Thursday, April 24, 2014

Visit with my Dad

I forgot to post a couple weeks back when my dad came to visit.  He came to utah for my cousins wedding so we had the chance to play a bit. 


He even helped the guys work on the car. 


It Was fun to dress up for the wedding dinner! 






Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Easter 2014

We had an awesome Easter this year. We headed down to southern utah to stay with Bryan's brother and his wife's family. 

Eli did fantastic on the drive down. Except for getting car sick several times. But what is a car trip with out barfing! 


We stopped in Monticello before heading to the ranch. Bryan and Greg did a quick round of golf. Eli carried a golf club with him the whole time! 


Once we made it down we headed out to hunt for wild asparagus. Usually we find enough for the whole family to have a dinner of asparagus on toast ;) but there was none to be found this week. 


The first day there Eli didn't want to nap so Greg tried to swing him to sleep. He eventually fell asleep but not after this scowl. 


Eli warmed up quickly to Grandma Redd (probably because she took him for lots of 4 wheeler rides)

These two were inseparable. They are 9 months apart and I hope they stay best friends as they grow up. 

I learned a new craft too! I made my first Ukrainian egg. It was soo cool. It consists of drawing a pattern with wax, dipping the egg in dye, adding more wax and continue dipping and waxing. Then you melt the wax off to find this awesome design. It was so fun. 



The Easter bunny visited Eli but he didn't get too excited about the few little toys. He's a pretty simple fellow. 





After church we had an Easter egg hunt. Eli caught on quick to the idea and loved finding them in the yard! 





"Wait, there is something in these?!"




Buddies helping feed the bulls. 




This little boy was right at home getting dirty and dusty all day long. It was a very peaceful place and did our hearts good to get out of the city! 

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Granola

I have tried at least 4 granola recipes and this is my very very favorite. My sis in law Jess gave me the recipe and I've already eaten half a batch since I made it! This granola is best with milk which makes for a much healthier alternative to garbage cereal. It's so much more filling too! 

My mom passed on her gene of never following a recipe. So feel free to add or omit ingredients to your liking. 


 6 cups rolled oats (I did quick to use with milk but rolled would be best for eating with yogurt)
1 cup wheat germ (or for Bryan being gluten free I do flax seed)
1 cup slivered almonds (I used whole and chopped them roughly) 
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients (I add almonds after baking because I like the raw almond flavor better), mix wet ingredients separately, then mix wet & dry together. Bake on baking sheet 250 degrees for an hour, or until golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes. I actually baked mine only 30 minutes and it seemed plenty long. 

I just finished the last bowl of this and I could have seconds. Go try this! It's soo good and healthy :) 






Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Pocatello

We made another quick trip up to Pocatello to visit family.  This trip we took a fun little drive to Cherry Springs to walk around the trails a bit.  The kids happened to find a tire swing, which pretty much made their day!  Eli was not so sure about it at first.  As if they eyebrows didn't give it away :)
 
 
Please enjoy the following dialogue from a 21 month old:
 
"What do you think you're doing putting me on this?"

 "What is this for guys?"

"You swing on this?"

"Hey I'm doing it!"
 
 "This could be fun"



"Alright, this is good stuff!"


And no day at the creek is complete without a little boy playing with a stick in the water. 



 
 

Picnic at the Park




Crum... the pictures I took on my camera I so wisely deleted.  ugh.  well.. you can now go through guided imagery to imagine what our picnic was like last week.  I made oven baked drumsticks, potatoe salad, and chocolate covered strawberries to take with us.  We layed out a blanket and before we even sat down Eli wanted to go see the ducks in the pond.  Surprise, surprise.  So we took turns eating while the other sat with eli on the bank.  A sweet little girl brought Eli a roll to break in pieces and throw in the water.  He could have done that ALL night!

Here is a crummy picture of him watching the hungry ducks.

And my feet got tan lines!!!!  (although its snowing as I type this)

Don't mind my crazy wind blown hair but Eli was going to town on the drum stick!