Camping up Nebo Loop

This weekend we left the big city life behind and decided to go camping. This is one of our favorite summer activities to do as a family. We went up Nebo Loop to Black Hawk campground. We went up Friday afternoon, set up camp and went fishing at Payson Lakes. We had fish, hot dogs and s'mores for dinner. Then we slept in our big tent. Saturday, we fished again, hiked up the mountain, made a quick trip to town for more ice, and had dutch oven potatoes and dutch oven chicken for dinner. It was DELICIOUS! A little more fishing and then bed. That night, Boston got two bloody noses and we were all tired. We all needed a bath but Boston especially so we packed up early and headed home.

Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Christian camping

Christian helped the boys set up the tent. He was awesome at putting worms on all the hooks of people that refused (ie. his mom).

He learned how to gut a fish for the first time. He is already a pro at it. He almost lost the fish a couple of times in the stream he was cleaning it in. Those are slippery little guys.

Notice he is wearing Grandpa's hat.

Kennedy camping

Kennedy was the Pro-fisherman. On Friday she caught 3 fish! Yes, she was the only one who caught any fish. I think it was because she was wearing Grandpa's lucky fishing hat. Christian took the hat to gut the fish. I guess he thought he needed a little luck.














Most of the weekend she could be found swinging in the hammock.

Scottlynn camping

Scottlynn always makes any trip more fun. She had a great time doing everything.




















Scottlynn was quite a trooper on our hike. She fell over a tree trunk and scraped up her leg. Honestly the picture looks worse then it was. She also scratched up her arm pretty good. But she kept on hiking. What a compliment to have the biggest injury and still be the most pleasant.

Boston camping

Boston was basically a dirt ball the entire weekend. Look at these feet!

On Saturday he caught the one and only fish.

He too got some scrapes ont he journey but his was not on the hike, rather on the way to the bathroom. He mostly enjoyed peeing in the bushes but I didn't photograph that!

He was pretty exhausted after hiking up the mountain.

He too enjoyed the hammock

Mom and Dad camping

You can't imagine how hard it is to get this man to take off his shades for a picture.

Here are a couple of pictures just to prove I was there. Make-up isn't really convenient for camping...sorry.

The hike!

We wanted to go on a hike. I know, any normal family might choose a designated hiking path, but no, we wanted to climb the mountain...with a four year old. Everyone was a trooper going up, especially Boston. I lead the path and it was not too hard.













Once at the top the view was beautiful!.



















As we went to come back down we noticed a path that looked easier. So we took that and Christian lead the way. Well before we knew it we were all in over our heads, litterally.





Boston here shows how we all felt.













But eventually we make it back out again and we were glad we faced the challenge.

The pulling teeth Queen!

For those of you who don't know, this is my dance student Megan. She is an absolute dream student and a fabulous dancer! I have had the privilage now of pulling TWO of her teeth. You need to look on her moms blog (funny farm) and read the post called,"teethies". Her dad pulled out one, her P.E. teacher pulled out one, I have now pulled out two, she herself has pulled out three, but her mother has never pulled one. Aparently they worked on it last night but today she came to my house and it just popped right out.



Here is Megan holding her tooth about 3 minutes after walking in my door.



Hey Lisa, isn't this a precious moment? I just have to rub it in a little. You may be better than me at gardening, cooking, cleaning, farming, blogging, and basically all those important life skills but I am a pro at pulling teeth. Megan says,"Sorry mommy".

Father's week

I know it would have made sense for me to post about Father's day last week but we needed an entire week to really celebrate.

We began the celebration on Sunday (father's day) by making Gary breakfast in bed. It consisted of homemade mac-n-cheese and toast with homemade strawberry jam. Gary is not very conventional when it comes to breakfast. He's more of a leftover sloppy joe kind of guy than a pop tart. So he was thrilled with this meal. As you can see, Boston ate as much as Gary did.

We gave him a new white shirt and a new temple bag. He was able to use both on Friday.

We went to church and then Gary had to go to work. Not much of a Father's day so we decided to drag it out.

On Wednesday, he was able to go on a daddy daughter date with Kennedy and Scottlynn. What a lucky guy to have TWO dates! They played lots of games. The girls favorite was having him lay on his back with a cone in his mouth while they tried to fill it with chocolate pudding. They blobbed it all over his face and one blob went straight in his nose. He's been smelling chocolate ever since.

On Friday we went to the park and ate pizza. The kids had fun climbing trees and being lifted in and out by their big daddy!

We finished off the week by going swimming! Granny (grandma Halley) came along and took a couple of pictures. As you can see, Boston had a blast! The other kids had fun too but they were mostly on the bigger slides.

Gary is a great father. He loves to play with the kids. Even before he had kids he would rather watch a cartoon than any other show. I guess he is such a great dad because he is still a kid at heart. I have been tremendously blessed to have such a great father for my children and he is a fabulous husband too.

Happy Father's Day!

Praying For Time

This is a song I feel everyone should hear and know the lyrics to. It moved me so much on the "Idol Gives Back" night of American Idol. It is Carrie Underwood singing, "Praying for time". I have actually added the lyrics because I just think they are so great. I have not found any way to buy this version of it. I have the George Michael version which is a little echo-ey and just not as good. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and I hope it inspires us all to give a little more and realize we have much to give.

