As of late...

 Here are some pics that tell a little about what we've been up to lately: 

A impromptu photo shoot. 

I've pretty much given up on posed pretty pictures. The dream is over for me. It's just not going to happen. At this point, if they're all looking, then it's a good picture for me- they don't even need to be smiling:) I especially like these pictures because Tyler has his shaggy fuzzy hair in it. I gave him  a really bad hair cut the other day. I thought I could just "trim it up". Well it did NOT look good, and I had to cut it short. :(

 We had a fun cookout with some old and new friends. Our kids are in heaven up in the mountains. If you haven't noticed, they LOVE getting dirty!

 This was Whitney's reaction when I told her that peanuts were invented on her birthday. She asked when they were invented, and it seemed like a good guess;)

 Josh has been working on some waverunners so we took them up to the lake to test them out. This was the beginning to a long line of lake outings! These kids could literally sit at the beach for hours and not get bored .

 Did you see that rock he's throwing at me!

 

This is one of MANY pictures of Zach eating licorice. He loves the stuff!

Our next lake outing was with some dear neighborhood friends to Pallisades again. The kids sure do love this couch/tube!

Then a few friends and I went to Bear Lake for the day. I sure do love summer...

 Whitney and her "sister".

 Nicki B...

 

Kristin K...

 

The skiddles...

 The "baby pool". 

We had to find a way to corral Zach. He kept crawling straight into the lake. Such a dare devil!

 Then someone came and "cooled him off". Poor little guy. He didn't care though.

 Sweet hair-do from being plucked out of the lake so often. He made it even better by dumping sand in his hair.  

Another licorice picture

 

(Aimee, Lisa, Tory, Me, Nicki, Kristin...some of my favorite people:)

 

Long live summer!

Calzones

This was a post I put on the Smith recipe blog that I wanted to share on this blog. Thanks to a Miss Rachel Taylor for the great recipe!

Okay, we have calzones or pizza probably every week and a half. My favorite food is pizza, ya, I'm 7. Here is a step by step guide on what to do. I'm not much of a food blogger, but I did my best. Here goes:

These are the ingredients:
1 1/2 C water                            
1 t salt                                        
2 T sugar
 4 T oil
4 1/2 C flour
2 T active dry yeast
Pizza sauce and toppings
Egg wash: 1 egg  + 1 T oil, mixed

In a large bowl, stir water, salt sugar, oil and yeast.

Add flour a one cup at a time until dough is soft, not sticky.

 Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size (about a half an hour)...

 Punch dough down. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a Zhu Zhu pet, (that's all I had nearby that was comparable) You should be able to get  8 calzones out of this recipe.

 Roll out dough into an oval or rectangle.

 (FYI, I don't always make very pretty food...)

 Spread sauce on 1/2 of dough then stuff with toppings

I think one thing that makes my calzones extra special is to use mozzarella AND mild cheddar. I also like to use Ragu marinara sauce. But I'm sure everyone else has their preferences too.

 I like to grease my pan and spread cornmeal on it, just for an added touch.

 Okay, then fold dough down and pinch the edges closed, like so:

 Paint with the egg wash

 Cut 2-3 slits on the top for venting

 Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

 Don't forget to blow in them, they are SUPER hot!

Then, when you're done, throw what you don't want on the floor, and then chuck your plate on the floor too.

 

This little guy ate 3/4 of an entire calzone! We are big fans over here.  

A trip to Lake Palisades

 Our dear friends, the Taylors took us out on the lake with our other dear friends, the Lancasters. It was a perfect day with great water and great company. Here are some of the highlights.

 

Ryan and Ty-guy

 

This little guy, again, just wanted to sit in the shallow water and play with rocks.

 

The kids loving the boat ride. I remember as a kid sitting up in the bow and loving the speed of the boat as it passed over the waves. So fun to have my kids experience the same thing.

 

First Mate!

 

Uncomfortable, but happy enough mate!

 

Skiiers...

 

Josh

 

Me

 

Adam

 

Andy

 

Josh again...just because I like this picture.

Then we headed over to the bridge for some bridge jumping. It has been a long time since I have done any cliff/bridge jumping. It sure felt good to do it again. I love to scare myself every now and again. This did the trick! 

 Josh

 

Adam

  

Andy

 

Me and Becky

 

This is a shot of Tyler as he's watching us jump off the bridge. He thought it was so cool. Whitney even went up to the top of the bridge with me, thinking she would jump off of it. She luckily chickened out at the last minute. I don't know if I would have let her go through with it anyway. Crazy girl.