Just a Day at the Park

I had heard about this "Castle Park" for a while now but was never quite sure where it was or what it was about. Turned about to be... awesome! I think I may have even thought it was cooler than Lily did, and she adores parks. Plus, this park outing turned out to be that much better because Daddy was with us... 

Rockwell Relay Pamperfest

Last Saturday was my first ever Rockwell Relay Pamperfest ride... it was a BLAST! I am so proud of my family and the awesome event that they put on. It started at Snow Basin and went through the back roads ending in Soldier Hollow. Pictured above was my rockin' team - Heather Torres, me, Julie Van Zweden, and Jenny Quick (Heather's cousin). I have to admit that I was a bit nervous for us, not a whole lot of training was done amongst us. But to my pleasant surprise, we did awesome!

We had to come up with a team name. I have always hated this part of organized teams, the dreaded team name! I maybe have one creative bone in my body...but it's small. So I gave Paul the honor of naming us and within 2.5 minutes he came up with...

KEEPING UP WITH THE BIKEDASHIANS

...so I went with it. I had never seen the show and I thought my team would think it was super lame, but I wasn't going to be coming up with anything better. Plus, it kinda grew on me :)

Each rider had two legs. Mine were Leg 2 (Trappers Loop) and Leg 6 (Smith and Morehouse). I was terrified of doing Trappers. I am weirdly better at hills than straights (I think it has something to do with starting out a mountain biker), which is why I took this leg, but it was about 4 miles straight up hill! Day of the race, once I was on the bike and actually riding, Trappers really wasn't that bad! It was the 20 miles after that I should have been worried about!! It was mostly flat and I am terrible on flats. But I made it and passed the baton off and could luckily rest a few hours till my next ride.

It was my turn again to go "up and back" on Leg 6. When I started I was expecting a 20 mile round-trip ride. Another rider I was kinda playing tag-team with told me it was 26 miles, I almost died right there. But it turned out we were both wrong, it was 23.8 miles. There was a pretty strong wind the whole way up which was a killer. I thought it would be a breeze once I turned around, it was all down hill and now the wind would be pushing me. But, literality half a mile after I hit the top, I hear crazy-loud thunder and it just starts pouring! I could feel every inch of me soaking up water, it felt like I had just jumped into a pool. I started seeing all the support vehicles blazing up the road (support vehicles weren't allowed on this leg) and I was wondering what was up!? I saw a bunch of ladies hop off their bikes and into the cars. I knew I had to decide what I was going to do before I saw my team.

I was in it for the ride, I would have been SO bummed if I would have given up just from a little rain. So when I saw my team, I just waved them on by. My eye was totally burning from the sweaty water constantly dripping into it. I actually had the thought, "I don't want to rub it because I will smear my mascara." Haha, how lame am I? Then I decided, "Who cares!" I was surrounded by women and their not going to think twice about my blackened mascara eye. So I rubbed away...

It was a huge relief to pass the baton again and know I didn't have to get on a bike again! So after a few more Legs and hours, our team made it! With a whopping time of 11 hours and 50 minutes!! I know I should maybe keep that to myself, but I will never remember the time I need to beat next year :)

Paul, along with some Salt of the Earth helpers, SAVED the day. The spa that was signed up for months to come "pamper" at the exchanges and at the finish line bailed the night before! Paul got everything together to give hand and arm massages, complete with a cool eucalyptus wash, whipped body creme massage, and fire & ice soothing treatment. He is the greatest!!

Stuffing in July

When I think of Stuffing, I feel I need to also think about those things I am most thankful for. . .

• a loving, forgiving, understanding, sweet husband
• one beautiful, precious, caring, vivacious, little girl
• one adorable, eatable, squeezable, happy baby boy
• two giving, thoughtful, accepting, best-est parents
• multiple caring family and friends
• a gospel and Father in Heaven to turn to even in the hardest of times
• and so many more endless, gifts, blessings, perks, talents, bonuses, etc. 

For about a month now I have been thinking about stuffing. Why is it that it is only something most of us only think about in November? I am aware of its association to the Thanksgiving tradition, but I say, "why not stuffing in July?" So for the last month, I have been saving my breads that I know Paul and I wouldn't be eating. Some of which included homemade white & wheat bread, artisan bread, sourdough bread, pitas, and more. YUM..

With my little helper, we broke all of the bread. Some of the pieces turned into ity bity crumbs, but she was so happy to help. I couldn't resist that little face, so I dealt with the misshapen bread that brought more love and character to our finished product. We broke it all up and let it sit for a few hours to dry out a bit.

Having only ever been a helper to my Mom with making this dish, I was kinda at a lost as to what to do after step 1. Luckily, my parents took me and the kids out to lunch, so I was able to pick at my Mom brain before I worked on it anymore. Most of my Mom's recipes are in her head and she just adjusts amounts as she is cooking. Not very helpful to me though..

