The Whole Fam Damily Goes To Park Ceeety, Utah

On May 11th, my mom, dad, Josh (yes, JOSH), and I all boarded a plane to head to visit Dan, Tami, and the kids in Salt Lake City, Utah. My parents had rented a condo close to Salt Lake in Park City. It was nice!! We didn't have plans to do anything so we just pretty much winged it every day that we were there. Which was really nice because we didn't have to worry about a schedule. Dan and Tami played awesome hosts to their new home and we had a great time being shown around. So much so that Josh and I are wanting to move there. Again, yes, JOSH. It was gorgeous. We took little hikes and the entire time we kept saying "the dogs would love this." Someday kids, someday.

Here are some of the hundreds of pictures that were taken on the trip. Keep in mind that we were only gone for five days...

Nevermind that it was COLD outside, Noelle wanted to go swimming...with Papa. She's her father's daughter...


But what if there's an Emergecy???? How will I know if it's an Emergecy???


The view from the pool.


I pink puffy heart love these kids!




I think I'm gonna keep this one until she's a teenager and show her first boyfriend. Hee hee... Oh, and this was HER idea.


Dan let Josh drive the GTI (yikes!) and we split everyone between the two cars and took a nice, scenic drive to Homestead Crater.


Josh, at the entrance to the crater.


Walking into the "pool" area.


The reason that I'm looking less than enthused in this picture is because we were on a floating dock-like thing and every time someone else took a step, it would rock the entire thing. I wanted to keep both feet well away from the edge. So when Josh said "babe, go touch the wall," I complied but I was cursing him in my head the whole time...


Noelle, being a show-off. ;)


We climbed the 564831346 steps to the top of the crater and were able get a 365-degree view from the top. So nice... We got a couple group shots from up there.




I saw this little, random, green bench on the side of the crater and I wanted to make sure I got a shot of all three kids sitting on it. Seemed like a good idea...


And it was. :)


For the whole time that we were there, one of the kids was always on Josh's hip...or shoulders.


Getting a little Ansel Adams-y atop the crater.


The next stop was Bridalveil Falls. No, we didn't teleport back to California. Apparently, there's one in Utah too... I got to share the backseat with little Corom. He even let me play with his car-car for a minute.






Now here's a sight that you don't see every day: unattended tools. And a freakin' GENERATOR!!!






Uncle Josh doesn't just give piggy-back rides, oh no, he gives horsey rides and 4-wheel drive rides. Depending on what was around us (rocks or a path), he'd alternate between the two. He'd 4WD up and over the rocks, benches, etc., and he'd go into horsey mode along the path. He had Corom laughing the whole time.


Dan and Tami put together a nice little picnic lunch...with sandwiches on bread that looked like a mushroom...


On the way back, we passed a reservoir.


The weather in between Park City and Salt Lake City was so crazy! We'd go from cold and sunny, to rain, to just a little chilly all on the drive down. Makes for pretty rainbows though!




The last day that we were there, Josh and I decided to take a walk up the hill next to our condo.







Back away from the sheep... Back away from the sheep....


Note to self: wet snow makes for wet pants...


When we got back into the Salt Lake-ish area, we took a little walk along a bike trail.


True California girl! Excuse the piggies, I'm in dire need of a pedi.




We had a great, great time in Utah and it was so nice to visit with Dan & Tami & the kids! Can't wait to see you all again!!

Kaput....

I kinda gave up on the pic a day thing because I got too far behind... I may start up again at some point. But for now, my camera is just another thing that is cluttering up our kitchen table.

April Recap

April turned out to be a month of downs and ups. We started off the month trying to figure out how we'd make it through financially because Josh had lost his job at the end of March. Things got better towards the end of the month when he started his new job on the 19th. Woo hoo! One of the drawbacks though is that he's gone during the week and only home on the weekends. I now call him my weekend husband. The kids and I are adjusting to not having him home and we've gotten into a pretty good routine. And since I'm taking care of them by myself during the week, daddy is on doggy duty (and doodie!) when he's home on the weekends. ;) I've managed to wrangle them enough so we're able to take a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood and not have me come back with any scrapes from falling.

Since Josh wasn't home on his 30th birthday (on the 22nd), we celebrated the following weekend with my parents, Big Gramma, and aunt Nan by going to eat at a Mexican joint near us called El Palmar. Josh and I found it kinda by accident one day and the food is goooooood. It's our new hole in the wall-ish favorite place to eat. Plus, they have our favorite tequila there so that gives them bonus points. HA! We went back to gramma's for dessert and presents where he was surprised with his new favorite cake: a raspberry budnt cake thing. He also got a new tent which we're very excited to use for our Memorial Day camping trip.

