AN EVENING AT BRIDAL VEIL FALLS

SATURDAY, JULY 28th

On Saturday, July 28th, Brian's sister Rebekah and her kids left for home. Before they left however, they stopped by our house to take a look at the garden and say goodbye. Rebekah's son Michael (on the left) begged Brian to look through a Star Wars book with him. Brian couldn't resist, so here are the two of them reading together. It was so cute to watch them as they pointed out the different things they liked.







Late that afternoon we all decided to head up to Bridal Veil Falls for a cookout and just a nice evening. "We all" included me and Brian and Vaughn, Laura, Ben and Emily and their two girls and Lindsey and her boyfriend Dustin. To the right is Autumn contemplating what game to start while the food was being cooked. Dustin was relaxing on the grass and happened to get his head in the picture.












Bubby took the job and Grill Master. He did a great job cooking the food and it turned out wonderfully! Apparently we were all supposed to bring our own meat, but I didn't get the memo. So Brian and I had to beg food off of everyone else. But it all worked out. There was enough food for everyone with some to spare!











Back to the waiting for food part....


I think I was having a little bit of a hard time finding games to keep me occupied. I found myself getting really hungry and then all of a sudden, I was trying to eat Brian's hand! I think the smell of the kabobs got to me. Brian was very kind and didn't make a big deal out of it. And luckily somebody intervened before Brian lost a finger!










Autumn finally found a game she wanted to play and here she is trying to wrangle Vaughn in to play with her. I absolutely had to show this picture because of one thing....Autumn's bum!!! I'd like to draw your attention to her ADORABLE TINY BUM CHEEKS!!! I loved how this swimsuit fit her! And I thought it was cute how Vaughn looked like he was thinking very carefully about joining the fun.







Finally it was time to eat, and we all dug in! Except it seemed like Lindsey was having a hard time remembering how to eat. She got the pickle partway in her mouth and stopped. If you'll notice, her boyfriend Dustin was sitting right beside her. I think she was thinking about eating, and then in the middle of it all she started thinking about Dustin, and well, Dustin won out! I'll also point out that the pickle slice looks like a weird tongue. Maybe that's why Dustin looked the way he did here. Didn't he know Lindsey had a green tongue?








Prairie had no trouble with eating, especially since we had some watermelon there. In fact, she took great delight in the watermelon, and here's the face to prove it! She must have eaten half the watermelon that was brought. That girl is nuts!!!










We were all in the middle of eating when I noticed Laura and Emily were laughing pretty hard. Emily was saying something to Prairie like, "Do cheesies" or something like that.










I looked over at Prairie to find her doing this......!
Can a little kid get any cuter?!? I submit that one could not!















While we were all finishing eating, Vaughn and Autumn found another game to play together. I don't know exactly what it was, but here's Vaughn playing it.










And here's either Autumn or Vaughn continuing the game.
















Vaughn and Autumn were having such a good time that Autumn forgot to finish her dinner. So Emily tried to lure her out of the blanket by tempting her with the food. I just thought this picture was really cute with Vaughn's head poking out of the top of the blanket and Autumn hiding beneath.














Emily was finally successful in getting them out of the blanket, and then Lindsey took over helping the kids to play games. I love this picture of Lindsey and Vaughn. It looks like Lindsey is coaching him through something pretty serious. And it looks like Vaughn has the plan in mind and is waiting for the opportune moment to strike!















After a while we all decided to head up the path to Bridal Veil Falls itself. It was a beautiful walk up to the falls, and then it opened up and there were the falls with a somewhat large wading pool at the bottom. It was gorgeous!















I thought this was such a sweet picture! Prairie was absolutely adorable playing in the water! She fell over a few times and got totally soaked. It was so cute to watch her just get back up smiling and splash around some more. I surprised she never cried though because the water was freezing!!!












Vaughn of course loved the water as well, but he wasn't brave enough to let himself get very wet. He just picked up rocks and threw them. I loved how tender Brian was as he helped Vaughn balance and find cool looking rocks. Brian is such a great and fun dad to Vaughn.










I thought I'd just add this in as well. We wanted a cute family picture but Vaughn couldn't stand still for one second. He was way too interested in throwing rocks. And might I add that me and Brian's eyes look really sunken. Weird! I guess you can't win every time.














On the way back from the falls, we found Lindsey and Dustin sitting on a rock near the river that ran along the path. We knew of course that they were "just talking." (I guess some people like to talk with their lips touching!) I thought, "What a perfect spot for a photo" so I snapped a shot. They looked great together!









