Enterprise Corn Festival and SALSA!

We went to the corn festival in Enterprise to maybe find some tomatoes to bottle some homemade salsa (our garden didn't do so well this year; actually that's 3 years in a row in didn't do well). We ended up with some potatoes, tomatoes, jalapenos, and corn.

We stopped at the petting "zoo" while they were freshly picking some hot jalapenos for us.

When we got home the kids learned how to husk the corn we got at the festival. They both really enjoy corn on the cob.

And finally...Jer and I did this during the kids' nap that afternoon. It really wasn't too bad and working together we got it done in a little less then 3 hours. We ended up with 14 pint jars of homemade salsa. It tastes amazing. Some of the best we've made. I am so lucky to have a husband you will do this kind of stuff. He researched recipes and planned the whole thing. We are so excited and I love walking by and looking at the jars in my kitchen. It has motivated us to try some more things. I still remember loving to go down into my Grandparents Ballam's pantry and pick out a jar of something as a special treat...pickles, beans, raspberries, peaches, cherries. They were so much better then store bought. I feel like this will add to our food storage and we will have fresh salsa in the middle of winter! We will probably have to do this again to satisfy our salsa craving for the year.

Peach Days are in Hurricane this weekend. Maybe we will try bottling some peaches this weekend.

Night Out for Kids and Us

Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Tony decided to risk taking the kids to Tuacahn to see Aunt Monique perform in "Annie." As you can see Prentice got all dressed up and ready in her skirt, purse, and necklace. These are pictures of the kids waiting in the front yard for their ride to come. It gave Jer and I a chance to go out on a "date" to a late movie. We saw "Star Trek" at the dollar theater. Jer picked and it was a good choice. Don't remember the last time we went to a movie. One more thing we need to try to do more.

Supposedly, (because Grandma Debbie does tend to put a positive spin on things) both the kids did well in the play and sat through it. They had one fight over some popcorn, but at this point I will take one fight in a night. Prentice even sang some "Annie" songs with Monique on the way home that night.

Truman and Prentice

Proud of Truman

Frustrated with Prentice (apparently she wants to sleep in my bed)

Park Picnic

Yesterday it was such a nice day I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the park for a picnic. They each decorated their paper sack to put their lunch in and helped me pack what they would bring. We headed to the park with some books to read and found a shady spot under a tree. It was a peaceful fun day and we all had a good time relaxing and being outside. Why aren't I with it enough to do stuff like this more often?

After lunch we laid down and read some books. The kids decided the play equipment was a little too hot by now, so they entertained themselves by climbing rocks, trees, and making silly faces.

San Diego Vacation

So for those of you who don't already know, I grew up in California. I know hard to believe, because I am a Utah girl through and through now. Jer planned a trip there for our anniversary. It was just going to be the two of us, but we couldn't think of going there and not doing some of the fun kids things they have, so we took Truman and Prentice as well. We are still trying to decide whether that was worth it or not:) We spent our actual anniversary day at Sea World where I ended up with one of the worst migraines I have ever had that evening (brought me to tears, and that's not easy to do). On the way home I told Jer I didn't feel well and he stopped about 50 feet from our hotel and I opened the door and hurled while Jer and the kids sat and listened. Fun anniversary. I never understood how a migraine could make you vomit...now I do.

I was especially excited for the trip because I have not been back to San Diego since we quickly moved from there over 10 years ago. Talk about a major emotional trip down memory lane. Jer quickly reminded me that if I had stayed I would have never met him..uh huh. I had no clue how to get anywhere until we got to La Jolla and then it all came back to me. We visited our old house, beaches I hung out at, my old elementary, junior, and high schools. It was fun to show Jeremy a little bit about myself by going to where I grew up.

Truman "read" the Sea World map most the way there that we had printed off the Internet. He kept going over and over it and asking me to talk about what was on it!
Food and bathroom break.

A stop at La Jolla Shores Beach right when we got into town. A great beach for kids. Smaller waves and really big with no rocks. I was actually surprised how much the kids enjoyed it. Truman had a blast, but experiencing the beach from a mother's perspective was new for me. It made me nervous. Truman is such a good swimmer, but a little too confident and I wasn't sure if he understood how to swim in waves. He caught on fast and Jeremy stayed close.

Prentice had fun as well as long as there was NO seaweed touching her. She also got a little scared and upset when Jer fell in the water while he was holding her. She didn't let him forget that one for a while.

Later that night we visited the house I grew up in and the beach entrance that was down the road. It was high tide so we couldn't walk down , but here is a picture of Truman in front of the stairs that has our old street on it.

