Dutch-oven at the Carters!

One of our favorite places to visit in Utah is the "Carter Family Farm"! My cousin, Shareen, and her husband, Kevin, have a fun, little farm that we HAVE to go play at every time we're in Utah. This time they invited us over for some good ol' Dutch Oven cooking. Shareen ran a 1/2 marathon that morning, but was still her usual, energetic self. Kevin impressed us with his cooking skills preparing not just beef ribs, but also pork ribs and some yummy potatoes. There were chips and fruit salad, and they topped it off with ice cream cones! We sat around the fire pit until 11:00 while the kids went exploring with their headlamps on. After hearing a blood-curdling scream from Aidan (just because he didn't get to hold the flashlight), David went to investigate what was going on. In the mean time, Kevin had a brilliant idea... he snuck over, hid behind the haystack, and waited...and waited...until finally, when the moment was just right, "RAAAAAH!!" He jumped out at David, who screamed like a little school girl! Needless to say, David was NOT allowed to sit on the "MAN LOG" after that.

Kevin, the cullinary master!

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

NOT-YO CHEESE! (Nacho cheese)


Mmmmmm! These ribs are finger-lickin' good!

Check out these cute, matching aprons I made for Shareen and her daughter, Hadlie. Hadlie LOVES horses, so I found her a cute fabric with horses on it, and I HAD to make Shar one to match. They're reversible!

Utah trip June/July 2009

We just got back from an extended stay up in Utah visiting my family. We had a Hadlock family reunion, a wedding in Montana, and my dad celebrated his 70th birthday. I had to be there for everything, but I couldn't make three separate trips, so I just stayed for a MONTH!

The kids had fun getting to know their grandparents and cousins a little better.

Jolie and Grandpa are BEST FRIENDS!

Granny taught Jolie how to play the accordion.

We went to the 4th of July parade in Provo.

Blowin' Bubbles!

Silly cheerleaders!

Helping in the garden!

Check out these beets!

Here's Ethan mowing the lawn.

We were able to stop in for a visit with Jeff and Kristi's family in Rexburg, ID on the way to Montana for my niece's wedding.

Uncle Jeff let Aidan help make some popcorn in his cool popcorn popper.

My niece, Candice got married in Dillon, Montana on July 11th.

Good times were had by all, but there's no place like home!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

We are so lucky to have moved into the BEST NEIGHBORHOOD EVER!!! We have some of the COOLEST neighbors! Not only do we live across the street from David's sister, Amy and her family, but our next door neighbors, Richard and Nancy, are THE BOMB!!! Richard always takes our garbage cans in and out for us if we don't remember, and we don't usually have time to remember because he has already done it. He is a one-man neighborhood watch. He is the first one to offer to bring in your mail and water your lawn when you go out of town. Nancy is the cutest, tiny little lady with the BIGGEST personality! She is always so upbeat and happy. They have been known to go to the Grandparent's Day at the elementary school, even though they don't have any grandchildren that go there, just to be there for some of the little neighbor kids that don't have grandparents close by. They have started having these monthly FHE cook-outs with a few of us close neighbors. Here are a few pictures from the very first one back in June. They had another one the night we drove back from Utah. It was so nice not to have to make dinner after driving for eleven hours! We love our "new" neighbors!

Who you gonna call?

Three Smokin' Hot Ladies! Amy, Kayla, and Crystal

That's right, the men get to do the cooking!

A friendly, little game of football.

Jolie loves her a good HOT DOG!

BFF's

So, we were able to spend a MONTH in Utah visiting my family. The best part about staying for an extended period of time was my kids getting to know their grandparents a little bit better. Jolie warmed right up to my dad and now they're BFF's!

"I'd rather be spinach!"

Here is a conversation I over heard Ethan having with his friend...

Friend: "I'd rather be dead than in a coma for the rest of my life. I wouldn't want to be a vegetable."

Ethan: "I'd rather be a vegetable. (pause) I would be spinach! I love spinach!"

Good choice Ethan! Keep eating your spinach and you'll be strong like Popeye!

Sink, Swim...or Float!

