Bridal Veil Falls

Last Saturday I had to get the kids out of the house for a few hours so Marshall could work with his new boss. We decided to hike from Canyon Glen to Bridal Veil Falls. It's not very long, but the weather was great and we had a really good time.

Pictures

What's been going on?

Lots actually. I have been so busy that I haven't found the time to blog. And I will have to post the pics later because they are on a different computer and the girls are using it right now. So, my little boy turned 7 on March 1. We had his party at Pirate Island in Orem and I totally recommend it. It is a bit pricey, but no more than anywhere else, and their pizza is actually good. I would have liked to try some of their other toppings, but since we were dealing with 7 year old boys, and Scott in particular, we stuck with half cheese and half pepperoni. We ordered his cake from Fresh Market and it was a cute pirate ship. Scott really loved his party and all the boys, and Samantha and Amy had a lot of fun.
Marshall's nephew Brett got married on the 13th and his mom and sister stayed with us 2 nights. They had such a great wedding and it was fun to see all the Buker families. He was married in the Salt Lake Temple and although it was cold and snowy, it was perfect and my girls have been planning their weddings ever since.
the weekend after that Samantha competed at the state meet in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and did great. She cut time in both events. Scott and Amy swam in the BC meet and Samantha swam with them at the Saturday meet. They all cut time and swam really well and Scott even dove off the blocks.
Our good friends from Idaho Falls, Barbara Miller and her 2 girls Rebecca and Chrissy came down for their Spring Break while her husband was out of town for work. We had so much fun visiting with them. We did the Easter egg hunt in Salt Lake (Terrible), played at Chuck E Cheese (kids loved it) ate at In-n-Out (I loved it) relaxed on Sunday, went skiing on Monday, which was so, so much fun, shopped at the Gateway on Tuesday, had Amy go back to school on Wednesday and went swimming and they went back home Thursday morning. A busy week, but also a lot of fun. Also on Tuesday our good friends Troy and Leslie were in town from Washington and came for dinner with the Ockey's. I so loved seeing them again. Marshall filled something like 350 eggs with candy and Samantha got to hide them for all 11 of the kids to do an egg hunt. Definitely too much sugar, but they loved it.
Then came general conference weekend and Easter. We went to my parents for Easter dinner and to watch the last session of conference, and the kids got to color eggs.
April 6 was mine and Marshall's 15th Anniversary. Yes, you read that right. 15 years!! We went to the temple and to dinner at Tuscany. Wow, was that good food. Yum! When we got home we found a jar on our bed filled with money. It was decorated and had CRUISE written on it. We are saving up to go on a southern caribbean cruise next spring break, and Samantha and Amy had gotten the idea from the movie UP to put all our change in a jar. They had $70 in it. Not a bad start!
We are also trying to eat healthier. We are buying some organic (it is too much to buy all organic) and trying to cut out most processed foods as well as anything that has high fructose corn syrup in it. We've been cleaning out the flower beds so that we can plant a garden. Can't wait to get started on it.
Spring Break is over and the kids go back to school on Monday. Maybe then I'll have time to upload some pics.

Last Chance

swim meet. March 5-6. First is Samantha in the 100 breast, Amy in the 200 free and Scott in the 25 free. Nicely done!

Rachael Ray always says

that if you get your kids in the kitchen cooking, they will eat whatever they made and they won't be so picky. So Scott and Amy helped with dinner last night. We made tri-berry muffins (minus the blueberries so really it was a duo) and Scott did half the work. It was really cute, actually. Then we sat down to dinner and he picked one apart and asked if next time I could leave out the berries. Clearly parenting advice from someone who has never had children is a lot like marriage advice from someone who has never been married.

The muffins were okay; they actually needed more berries than what I added, but Amy and I made an omelet for 2, that actually feeds 4 and it was so yummy. It even got a "Wow, this is really good" from Marshall, which is praise indeed. I really think you should try it.

The Kirsten/Barefoot project

Okay, it doesn't have the same ring as Julie/Julia, and I don't really want to cook gross stuff just because it's in a cookbook I happen to like. But, I really did like the movie, because I like to try out new recipes, and I thought since I own all 6 of the Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks, why not cook more out of them. I started with the first one, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. So far, it's mostly been a success. Like I said, if it's something I don't like, I won't bother making it, or if the ingredients are just too expensive, then it will have to wait until the economy picks up. What have I done so far? Eggplant spread, cheddar corn chowder, split pea soup, ham, brownies, coconut cupcakes (i've made them before), blueberry muffins (i've made those before too) and spaghetti and meatballs from Barefoot Contessa at home, and fish and chips, though I made hush puppies instead of chips. Other than the split pea soup, I've been happy with everything. That doesn't mean that I haven't made things from other cookbooks though. I made the Ultimate fish tacos last night from Tyler Florence that were so good I wish I had leftovers for lunch, and I made chicken with mushrooms and garlic from The Comfort Table: Everyday occassions. This week I'm trying lemon chicken, indonesian ginger chicken and basil tomato soup.
Does that make me a nerd? The better question is, do I care? It is what I enjoy doing and I'm having a lot of fun, plus my family eats well.

Random Pics

Scott watching cartoons before school and Amy reading.