Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

On August 4th we set out for our summer vacation to Yellowstone National Park. We actually just kind of picked and left one day with only a few preparations behind us. We camped just outside of West Yellowstone in a KOA where there warned us constantly that we could be dead at any moment at the hands of a bear. It was surprisingly really nice because there were showers and bathrooms! After setting up camp and building an anti-bear environment we started our search for great scenery, adventure, and animals. Here's what we found: 1st Day: Geysers and Mudpots

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At every entrance to a geyser or paint pot there was a sign posted warning parents to watch their children and to keep off the hotspots. We couldn't help but laugh at the sign though. The following picture is just plain funny. It's definitely a clear warning that death looms for the disobedient. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Perfect Smores We discovered some information right before we left on our trip that has led us to the path of the perfect smore. The discovery is that of the chocolate marshmallow (chocomallow)! When in proper use with the fudge shoppe cookie the chocomallow can create amazing sensations in one's mouth. Here's a quick model for proper usage. mmm! mmm! Good! In this next picture Nicky was done with pictures being taken of her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Day:Little Grand Canyon and Lots of waterfalls

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Elephant Graveyard While visiting one of the paint pots, Nicky noticed that there were a plethora of dead trees that were plastered on the neighboring hill. She quickly referred to them as an elephant graveyard like the one Lion King. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jenny Lake and the Bar J Wranglers I need to thank Spencer Holmgren who was insistent that we visit a place just outside the south entrance of Yellowstone called Jenny Lake. Jenny Lake sits right at the base of the towering Teton Mountains. There were a lot of activities offered there but the hike to the waterfall caught our fancy and we indulged. Well worth it! We then visited the Bar-J Ranch which is always a good time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The only bear we saw the whole trip Although Nicky didn't get to see a bear or moose we still enjoyed the trip. It's was a nice excursion away from civilization and to view some of this beautiful country around us.

Projects! Projects! Projects!

A few weekends ago while I was home visiting my parents, my mom and I made some bird baths. My Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Gene showed my mom these and we had to try it ourselves. First you take a really large leaf(we used rhubarb leaves). Then you make a cement mixture with less water than you would use for normal cement. On top of a table that you don't care about you dump out a bag of sand. Place a large garbage bag on the sand. Then arrange the leaf on top of the garbage bag/sand, this gives the bird bath depth. The cement goes right on top making sure to have it cover the entire leaf with no wholes. It needs to be pretty thick. Ours is between 1/2 and 1 inch think. You have to let it dry for a few days. After that you can turn over the cement and remove any pieces of leaf that may be stuck in the crevice. My mom painted the leaves(I am not sure with what), it has to dry again. Before you seal the leaves it needs to sit for about two weeks. Last time I was home we sealed the leaves with 3 coats, top and bottom. Here are the finished products. I love it! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This week I spent a couple of days at my parents house. My parents have always had a fluorescent light in their kitchen that is not really very pretty-you can see the rectangular area of different colored paint where the light was. One of the bulbs burned out and my brothers were going to fix it before they left. Eric is a carpenter and Gary is and electrician, they decided they would redo the lights in my moms kitchen-something she has wanted done for a long time. Here's a picture. They did almost the whole thing in a couple of hours. All that is left is one light(the pipes need to be moved first), and painting the ceiling. I had to leave before they finished, but I will put another picture later on. Doesn't it look great!?!

This one's funny too!

Sorry for another clip, but we really liked this one too.

Need a Good Laugh?!?!

Short, but not too Short

I finally did it. I have been thinking for a very long time about cutting my hair, and today I got the guts and chopped it all off. Nine inches later, and here's what I look like.

Nothing New

I know I haven't posted anything lately and believe me I have been hearing it from everyone:) The reason is just because we haven't really done anything out of the ordinary lately. So, here are a couple of yummy dinners we have made. Salmon We were shopping the other day and they had fresh salmon on sale. I have never ever cooked salmon, but decided to give it a try. Thanks to our great neighbors, I got a really good recipe for grilled salmon. Lemon Grilled Salmon 3/4 tsp dill weed 1/2 tsp lemon pepper 3/4 tsp garlic salt 1/4 cup brown sugar 3 Tbsp chicken broth 3 Tbsp vegetable oil 3 Tbsp soy sauce Juice of 1 lemon Put Salmon in glass pan, sprinkle dill weed, lemon pepper and garlic salt on top. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over. Refrigerate over night. Grill time depends on size of salmon. Steak and Potato Kabobs 1 boneless beef sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick 1/4 cup bottled red wine vinegar and oil salad dressing 2 Tbsp snipped fresh thyme or 2 tsp dried 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1/4 tsp garlic powder 2 medium green peppers, cut 1 inch pieces 1 medium red onion, cut into wedges 1/2 or a 20 ounce package refrigerated potato wedges-about 32 wedges For Marinade: Mix together-salad dressing, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder Marinate in fridge 4-6 hours Put kabobs together leaving 1/4 inch between pieces. Grill kabobs over medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side. Half way through grilling brush with left over marinade. Makes 10 skewers. Well, that is all for now. Hope you enjoy these delicious recipes.

Murder Mystery Dinner Party!

