24th of July in Monticello

We had a great holiday weekend with Tige's family in Monticello. I took about 140 pictures, so you're in for a long post. Tige did his first sprint triathalon. It was the Hillman Triathalon at Recapture Reservoir, which was a 1/2 mile swim (across the lake and back), a 15 mile bike ride, then a 3.2 mile run. It was very difficult with lots of hills on both the bike and the run, but Tige did it! His whole family went to support him, and we are all so proud of him. Tige & Kirk

Getting ready for the swim. Tige is the cutie right in the center with goggles on looking at the camera.

Transition from swim to bike.

Coming in at the end of the bike ride. His handle bars came loose on the rental bike and were rolling forward, dang it! He can't wait until he has his OWN bike to practice and race with.

The end of the run.

Ah, all finished! We left the race, went to the parade, after after a 1 hour rest, he went golfing. I would have been dead for a week. He's a machine I tell you. He's amazing!

The 24th of July Parade

The parade float that Tige's parents made for the 4th ward.

Kason gave "thumbs up" to the cute MHS cheerleaders while eating one of about 2 dozen popcicles he consumed this weekend.

Abby also consumed several popcicles this weekend. She loved it!

Fireworks!

Watching dad's display of fireworks in the backyard.

Even Tige & Kirk joined the sparkler fun.

Watching those firework snakes grow

Kirk & Evie

JaNae, Gavin & Matt

Teina

Sparklers for all. Notice my dog Toffee found a comfy spot to enjoy the festivities.

Calvin & Tige

Family Fun!

We crammed lots of card games into the weekend--that's our favorite pasttime when we're together. We also had some yummy meals and lots of fun.

Grandma, Abby & a popcicle. Yum!

Kason, Evie & Gavin had a blast playing in Grandma's backyard.

Ode to the 85 degree Monticello summers. It felt so nice.

Kason chillin with Evie around bedtime. They made these little beds themselves.

Abby (10 months) and Braxton (6 months).

What a crazy house we'll have when these 2 are running around with the other 3 cousins.

A little of everything

I just downloaded a bunch of miscellaneous pictures from my camera, so this is going to be a miscellaneous post. But I have to start with my hilarious son who makes me laugh every day. Kason is a shark expert, as I'm sure you know by now. We record most of the shark documentaries on "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel, and he watches them all the time and has most of them memorized. Today he was telling us how there were 3 shark attacks in New Jersey in one day in the early 1900's. He said "a boy named Joseph Smith who was 14 years old got his leg bit off." Tige and I busted up since he's apparently getting his shark stories and his church stories mixed up. Perhaps he's been taught recently in primary about Joseph Smith's leg trauma and the first vision at age 14? I don't know . . . funny though.
Abby's little floor toy makes up into this cool tunnel, and she's been enjoying creeping/crawling/sliding underneath it the past few days. I know I'm biased, but I honestly think she's about the most beautiful creature that ever lived. Her beautiful blue eyes are changing colors. I think they're going to be brown, but right now they're kind of a gray/green.

Tige's new shades. They're vented on top for running & biking and have several interchangable colors of lenses. He's doing all 3 legs of a sprint triathalon this weekend, so these puppies should come in handy.

We went to the dinosaur museum here in St. George last week. We drive by it frequently, and I was so tired of Kason begging all the time to go. Have to say I wasn't impressed. I guess I was expecting "Night at the Museum" dinosaur fossils or something and there were NONE. Only rocks with prints, some of which were nearly impossible to see, especially for kids. Anyway, now we've done it and he can stop begging.

Kason thinks Abby is a 5 year old boy that he can wrestle and tumble around with. I am constantly telling him to leave her alone, to stop touching her or lifting her, and that "she's a fragile flower." He loves to put his head in her lap and have her pull his hair or hit him. Urgh! Just yesterday she put a couple of huge scratches on his face. It's going to be hard to teach her not to hit when he eggs her on like he does.