Here's a closer view of the two of them. And I must say, "Lindsey! Dang girl you look fine!" Dustin is a super nice guy. I liked him instantly. I thought when we were all together that he just naturally fit in with the family. And Lindsey is smitten. She had this constant smile on her face. And every time I mentioned the name "Dustin" she giggled and turned a little red. Sickening! But in all honesty, I totally approve. Dustin is a great guy and lots of fun. Good job Lindsey!


I'll leave it at that I guess!

And here's one for the road....

I really love this picture of Brian. I can't really describe why, I just do!

Love, Lisa

ANOTHER EVENTFUL WEEK

THE WEEK OF: July 22nd - July 28th

The week of July 22nd - 28th was full of fun as well. I started off the week very well when I went to pick vegetables from the garden. I got such an array of different things, as the picture to the left shows! My favorite surprise was a nice big potato. I picked onions, bell peppers, peas, green beans, cucumbers, Anaheim peppers and jalapeno peppers. What a great garden!!!



Apparently I didn't watch Vaughn carefully enough when I was out picking vegetables. He got into something that had grease on it and when I found him, he had rubbed all over one of his eyes. At least it was only one!













Brian had July 24th off because it is Pioneer Day here in Utah. It's the day when the Mormon Pioneers first came into the Utah Valley after crossing thousands of miles to get there. So it has been declared a state holiday. We decided to make a day of it! Brian had been working 16-hour days for almost two-and-a-half weeks, so he and I were both ready for the break! We started out by going to a toy store to look for a birthday present for Vaughn. Then we headed over to Fazoli's for a dollar menu lunch!















Here's me enjoying some tasty spaghetti. Yes, I am wearing a bib. But I did it so Vaughn wouldn't feel so awkward having to wear one....(Wink Wink).










Vaughn was more interested in eating ice than anything else. He has always been fascinated with it. He loves to fish it out of a cup of water whenever he gets the chance. If he can't get to the ice, he hands either Brian or myself the cup and makes a little sound while he points to it to let us know he needs help. It is adorable!

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out together and relaxing. It was wonderful to be able to spend time together as a family, and not worry about work or deadlines or extra stress. It was one of the better days we'd had in a long time!





Brian's sister Rebekah and her kids arrived on Wednesday the 25th. They were going to visit for just a few days while Rebekah's husband Jim was doing a church activity up in the Salt Lake area. I'll get to some pictures of them later.

On Thursday morning I took Vaughn with me to an early-morning church planning meeting. I am part of an activity committee that arranges activities for the women. The meeting lasted for quite a while, so we went outside and I had Vaughn play in the back yard of the woman's house we were meeting at. There was one other little girl there with her mother. Some time into the meeting the little girl came up to me and said, "Vaughn is crying." I whipped around and his face was bright red and he was holding in tears and choking a little bit. He was holding his hand and I knew instantly that he'd been stung by a bee. I checked his hand and found a big sting on his finger. I immediately washed it off and put a mixture of baking soda and water on it. He never made a peep. He just "took it like a man." Everyone there was totally shocked that he didn't cry out or anything! So for being such a good boy, I took Vaughn out for lunch at Arby's. He loves Arby's curly fries, and you can see him here in the middle of dipping one in the fry sauce. What a brave little boy!!!


On Friday the 27th we went over to Brian's parents' house in Springville to spend some time with Rebekah and her kids. Brian's brother Robert was there, and he took time out to play with Vaughn. He was so loving and wanted to do something special with Vaughn when he heard about Vaughn's bee sting and how brave he was. So Robert got out his marble game and played with Vaughn for a while. He is a great uncle and friend to Vaughn.










Later that evening, Brian's sister Rebekah asked if she could give Vaughn his birthday present early because they would be back home in August and would miss it. We thought that was so nice of Bekah to think ahead like that! So Bekah gave Vaughn a cute little golf set. I wish I had gotten a better picture of Bekah. You can just see part of her face in this shot. But Vaughn instantly loved it!











We had Vaughn just hold it for a few minutes because there were several kids there that wanted to try it out too. Then once he'd held it for a little while, we opened it up and the fun began!











Brian and Rebekah took turns showing the kids how to putt the ball into the hole. Here's Brian showing Vaughn the ropes while Rebekah's little girl Isabelle practices with them. Isn't this the cutest? I love the fact that Vaughn is in a diaper!













I mentioned earlier that Vaughn instantly liked the golf set. In fact, he fell asleep that night holding one of the golf clubs. And we found him the next morning on the floor, still asleep and still holding that golf club! He spent the next week taking naps with it, eating with it at the dinner table, taking it in his stroller on walks, and then going to bed at night holding it. What a nut!









