A week in God's Country

2 weeks ago the kids and I set off for an adventure. Poor Mark had to work so we left him behind with much grumbling and disappointment.  It was nice to know he'd rather have us home than gone and that he would miss us.  I told him I'd be jumping for joy if I got a week to myself so maybe that means I am more selfish than he is.

  I felt bad about leaving him behind but the kids needed a vacation and Carly needed to go to college orientation which just happened to be about 45 minutes away from my parents beautiful cabin so.... off we went!

Monday morning had us driving down south and up a gorgeous mountain.  Mark is more of a "let's get there fast" kind of guy so we took this opportunity to stop at several look-out spots to see the beautiful sights.  The wind was blowing and after a kind stranger took our picture someone mentioned something about the wind and models and the idea for a photo shoot was born. 

I yelled model shots and the silliness began.  Rachel was seriously feeling it and we realized later she found her way into just about every photo at the first look-out spot.

At one point we had to let God's handiwork stand on it's own without our cute faces in it.  

So Beautiful.

But that moment passed and we were back at it some more!

Carly taught Jacob how to pose with his hands behind his biceps to make them look bigger.

He quite likes this photo!

I'd have to say Mason is lacking a certain understanding of what make a good model shot but he's awful cute anyway.

Better-

 with a little help from his bro

The girls strike a "serious" pose

and then not so serious.

I know.... I know...

We talked to her a little too late about NOT picking wildflowers.

They said all models need a "butt shot" so here we go.  They made sure each bum was doing something different

and finally... the girls get their own pose without Rachel stealing their thunder!

Model shot....

and then one for real

Model shot...

and then one for real.

just for fun

The "Oh... I didn't know you had a camera... you caught me by surprise (not)" pose

&

The "backwards glance gone wrong" pose.

After we got to the mountain we settled in at the cabin.  My dad actually has 2 cabins (long story) which we affectionately call "Old cabin" and "new cabin"

We were staying at "OC" and my sister's family was staying at "NC" simply b/c they put their vacation request in first.  We all mostly hung out at "NC" ate there together as a big group and my family simple slept at "OC" 

"NC" is definitely more posh although both are beautiful.  My sister Maury got married in December and acquired 3 great sons ages 17, 16, 14.  Jake was pretty excited to have some older male cousins to hang out with.  That being said,  they are just great teenage boys who get along well with all my kids and are a joy to have in our family. 

Tuesday morning had Carly, Rachel and I getting up super early and finding power out in our cabin, sneaking over to the "NC" to get ready to go down the mountain.  There is some road trouble and the road into Cedar City is closed after 7am so we were trying to get out the door by 6:15 to make it to the road closed part by 7.  It was a bit of a harried morning and we didn't get up early enough with the running to the other cabin but we pealed out about 6:20 with the girls watching for deer and me going as fast as I dared to try to make the road before it closed.

Originally Rachel wasn't planning to go to orientation with us but I was glad she changed her mind as I wanted her to see the SUU campus. It is so beautiful and the times Carly and/or I have been there, everyone has been SO friendly and helpful.  

One of Carly's childhood friends from when we lived in Brigham City is planning on attending SUU this fall as well and we had planned to attend orientation together so they could get reaquainted.  Carly was a bit nervous about it.  We moved when she was in 2nd grade and they had gotten together a couple of times since then but a couple of times in 12 years is not a lot.

I had a feeling it would be fine as the Eden's are the type of genuine, friendly people that make it easy to feel as if it's just like old times.  They are truly wonderful people.  

Rachel's comment upon hugging the mom; Cecile

"you used to be so much taller!"

We got a good laugh out of that one.

Orientation was wonderful.  We had an opening session and then the parents stayed and listened to several presentations about not being a buttinsky parent and "coaching" rather than "saving" our students, things to do in the area, services available to our student to help them succeed and opportunities to ask questions.

We had a nice lunch and then we were supposed to attend 3 breakouts sessions.  They had 8 different sessions and encouraged parents and students to attend different sessions but we had our own ideas.  Instead of going to the first breakout session....