These are the days of the open hand

They will not be the last

Look around now

These are the days of the beggars and the choosers

This is the year of the hungry man

Whose place is in the past

Hand in hand with ignorance and legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor

And most of us are not sure

If we have too much but we’ll take our chances

Cause God stopped keeping score

I guess somewhere along the way

He must have let us all out to play

And turned his back

And all God’s children

Crept out the back door

And its hard to love

Theres so much to hate

Hanging onto hope

When there is no hope to speak of

And the wounded skies above

Say its much too late

Oh maybe we should all be praying for time

This is the year of the empty hand

Oh you hold onto what you can

And charity is a coat you wear twice a year

These are the days of the guilty man

The television takes a stand

And you find that what was over there

Is over here

So you scream from behind your door

Say whats mine is mine and not yours

I may have too much

But I'll take my chances cause God stopped keeping score

And you'll cling to the things they sold you

Did you cover your eyes when they told you

That He cant come back

Cause He has no children

to come back for

And its hard to love when theres so much to hate

And hanging onto hope

When there is no hope to speak of

And the wounded skies above

Say its much, much too late

Mm, well maybe we should all be praying for time.

I need your help!

As you may notice I am posting rather early in the morning. This is because as a mother/dance teacher I am unable to sleep due to anxiety over my next project. Each year I have to find music for and choreograph about 30-35 dances. Now while so far it has turned out fairly well I always feel I am on the verge of crashing and burning. Being my 10th recital (having two a year plus a couple summers) I am in desperate need of finding new music. Now because I try to coordinate the costume for the entire year I have to plan for the Spring recital at the same time as fall, at least to the point of what song I am using. So for Christmas I need Christmas songs. Please be specific. For example please don't tell me to use Jingle Bells, instead say Jingle Bells by Barry Manalow or Jingle Bells by SheDaisy, in which case I have used both anyway. Clogging songs tend to be harder for me to find for some reason so anything with an up beat tempo would be appreciated greatly. For spring our theme is Changing the World. But hey, if you know any great dance song just tell me. I can get most songs to fit into the theme one way or another.

Funny Farm has gone public!

I am just announcing that the Funny Farm blog has now gone public. This is my good friend Lisa. All I can tell you is that my life is better for knowing her and especially for reading her blog. It was by invitaion only when I first started to blog but I wanted all my friends to know it is now open so you can read it. It just brightens my day and I think it will brighten yours. Also, if you are wanting to see anything from the recitals of my dance school, she has videos and some pictures. I have plans to put them on my blog but...well...I have a lot of plans. For now, I hope you enjoy her blog as much as I do. www.boks-funnyfarm.blogspot.com

the BEST tilapia EVER

I got this recipe from Amberlyn and it is sooooo yummy! She actually passed on the key lime pie recipe as well. Anyway, it is one of my family's favorites and several of my friends and family want the recipe so here it is.

It's a parchement packet. Inside you layer fresh slices red, yellow, orange bell peppers, red onions and fresh green beans. Sprinkle those with salt, pepper and rice wine vinegar. Layer the tilapia fillet ontop, sprinkle generously with asian style seasoning. There is an amazing mix from McCormick you can see in the background pictured below. Finally top the fish with lemon and orange slices. Fold the parchement into a packet and a bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes. You will seriously be in heaven when you eat this dish. I am, and I can't wait to make it again and again. Amberlyn thinks you could also do this mexican style too. Add some chiptole seasoning (instead of asian) on top of the fish and then shred and add to a fried corn tortilla!!! YUM!!!!

Thanks Amberlyn!

In case you have never made a parchment packet as I had not you take two sides of the parchment up to the middle and start to fold them over and over in little folds until they meet the top of the food. Then you take one end and fold it in, in small folds until the last fold you make small diagonal folds in with the corners. Then repeat with the other side and it should stay. Man does that even make sense? Hopefully you all know how to fold it. If you really need help come over some time and I can show you, or call me and I can walk you through it. That or just slap some scotch tape on the darn thing!

Key lime pie

This recipe is simple and the best I have found. I admit, I did not make it up. It is from Emeril Lagasse. I always double it and take one to a neighbor. It is just as easy to make two as it is one. If you are going to go to the effort of making one you might as well be a good neighbor for the same work. I have even doubled it and made three smaller pies, probably 8 inch? I try to keep disposable pie pans on hand so they don't have to return anything.

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted

2 (14-ounce) cans condensed Milk

1 cup key lime or regular lime juice

2 whole eggs

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest

Pre heat oven to 357 degrees.
In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 15 minutes.
I have found the best way to do this is in a big baggie with a rolling pin. Measure crackers after crushing.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling.
Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Now key limes are tiny and you would have to squeese a million to get a cup. I have actually squeezed fresh regular limes and it is delicous, but the best flavor and easiest way is to use Nelly and Joes Key Lime Juice. I have used other bottled lime juice and it is not as good. Here is a picture so you know what to look for. I have also seen it with a clear bottle but same label.

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours

Mix all this until combined and creamy looking.

(if I am doing more than one I do a couple extra minutes).

The look will not really change so you just have to trust that it is done. It is a little thicker but still not entirely set. Let it cool a little on the counter and then put in the fridge to cool completely, at least 2 hours.

Once chilled, combine the sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie using a spatula. Sprinkle the lime zest as a garnish on top of the sour cream and serve chilled

I can't take quite that much topping so I just eyeball it but deffinately not a cup. Just enough to easily cover the pie.

I don't have a finished picture because it was eaten to quickly to photgraph. That is how yummy it is. Enjoy!