A little teary eyed with my hubby.

One evening we went to Windansea beach so Truman could watch the surfers.

I couldn't get over how in a way nothing had changed. Every spot brought back a memory. This is the spot where people would go to watch the surfers. This beach has bigger waves and more rocks. I forgot my camera on one of our trips to the beach, and that was the day we went tide pooling because it was low tide. Truman touched a sea anemone for the first time and saw tons of crabs. Couldn't catch one for them. Truman also learned how to ride the waves on this day and had a blast doing it. Next time I think we will get him a boogie board.

Couldn't go to San Diego without a trip to Taco Surf. This is for my siblings. Jealous:)

And a trip to Old Town Mexican Cafe. Best carnitas anywhere and they were as good as I remembered.

Glad Jer took me back. I can see why my parents just wanted to live there. Fun town, but glad to get back home.

Sea World

I am warning you now that this is picture overload, and I really had to cut it down to only have this many. We actually got a great deal on tickets and were able to go for 2 days for the kids' price. It was so much fun! Nothing compares to Sea World. It is such a unique experience.

These are the glasses the kids got to wear for the 4D movie. Truman enjoyed it and Prentice was scared and ended up on my lap for most of it because they actually blew air and sprayed water on you in certain parts.


They had an amazing underwater viewing area to see the killer whales. They are such a unique, interesting, and beautiful animal. We all enjoyed the Shamu show the most and we spent a good deal of time just watching them when they weren't performing. We learned a lot about the whales. My favorite bit of information is that when they live together in the pods the women are in charge! How great is that.

Petting the sting rays.

The dolphins were so friendly and would tease people by spitting water on them when they turned their backs to them.

They had a new exhibit from when we used to go with our season passes. It had arctic animals. This is a picture of the walrus that was swimming all over. Truman especially liked the walrus and beluga whales.

The sea lions were hilarious. I could have watched them forever.

The manattee exhibit was fun and neat to see because they actually rescue them in Florida and bring them here to recover and have a normal life, where otherwise they would probably die. On many of them you could see the scars and deformities where they had probably been hit by a boat or something.

One of two many tantrums for Prentice. This was in the middle of the sidewalk, so people had to walk around her to get by. They were actually pretty entertained by it...Jer wasn't.

You could hear the seals throughout the park. We all enjoyed watching them fight and beg for food. One of them would stand on the rock in the middle of the water and wouldn't let any other sea lions on. Then he (I'm sure it was a boy) would make the most annoying noise and wave his flipper to beg for food. Once he got the food, he would keep throwing it up in the air to entertain everyone. I guess that he had learned that the more he entertained, the more food would get thrown to him.

This other video doesn't do justice to the real thing. They would sing this song in the Shamu show when the whales were going to splash people. By the second day we looked over and Prentice was singing and doing the hand motions. Once she learned it she did it the rest of the trip and pretty soon we would all join in.

San Diego Zoo

Right when I saw this elephant I remembered it from when we used to come here. I always thought it was so cool. This is on our way back in from the truck after we decided not to leave for lunch to save some money because there were lines of cars trying to find parking spaces. The zoo was so busy. Probably the busiest I have ever seen it. It was a long day with lots of crowds. It was a Saturday and right before school started. Just a suggestion...if you're at the zoo and there are a lot of people, don't just stand in front of the animals the whole time so no one else can have a look. Take your picture, and move on! I think some people need a little zoo etiquette.

Prentice's reaction to the sculpture of a rattlesnake. Jer never tires of teasing her; although it was pretty funny when she thought it might be real.

Truman's reaction to the snake.

Getting a close up look at the turtles. The two of them stayed pretty close to each other when the got to the exhibits. Until they started fighting that is and one of them left in tears. Yes, Prentice can now hold her own.

Prentice is much happier that the snake is behind the glass.

Second Quilt

I have been wanting to post about this for a while but didn't want to ruin the surprise! I made this for my sister Courtney's baby, Kristin. As soon as I saw the fabric I knew I wanted to make it for her. I finished it a lot faster then my first one and love how it turned out. My friend and mentor, Nedra helped me again and was such a great support, but I did a lot more of this one myself after she got me started. The back of the quilt is made with minke fabric which I thought would be nice and soft for a baby. I can finally post about it because it made it to California yesterday. I have to admit that once I finished it, I had momentary feelings of wanting to keep it for myself, but in the end I wanted Kristin to have it:) Enjoy it baby Kristin and know that I love you!

On the back there is a tag that says:

Welcome Baby Kristin

December 29, 2008

Made by Aunt Nicole Leonard

St. George, Utah