We really wanted to see the apartment style dorm where Carly had been placed as it was a different and older building than the one we had toured in April.  We went to inquire at the housing office and as luck would have it, nobody was living in her assigned unit at the time so they took us over to have a look.

It is so old and shabby and tiny but she loves it and is so excited about her "first apartment"  The new ones are so much nicer but they also cost $600 more per semester so it is truly a blessing she was placed in the older one.  She will have 4  room-mates in her dorm with 5 girls all together.

Instead of going to the 2nd breakout session....

Carly had scheduled an apointment with her counselor to discuss a concern over one of her classes so that was a very productive reason to skip and  he was sooo helpful. We were grateful he made time to see us.

Instead of going to the 3rd breakout session....

we sat in the hallway by the ballroom where we'd eaten lunch and charged our phones (remember we had a power problem at the "OC" so they were dying)

This skipped session was not so productive however....

while we were sitting there Rachel was talking about how fun it looked to be an orientation leader and wondering how they got that position when one of the orientation leaders walked by.  I said "I have a question for you" she responded "what...do you want another ice cream sandwich? (we were sitting about 10 feet from a big freezer full of ice cream sandwiches)

We replied "yes we do... but that really wasn't our question..."  We asked her our real question but she threw us 3 ice cream sandwiches while she answered it (SCORE!!!!)

Again...Everyone at SUU is so NICE!!!

We met up with the Heidi & Cecile Eden again for the closing session where we learned the fight song and they gave out some pretty lame prizes... and then we were done!

We followed the Eden's to a cute little soda fountain type ice cream store in town where we had a treat.

(LOts of ice cream that day)

We said good bye to the Eden's who had a long drive back to Brigham City and then did some window shopping as the road up the mountain wasn't open until 7pm.  

We tried to find a place to eat and settled on a local dive named  Hermies b/c I had remembered going there years before on trips to the cabin and it being really good....

Must be under new management b/c not one of us got something we could say was good.

except the fries and the drinks.

Back at the cabin the kids were getting into the whole nature thing.  My mom loves hummingbirds and has hummingbird feeders on her porch and the stuff to mix for their food so we had the feeders full the whole week. The kids decided to put their fingers on the landing area of the feeders and stand very still

hoping to get a humming bird to land on their finger.  They were very patient and all who tried succeeded.  They were pretty excited about that.  They also caught a lot of horny toads.  Grandma has a little bug catcher cage so they'd catch one and cage it to observe for a while, let it go, catch another.  Uncle Will showed them the trick of turning the lizards on their back and stroking their belly which hypnotized them and then they'd lay in their hands all calm.  The boys seemed to have a horny toad in their hand or attached to their shirt almost every time you looked at them.

Then came the end of the week.... My sister Christy had arranged a "Sister's weekend".

We were all to take a meal and bring a craft to share and SISTER's  WEEKEND meant no kids and no husbands.

Well....

There was a little problem as the weekend got closer we had to change our plans much to our dismay.  My dad had some serious back problems develop which led to him having surgery in SLC the first part of the week and recovering and coming home on the SISTER'S  weekend. This meant, of course, that my mom couldn't come which was a huge letdown but she wanted us to go ahead saying if we don't do this one we won't do one next year and get this whole tradition started and so we forged ahead.  

My sister, Jennifer, was planning on leaving her 2 kids at mom/dad's house and I was planning on leaving my 5 kids at my mom/dad's house which was about an hour from the cabin.  The plan was that Carly would kind of oversee with grandpa playing backup...   That plan had to be changed because we didnt' want a house full of kids with a surgery recovering papa.

so.... backup plan!

Uncle Will stays at "OC" with his 3 boys, my 2 boys and Jennifer's one boy (6 in all) and I take my 3 girls down the mountain to stay at my mom/dads house but they would go over to my bro's house around the corner most of the time with his 3 girls, one little boy and Jennifer's one daughter.  I bet you're really confused now! 

simply:

boy cousins up the mountain-

girl cousins down the mountain

We figured a divide and conquer method was in order and as girls are usually a calmer, cleaner, more well-behaved bunch....

