July and August 1st!

I was just outside and I realized that it is August already. It feels like August. You know? It may not be any hotter temperature wise than July but it is just hotter. There is a change in the air. Today feels like a get out there and do something summery kind of day.

Things we have been doing...
Going to the outdoor swimming pool. V loves jumping off the side into the water. He also doggie paddles. He thinks he is big and should go down the big water slide. It is cute. Need to go as a family so Mike can take him down.  E likes to walk back and forth across the shallow end of the pool. You have to hold on to her or she slips and goes down under the water.

We had a family reunion a month ago and it was busy!!!! My brother and his wife stayed at my parents house for about month so there was lots of cousin time.

We have ridden in the dump truck with daddy. Until E gets tired and fussy. But she is happiest when she sits on daddy's lap and can stear. She even got to ride with grandpa in a tractor. The whole time she was hitting the shifter button making it go faster. Took dad a while to figure out that it was her that was causing it speed up.

We spent an evening out at Sand Mountain. V went up and down up and down up and down. Even I made it to the top. M was good and kept on eye on E and made hotdogs for all the other kids. Which by the way E loved crawling around in the sand. She likes to pick up dirt and set it on things like chairs and wood and your leg and shoes.

We haven't done any big things. I would like to take the kids to grimes point though. Climb around the rocks and see some hyrogliphs.

We had some friends in town this last weekend. They where on their honeymoon. So M did up the best ribs I have ever eaten. Yummy I will share what he did later.

Then there was cousin's birthday. Let me tell you V wanted to keep the present he had picked out. A lego blocks loader. We had to go back to wal-mart so V could get his own. Only he got a combine. Yeah I am that kind of mother! But we had ice cream cake and a good time talking.

Lets just say that there have been several nights this summer where the kids have been out till past 10!!!!!! So they fall asleep on the way home and all we have to do is transfer them to their beds.

Jen left for Guatemala. Sad times. But she is have a great time. She loves it. The next year and a half will fly by. Next week she will have been out for a whole month already.

Ok something I have discovered with the two children. They love playing together for the most part. V is good at making E laugh. But boy is she jelous! If V is on my lap for any reason for any amount of time she comes over and starts pushing on him to get him to move. It includes yelling at him and sometimes hitting. I can see this as a problem when we add a third one into the mix (eventually! No this is not an announcement! Sheesh people contain yourselves.) E has started to walk. She really did it at the family reunion. She had to keep up with the older bigger kids. She can drink out of a cup by herself. She usually does pretty good. There is still spilling. But she doesn't just tip it up as far as it will go which causes her to get soaked. She loves popcicles. But then who doesn't?

Side news. We went to reno and picked out a bigger car. We needed it. We now are the proud owners of a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer. Equivelent to a Ford Explorer. Like excactly alike twins. But we can fit 7 people at a time. Yay!!!!!

V is constantly coming up with new things. He is always asking to go to the dairy cause he needs to work. He has his work shoes and then he has what he has dubbed his going to reno shoes.  He has even refused to wear certain pants because they are work pants. Who knew? His favorite color is orange and his favorite letter of the alphabet is U but he gets the h's and the u's mixed up. And if he writes the letter u it turns out more like an n but that is ok. We are just starting to work on it. For his birthday he will be getting workbooks. Then this next year he will learn to write his name and recognize the alphabet and at least be able to write some letters and numbers.

He has had grandma as his sunbeam teacher and loves it!!!!! Unfortunately she has been called as the stake primary president. Hmmm.Well change is good and it happens to everyone.

BBQ Spare Ribs ala Mike!!!! (I just came up with that.
Thaw out ribs. Cut off the back side fat and trim the sides and the one long side. It helps trust me. Season with salt, pepper, onion and garlic salt. You can also use a rib rub if you have one you like. Do both sides.
grill for about an hour on medium heat. Not cooked all the way. Take off the grill. In tinfoil combine brown sugar, honey, and butter. Actually Mike just dumped them one on top of the other. Place rib rack on top wrap with tinfoil. Place back on grill on low heat. Letting it cook for about 2 more hours. If you want unwrap the tin foil and spread bbq sauce about 1/2 hour before it is done. These ribs didn't need any sauce. And man where they good. They were crispy and sweet. Oooh my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We had potato salad, killer dip, and Grilled corn salad to go with it. Let me know and I will throw in the killer dip and grilled corn salad recipes too!!!!!