But they just adore each other. Abby lights up every single time she sees him. He loves to hold her and play with her. He's a very good helper. They are really quite a pair!

Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup

I mentioned this recipe to someone on facebook the other day, and a bunch of people asked for it. It's my mom's recipe, and it's fabulous for any meal! I've given it to a few of my friends and relatives, and everybody loves them. (Note: The pancake recipe makes about 12 pancakes. Also, the syrup makes a lot. You could easily half it for one batch of pancakes, or you could freeze the extra for next time and just heat it back up). Here's the recipe:


Pumpkin Pancakes
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup cooked pumpkin (I use canned)
1 ¾ cup all-purpose biscuit mix
2 T. sugar
½ t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
½ t. ginger
¼ c. vegetable oil

Beat eggs in small mixing bowl on high speed 5 minutes; stir in milk, pumpkin, biscuit mix, spices, and oil. Pour batter by the tablespoon onto medium-hot ungreased griddle. Bake until puffed and bubbles begin to break. Turn and bake until golden brown. Drizzle w/ cider syrup.


Cider Syrup
1 cup sugar
2 T. cornstarch
½ t. pumpkin pie spice
2 cups apple cider
2 T. lemon juice
¼ cup butter or margarine

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and spice in small saucepan. Stir in cider and lemon juice. When smooth, cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens and boils 1 min. Remove from heat; blend in butter.

Week of Firsts with Abby

We've had a quiet week at home, but it's been a fun week with Abby doing lots of new things. First she devoured her daddy's ice cream cone. She's had a little lick here and there in the past, but this time she was like a baby bird with her beak open and would NOT take no for an answer. She loved it.

She has started saying "mamamama," which I know isn't specifically at me, but melts my heart nonetheless. She also went from a laying to a sitting position by herself for the first time.

She is up on all fours and scooting around. I wouldn't call it an actual crawling yet, but it's darn close. So this means she's more able to put little wrappers and junk in her mouth more easily. The other day I could tell she had something in her mouth, and I said "Abby, ahhhh" and opened my mouth wide. She copied me and opened her mouth wide and said "Ahhh!" So cute.

This week she also made an attempt to clap her hands when I clapped mine. She's quickly becoming my little mimick. She's also started eating little cut up veggies as finger food that she can pick up herself. She's been loving that.

She is truly a joy in our family. I don't know what we ever did without her.

Happy 4th!

We had a great 4th of July which started with everybody waking up early so we could go see Tige run his second 5K race. (The first one last month we arrived as he was getting a drink after the race, so I was determined to not miss this one). He did great--almost the same time as last time, but this race was 1/4 mile longer. He took 2nd in his age bracket and got a running pack prize with a water bottle and gel flask. After the race we ate a pancake, egg, sausage breakfast at the park.

The race.

After the race with the cute 4th of July kids--Abby has a flag headband and red shoes. Too cute!

We spent the rest of the day having fun too. We saw "Ice Age 3- Dawn of the Dinosaur," everybody took a nap, then we had a delicious BBQ with steaks, peppercorn/mushroom gravy from Cuz's recipe, squash and tomatoes from Char's garden, and pina coladas! And we watched the city fireworks from our backyard, and St. George was actually a pleasant temperature by 10:15 p.m. I'm grateful for my family and for the country I live in.

Tall Abby

Abby had her 9 month check-up yesterday. The Pediatrician asked if we had put her on a stretcher and stretched her out since her last appointment. Her face and body are getting leaner, she's losing some of her major rolls on her cute little thighs, and she's getting long. At over 29 inches, she's in the 92% for her height, but only in the 25% for her weight, and the 17% for head circumference. Her 4th tooth is coming in so she's been running fevers for the past couple of weeks, but has still been happy and sweet for the most part. She's not crawling yet, but is rolling and scooting and somehow manages to grab about anything she wants to get. I occassionally call her Grabby Abby since she's so sneaky and stealth about grabbing stuff.