old in the baby picture (aaah). Taylor is turning into such a big boy. He is a good big brother to Dylan. He loves sports so much. He also loves to play Xbox and computer games. Taylor is a great reader and really likes school. For his birthday he got a real basketball standard. He also got some other fun backyard games, new clothes, and a kite. When we asked him what his favorite present was (surely he would say his new and expensive basketball hoop), he said the Pokemon cards. He really wanted some of those--he's been carrying them around ever since. To celebrate, Taylor wanted to go to Boondocks. We got a little wet after the bumper boats. Taylor loved playing the games and getting tickets, he got 330. He cashed most of those in for Fun Dip candy. Then we came back home for cake. All three kids have wanted me to make them this chocolate cake for their birthday this year. It is a good one.