...and the fun just keeps on going

.....Our next adventure started bright and early Saturday Morning when the July 4th Cannonball blast rang out in the morning air... (although I woke up early, I didn't arise so early...but it was BrIGhT none the less) on July 4th. I had talked to Dayna several days before and

invited her to come and meet Halle, Kim, Dana and I over in Price for the day. We were going to go on a little picnic and then go hang out at the WAVE POOL. After she said that she wanted to come, I asked her if she would mind picking up some Cafe Rio for our picnic (what an AWESOME, YUMMY picnic we pack, right?!) and meet we could all meet at the park. Price is about the same distance for both Dayna and the rest of us, so we got there at about the same time. While we waited a few minutes for Dayna to come, Dana and I wandered over to these beautiful roses that were on the perimeter of the Park (Heritage Park in Price)....they were gorgeous! (I wonder who takes care of them because there were rose gardens all over the city and they were all just as pretty as the ones that we saw.) We snapped a few photos and then headed back over to the table for our lunch. We dove right in and relished the "yummyness" of our sweet picnic. (I don't think it can get any better than Cafe Rio...but you already knew that!) With a grey cloud above us, light sprinkles falling on our heads, but the blue skies moving toward us, we were sure it was going to be a great day!...and it was! I had never been to the Wave Pool and actually gotten in the water, but I told the girls that I would get in and swim too...so I had to do it! UHG...for one, I hate being in a swimming suit because I look awful, but for another, I don't swim all that well. But..I did it for the girls and we had a blast. We rented tubes and rode the waves, talked alot, laughed alot and just enjoyed the time that we had all together. Halle said it the best....when she giggled and stated, " I just love it when all the girls get together"...such a true statement made by the youngest of the "girl group!"....and so our day goes on~ one great celebration and onto another.......

Celebrate Good TiMeS...

~Happy 4th of July~

Most holidays tend to just be another day around here. Some we make a big deal out of...(Christmas, New Years, Birthdays and Easter..oh yah, Thanksgiving too), but the 4th of July usually tends to be just a simple BBQ and sitting on the front lawn to watch the Fire Works, if we aren't already asleep. Its fun but we don't usually make a big deal of it. Deron and Cameron decided to go have "Guy Time" camping in the mountains (we were invited, but I justback from girls camp a couple of weeks ago and wasn't up to camping AGAIN), so Halle, Kim and I decided that we were going to have some fun here. After all we had "Fieldtrip Friday" here again and nothing planned yet~ so hey, why not!

Friday night we were invited to go and see "Ice Age...Dawn of the Dinosaurs" with our sweet neighbors and their little boys...(we just claim them all to be part of our family). I had forgotten how much fun that it is to take little kids to the movies. They laugh right out loud at the funniest things. It was so cute to see and hear all of their excitement. I think I laughed more with them and their cute little faces than I did at the movie itself, but I thought the movie was really fun and so cute too. We had such a fun time. I'm glad they invited us and that we got to go! It was a great way to start our FUN 4th of July WeekEnD..........and so let the fun continue...

TiMe OUt!...

I think that Cameron came across his talent for building quite honestly....my Dad loves to tinker around with wood too. He likes to build all kinds of neat things. He's built outide benches, outside tables, nice rustic bed frames from logs....the list goes on. He does such nice work. Most of it has a rustic look to it and its just gorgeous. His new thing...are these adorable little "Time Out" chairs. He brought four of them over and asked me to paint them any way that I wanted to.... SO...I painted one a sage green, a black one with sanded edges, a brown one with sanded edges and then I just varnished one. They turned out so darn cute! He wants to sell them and I really think that he'll be able to. They are really, really cute. I might just have to be naughty so that I can sit in "Time OUT".

What next?!...

When Cameron was about 5 years old, we added on to our house. He sat and watched all of the construction from day one, when the "big hole" was dug, up until the last of the flooring was laid. He wanted to go and help the workers and be a part of the action. Ever since then, and probably even before, he has enjoyed building things. He use to play with Lego's and build all kinds of things with them, then he moved onto wood projects. He made me a bird feeder one summer. He made a house for the cats to sleep in outside (with carpet and everything). He is my little handyman when it comes to fixing things and repairing around the house...(not all things, but alot). This year in school he took a wood shop class and learned how to build bigger things (bigger than a bird feeder). He built a beautiful gun cabinet along with handles constructed from deer antlers. I think he did an amazing job. He loved building it and enjoyed the process from start to finish. He's gained a greater desire to construct wood projects and he has talked about being a contractor or a cabinet maker when he gets older. I think he would do a great job at either one. Its fun to see him get so passionate about something. I'm excited to see what he does in the future with this wonderful talent of his. He has such an eye for building and does such nice work, he could do alot with his talent.....and... "oh the places he could go!"

My very own "Bob the Builders!"

