Lake Alexander

In August we went camping with Bruce, Jessica, and Whitney.  It was our last weekend with Whit before her move back to California.  Brendan and I had mountain biked to Lake Alexander (located in the high Uintas) before, but it had been years since we'd been there.  It is a rough road in, so you have to have four wheel drive to get to the lake, but it is well worth it.  We brought a lot of stuff, and it was a short stay of only one night, so we wish we could have stayed longer.

Our wonderful family tent was a graduation gift from Brendan's parents.

Of course Brendan had to make us a mountain man breakfast in the dutch oven.

I seriously can't get enough of this kid.  She is so happy all the time, and so much fun.  I finally just had to let go and let her get dirty even though it was driving me crazy.

Luckily we had some babysitters with us.

Bruce and Jessica gathered logs and built a cool raft.  It reminded us of our wooden rafts at Camp Nauvoo growing up.

Launching the raft.

The acrobats doing their tricks with a crash at the end.

Love our Chacos. Can you tell whose feet are whose?

We thought we were pretty cool coming in on this rough road in our truck when this guy showed up.  He had a chain saw just in case we needed it for that fallen tree.  He also has a snorkel on that minivan.

I had to include these last phone pictures to show Hazel's sleeping bag, since there was quite the argument about it.  The day we were leaving to go camping Brendan said that Hazel needed her own sleeping bag.  I told him she didn't considering she always ended up in our bed anyway at this age.  At the store he calls me and tells me there is a nice bag that can fit a kid up to 8 years old.  I still didn't think it was needed, but gave in because it could get some use for a few years.  We get to camp and I pull out the sleeping bag to find this small thing that will only fit Hazel for one more week.  We'll just say I was pretty mad, but Brendan thought she looked so cute in it that it was worth all the money he paid. (And yes Hazel ended up in our bed.)

Upper Provo Falls 

After packing up camp we drove to the Upper Provo River Falls.

 Mirror Lake

Our last stop was at Mirror Lake.  We were originally planning to camp here, but decided we wanted something were secluded at Alexander Lake.  Mirror Lake is very beautiful though, so we walked around together and enjoyed the scenery.

They're Off!!

August 7th was the special day I'd been anticipating for the past 18 months since my braces were put on.  What a wonderful feeling!  My teeth feel so smooth and look so big.  

Brendan took a picture of me before I got them taken off wearing my nasty elastics and all.  

iPhone Pictures Lately

Running through the sprinklers. Not planned.

 We have greeters.

 Playing house.

 What do you do when your toddler wets her pants at the grocery store and you have no spare clothes?  I couldn't take her out naked. (She is wearing a paper towel skirt, which she was kind of excited about.)

 Brendan had Hazel in time out at church, but he assured me she didn't know he was taking pictures.

 I found Hazel and Hattie in the crib, and Hattie was covered in stickers.

 Pool time in the yard.

 Merry-go-round at the mall.

 We were walking in downtown Provo and we had a guy take our picture.  He asked us where we were from and we told him and then Hazel randomly said, "I'm from Washington."

Sisters playing in the yard together.

 Mowing with Dad.

We were driving down a big hill and when I looked back Hazel had her arms up.  

July 24th

For Pioneer Day, we went to North Park in Provo for the festivities.  They had some bands playing, arts, crafts, vendors, food, and bounce houses.  It was fun, but also a hot day.

 Hazel had face painting done by the volunteer missionaries.

Hazel loves princesses, so it was great to be able to see some local royalty.

Swim Lessons

Hazel took swim lessons for the first time at the Veteran's Memorial pool in Provo.  We'll just say it was a little rough. There was only one other girl in the class with Hazel, but I think she was a year older.  Hazel just wasn't very cooperative, and I had to bribe her to finish her lesson sometimes.  She didn't pass the class, but she will be taking it again next year.  Let's hope she has grown up quite a bit by then. 

Waiting for class to start. 

Boat safety.

Pool Cleaning

Brendan needed to go up the canyon to clean his grandpa's pool one afternoon, so the girls and I decided to go with him and bring a picnic.  The heater in the pool wasn't working, so it was very cold water.  Brendan of course thought it would be fun to get in wet suits and clean it.  I actually got in later with just my swimsuit and I was OK.  I'm glad to report the heater has now been fixed, so we can all have a pool party up there before it gets too cold.

 Brendan filled the bottom of his suit with water.  He was trying to look like a super hero.

Baking, Cooking, and Eating

I occasionally like to do food posts, so here are a few things most recently that I've actually taken time to shoot.

My sister gave me this great granola recipe that I like to make and keep in the fridge or freezer.  I usually like to eat it with plain greek yogurt mixed with honey and vanilla bean paste and then some fruit on hand.

Dawn’s Granola Recipe

Dry Ingredients

6 cups old-fashioned oats

¾ cup wheat germ

1 cup coconut

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup powdered milk

1 cup chopped nuts (I use almonds)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

Mix together in a large bowl and set aside.

Wet Ingredients

2/3 cup honey

2/3 cup applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 Tablespoon water

2 Tablespoons canola oil

Combine Group 2 of ingredients and then pour over dry ingredients.  Mix well then spread over large cookie Sheet.  Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until golden Brown.  Stir every 10-15 minutes.    After the granola is cooled you can add dried fruit to it .

I found this recipe in my Bon Appetit magazine and really liked it.  I love crisps, but I'm usually not a big cobbler fan, but I thought this was delicious. 

I recently found this blog called Sprouted Kitchen that I like a lot.  Her blog is also where I found my baked oatmeal recipe that I posted about before.  This balsamic roasted roots and spinach sauce recipe came from there.  I used carrots, parsnips, beets, and golden beets.  I also paired them with some herbed quinoa. 

These portobello burgers with caramelized onions, feta, roasted red peppers, and baby kale tasted great.  

These are just some vegetables I picked one morning from the garden.  Our garden has done very well this season, and I have been incorporating a lot of these vegetables and herbs into our meals.