There you go!

Sister's weekend: On!

Over the course of 2 days.....

We made several projects:

a wood block nativity

a dry erase board out of a picture frame & scrapbook paper

(but way cuter than these...)

scarves and bags from old t-shirts

but with a changeup on the handle that's cuter than these.

chalkboard display plates

subway art or photo plaques

and DIY laundry detergent

We ate Yummy food:

Orange Juice, bacon & Cinnamon Streusel pancakes

ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cinnamon Streusel:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

directions:

1. First, make the cinnamon streusel. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Mix together with your hands or a fork, until you have a crumbly mixture. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Do not over mix, batter will be slightly lumpy.

3. Heat a griddle or pan to medium low. Coat with cooking spray. Drop 1 cup of batter onto heated skillet. Add 2 tablespoons of the cinnamon streusel. Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully flip pancake over and cover very generously with cinnamon streusel. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Continue this process to make the rest of the pancakes.

Chicken Salad w/ homemade rolls

Tacos

More bacon &Pioneer Woman's French Puffs

French Breakfast Puffs

Prep Time: 30 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 25 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 12

• 3 cups Flour
• 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2/3 cups Shortening (Crisco)
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Milk
• 1-1/2 cup Sugar
• 3 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 sticks Butter

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

In a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

& 

P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

• 1lb ground chicken breast
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• salt & pepper, a dash of each
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch nob fresh ginger, peeled & minced
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 Tablespoon water
• 1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter
• 1/2 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (or more if you like it hotter)
• dash of fresh pepper
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1/2-8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped
• 1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
• 10-12 large outer lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry

Instructions

• Heat a large, non-stick skillet on high. Add chicken, onion, salt & pepper, and cook until chicken is nearly done, stirring often to break up the meat. Add in minced garlic and ginger, and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink.
• Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, combine sesame oil, soy sauce, water, peanut butter, honey, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce and pepper. Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir until smooth. Add into the skillet and stir to combine.
• Add green onion and water chestnuts into the skillet then cook for 1-2 minutes until the onions are soft and the water chestnuts are heated through.
• Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, and serve with cold lettuce leaves

YUM! So good

There were also lots of treats hanging around like Oreo's and Peanut M&Ms......

It was so fun and I hope it becomes a yearly tradition.  We live in 5 different cities so it's nice to have a reason to all get together at once.  

The boys and Uncle Will were so good about taking care of themselves.  I couldn't have imagined a better man up there for sister's weekend than my new Bro in Law.  He was a good sport about watching the boys and helping us out when we needed help with something too.  Saturday afternoon we started cleaning up and packing up and getting the boys to clean up their cabin too. Many hands made light work and then it started to pour rain and hail.  It came and went in bursts that allowed us to get our cars packed without getting soaked.  We made it down the mountain without much trouble but Cedar City was pouring rain with some debris in the roads and flooding in some intersections.  We made it through that craziness and We all drove to Toquerville where my folks live.  They had arrived about an hour earlier from the hospital in SLC.  The girls and my brother had made a welcome home sign that they put on their garage and were there to welcome them and then the rest of us descended upon them.  They looked tired but happy to see everyone. The whole family was there except Mark, my bro in law Mike and my brother David.

All of the grandkids!

 9 of us bugged out within the hour, hitting the road for home.  It was good to see my dad looking better than I expected and to show off our crafts to my mom.  We had all made her one of everything so she could feel a bit like she'd been there.  It was a long day but the drive home was good.  Carly drove with my sister who was coming to stay with us for a few days and so my kids had plenty of "space" in the van which cut down on the typical arguments.  Rachel even got her first freeway driving in, driving about 1 hr 40 minutes between Fillmore and Nephi.  She did great-

It is always good to be with family.