Okay, so this being swimming season and all, I thought I would try to start exercising so I wouldn't be too embarrassed sporting a bathing suit in my backyard this Summer. I know, it's kind of late to START exercising if I want to get into good enough shape to feel confident, but better late than never, right? I figured the big kids are out of school, so they can stay home and watch the little ones while I go for a run etc. Well, I got dressed to go running, then decided to go for a swim instead. Water aerobics is supposed to be a good work out, right? The funny thing is, I DON"T KNOW HOW TO SWIM!!!

Lucky for me, I was able to hitch a ride with this friendly crocodile! I kicked back and forth across the pool for a while, floating on this little guy. I didn't want to get my freshly colored hair wet. Well, I got my hair wet, so I figured "what the heck", and I attempted to swim a few laps. My doggy paddle just wasn't cutting it, and I swallowed a bit of water. In the process I discovered that our pool isn't that deep, and I can touch the bottom all the way across, so then I decided to RUN back and forth across the pool. Needless to say, I didn't move very quickly and I wasn't getting the results that I wanted. Feeling a little defeated, I gave up on trying to "feel the burn", and instead I inhaled a big, deep breath, laid back, and floated around on my back for a while. Although I didn't have the experience that I originally desired, I got a whole different, equally rewarding one instead. It was so relaxing listening to the birds singing in the trees, the distant sound of a neighbor's lawnmower, and just looking up at the sky. I was out there, alone with my thoughts, floating around. It was so nice!

This is what it looked like.

So now I've decided that I'm going to go for a run, then come home and float around in the pool for a while. That's a great combination! I'll be able to get the work out that I wanted, and then unwind and meditate for a while.

Guitar Gang

Here are Ethan and a bunch of his friends with their guitars under our tree out front. This is how they spent their Memorial Day. Aidan's even rocking out with his Guitar Hero guitar. They say they're going to form a band. This will be the cover for their first album.

Just Because She's So Darn Cute!!!

I Want My Mullett Back!

So, I've been known to wear these pop-in hair extensions from time to time, and as I was taking them out the other day, my son Ethan asked me to put them in his hair so he could have a mullett.






His hair is blonde, and so straight and coarse, so they didn't really blend very well(or at all), but it just looked so funny!


Not to be left out, Aidan had to get in on the action. Here he is playing his air guitar. Billy Ray Cyrus, eat your heart out!

Jolie Turns Two!!

Happy 2nd birthday to our sweet Jolie Olivia! How did we get so lucky to be blessed with such a beautiful, sweet, smart, happy girl? We are so grateful to have you in our family. You have brought so much joy to our lives. You are growing up so quickly! I can't believe you're two years old already! What a special girl you are! You have got such a sweet disposition. You are always so happy and smiling...and laughing! What a laugh you have! You have the funniest personality. The best part about it is that you KNOW you're funny. You are so observant and smart. Here are a few of the things you are into these days...
You love to sing songs. Your favorite songs to sing are "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam", "Rock-a-bye Don't You Cry", "Five Little Monkeys Swinging From a Tree", "The Wheels On the Bus", "Ring Around the Rosies", etc. You've also got a few not so kid-friendly songs in your repertoire, such as (1)-"All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce. You sing the "Oh, Oh, Oh" part, and you wave your hand back and forth like she does in the music video. (2)-"Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. You roll your hands around and sing "I like a boom boom boom, I like a boom boom boom." (3)-"Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. You try to sing the words "poker face" at the same time she does, but the whole p-p-p-poker face thing confuses you. You just love music and singing and dancing. You've got some nice moves. You love to watch Elmo and Dora and the Wonder Pets on TV. You have your Elmo movie that you love to watch, VHS because we still live in the dark ages, and you'll just go pop it in and watch it whenever you want. You're a little tomboy since you play with your big brother, Aidan, all day. Instead of pretending to be a princess, you pretend to be Spiderman. You fight and wrestle and make fake sound effects. At the same time, you are so cute and girly. You play "Mommy" with your baby dolls, you love to do my hair, and you get into my make-up all the time. You haven't discovered the Disney Princesses yet. You wont sit through a full-length movie. You are little miss independent. You insist on dressing yourself. You get so frustrated when both of your legs get stuck in the same pant leg, but you try to stand up and wear them anyways. You are a little parrot-you repeat EVERYTHING! You have an extensive vocabulary. You can express yourself perfectly. I can seriously have a conversation with you. You also use a few signs (More, please, thank you, milk, bread, poop, Mom, Dad, pig, elephant etc.). You are so polite and always use such nice manners. When you talk to me, you end every sentence with "Mom". "Okay, Mom", "Thank you, Mom", "I promise, Mom", "Hello, Mom!" etc. It's so cute! It makes me love my name, Mom. You are obsessed with cheese. You would eat Popsicles all day. You love your pink milk, and you have to shake it up all by yourself. You actually love hot, spicy food. You love the water! You lay back in the bathtub so your hair floats around, and you say, "I'm a mermaid!" You love to play hide-n-seek. You count like this, "One, seven, nine, ready not here I come!" You will stay in your hiding spot, which is usually under the covers of my bed, so quietly and hold so still. I pretend that I can't find you and you start laughing, but you try to laugh quietly so I won't find you. You sound like Ernie from Sesame Street. You still suck on your two fingers, and like to play with your hair. If I ever have my hair in a ponytail, you take it out so you can play with MY hair. When it's time for bed, you have to give EVERYONE a kiss. Even Eddie, our dog. You are always the one that reminds us to say prayers. You fold your arms and say, "Heavenly Father,". Sister, I could go on and on, and I already have, but I just love you so much I can't stand it!!! Happy birthday sweetheart! I'm so glad you are my daughter.