I know, I know, it's been awhile since my last post. A few weeks ago we were invited to a 70's themed dinner party called "Stayin' Alive, Disco Fever." Patrick was Bruce Leap...aaaiiieeeee!!! I went as Liza M...the famous broadway actress Brad & Katie, the notorious painter Andy Warthog and Gloria Stunnem...aka Jimmy The Hosts: Jason & Michelle, John Revolting the disco star and Diane the lip-syncing singer Can you guess who the murderer is... We had a great time at the murder dinner party and can't wait to do another one. Thanks Jason and Michelle.

The Golden Glove

I don't usually post things but I had to brag about my wife for a second. We've started playing in a co-ed softball league for Logan City and it has been a lot of fun. Nicky played softball growing up but likes to pretend that she isn't good. Don't let her fool you. Tonight she was playing 2nd Base when this monster of a man came up to bat. I shall call him 'Godzilla'. Godzilla had all ready scored twice and had done so by hitting the ball so hard that I was waiting for the skin to come off the ball like on Sandlot (I can't post a blog without mentioning a movie). Anyway, Godzilla hits this ball at Mach 3 speed directly at my precious wife. Much to our disbelief, Nicky reaches out across her body and the ball smashes into her glove releasing a cloud of dirt. Godzilla couldn't believe it. If that wasn't cool enough, she then quickly throws it back to first base for the double play. It was amazing. The only other time I've seen a catch like that is in Major League Baseball. She definilty has the play of the game. Reason number 1,205,201 why I love her!

Mom's are great!

A couple of weeks ago we went down to visit our families for Mother's Day. We spent Saturday at my parents house. My mom and I decided to go to 'The Holy Cow Boutique.' We found a really great sign that says Spring. I love the bright colors, it really makes it feel like Spring, even if it isn't quite like that in Logan yet. I had such a great time hanging out with my mom. Patrick says all the time that we are so much alike and I am really glad for that. I love hanging out with my mom because we like to do many of the same things. I know that she will always have the answer and she is there to listen to me...even when I have nothing to say. I love you more than...

Kung Fu Panda

We just watched this clip and thought it was pretty funny...enjoy!

Good Times at Work!

We always have fun times at work, but Friday was a little different. Dale and Dusti were cleaing up some items in a field behind the building I work in when Dale found a lovely garden snake. Thinking he could come in and scare all of us girls, he brought it in...little did he know we would all be fine and even want to hold it. It was nice to have a little break from actually "working" and play around. Here's a picture of me...thanks Krista for having your camera all ready:)

The Joys of Being an Adult

Have you ever noticed that when tax return season comes, there are so many things you can think of to do with the "extra money," but then something always seems to come up. Well, this year we decided that we would just not think of the many fun things we could be spending our money on and just plan on getting our car back in shape. We bought our car about two years ago and soon after buying it, both of the back windows broke.(they would not roll up or down) Cardboard has helped us to fix this problem and we figured two years was long enough. So we planned on using some of our tax return to fix the windows. When Patrick took the car in, they had to order in the motor, which was about one inch long and cost a small fortune. So...we drove around for a few days with our car doors looking like this. The next week we decided it was time to get our windshield replaced as well. It is almost time to get our car inspected and we will have to replace the windshield, so what better time then now. This is our car looking oh so great. We took it to Preston Watts Glass and they did a great job. They even vacuum the car and clean all the dust off the dashboard and doors. It feels like I am driving a whole new car. I must say that I feel really blessed to be able to fix up our car.

MMM! MMM! GOOD!!

A few weeks ago we had a linger longer at my ward. Our Bishops wife made tons of homemade wheat bread. She had leftover wheat that she had ground up and I was able to take some home. I am not usually one to like wheat bread, but this was really good, so I got her recipe. I have made white bread a couple of times, but it has never really worked as well as when my mom makes it. I only had enough wheat to do three loaves using half wheat flour and half white flour. I was so excited when the finished product came out I had to take some pictures. It was delicious. I will definitely be making this bread again.

Road Trip!

For Spring break this year we headed to California with the Bowcutts. We left bright and early (5:00am) and it was snowing. We were so excited to be going to warmer weather. It was about 75 degrees the whole week. It started to rain on our way home, but other than that...it was great. Patrick served his mission in Los Angeles, California. We were lucky enough to be able to spend a few days in Hermosa Beach with a mother and daughter he taught while on his mission. Ada and Mayra Padilla were so great. They let us stay in their house and taught us how to make some really good food. They live just a few blocks away from the beach, which was wonderful. This is a view from their home. We stayed a few days in Hermosa Beach, on Sunday after church we went and walked around the Los Angeles Temple. It was so beautiful, I wish we would have had more time to be able to go through a session.

It was so great. We got to spend a whole day at the beach, soaking up the sun. I kinda forgot sunscreen for the first little while and I paid for it. Here are some pictures of our adventure. The one of Jared, Emily and me is when we walked over to a pier. It was really cool because there were a ton of fishermen. Many of them actually caught fish...they were tiny, but they still caught them.

Mayra helped us to get a great deal on tickets to Disneyland and California Adventure. We spent the first day at Disneyland. It was so much fun going on all the rides, shopping and watching the shows. They have an awesome fireworks show every night. They played a bunch of different Disney songs and the fireworks went along with the songs. Here's us with Mickey!

The morning that we left we were able to go to a session at the San Diego Temple. It has always been my very favorite temple, and now it is more than ever. If you ever had the chance to go, do it! Make sure you ask for a tour as well. When we came out of the session, they grabbed us to do sealings too. It was an amazing experience. We even ran into another couple from Logan in the temple. We had such a great time in California. P.S. Mayra we didn't get a picture of you...Next time for sure!