Peach Julius

A few years ago Emma went to play with her friend Kayla. While Emma was there Michelle made Peach Julius's (Or is it Julius'? Who knows? Who cares? I don't!) for the girls. When I went to pick up Emma she was raving about this thing she had and how I just had to make it. I asked what it was and if I could have the recipe. Michelle told me it was a Peach Julius and jotted down the recipe on a little bitty post-it note. I still have that post-it and I keep it on my fridge so I can make these every year. Each time I see it I think fondly of Michelle, peaches and summer.

Now I have to be honest. I was scared to death to try these because I think the Julius's you find in the malls are WRETCHED, HORRID and VILE. The source of all evil is that toxic power they use. Barf! I gave in however to my little daughters demands and made the julius and actually really really enjoyed it. I also like to think that it really isn't that bad for you either. A little sugar never killed anyone right? Still though, I prefer to call it a shake but learned last night that many of my family members would call that blasphemy since I use milk and ice and no ice cream. (Whispering-I hate vanilla ice cream and swear I can taste it in a shake and it leaves a curdled milk taste on my tongue so this recipe is actually better for me. Jen don't rat me out okay.)

So as long as the peach gods keep leaving peaches in the bountiful harvest booth we will be enjoying a shake/julius before bed.

Peach Julius

3-5 peaches peeled and diced

3/4 C Sugar

1 C milk

12-24 ice cubes

Blend together and enjoy! I half the recipe and this is what we yield. Paul does not partake.

The Year is Flying By

I think that doing a picture a day and scrapping them by the week is making this year seem like it is rushing by faster than ever. I can't believe that we are on week 34 and day 230 something. It's just going way too fast. While I have *loved* doing this project and plan to finish out the year, I will be glad when it is over. I do not plan to do it again. I prefer to live in the ignorant bliss of just looking at a calendar here and there and not realizing exactly how far into the year I really am. 

I think that this page with just the kids is one of my all time, most favorite pages ever. It's probably because of the subject matter ;) I know I am biased but I think they are adorable.

I Got Bored

So I did more pages.

On Sunday (I think? Maybe Saturday, does it matter?) I got an email for a free photo book. It's the email I had been waiting for. It's the reason I had been scrapping my vacation pictures since we got home. For once I was prepared, okay fine, more prepared than have been in the past. Sunday we didn't have church because of the temple dedication so I whipped up a few more pages and had everything ordered by Monday. I just got notice that is shipped today. I am so excited. I can't wait to see it.

This is going to be out of order because you know me, I am lazy, and don't want to move pictures. 

This is the inside of the cover.

This page will be opposite of the Black Sand Beach page.
This is the front cover.
This is the back cover. 
The last page.
This is next to the Banyan Tree page. It bugs me because it is white but somehow I saved it after I had flattened it so I couldn't change the background without starting all over. Once again I was too lazy so I convinced myself I could live with it. 

We are so ready to go back.  I can't even tell you. 

I Have Two Finished Quilt Tops

One is this one that I finished on the 3rd of July. 

I hadn't finished piecing the back until yesterday. I was waiting to see if I wanted to do a fun accent detail but decided that the it overwhelmed me so I opted against it. Now it is ready to go off to the quilter. When will that happen? I don't know, keep reading.

I also finished up my Halloween/Fall quilt top.  

I was totally excited to sew the backing together so I could drop them both off together. Yesterday I busted out the backing and discovered that it is about a 1/4 yard too small. I wanted to scream. This was a kit that was all inclusive so it wasn't my error. I hopped online and bought a yard of contrasting fabric (I had to. This is last years line so it wouldn't be in any local stores. Also it is a striped backing so I had to get a contrast fabric. I would never be able to match of all the lines) and plan to have a contrast stripe across the top and the bottom of the back. Once again I find this all overwhelming so it will probably take my a while to do it. That's just how I roll.

I am still working on my Rainbow Sherbet and still getting frustrated because the one row still doesn't line up. I have five row left and my goal is to get most of the done today. It could happen! (you can see it in the distance in the pictures below. It hasn't changed much. Paul informed me that he is ready for it to be done. I guess he is tired of it hanging over the railing)

I was so proud of my progress yesterday that I rewarded myself by allowing myself to play with fabric for another quilt I plan to start soon. 

Ooh pretty. Isn't this so cool? If I ever get a quilt room I might just have to take a series of abstract fabric pictures to blow up as art. 

I wanted to see how the colors would work. This line is called Neptune from Moda. The pattern can be found on Moda's Bake Shop. It the Scruffily Quilt.

I really love these colors together, well mostly I do. It isn't as big as it should be because I couldn't stand the way the pink looked with all the blues and greens even though it didn't bother me when they were all rolled up together. I think this will be adorable when it is done. It will also be totally different that anything else I have made.

Family room or quilt room? It's hard to tell somedays. 

Yes I'm blogging again

I got invited to go to Dancing Under the Stars by my friend Tami Friday night. It was something that I had really wanted to see so I was absolutely thrilled when she asked my to go. Louis Van Amstel was suppose to be the host but he was booked at the last minute on Dancing with the Stars and flew out to meet his celebrity partner so we didn't get to see him. There we a lot of local dance troops who performed. They ranged from the cutest, tiniest, little girls, to professionals from Russia. Randi, Gev and Brandon from So You think you Can Dance were there and did awesome dances. The two kids who are in High School Musical 3 who were there also. The majority of the dances were from a local company and they were amazing. These are some shots that I got that night. Thank you to the kind stranger that sat next to me. He let me borrow his monopod and helped me with my settings as it got darker and darker. 

Here is Randi. She was amazing.

Randi and a parter, I didn't catch who he was.

Gev, Brandon and the kids from High School Musical 3.

Gev stole the show with his freestyle.