My sister Lindsey came into town Friday night and was over bright an early Saturday morning to say "Hi." I love it when Lindsey comes to visit because it gives me an opportunity to have much-needed girl time. But first, Lindsey has to have "boy time" with Vaughn. Here she is wrestling with him.

Lindsey traveled down with her boyfriend Dustin, so we decided to all get together that evening up at Bridal Veil Falls for dinner and fun. But I'm going to leave that for the next blog entry because I have too many pictures that I want to show, and it would make this entry way too long! So until next time!

And here's one for the road...

Love, Lisa

THE BOTTLING EXTRAVAGANZA
(AKA: "Heck Week")

THE WEEK OF: July 15th - 18th

"Heck Week" started out very nicely. Brian's oldest brother David and his family came to visit for a few days. We all gathered at Brian's parents' house in Springville to spend some time with them on Sunday, July 15th. We all went outside for a nice talk. Brian and I had been playing a drawing game with sidewalk chalk, and since I wasn't doing to well at it, I just let Brian go ahead and do his thing. Here he is doing his thing.










Here's a quick drawing Brian did in honor of Vaughn. It totally reminded me of what Vaughn looked like when he was about a year old.
















Brian didn't want me to post any of his drawings because he said they were "no good." But I think they're great considering he literally took spent less than 30 seconds on each one!













I love Brian's family because they are always having extremely interesting conversations about one topic or another. I really liked this picture of Brian's brother David, and his sister Amy. It looked like they were really getting into whatever they were talking about!














Here's David's wife Heidi, and she's holding the newest member of their family, little Annika. That kid has the craziest hair! It was sticking up the entire time they were there to visit. And it makes her even cuter!










The next day, Monday, truly began heck week. I call it heck week for one reason....I spent an almost solid 6 days bottling different things! I couldn't believe I had done that much after it was all finished but I did! And I also involved other people in the process; like Brian, Amy and her kids, Mom and Dad Higginson to name a few! I started on Monday by picking about 100 pounds of apricots off of Brother Fife's apricot trees. He is the man who gave me a pressure- canner. Then I went over to Amy's house to begin the first stage of making Mom Higginson's famous zucchini relish. This is a picture of some of the produce we used from my garden.




After we cut and finely chopped all the ingredients, which included zucchini, peppers and onions, we combined them together and put them in big stock pots. Then we mixed in some salt and let them sit overnight to "sweat out" some moisture. Here's me attempting to mix in the salt. I look nasty because I had been picking apricots all morning!









On Tuesday it was back over to Amy's. We rinsed off the vegetable mixture and then added vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, turmeric and I think some salt, and put it on to simmer for a while. Vaughn was getting pretty bored with all the bottling at this point, as the picture to the right shows. (I felt so bad when I saw this picture!)










So Vaughn took matters into his own hands, and decided to wrestle with his older cousin McKay. I got some of it on video, and it was so fun to watch those two together. McKay was very tender with Vaughn, and he let Vaughn beat up on him quite a bit.





After letting the mixture thicken, we processed it in pint jars. We wound up with 26 pints when we were through, and they looked gorgeous! And what do you use this relish for? Well, you can put it on sandwiches, hot dogs or use it as a vegetable dip. But I use it for tartar sauce! How you ask? I mix some of the relish with some mayo, and it is the best darn tartar sauce you've ever had in your life! I can't eat fish without it! And if you don't believe me, then I'll give you a jar and also a guarantee that if you try it in a tartar sauce you will love it! How's that for confidence?!?!

That evening, Tuesday the 17th of July, I took Vaughn to a bridal shower for my best friend from college, Devin Thetford. We hadn't seen each other in a long time, so it was a very happy reunion for us both.












Vaughn had never met Devin before. But when he saw her he reached out for her and hugged her and wouldn't let go. He just let her hold him while he let his body rest in her arms. I thought he would want to come back to me after a few minutes, or even 15 minutes, but no way!










Vaughn insisted on Devin holding him while he stared off into oblivion for almost 20 minutes straight! I've never seen him do anything like it before or since! He's never taken to a stranger like that. I personally think he was paying me back for doing so much bottling! I actually need to give much more credit to Devin. I think really it's just that she is such a good person that Vaughn was drawn to her. She really is just about the nicest, most kind person you will ever meet. She was a real strength to me up at college, and I am grateful to still be able to associate with her. I'll mention too that she is about the most talented pianist I've ever met. She's amazing!






The bridal shower was really fun! A lot of people showed up, and there were a lot of really clever games that her friends came up with. Devin also got a lot of really nice gifts from people, and I was glad of that. I didn't get to meet her fiancee, but I am excited to meet him at their reception this week. In their announcement they look so happy together. I am truly happy for them both!




