Katelyn is 730 days old!

Katelyn celebrated her 2nd birthday. I can hardly believe she is two. Aside from being mischevious and very good at throwing tantrums, she is such a sweet and loving little girl. She is starting to put bigger sentences together, and at dinner, she always says "I like dinner too mommy" , since she is mimicking Luke and Savannah who will say they like dinner. She loves to talk on the phone, and even answered it the other day while I was mowing the lawn, and brought the phone out to me and told me it was Lori on the phone. She is still a fanatic about shoes, monkeys, and yes, food. We thought a monkey cake was appropriate for her cake, and thanks to Luke who shaped the monkeys from tootsie rolls and helped to decorate the cake. Happy Birthday Katelyn!

The lesson I learned by swimming across the Spanish Fork reservoir- by Eric

I consider myself a relatively strong swimmer. I'm no Mike Phelps but I can get from point A to B in the water without trouble. I decided to brave the swim across a reservoir in Spanish Fork a few weeks ago during a trip there with some friends. I learned something valuable while wading through the water that day that I thought I'd share. It wasn't extremely far to the other side (only a few hundred feet) but the water was a bit cold, deep, and choppy because of the wind. Halfway across I realized that it was much farther to the other side than I initially thought- this is always the case so I expected this realization would come. What I didn't expect is an understanding of how it would be very feasible for someone to drown in such conditions- especially a child. I was not in danger nor did I find the journey to be over-whelming, I just thought that the disorientation and cold water combined with the short choppy waves could make it difficult for a child to breath and stay above water. This is why in our house the kids get swim lessons before they sign up for other activities like soccer, t-ball, gymnastics, etc. I'm glad I made it across the reservoir okay and had a great swim, but I felt it was really more important to share what I learned instead of what I actually did. I thought a post about water safety would be lame, but after seeing this story on CNN I decided that the dangers of water could never be advocated enough. If you haven't seen the story be prepared to have your heart broken. Stay safe everyone, summer isn't over yet!

Where did June Go?

Wow, so I can hardly believe that June is over. I wish the winter months would go by as quickly as June did. We had a busy month so here is an overview of what we have been up to. Eric was gone for his two week drill for the national guard (why do they go in June?), Luke celebrated his 6th birthday, I celebrated my 30th birthday, Luke and Savannah took swimming lessons and did awesome, Luke played t-ball, and Katelyn, well she seems to have had fun although she was dragged from one thing to the next. I am just happy that we are actually having hot sunny weather. I know I will be sad when my grass turns yellow, but for now I do not miss the rain!

Who knew buying grapes could be so hazardous?

I read this on KSL, and just about lost it from just seeing a picture of a black widow (ya, I am very afraid of spiders)! Anyway, I thought I would share this story for those of you who did not hear about it yet, and hopefully we don't come across this. Eww, so gross!

Black widow reportedly found in store-bought grapes

PROVO -- Costco and a grower are apologizing to a Provo woman after she discovered a black widow in produce she purchased.
Kimberly Warner from Provo was washing grapes she bought from the Orem Costco Monday afternoon when she spotted what she first thought was "a monster grape spider." But she tells the Deseret News it turned out to be a black widow. She described it as a little larger than a quarter.
She trapped the spider in a jar and called Costco. The next morning a Costco manager was at her house to apologize, get the spider and find out from the packaging where the grapes came from. The grower, in Bakersfield, Calif., also contacted Warner to apologize.
Warner tells the paper she'll still buy grapes at Coscto but will be sure to check for spiders before popping a handful in her mouth.

Very Yummy Granola

I just thought I would share this really yummy recipe. I made it last week, and it is all I want to eat now! It was really simple too, which makes it even more appealing!

Basic Granola

6 1/4 c. rolled oats (the recipe recommended quick oats from the dry pack cannery)
1 c. coconut
1/2 c. slivered almonds (or pecans, or whatever nuts you have on hand)
1/4 c. sesame seeds, unsalted (opt.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. vegetable or canola oil
3/4 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
Dried fruit (opt.)
Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix oil and honey together and heat until honey is warm and runny. Stir in vanilla. Add to dry ingredients; stir until well combined. Spread onto two cookie sheets. (I sprinkled the granola with cinnamon before baking and it turned out really good) Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes until lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes during baking. Cool on cookie sheets, and then add in any dried fruit you like. Store in airtight container up to 6 weeks.