The next weekend, I took him out on a date to Cattleman's because he wanted a nice steak. Which he got, in the form of a HUGE porterhouse. More than half of it got taken home to the dogs and for leftovers though. But man, it was good!

The rest of the month was pretty uneventful. The dogs didn't have any vet emergencies or eat anything they shouldn't. It's just been pretty quiet since I'm the only one home during the week. We have some things planned for May that we're excited about so I'm hoping that the next month's recap will be more eventful.

May 7, 2010

My Mother's Day flowers.

May 6, 2010

Legion did a little pruning for us in the backyard...

May 5, 2010

So now that the show is ending, I figure that it'd be a good time to start watching it! Netflix has all of the seasons on DVD so I've been renting and watching them while Josh is gone.

May 4, 2010

This is a three-fer.

My new tattoo!!

May 3, 2010

Josh's blanket #2. I'm at a stand-still right now because I ran out of yarn and our local store has yet to stock the color yet. Grrrr....

May 2, 2010

The infamous beanis. Yes, it is what it looks like....

May 1, 2010

My little baby....

April 30, 2010

Mom, mom, mom...I'm ready to go for my walk now.

If you can see it, I have all three leashes hooked to that large caribeaner. I was a little apprehensive at the thought of trying to walk all three dogs at once, by myself, but it hasn't been bad! The only times where I'm sure it's comical to onlookers is when Hayden and Legion start pulling towards something and Abbi and I are taken along for a ride.

April 29, 2010

Grilled flank steak with cumin and other spices, topped with a homemade chimichurri sauce. Not a repeater...

April 28, 2010

Who knew that roses could be so pretty if you just feed and take care of them???

April 27, 2010

Another from the side.

April 26, 2010

From the side yard.

April 25, 2010

From the front of the house. I'm amazed at the crop we've gotten so far!

April 24, 2010

Another in my rose bush series.

April 23, 2010

Little Abbi-beetface. She loveslovesloves beets. We just have to make sure to swoop in with a towel after she eats them because she likes to come show you just how much she enjoyed her food by rubbing her jowels across your legs when she's done. Thank you, Abbi...

April 22, 2010

One of the most funny scenes from the movie The House Bunny. Anna Faris is freakin' hilarious.

April 21, 2010

Legion is official!!! We got his papers back from Puerto Rico (don't ask me why we had to send them there...) and now he can be shown in the AKC shows. Now to get back to practicing...

April 20, 2010

The dogs and I are constantly watching the calendar now to see when daddy is gonna be gone...

April 19, 2010

I'd signed up to get some free samples of this True citrus stuff and it's actually pretty good. You can use it in cooking (I haven't yet) and add it to water to make quick lemon/orange/lime-ade.

April 18, 2010

Evidently, when you actually feed the roses and get rid of the aphids, they actually look really pretty. This is from the vining bush we have in the backyard. That Legion grabs branches from...thorns and all...

April 17, 2010

Spring is springing!!

April 16, 2010

Our last supper....before Josh goes on the road for work. It's a *breaded* fillet of cod, green beans, and quinoa. Josh had rice. He didn't like the taste or texture of the quinoa. It think it tastes kinda like brown rice, which I really like. The dogs liked it too. Kinda freaked me out though when it came out the other end, it looked like they were infested with worms. The wine...oh, the wine...it's a Luna pinot grigio. We had it at Scott's Seafood one time and had been trying to find it ever since. We ended up finding some at Costco for a reeeeaally good price so we picked up a bottle and were saving it for an appropriate dinner. I think this was it.

April 15, 2010

Big Gramma unloaded several puzzles on me. Much to Josh's frustration... But my to MY pleasure. I love puzzles!!

April 14, 2010

Our first real bbq of Spring. The turd-looking thing is actually a perfectly 'qued piece of filet mignon. Paired with my aforementioned world-famous potato salad, a green salad, a glass of Zin, with a Diet Pepsi back.

April 13, 2010

Frah-gee-lay. That must be Italian.

April 12, 2010

The little toy that could... We got this when Abbi first came home to us and we've just now had to retire it. Good-bye little purple barbell. You'll be missed.