On Wednesday, July 18th, it was back to bottling. But this time I was doing apricots. I don't like bottled apricots, so I process them in a steam-juicer and come out with apricot nectar. I bottle that and then use it in drinks and it is wonderful! (If you mix a quart of apricot nectar with some orange juice, a few teaspoons of almond extract and a little bit of sugar, it makes a exceptional dinner drink.) I finally got a little smarter and tried to involve Vaughn in the process. He was a much happier kid after that. I had him stand up at the sink with me while I washed, cut and pitted the apricots. He had an absolute blast just playing with the apricots sitting in the water. He even handed me apricots to cut. He was such a good helper!





I worked all day on the apricots and was able to juice about half of them. Mom and Dad Higginson felt so bad that I had been working so hard that they took us out to dinner that evening. It was such a nice surprise and very much appreciated!

Over the next few days I finished about 38 quarts of the apricot nectar. I took a picture of just a few jars because I didn't want to get out all the others! I guess the sun was shining too much when I took this shot. It makes the jars look like they have a heavenly glow!









I also took the opportunity over the next few days to make some apricot jam. But this wasn't just any apricot jam. This jam was made using my Aunt Grace's recipe. I also made a batch using my Aunt Rita's and Uncle Volmer's recipe. I remember having Aunt Grace's Apricot Jam when I was a kid and thinking it was the best jam I had ever tasted. I had been searching for her recipe and finally her niece found it for me. I was so excited! It called for ground apricots, and I didn't have a grinder. So Mom and Dad Higginson tried to find theirs, but it didn't have all the parts. So then we called some stores in town, and nobody had them in stock! I was so sad! But then they suggested calling a lady that lives down the street from me, and she had a food grinder! She said she'd love to have me use it, and it made it possible for me to make the jam. And the jam turned out wonderfully! I was so happy! I was able to make about 36 pints of jam using both recipes.

I didn't take any pictures of Mom and Dad Higginson's house while all of this was going on because I turned it into a disaster area!!! I tried to clean up after each canning session, but there was quite a bit of equipment all over their house. They were so patient and gave so much help during all of this! They helped to watch Vaughn every day. They let me use their kitchen and their home and they never once complained about it! They truly are very generous people who always give without thought of reward. I am so grateful for all they do for me! I think I also wanted to call this entry "Heck Week" because I must have put Mom and Dad through heck that week!

Just to add to the fun, Amy came over on Friday to get started on yes, you guessed it, ANOTHER BATCH OF ZUCCHINI RELISH!!! She had wanted to try it using zucchini and straight neck squash, and she finally convinced me to try it. So here is a shot of the vegetables from our gardens that we used to make the relish.






Amy got all of her kids involved in the chopping process. It was quite a production! First we had to get the seeds out of the squash and zucchini. Then we had to peel off the skins that were too tough. Then we had to put the zucchini and squash through a grater and then the choppers. We put the peppers and onions through the choppers as well. Thanks to Amy's kids, it all went so fast!







The onions from my garden were so strong that it was very difficult to chop them, even with using an electric chopper! Amy and I were literally crying our eyes out! Here's me trying to brave those darn onions!














Amy brought all her bottling stuff over in a laundry basket. Vaughn caught sight of it, and again, took matters into his own hands with entertaining himself. I turned around and found him sitting like this in the laundry basket. It was adorable!

















I thought this one was pretty cute too.














With Saturday came the end of the week of the Bottling Extravaganza. And I must say it ended perfectly! Amy and I made exactly enough relish so that the last little bit fit into a half-pint jar. There was no extra left over! We were so shocked, we didn't think anyone would believe us. So we took a picture to prove it. I love Amy's face!




We were able to get exactly 30 and 1/2 pints of relish. If you look closely you can tell that this relish was lighter in color than the other batch, and that's because we used the straight-neck squash in it. I prefer the color of the other. It is a darker green. But we were still very proud of our finished product!!!


Well, at the end of the day, Brian and I loaded all the canning equipment and bottles into the car. There was literally no more room left for anything when we got through. We were so squashed in there that it was difficult to see to drive, but we got home okay. We spent a good portion of the rest of the night unpacking. Our neighbor even asked us if we had been on vacation. I told him, "I wish!"

We owe a huge thanks to Mom and Dad Higginson for all they did to make my bottling possible. And thanks to Amy and her kids for all they did as well! It was a ton of fun. And like I told Brian, "I am never going to bottle again until October!" (That's when the grapes will be ready for juicing!)


Here's one for the road...



Love, Lisa