Scones (the utah kind)

My family has a bunch of great traditions that have been carried on from generation to generation. One of those is the making and eating of scones. These scones as you will see in the pictures to follow are NOT the english type which are baked and go well with coffee. These are tasty pillows of deep fried goodness and they go well with lots of other not-so-good for you food like butter and little smokies (or little weenies as Jake likes to say).

This is the homemade dough that my dad starts making the night before.

This is the transformation of the dough into the SCONE. I wish I had pictures of the teddy bear ones that my dad made for the kids. They loved them.

Dad at work in the kitchen. A familiar sight.

Cookin' up the li'l smokies.

The meal. This is how we eat our scones: Grab a hotter than hot scone. Put it on your styrofoam plate as fast as you can so that you don't burn your fingers. Lay down a slab of butter next to it on the plate. Pour some homemade maple syrup into a pyrex bowl. Serve up a few pieces of fruit and then a few li'l smokies. Tear off a piece of scone and dip it into the butter and then into the syrup. Then you can take a big bite of fried heaven. I know I know it is so unhealthy but we only eat these on a few holidays a year.

Claire Baby C. we love her so much! All of my kids flock to play with her.

Thank you Dad for carrying on such a fabulous tradition. Hopefully I can learn how to make the dough and carry on this tradition for a long time.

Go Titans!

Last Saturday was Matthew's first official little league football game. We played Skyline (Olympus' long-time rival at all levels) and weren't really sure what to expect. Our team is comprised of almost all first-year players. It think there is only one boy that has played football before. Boy was I impressed. Not only did the boys know what they were doing out there but we won 21-0! Matthew did a great job and I was so proud of him. He is such a mellow kid that I doubted that he would actually tackle anyone but he did a great job on defense. He also had a couple of catches and had good runs. Hopefully our season will continue on this positive note. Good job Matthew and thanks to all of our coaches, Larry, Matt, Dave, Josh, and Steve.

back to school already?

Today was two things -- First, it was Anne's birthday. Happy Birthday to my beloved sister Anne. We love you. Thank you for being one of three people who read this blog.

Second, today was the first day of school. I think all of us were ready for school to start. The kids were because they finally got to see their friends (unfortunately it is not because of their never ending love for learning) and me because it is my first day since June that I did not argue with/yell at my kids or vice versa for most of the day.

Actually I didn't think that I was going to be sad when I sent Jake off to 1st grade but I was. He seemed so big with his big boy backpack walking into the school without me or Matt. I did tear up a little bit and then I was over it.

Here they all are this morning before they headed out to school.

The two 1st graders. Jake and D.

Midway

One of my favorite places in the world (not that I have actually been all over the world) is Midway. I grew up going there with my best friend Steph whose family has a farm there. Now some of our other good friends own a home there. We are so lucky to have been invited to join them there many times. We always have so much fun with them and they all are so kind to include us so often. This past weekend we went with our friends Angie and Brian for a quick trip. I finally remembered to take my camera with me this time and here are some of the pictures that were taken on our walk/fishing adventure/golf ball hunt.

Getting the hook ready to get caught in the plants around the creek. I don't remember if they actually caught any fish but they sure did get the line stuck a lot.

Cute Dad and his cute sons.

Here they are fishing for fish and golf balls. This is good because we really need more golf balls at our house. Several large bins full are just not enough. (Just kidding Matt.)

I thought this was a nice image.

Aren't they cute! Check out the sky behind them.

The beginning of the big haul. There is a water hazard behind the hole. Jackpot!

Gorgeous E. and great lighting.

Our good friends Angie and Brian. They are cute too.

Jake not cooperating. He is still cute though and (although you can't see it in this picture) -- getting more freckles. Isn't he lucky!

She is such a good dog. I am almost a dog-hater but I like Maddie. Matt and the kids really really really want a dog but I am standing strong. I just can't take care of one more living thing.

Kater

Mr. B.

Claire and her harvest of wild mint leaves.

Miss E. I finally got her picture. After that she couldn't get enough of the camera.

Brian and Matt. Long-time friends.

One of the reasons why I love Midway. Beautiful landscapes and cool evenings. Thank you Ang and Bri for the great getaway.

coming soon...

lori+joe=true love

Did I Really...

spend 3 hours creating this flyer?

THREE HOURS?!? I could have been doing how many other things? Including paying attention to my children.

Anyway, I am the one in charge of collecting these three things and turning them in for lots of cash for our elementary school! It is awesome. I love getting free money -- especially if it is for our school! I hope none of you will ever throw away any of these without thinking..."should I really be throwing this away? It would be just like throwing real money away. I should give this to my neighborhood school." Alright you may not think this but it is kind of true. Ever since I started this I can't throw a package away without checking for the box top or campbell's label. (Jenn L. I know you feel my pain.) I wish I could be this conciencious about keeping my house clean.

wish you could smell this

I just finished cutting a ton of limes, lemons, and oranges for an enrichment dinner tonight and my house smells awesome. Just a little help in cutting the smell of 5 humans holed up in the house for the last 5 days. The kids are doing well by the way. I have found though that there is actually a limit to how many popsicles one person can eat in one day. There is also a limit to how much I can listen to the Disney Channel in one day. ARGGHHH!