24th of July!

Who says that Idaho doesn't get world class entertainment? We had the Blue Angels for the 24th of July, and lucked out on how we saw them. Cheapskates that we are, we hung out at a park near the arena where the paying customers got front row seats to the fantastic flying show. As luck would have it, it turned out that our spot was right in the flypath of the fabulous fighters, and the whole hour of their spectacle they were flying right over our heads. If we were 150 feet taller we could have tickled the pilots. The kids were thrilled, Nana and Papa were there, we had a picnic with the Fransons and Aunt Diana, Uncle Wes and Nanny too - it was one great afternoon!

The fun only continued after we got home from the show. While Nana, B and I prepared dinner (marinated steak and shrimp on the barbie!) Gary captained the kids in a no-holds-barred water fight with Team Franson. Water balloons, guns, spray bottles, hoses, studded chains (well, not the chains)... it was an all-out brawl. Gary claimed victory, but personally I think it was a draw. JA can get vicious!

This is our must-have dessert of the summer, Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings. It sounds crazy, but don't knock it until you try it. Un-freakin-believably good!

Then came the fireworks. Gary was the Resident Pyro in Charge, with Maggie and JA as the runners. We had jolly good fun with $90 worth of fireworks - and the kids always love sparklers!

We love Nana and Papa!

Happy 24th of July everyone!

More Catching Up, Or, Idaho is Cool!

It pays to have friends who are locals! This is one of the hidden treasures of the Greater Rexburg Area - bridge jumping! This was the greatest spot - shallows for little ones, tide pools (sort of) to explore, a rope swing, warmish water (for Idaho), and a dual-level bridge to jump from. Thank you Steph for initiating us to your infinite recreational secrets!
Enjoying the scenery, eh Sophie? heh heh heh

The splash was Gary and Maggie jumping, only I was too late with the camera to see them. We all jumped off, even Sophie and Spencer! (with life jackets, of course.)

Next: swimming classes for Soph and Spence! Of course, this was weeks ago; just last week at Nana and Papa's, Sophie was doing flips off their diving board (sans lifejacket) and Spence is one step away from swimming on his own too. Evidently, I breed little fishies!

Could Sophie get any cuter? Oh wait, maybe she can....Another week in Del Mar, filled with cousins, movies in the villa theater, golf cart and elevator rides, and free gourmet lemonade and cookies in the lobby at teatime! It's such a rough life...

Catching Up

Yes, I realize that it's August and I have a lot of catching up to do. We've had some fun, crazy months, so here goes!

Gram and Grandpa Larsen came up to visit us for Maggie's birthday. We also introduced Bella to Scotty and Kenzie, Gram's West Highland Terriers. It was a big doggie party all weekend! Too bad though they didn't get to join us for dinner at Olive Garden and swimming at Gram's hotel!
We took them on one of our favorite outings - Lower and Upper Mesa falls in Island Park.

I made my first souffle ever, and it turned out gorgeous. Most of the ingredients came out of my garden, which made it taste even better don't you know! I had to take a pic, although I'm no great shakes at food photography. It was a great new way to eat our spinach, which currently is growing out of our noses we have so much of it. Great super food though.

Below is our Bella Bear, growing up fast. (Too fast. Stay small, Bella, stay small!) But still unable to scare our new baby kitties away from her food bowl. Or she's just proving how magnanimous she can be. Either way, she could be a poster puppy when she lets the little kitties come curl up between her paws and licks them. Then though she usually gets playful and tries to nibble their heads and they have to run away. Puppies gotta chew!