So according to her, this is everything else to know about stuffing:

• cook some sausage (in my case I used half sausage, half ground turkey cause I had it)
• when sausage is semi cooked, add cut onion and celery (I used leeks..mmmm)

Then mix those into the bread. Sprinkle with:

• sage 
• poultry seasoning (I didn't want to buy it, so I looked at the ingredients at the store and just added basil, thyme, marjoram, salt, and maybe something else, can't remember)

Taste and add more spice if needed (that is the tricky part). Add some:

• concentrated chicken stock/broth/boullion (2 cubes/1 cup water)
• nuts/cranberries/apples, whatever you want that sounds good

Don't make it too soggy, or too dry. This go around it was a bit dry, but as leftovers it's a cinch to fix, just add liquid and cook 15 to 20 min in oven.

Then cook, depending on how deep the pan is, maybe an hour on 350 degrees with tin foil. Last 15 - 20 minutes remove foil. It turned out...okay. Today I had the left-overs and helped them with the dryness which greatly improved them. I am guessing it will take many attempts to get it just like my Mom's delish dressing. But I figure if I am only practicing once a year at Thanksgiving, it will take YEARS! So attempt one in July, I'm off to a better start than had I waited this Fall.

Farmington Festival Days

I LOVE Farmington Festival Days. I'm one that can "take it or leave it" when it comes to parades, but it's always a sad year when I have to miss the Farmington parade. But not this year! I even remembered to go set out some blankets the day before so we had a prime spot. And had it not been overcast, we would've even been in the shade, it was that good :) Farmington is a special place to me. Having lived here for about 22 of my almost 26 years of life, it will always be home!

We made it out with a diaper bag FULL of candy, which is a shocker all on it's own because it takes Lily about 10 seconds longer than the average kid to react to a piece of candy on the street. Sweet little cousin Alyssa shared lots of her candy with Lily, and she is a pro at that candy grabbing let me tell ya! So even with the weeks worth of candy, the usually stroll in the park meeting up with people we haven't seen in years, and being perfect weather, it was a little sad not having my Mom and Dad there. I haven't wished they didn't move to St. George too many times, but this was one of the times it made me kinda sad :( They were missed, but I will be glad they moved next time I get to go visit!

Being 3 years old can make even fun things like a parade with free otterpops, sad at times. Overall we had a great day!

July 4th Celebrations

The Forth Of July is PERFECT on a Wednesday! It is ends up being a whole week of celebrations!! We started off by going to the Huntsville park for some play and a 3 on 3 basketball tournament for the Heslop boys. Lily however, was not in love with the blow-up toys like I thought she would be...

 

 

Sweet Stew sat in his stroller and watched his big sister "play". I am so excited for him to be big enough to help Lily be brave with adventurous days like this.

Michael, Danny, and Paul were scoutin' out the competition trying to look as intimidating as possible (not sure how well it worked). But they played their little hearts out during their two games in the double-elimination tournament. Paul actually had some awesome plays, especially considering the size of the guy he was up against!

 Cheering daddy on with my little "gremlin"! Couldn't love this little guy anymore than I already do.

Then we packed it up and went back home to get some work done; some of which included playing in the sprinklers and eating otter-pops!

 

 

Headed back to the cabin for an over-nighter (thank goodness it is soo close, otherwise I don't think I would make it up so easily)! Playing cards with Grandma Heslop is becoming the highlight to any of Lily's vacations. And Stewart always love some new scenery with endless exploring possibilities.

 

 

The next morning we went out on the boat. Stew and Lily did so awesome, they loved it. The big kids also got to play with some wakeboarding and wakesurfing. So fun, but definitely reminding me that I am getting OLD! I used to be able to cruz behind the boat forever, but now every single muscle is feeling it and not really lovin' it. I shouldn't be this old yet?!

 

 

 

Poolin' it up with daddy at the cabin. My brave little fish is always timid at first but then she remembers just how awesome the water can be.

 

 

Over the week of celebrations we also had dinner with our good friends, Matt & Abbey and Andy & Jenny and then went to a park and watched Eaglewood fireworks,  watched the Real Salt Lake soccer game, enjoyed some after-game fireworks, and visited Jenny in the hospital after she had her sweet baby Liam on July 4th!

It was such a fun week to spend with friends and family. I am so blessed to live in a country with all the freedoms I get to enjoy.  It is a blessing to have a day dedicated to our Independence to help me reflect on all of those who made "the American dream" a reality.

Bryce Canyon

My Grandma Anderson and all that family went camping at the Ruby's Inn Campground at the beautiful Bryce Canyon this last week. Paul had to finish out a business trip in L.A. so it was just me and the kids on this camping adventure. Not going to lie, I was super un-excited about tentin' it up with the kids for multiple nights. Especially since Stewart had never camped a day in his life! My kids turned  out to be troopers though. They both slept all the way through the first night, even with poor little Carter screaming every few hours just feet from us. The next night little Stew had kicked his blankets off and it was a chilly night. He was rattin' around and when I tried to put the blanket back on him, he popped up in his pack n' play. I put him in my sleeping bag with me which was super fun for about four minutes until he fell back asleep but not before he staked out his territory which was about 85% of the bag. I was mega uncomfortable the rest of the night but it was worth having my littles sleep so well.

It was fun to play cousins and let Lily and Stew run around and be dirty little kids for once.  Babies in arms, we all went on a gorgeous hike overlooking the Queen Victoria Trail. It is amazing to see the creations that God has put on this Earth. I know I have never been one for enjoying the beauties of nature but I really was stunned by how gorgeous everything was (my mom would be proud that I even noticed!).