Nate's B-day Party!

We had Nate's B-day Party today.
We went down American Fork Canyon with the Price's and the Williams'.
We had a KIWI Party.
I found a bunch of great kiwi-inspired recipes on Conversations with a Cupcake.
We had kiwi-mango salsa, kiwi-chicken salad sandwiches, and kiwi-coconut cupcakes.
Holly made us raspberry-ginger ale drinks also.
Once again, I love the recipes from that blog!
The kiwi-coconut cupcakes were fabulous!!!

Within minutes, the kids were completely covered in dirt.
I snapped this hilarious picture while we were making dinner.
Look at all of their faces, not a single one of them is cooperating...it's hilarious!

We barbecued hamburgers and veggie burgers, and the kids roasted hot dogs over the fire.

We sang Happy Birthday to Nate...

and Saxon cried because he wanted marshmallows.

Bridger was hilarious...and dirty...

It turns out that Ryan is the ultimate marshmallow roaster...check these out...

Happy Last Day of Being 31 Nate, I hope you had a fun party! We love you so much!

Re-Do

I've had the urge lately to re-do my house.
We don't have money to spend on re-decorating, so we've been trying to make do with what we already have.
Luckily, my husband can build or fix anything...it's amazing!
He's been re-building things that we already have and then I sand them down and re-paint them.
We started with re-painting the dining room...

I asked Gregor for his opinion and he suggested that we hang the children from the walls.
It would give our new paint job a personal touch.

Just wait til I post pictures of the toy chest that Nate built for me...it's perfect!

Naughty, Naughty, Baby!

Thanks to Aunt Lisa, this is what Saxon tells me every time he's getting into trouble:

"Naughty Naughty Baby."

Sandwich, Illinois

When we were in Chicago this summer, my Dad took over 4000 pictures.
I asked him to send me a copy of a few of the good ones.
He sent me 914.
So, it's taken me a while to go though them, but here are some of my favorites:

1. Entrance to Lake Holiday.
2. City Hall (now an Opera House), The Stone Mill (now a museum).
3. Community church, Sandwich Floral Shop.
4. "The Red Geranium" General Store, "Two Sisters" antique shop.

Some of my favorites from the Lake House:

1. Baseball beach babes.
2. Saxon agreeing to the "you have to kiss your first fish rule."
3. Me and Bubby laying on the lawn.
4. Me holding Saxon, Saxon jumping off the pier to Nate.

-I just found Saxon's party on the blog Elle and Emme.

Garden Love

One of my favorite things this summer has been my gorgeous garden.

This was my first garden. I have learned so much, and it has been such a fun activity for my family.
Plus, it forces me to be more creative in my cooking.
Rachel and I share the garden, so Saxon loves to pick veggies with Vienna.

This are some pictures I snapped last night since our sunflowers finally bloomed.

BASIL:
We've used it for pesto, fresh cucumber salads, vegetable lasagna, and I just read a recipe for a tropical salsa that uses basil instead of cilantro. I can't wait to try it!

TOMATOES:
Holly and I made a yummy, fresh pasta sauce from home-grown tomatoes.
Nate loves to eat them plain.

BELL PEPPER: (green, yellow, purple)
This has been a newly discovered love. I've never enjoyed bell pepper until now. We've used it in pitas, in pasta, in veggie lasagna, pizza...everything.

ONION:
That's easy...everything needs onion. But, a little goes a long way, so we use it sparingly.

GREEN BEANS:
Nate and Bridger love to eat them raw. They never last long enough to for me to cook.
YELLOW SQUASH:
Our garden is overflowing in yellow squash. We have to eat it every day just to keep up. I have baked it, grilled it, steamed it, added it to pasta sauce and lasagna, and I am running out of ideas. Does anyone have any good recipes that call for squash?

CARROT:
These funny little carrots are short and purple, but they sure are yummy!
PUMPKIN:
We're saving them for Halloween!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH and ACORN SQUASH:
I haven't made any yet, but I can't wait!

We're also growing CUCUMBERS and ZUCCHINI.
If anyone has any good recipes or ideas for meals from the garden, I would love to hear them! I'm running out of ideas, but I love cooking from the garden. It's fresh and cheap (both of which are important).

The whole cast...

Saxon's pictures are also on GORDON GOSSIP. Click to see the cute post J + S did about Saxon's party!

photo by Rachel
This is the whole group: (left to right) John/Cohen, Tiger Lily/Vienna, Mr. Smee/Bridger, Peter Pan/Saxon, Tinkerbell/Bryn, Captain Hook/Caden, Wendy/Kenna.
I can't wait to post the rest of the pictures she took. She said she got some really great shots!

Mr. Smee

Bridger as Mr. Smee on Rikshaw Design. What a cute guy!
Check him out!

photo by Rachel

Cookie Magazine

Joanna from A CUP OF JO posted about us on Cookie Magazine! I'll have to print it out and save it for Saxon. Click on the link to see it...

More from Neverland...

Saxon's party was featured on Black Eiffel. Check it out here.
Rachel was the one who took the pictures, so she has some really cute ones on her blog!