A camping we will go!

This weekend we went camping at the oh-so-kid-friendly Warm River Campground. Aunt Aimee came along with us--it's been so nice having her in Rexburg while she's been going to Evan's Beauty College. We were a little worried about battling with the rain, but the storm's timing was actually perfect. It didn't rain until after we'd set up the tent and shade cover and then it stopped right after dinner so we could go for a walk and enjoy a campfire in the evening. Lisa is at such a fun age for this kind of stuff. She eats it up! When we told her we did not bring marshmallows and that we would be pretending to roast marshmallows, she got so excited and helped me find just the right sticks and went at it for quite awhile. She has not been quite as interested in fishing, but will still humor us for a few minutes. Ryan would catch a fish and then have her reel it in. She seemed to enjoy that. She had even more fun just pretending with the net.She got a little nervous when the fish flopped on the ground a little, but she was still willing to touch it. My favorite part of camping with Lisa so far has probably been her campfire singing performances. Give her just a little encouragement and she's off to silly land. She learned "The Farmer in the Dell" from listening to a nursery rhyme CD every night going to bed. I didn't even realize she knew the song, but she certainly adds her own touches to it. For example, her new verses include "The wife takes the mop and the mop takes the cheese." I'm not sure where she got the "mop" idea. She certainly doesn't see her mom doing a lot of that. She ends her songs with quite a flair too. She's picked up on the concept of embellished finales. I love it. Lisa got herself dressed for bed and apparently slept in wet socks all night without us realizing it. Her little toes were so cold in the morning! We spent a good amount of time just relaxing by the fire before we cleaned up camp.

Summer of smoothies

Lately we have been trying harder to eat our fruits and veggies and one of our favorite ways to do this has been experimenting with smoothies. So far we have made Strawberry-orange-banana, Watermelon Strawberry and orange julius. (ok...so the orange julius is not really healthy, but it sure tastes good!) To get some of our veggies for the day, we usually blend in a few handfuls of fresh spinach leaves. At first the color (unappetizing, pinkish brown) made the drink unappealing to Ryan, but he tried it and now he loves a smoothie every day. I tried to include the basic recipe below, but it is really fun to just experiment and see what you like. You really just need some kind of fruit, some juice, yogurt, and spinach. Two other spinach recipes we've enjoyed recently is spinach lasagna and spinach quiche. Lisa looked at the green quiche really funny and didn't think she should eat it, but liked it once she gave it a try. It was a very "Green Eggs and Ham" moment for us. Here are those smoothie recipes.

Memorial Day picnic

On Monday we went to Rexburg City Nature Park and enjoyed a nice picnic together. It's been awhile since Lisa and I had any pictures together, so I had Ryan take a few. It was a fun little photo shoot. Outside pictures are definitely my favorite. Ryan also brought his fishing pole and let Lisa reel in a few fish that he caught in the little pond. Her attention span is about 5 minutes so she entertained herself with other things, like chap-stick and rock throwing, until he'd get a fish on the line. She was fascinated with the ladybug that landed on her arm, until she quickly wanted that thing to get the heck off! It was a fun day.

A glimpse into the future

Last weekend my sister, Katie, graduated from her Psych Tech program (we're so proud of her!!!) and I decided to take these pictures of Lisa with Ryan's hat on her to send to Katie in a special frame. I couldn't believe how well she cooperated. Usually I only have about 30 seconds, but this time she was totally playing along. Of course, I did give her a piece of chocolate, which explains the funny pursed lips in the first picture. I'm glad I have a few years before she wears her own hat. But she is growing up SO fast and becoming so independent. I can't wait to see how she does when her little sister comes along. 

Doc says it's a girl!

Here is me having fun trying to take my own picture of my 21 week belly. Today was my abdominal ultrasound and there seemed to be no evidence of boy parts, so it looks like Lisa will be getting a little sister! I am so excited to get to hold another sweet little girl in my arms. My little Lyra.

Family fun weekend

Last weekend Gramommy and Aunt Lisa came to visit. It was so good to see them and get to play for a few days. Lisa loved her new paints that Gramommy brought for her.We celebrated Aimee's birthday while they were here visiting. She was lamenting that she'd always wanted a barbie cake when she was growing up, but never had one. So I made my first barbie doll cake. I spent way too long on it, but it was so much fun. I had to include a picture of Ryan and Lisa doing all the dishes one night last week. It was so sweet. Lisa is such a good helper. Aunt Lisa is also now a certified hygenist (woo-hoo!!) and she gave Lisa the best tooth-brushing she's ever had.

Slowly, but surely, quilting along

I love quilting. So it seems silly that I would constantly put off doing the projects I get so excited about at first. But I do it all the time! About a year ago, I decided I was not allowed not to buy any more fabric until I finished all the projects on my list. It's a long list. This week I finished up two projects from the list. Hooray! My mom picked the pattern and fabric for the brightly colored one a couple of years ago. The original quilt is supposed to resemble the aurora borealis, but for my mom who loves the ocean it is more like a coral reef. It was really fun to work with such bright colors since I tend to choose more subtle shades.

The double wedding ring quilt, believe it or not, was started when I was 17 YEARS OLD. That was almost over 10 years ago! My Young Women's President was a very talented quilter and she offered to let any of us in her class who wanted to come pick out fabric from her extra and she would help us make a quilt. She encouraged us to sew it by hand and so I did. Every last stitch! I chose this vintage fabric and took so long making it that when I ran out of fabric and went looking for more a few years ago so I could make the quilt bigger, it was impossible to find colors that matched exactly. So it ended up being more like a wall hanging size. Maybe someday I will make a bigger one. But not until my list is all done!