April 11, 2010

Even though the weather was nasty yesterday, Josh still grilled up some burgers for us. We had a little snafu when he discovered that he was out of propane for his grill and we were all set to move everything inside to the indoor grill. And then, I remembered something: we have a little propane camping grill! So Josh set that all up and he was still able to burn the burgers and zucchini. Served alongside my world-famous potato salad. Okay, maybe locally-famous. Famous among my friends and family? How about famous just to me??

April 10, 2010

I was a bit afraid of this mayo because I lovelovelove the taste of Best Foods and won't get anything else. Even though this is still Best Foods mayo, the canola thing gave me pause. Until I tasted it. It tastes just like the original stuff! I'm not sure how this is supposed to be better for me but I'll buy into this one.

April 9, 2010

Legion is huge... Josh recently weighed him and he came in at 121.2. He turned 10 months on the 27th of March so he's still very much a puppy. A ginormous puppy... We think that he's going through another growth phase because he's sleeping much more and when he lays down to sleep, it takes him a bit to get comfy. Both things he's done before when he's going through a growth phase.

Just to do a little comparison, this was taken at the end of October

April 8, 2010

We found these out at Denio's and had to get some for the family. Josh told the vendor that it was my maiden name and she couldn't believe that I was Mexican. Even part Mexican. She got a little embarrassed, giggled, covered her mouth, and said "Oh, I thought you white girl." Yeah...thanks.... She then asked Josh if he was Irish...because her ex-husband was Irish. How does that make any sort of sense...? We gave a couple to my mom & dad and gramma & grampa and they all got a kick out of them.

April 7, 2010

Our cookie jar is full once again!

April 6, 2010

Eggs & chorizo for dinner. Just 'cause we can!

Man...I really need to get different placemats...

April 5, 2010

This is Josh's dinner. It's breaded pork chops, his famous mashed potatoes, and a green salad. Complimented by one of my new knives. ;) Thanks mom & dad, they're awesome!

April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!!

Isn't it so completely obvious how much Hayden loves to wear the rabbit ears??

RIP Dottie....you can now run, free of pain, up at Rainbow Bridge with Grampa Dick. We'll miss you, baby girl.

April 3, 2010

My bathroom is now DONE!! It has a little odor issue right now (CLR stinks!!) so while we're dealing with that, I'm still using the other bathroom.

April 2, 2010

Our go-to food when 1)we don't have anything else defrosted for dinner or 2)it's getting too late to prepare anything else.

April 1, 2010

I have become obsessed with this show...much to Josh's disgust. The "ladies" on the show are complete trainwrecks and annoying as all get out but I can't stop watching!

March 31, 2010

My "high fashion" jewelry. It's nothing nicer than you'd find at Macy's or Nordstrom's but I sure have gotten a lot of complements on the pieces. If you could get it anywhere other than the jewelry parties (like candle parties), I think our bank account would be in trouble...

March 30, 2010

Roasted peppers (roasted on a grill pan), onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, and Louisiana-style hot links, over noodles. Served with caesar salad and some of the wine that went into the toppings.

March 29, 2010

Fish tacos!!! We used cod this time and it was actually pretty tasty.

March 28, 2010

We had a little bit of Grampa's salsa that was just begging to be used. Again, we didn't have any chips in the house and this time, we didn't have any corn tortillas. BUT we'd just bought a ton of flour tortillas at Costco (our home away from home) so I figured I'd give it a shot. Again, I fired up some oil and threw the tortilla bits into the pan. Soooo gooood!

March 27, 2010

Mushrooms, garlic, and red pepper flakes, over noodles. It was a little too spicy for me but Josh loved it. And just to bust Josh: these are whole wheat noodles and he LIKES them.

March 26, 2010

This was supposed to be chicken & broccoli over noodles. Well, I guess it still is but the *chef* cooked the noodles a tad too long so it was a bit mushy. I'll try making it again but this time, I'll watch the noodles a little more closely, and add more salt. It was kinda bland.

March 25, 2010

We were craving some tortilla chips one night and didn't have any in the house. However, we did have corn tortillas. So I chopped some up, threw 'em into some hot oil, and we had our tortilla chips!

March 24, 2010

Tortellini soup. Very easy. Very good. Will be making again.

March 23, 2010

A little trick that I learned from Sandra Lee: buy garlic in bulk (from Costco), peel cloves from about 5 heads of garlic and put in a food processor, pulse until chopped/minced, buy cute little container from Wal-Mart and put processed garlic into it, add some vegetable or canola oil, and voila!, you've got jarred minced garlic for a fraction of the price.