This is that solo dance that Brandon did on the show that got him the rave reviews toward the end of the season. It was powerful but honestly, I still can't stand him LOL!

This is the local company that performed the most. They were so versatile. I really enjoyed watching them. These are also some of my favorite pictures of the night.

Thursday was also Pack Meeting

Thursday we got to go to pack meeting to see Andrew get his three belt loops and pin that he had earned over the summer. He has also earned his gold arrow point and one silver. Now I just need to get my butt in gear and make sure he gets his wolf soon so he can get those points! The meeting's theme was Fun in the Sun. (thus the leaders hat) We also had the funniest relay race, I would love to post pictures of that but I love my friends too much so I won't. Anyway we are really proud of Andrew and I love seeing him get so excited about something. He really is loving cub scouts, especially the uniform and all the stuff you get to put on it. 

We need to buy him something to put his pins on. He was so excited that he just stuck it right on his shirt.

Showing off the belt loops

New Recipe for August

We are getting close to the end of the month and I hadn't tried anything new yet. I saw this recipe for Foil Packet Chicken with Snow Peas and Carrots on the blog, My Kitchen Cafe (That is a link that will take you to the recipe) and decided to try it. It sounded yummy, easy and I am still of the mindset that there has to be something healthy that we will all eat. The only problem? I don't like Hoisin Sauce. I went to the store looking for substitutions and decided to try sweet and sour and a spicy szechuan sauce. I wanted to try plum sauce too but decided not to push my luck. 

So without further adieu here is the recipe.

Foil Packet Chicken with Snow Peas and Carrots

*Makes 4-6 foil packets

One bag of baby carrots (I bought the super small ones)
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 (1-inch) piece of fresh gingerroot, peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (I have the minced garlic from Costco and used that)

Salt and pepper
I used 2 chicken breasts since I knew the kids would eat too much.
Sauce of your choice (Hoisin, Sweet and Sour, Spicy Szechuan or Plum all seem like good options)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut 4 pieces of aluminum foil large enough to wrap everything up. In a small bowl, combine garlic and the ginger you just grated.

I like to trim up my chicken and get all the nasty stuff off. Also I wanted smaller pieces so I knew for sure it was cooked through since I couldn't peak in the packets to check.

Arrange the carrots and peas on the aluminum foil.

 Sprinkle with the ginger/garlic mixture, and salt and pepper to taste.

Brush both sides of the chicken with your sauce. Top each portion of vegetables with a piece of chicken. Salt lightly.

Fold up your packets. Put the foil packets on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve with rice, we like the jasmine rice. (I labeled mine since we had two different sauces)

Mine didn't turn out as pretty as the ones on the other blog. They didn't get that nice browning on them. This is the sweet and sour.

This is the spicy szechuan

Our Review: These were okay. Paul felt like the carrots were too crunchy (it didn't bother me but as we know he thinks veggies should be smooshy) and that they chicken in the sweet and sour was a bit dry. He preferred my spicy sauce but it was too spicy. We need to see if there is just szechuan instead of spicy. They ate the meat and rice but they totally steered clear of the veggies. I would be willing to mess around with this to make it fit my family better but I doubt we will make it again for a while. 

That's Not Something You See Everyday

Thursday I was just waiting around for the kids to get back from their first day of school. I still had 20 minutes or so before they arrived when I got a phone call from Angela. Se was letting me know of a photo op. Let me just say, I was so flattered that she would think to call me. It really made my day. She told me to drive to Lindon and I would see a bunch of hang-gliders. I asked if she thought I would have time to get there and back and she assured me I could do it no problem. I hopped in my car and started heading down my street. It didn't take long before I realized that they were all drifting right towards my house! I got a few pictures and then went back home and took a bunch more from my back yard. I can say that after watching these people I will never hang-glide. They are totally at the mercy of the wind. I saw them go forward, backward, sideways, and some even looked like they were going to spin out of control. It would totally freak me out. 

This was right above my house!

I thought these two were totally going to crash together but they pulled away.
This gives you an idea of how many there were. This is the northern most cluster. There were a few groups like this.
This was the middle cluster that was closest to my house.
I figured we would find this guy in our backyard. He was so close to the ground right above us.

The First Day of School

I have been dying to blog the pictures from this morning but decided I would wait until the kids were home from school. Well they just made it home and only had great things to report. Emma made a new friend and she happens to live right next door. Andrew has a hot girl in his class and both kids still love their teachers. As a mother I can't ask for anything more!

The kids got up a little bit earlier than usual today and had a nutritious meal of Apple Jacks.

Bead Head

The clothes were all set out and ready to go.

The kids were ready in record time. It left us lots of time for the traditional pictures!

Emma bought this bag for herself at the BYU bookstore on Saturday.

I love this one. I love them. I get emotional just thinking about it.

Poor Emma. I pushed up her pants so I could put lotion on her legs and didn't get them back even. Oops.

I may love the kids but I'm not loving the shoes.

Daddy wanted to drive them to school. I followed them so I could take more pictures.

Since Emma is in the 6th grade now this will be the last picture that I will get to take on the steps of this school. It is so hard for me to accept that.

This is also the last time that Emma and Andrew will ever be in the same school. That sort of breaks my heart too. I love knowing that they have each other there.

I think our school is the best. The principal is out each year to greet the kids and assure the weepy moms and dads (yes we were a tad emotional today) that they would take good care of our kids. She is a lovely lady and a great principal.

I waited outside for the bus to come.

Here is Emma and her new friend Julia walking home.

I missed Andrew getting off the bus but here is is walking home.

I think my kids are incredible and I love them. I am also very proud of them. They are smart and funny and loving. They have their moments of course but not a day goes by that I don't feel grateful to have them. I am also very thankful that they both had a great day!