Utah Part 2 - Aunt Susan and Cousins!

John's wonderful mom passed away 22 years ago.  She was a devoted grandmother, but my kids never got know her.  Thankfully, they did have a close relationship with their grandpa, until he passed away in 2006.  John's oldest sister Susan has always been kind and thoughtful, but since the death of her parents, she really took the reins to keep the family together.  She has kind of taken on the role of grandma to my kids. We travel to Utah once or twice a year and we almost always stay with Susan.  It hasn't been easy to have all (sometimes six!) of us there, but she is always a gracious hostess and we feel at home.  I shouldn't fail to mention her husband Dave.  He is lots of fun and keeps all of us laughing.

 Here are a few pictures so you can see what I mean.  Every time we see Dave, we have pictures like this!

 My kids love our trips to Utah because they get to see their cousins.  On John's side of the family, all of their cousins except one are older than them.  But they have a great time with their cousin's kids.

It was fun to introduce Lavender to her cousins, especially to Holly.  There is a 40 year age difference between them and they are first cousins!  Holly is Susan's daughter and she usually does the cooking while we are there.  Holly plans and prepares delicious, healthy dinners at lightning speed!

Marianne and Evan have a great time with Holly's son Josh.  He and Evan are pretty much inseparable.

We had a fun time with the rest of Susan and Dave's grandkids too.  They are my kids' first cousins once removed.

Malia, Anya, Kate, Natalie, Reagan, Maddie, Hudson and Max

Marianne especially had fun with Max, who appreciates a good self portrait as much as she does!

Here is Kate holding Sophie who apparently missed the big cousin photo shoot above.

      Finally, here is Lavender with the newest cousin Landon who was too young to join the party.

Gardening - Virtuous and Tasty!

Thomas Jefferson said, "cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens.  They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country, and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds." 

This year with our homeschool commonwealth, Evan studied the principle of georgics as described by Jefferson above.  For a school project he made boxes, planned and planted a garden.  We have been enjoying delicious, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchinis.  I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite zucchini recipes. 

The first one is a main course dish.  I got the recipe from my friend Maren and it is yummy!  I doubled the original recipe (everything except the meat) because we always need that much.

Thai Chicken Pasta

2 cups Picante sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
4 Tbs honey
2 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate (or 4 Tbs oj)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp ginger
1/2 cup peanuts
2 large chicken breasts cut into pieces
12 oz fettuccine pasta
1 large or 2 small zucchini cut into pieces

Directions:

1.  Begin cooking fettuccine in boiling water.


2. Combine picante sauce, peanut butter, honey, orange juice, soy sauce and ginger in a sauce pan over low heat.  Stir until mixed well and keep warm.

3. Cook chicken and zucchini in frying pan with 3 Tbs oil until done.

Add fettuccine and sauce to frying pan.  Top with peanuts.  Serves 4-6.

Next up is my zucchini bread recipe.  The secret is to add LOTS of zucchini.  It makes the bread moist and delicious!

Zucchini Bread

1 cup oil
2 scant cups sugar
3 eggs
1 TBS vanilla
4 heaping cups shredded raw zucchini
3 cups flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 TBS cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Combine oil, sugar and eggs in large mixer bowl.  Beat well.  Blend in vanilla and zucchini.  In separate bowl mix dry ingredients.  Add to oil mixture and blend well.  Add nuts.

Pour batter into 2 loaf pans sprayed well with PAM.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour until loaves are done.  Cool on rack.

Utah Part I - We love Muff!

June was a busy month.  Marianne went to Girls' Camp at Lake Arrowhead with our ward.  She was brave and tried the ziplines down the mountain.  And she loved it!  Evan headed off for high adventure camp with the scouts and rafted on the lower Kern river.  We finished off the month by leaving on a trip for Utah.  We packed in quite a bit in just a few days, so I am going to divide the trip into several posts.

Part I is about my Aunt Muff and family.

We headed to Spanish Fork to visit my mom's only sister who we call Aunt Muff.  The way my mom tells it, her sister was such a tiny, little thing that they said she was just a bit of fluff or puff, which rhymed with muff.  One of my uncles still calls her "Puff." Some people call her Muffie or Ginnie Lynn, but she has always been Muff to me.  She has also always been a wonderful aunt although she is still under five feet tall.  I remember a cameo necklace she sent to me for Christmas when I was a little girl.  I was so excited that I sneaked a peek inside the little wrapped box under the tree.  I felt so guilty and knew she would be disappointed in me, so I never peeked at a gift again.

As a teenager I often visited her during the summer. Sometimes our family made the trip and sometimes I went by myself.  It was always fun to be in the country and ride their horses.  Best of all, Muff made me feel special and grown up.  As a college student at BYU, she often invited me, my cousins and my roommates for a big Sunday dinner.  They all called her "Aunt Muff" too.  Later she hosted a bridal shower for me and welcomed John into the family.

It was fun to visit with her and introduce her to Lavender, who she says was sent by my Mom who is up in heaven laughing.  I neglected to get a picture with her, but here is a picture with her daughter (my cousin Angie) and her granddaughter (Angie's baby Sienna).

 It is always beautiful out at their house.

Here is a view of the back of their home.  My Uncle Paul is a brick mason and built the house.

The kids love to climb on the roof of the barn and then jump onto the trampoline.

My Uncle Paul used to farm and raise horses.  Now he has an wonderful garden in their yard and greenhouse.  He always keeps their yard looking beautiful.

Last year my grandma moved in with my aunt and uncle. The whole family helps to care for Grandma, especially my cousin Heather.  We are grateful they give her so much love and attention.

It was good to see Grandma who celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year.

She was thrilled to meet Lavender.

Lavender was equally thrilled to meet her great-grandma.  

In fact, she is her only living grandma, so she is an extra special treasure.

Thanks to Aunt Muff and family for having us over for dinner on a very busy summer evening!

Happy 4th of July

June 30th

We had a good visit with my Dad and Carolyn as we started our trip to Utah.  Their home is lovely and they have done a wonderful job bringing together two households.  We got the full tour of the house and yard.
Their dogs even showed off the pool by taking a quick swim.

Carolyn made us a great lunch and then gave us plenty of snacks to take along on our road trip.

We enjoyed the candy rocks and the visit!

I'm So Proud

2012 is officially half over!  Let's celebrate with a couple of major accomplishments:

Lavender found her feet

and I managed to snap a picture of all three girls!