Fountain Hills

A couple weeks ago we went up to Fountain Hills. No big deal, but we had so much FUN!!! There's a HUGE fountain that goes off every hour for about fifteen minutes in the middle of a lake filled with ducks. Aidan(4) saw it and said, "That's a geyser!" Yes, he's a genius! We picked up some KFC and just hung out at the big park there. They had an area with all of the squirty water things that the kids had fun in.

And there were SWEET statues to pose on.

The weather was beautiful, there was a nice breeze, people were roller blading, walking their dogs, laying on blankets and making out. Oh, nix that last one. Anyways, we will go back. It's one of our new favorite places, and it's only 1/2 hour away.

Sponge Curler Head Jolie

Sponges don't only live in a pineapple under the sea...they live on Jolie's head!!! Seriously people, who uses sponge curlers anymore? They still make those things? Where do you get sponge curlers? Well, I found them in the bottom of a box, left over from when Avery was little.- Yep, I tortured her too. I actually think I got them at the Dollar Store. I used to HATE it when my mom would put sponge curlers in my hair. In my third grade school picture I have ugly sponge curler hair. They make your hair so much shorter...and FRIZZY. I just have to tell you the reasoning behind my decision to "pass the sponge ". Jolie's hair has gotten a little out of control. It's getting long and stringy, and her bangs are always in her eyes. She walks around with her head tilted back so she can see out from under them. I put her hair in cute pigtails every day, but she likes to twist her hair while she sucks on her fingers, so she always pulls them out. I cut her bangs a few times, but she ended up with "square bang syndrome" and looked a little dorky. When we moved back to Mesa there were SO MANY cute little girls in our ward with the CUTEST stacked haircuts. I took her to the salon to get her hair cut, but she pitched a fit and we were out of there in two minutes flat. So, I'm going through boxes on Saturday and I come across a little, plastic, zip-up bag full of sponge curlers. The wheels in my head started a'turnin, and before I knew it, I had pulled a Lois and stuck my kid in sponge curlers. She sat so still and let me put them in. I was sure she would pull them out so she could twist her hair to go to sleep, but in the morning they were all still in tact and VOILA - Sponge Curler Hair!!! Or S-C-H as I like to call it. It actually turned out pretty cute.

It's May Sird!

Happy, happy birthday to my beautiful cousin Shareen! I was lucky enough to live next door to her my whole childhood. She's the closest thing I have to a little sister. When she was little and you would ask her when her birthday was she would say, "May sird!" She's all grown up now with FIVE kids of her own. She is such a great mom, canner extraordinaire, and just an all-around great gal. She is a ball of energy and talks a mile a minute. She is HILARIOUS and has kept me laughing with her belching on command, Firemarshall Bill impersonations, and especially her SWEET dance moves! I love you Shar, and I can't wait to spend some time with you this Summer!