why didn't i think of this?

This is something I should have thought of...arghhh.

Charles & Marie: PopMat (set of 10) – Now available in White!

moab

Last weekend was the last of our series of mini trips we've been on since coming home in September. Now I'm ready and excited to just stay home and be snuggly and do crafty things (or at least think about doing them).

We went to moab with Matt and Jess (Justin's cousin), and a couple single and hilarious guys that sold with Justin this summer, Brandon and Jesse. We camped and climbed and biked and ate really good food.


Note the sweet bike on the left. Jesse's Wal-Mart special probably made the 10 mile trail feel more like 30 miles. I'm not going to lie I probably would have made it 5 miles on that bike before throwing it off a cliff. I was pretty impressed, everyone did so well.


Jess is a natural - not scared of anything! Yes that is a cliff on her right. So hurry and get a bike Jess so we can go more!


I stole this pic from moabactionshots.com but am admitting it so don't worry about it.


Love this pic. I totally want to make out with Justin when we go biking together and he shows his cleavage like that.


We also pretened to be climbers - we were a little rusty but it was still fun.


Amasa Back - our favorite. We turned around early because the sun went down but it was just georgeous.


I stopped earlier than the guys because the view was so amazing and it was so quiet I just wanted to be alone for a bit. I hiked up on a rock and just layed in the warm sun. I love being by myself in the middle of nowhere. I used to do it a lot before getting married and I need to do it more.


Trying to be a Yogi. It's not quite as relaxing as it looks in calendar pictures.

my house, scary style

P.S. All the gourds are from Jeni Gochnour. We used to do trade with her at craft shows. Her stuff is amazing.

family vacays are the best!

Two weekends ago we went to St George with Justin's parents and three littlest sisters (i want to be them when i grow up). We had a blast kickin it by the pool, shopping, and biking.


Bear Claw Poppy Trail - the classic ride in all of St. George.
Justin, Jaime, Lew and Court (not me Court, my sis-in-law)






There is a new amazing park right by the Bankheads condo. I can't even explain the amazingness of it but let's just say there was not one parent sitting on the park bench watching their kids, they were all playing just as hard as the kids.







Justin, his dad and a friend from high school did the Tour de St. George on Saturday. They did the 66 mile ride so that we could get back in time for the APX party in Orem. In the spring we plan to to the century ride together though. I did do a fun 25 mile ride by myself through Snow Canyon. I always said I would never live here because there is no snow but laying by the pool in October? I think I could manage.

what we luv to eat

This summer I feel like I finally found my "food groove." I made dinner pretty much every night which means I cooked more this summer than the entire 6 six years previous combined. These four meals get through most days. I love them because they use similar ingredients, are fast, fresh and yummo!

First up, brown a corn tortilla on the stove, add pepper jack cheese and black beans. Then top with fresh corn and fresh tomatoes. I eat this about 5 days a week. Ellie loves them too and Cody won't eat anything at the moment so I decided to just let him starve and cook what I want.



Next, is similar to the one above, but all the cheese and veggies go on top of brown rice instead. I love this one too because I use garlic and onion, and pretty much any vegetable I have in the fridge so it's good to get ride of random veggies like squash or zuchinni.



I think this stuff is called Chow Mein? Just pull out frozen veggies and stir fry them a little, add a few eggs and scramble and then stir in brown rice. Salt n' Pepper and enjoy. Cody actually will eat this, amazing.



My kids fav - line a cookie sheet with tin foil, brush strips of sweet potato with olive oil and sprinkle coarse salt and pepper. Bake at 400 for about 25 min. My kids go nuts over these.



And I just realized these are all vegetarian. I'm not vegetarian but I like the fact that I don't have to eat meat at every meal to feel satisfied.

boating

I had to post a few pics of our first and last (besides Powell) boating trip of the season. Wow, boats are such a great way to light your money on fire! I've heard that if you like to light $1000 bills on fire then you will surely like a boat.

Anyway, the kids looked cute so I guess it's worth it?












Kissin' Cousins!

my birfday

Last Saturday was my birfday and I had planned on doing a triathlon but since the weather was forcast to be so crummy and cold I had kind of bagged it thinking it would be canceled anyway. Well, saturday morning, Justin dragged me out of bed telling me things like "you'll wish you had." My mom came over to tend the kids and we drove over to A.F. The race was not canceled and I am glad I did it because I got second in my age group, and I bet I could have won but I was having wardrobe dilema's because I couldn't decided what to wear during transition, and wore way too much. Anyway, I am glad I did it and since it was so rainy and cold the race directors basically said anything goes so Justin was right there in the transition area cheering me on and he also did the run with me which helped a ton.


Why am I wearing sweats in the rain?


What form removing my sweats though.


My area looks like my closet does when I'm trying to decide what to wear. What a piggy!


Off to run in a huge wet jacket! Justin ended up carrying my jacket for me.

beautiful springville custom home for rent at mouth of hobble creek canyon

Brick home has outstanding views of valley and mountains. Main living has 5 bedrooms/4 bath. Downstairs 3 bed/1 bath can be used as separate aparatment (full kitchen) with own garage. Entire home has been completely remodeled within the last year.

To tour home, please call Courtney at 801-623-9430.
Address is: 2500 E. Canyon Rd., Springville.

Rent is $1600 per month on a month to month lease - great for those who do not want to be tied down by a year long lease. First months rent as well as a $500 deposit due at signing.

baby cade!

Ellie and Cody finally have a cousin! Baby Cade was born September 30 to Ashley (Justin's sis) and Dustin. He's a little chunk too at 9 lbs 2 oz. We are soooo excited he is here!

october!

Justin left the first day of October to hike Nebo with his friend Joe. October is my favorite month and I was feeling a little jealous that Justin got to go hiking on such a beautiful day. So I loaded up the kids and by 9:00 am we were on our way to hike to Stewart Falls. The trail was a lot longer than I remember, especially with Ellie who needed to stop every 10 steps to pick up something "cool" and put it in her backpack. We didn't make it to the falls but probably hiked about 3 miles total, and only one faceplant for Ellie! She talked the ENTIRE time, so I got a little on video.


Translation:
"You just run on the scary parts."

"You can run on the big part of the rock."

"Did you see that?"

"I'm pretty good at not falling!"