For Mother's Day, Deron and Cameron gave me a gift certificate for a big walk in closet of my own. After moving Cameron upstairs to a bigger room we had "talked" about making his old room (a smaller room) into a closet. But, I assumed that it was one of those things that we were "just going to talk about, but never really do" kind of things...but after they presented me with a gift certificate...I got a little more excited about it, thinking that maybe it would really happen. Sure enough, a couple of weeks after I got Cameron's new room all done and moved him into it, they proved to me that it REALLY was going to happen and started right in on my closet. Neither one of them had ever built such a thing and weren't exactly sure where to start, but Deron studied some plans and then they got to work! They did everything themselves, from the measuring, the construction, the purchasing of all the supplies, down to the very last detail. I didn't even have to help paint!!!! (I thought they would make me paint the closet, but they wanted to do it ALL...so who was I to argue, so of course... I let them do it ALL!) It took about 6 weeks of alot of sweat and hard work, but its finished AND I love it!!! I got all moved in, with all of my clothes hung up, folded and everything put in it. Its so nice to go into one room (you see...my clothes were in many closets, along with my shoes... a girls gotta have her clothes, right?!) and see all of my clothes and find what I want to wear and not have to go back and forth to different places to find it all. It turned out so nice, better than I could have dreamed!!!!! They did such a wonderful job and I am so grateful for their sweet gift from the heart!!!!

Remembering the "Keys" to success~

As many of you know, I have been doing Weight Watchers for 18 months now. I have really grown to love the ladies that are there every single week to cheer me up, cheer me on and remind me that "I can do it". They have become my friends and well as my teachers. The program here in Duchesne has officially been terminated for "lack of people". When they started the program here, we had quite a few signed up and coming. But over the year and 1/2 that its been here, there have been those that have come and gone, come back again and then those that we saw once and never saw again. I wished they could keep the program going, but I understand that if there isn't an intrest, they can't afford to keep it up and running. So as for now, I will have to travel to Altamont or Roosevelt to attend the meetings and weigh in every week. I wanted to say "Thank You" to my devoted WW leaders so I decided to make a crafty little key holder (to remind them of all the "KEYS" to weight loss that they taught me..LOL). I thought that I could just whip these things right out...boy was I wrong. They took some time, in fact about 6-8 hours with all the drying time too. But it was worth it, I know they put in alot of time on my behalf and I really apprecitate them....THANKS so much, Barb, Kathy and Peggy. I will miss your smiling faces, your encouragement and your great pep talks. Hopefully I can remember everything I was taught and keep plugging along.

Who doesn't love PIE!

I love Banana Cream Pie! (Really...I just love pie of all kinds!!!) BUT not the kind that you make with a boxed pudding mix and I don't love the banana's in it unless they are fresh and haven't gotten brown, so in other words...it has to be HOMEMADE AND... FRESH! The best Banana Cream Pie that I have ever eaten is at the Frontier Grill in Roosevelt (I haven't been there in a couple of years...since the new owners took over... so I don't know what it tastes like now but it use to be super good there) I have tried recipe after recipe trying to make a "mock version" and this is the closest that I have come up with. I make these usually once a year, on Thanksgiving, but for some reason I made several of them the other day....YUM! They hit the spot!!!! I get requests to make them all the time, but they are a little time consuming to make, so I usually don't do it.

Never Fail- Homemade Pie Crust

4 c. flour

1 T. sugar

2 t. salt

1 3/4 c. shortening

1 T. vinegar

1 egg

1/2 c. cold water

Mix flour, sugar, and salt. Add shortening, and mix with a fork or pastry cutter until ingredients are crumbly. Beat together egg, vinegar, and water. Make a small "hole" in your flour mixture and pour the wet mixture in, stirring with a fork to moisten ingredients. Make 3 balls of dough and roll it out by placing 1 ball at a time, in between 2 pieces of wax paper, until flat. Put into pie pan and cook at 375 for 10-12 minutes for a cream pie shell or 45-50 minutes for a double fruit pie shell.

Basic Cream Pie Filling

2/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

2 c. milk (2% milk)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 T. butter or margarine

1 t. vanilla

1-2 cups whipped topping or make your own whipped cream (I like the homemade the best)

to top your pie with.

Mix sugar, flour, and salt in a 2 qt. saucepan. Add milk gradually, stirring to blend thoroughly. bring to a full boil over MEDIUM heat. (don't hurry this process or it will scorch and leave brown flakes in your custard mix) Stir constantly. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for 5 minutes. Add some of the hot mixture to the eggs, gradually, then add to cooked mixture. Bring again to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook 1 minute longer. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Cool for 5 minutes, then pour into cooled pie shell. Just before serving top with whipped cream. Keep pie refrigerated.

*This cream pie filling takes some time, but it is SOOOO worth it!!!

*for Chocolate Cream Pie just add 2/3 c. chocolate chips when you add the butter and vanilla

*for Coconut cream pie filling, add 1/2 c. flaked coconut to filling before you pour it into pie shell. I've tried both and they are really good!