August 16th - August 31st, 2008

Before I begin explaining what we did in August of last year, I must explain how our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is organized. First of all I'll give a basic visual aid that might help.

FAMILY - BRANCH - WARD - STAKE

The most basic unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the FAMILY. The family is the fundamental unit in the Church, and home is the most important place for gospel learning. No other organization can take the place of the family. The Church's purpose is and will always be to support and strengthen families and individuals in their efforts to live the gospel. (This is quoted directly from the Church website at: www.lds.org)

FAMILIES are organized into CONGREGATIONS that meet together frequently for spiritual and social enrichment. Small congregations are called BRANCHES. Large congregations are called WARDS. Then the wards and branches are divided into STAKES. There are usually 5 to 12 wards and brances in a stake, depending on the geographic area and number of people all together.

I belong to the Slate Canyon 4th Ward, which is a part of the Provo, Utah Stake. I hope this all makes sense! SO....each year in August our entire Stake gets together and has a giant Stake Party. There are hundreds of people there, which makes it a really neat event. Every year the Stake Party also has a theme, and this time it was the August 16th Stake Fiesta!

We have a great number of Latino families that have moved into the Provo area, so having a fiesta was a great way to get to know more about the Latino culture. As part of this Stake Fiesta, we had authentic Latino food and authentic Latino entertainment. While we ate dinner, we were accompanied by a band that was really great!

Vaughn was having the time of his life listening to the music and eating the food. You couldn't tell it from this picture though! I tried to get him to smile, but he wanted to finish his watermelon, so this was more of a grimace than anything. You can't tell here, but he had watermelon juice all over his face and shirt.

As I said before, there were hundreds of people at the party.

And I couldn't get a good shot of how crowded it was and how long the food lines were....but these will give you a small idea.

As part of the entertainment for the kids, there was a giant waterslide down the hill. Vaughn wouldn't go near it alone, so Brian and I took turns waiting in line with him. The funny thing is when he finally got to the top, he REFUSED to go down!!! I tried to encourage him. I even used a little force, but he utterly refused. And I utterly refused to go down with him because I had just had a baby!!! At least we had a fun time waiting in line, watching the other kids go down and crash at the end!

The Monday after the Stake Fiesta, I decided to put up the beets in our garden. We had a nice beet crop, and I was really excited to pickle the beets for Momma (my mom) and for two elderly men I know in our neighborhood (Melvin Kuhni and LaVon Fife). And I know it's probably a little weird, but I like to take pictures of the produce I get from the garden. It helps to remind me of the reward I get at the end of ALL THAT WORK!


Here is a closeup of some of the beets. Beets have an almost purple color inside. And here's a warning! If you eat beets they will turn red everything that comes out of you! So don't freak out when you go to the bathroom after eating beets and see red in the toilet. (My neighbor thought she was dying and went into the doctor. They both had a good laugh when they figured out she had eaten beets earlier that day!)


Below is a picture of the various sizes of beets I picked from our garden. The largest one was just as wide as my hand, and I have big hands!


Pickled beets look quite different from regular bottled beets. Pickled beets turn a beautiful dark purple color due to the ingredients used to pickle them. They are so pretty to look at that I always keep one jar for decoration purposes. I'm not a huge fan of beets, but the people I love are! I am always looking for ways to thank those who have helped me throughout the year, and this is a perfect way!


Here's a good look at how beautiful that dark purple color is!


On Thursday, August 21st, I picked the first cantaloupe from our garden. It looked beautiful and tasted perfectly sweet and delicious.


That day I also decided to make salsa with the abundance of produce we had. I love to garden, and I particularly love how fresh produce looks and tastes! The onions were no exception!


I particularly love to photograph the vegetables I use to make salsa. There is something so pleasing to me about the colors. So here is everything washed, trimmed and ready to make into salsa!


I got a small food processor when Brian and I were first married, and it has been infinitely useful, especially when I have made salsa. It cuts the onions and peppers into the perfect size, and also makes the salsa uniform. I don't particularly like large chunks of anything in my salsa, but I also don't like it pureed.


You can see how the consistency of this salsa is pretty uniform. My favorite ingredient in this homemade salsa is Cilantro. (Sorry Leslie! I'll have to make some for you without the Cilantro!) I don't remember who introduced me to the stuff, but I can't get enough of it! It is an excellent addition to any salsa, and it is also fantastic in a lot of dinner recipes I use now. Brian is also a huge fan, so that helps!


And here is the finished product. I was able to get 84 pints of salsa just from one-days picking from the garden. That's quite a bit, considering we don't have an extremely large garden! I have been known to eat an entire pint of salsa a day during summer months. It is so refreshing and full of good stuff. I have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner...just chips and salsa. Yum!!!

The next day Brian's sister Amy dropped by with her son Sammy for just a little bit. Vaughn immediately asked if he could play the "game-game" with Sammy, which meant playing Brian's arcades. Sammy and Vaughn had the time of their lives. There is a mystic bond that occurs when two people play vintage arcade games together. I can't explain it...it just IS. :)


Sammy was taking a turn on the Ms. Pac Man arcade, and Amy got really into it. She was so excited for Sammy to get to the next board, that she found herself helping him! I had to take a picture just for Amy. She actually got more into it than Sammy did! Arcades transcend time and space. They are perfect for any gender, any age. (I'm not really this weird. I just like to hamm it up once in a while!)


In 2008 we were on a later Sunday church schedule, which meant we attended church from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. It's a lot harder when you have kids, especially young kids, since it's during their nap time. But the mornings are cosy and fun. Every Sunday Vaughn would wake up and come and lie in bed next to us and we would talk with him and tickle him. And since Vaughn had a new brother, he was particularly excited to be next to him and hold him, as we usually had Dean in bed with us.


Vaughn loved to just lie next to Dean and let Dean touch him. Vaughn was also VERY tender with Dean, giving him hundreds of kissing and hugs. Each time Dean touched him, Vaughn would giggle and smile. There is just something about a newborn!


I guess Dean wasn't exactly a brand new baby anymore, but he was still acting like one! Dean had a lot of digestive problems, so he was up at least 6 times a night. His average was around 8 to 10 times a night, but you couldn't tell from this picture! He seemed perfectly normal. I guess if I had taken a picture of me it would have been much easier to see the toll it was taking!
He had quite the content expression here, didn't he?


Back to the garden! Our second cantaloupe was ready just three days after our first one, and it was just as tasty as the first! There's nothing quite like a chilled melon. We're not very successful when it comes to growing watermelons, but cantaloupe does pretty well. It is always a treat for us to eat, especially when it's really hot outside!


That evening, Sunday the 24th, we decided to get out of the house and get some fresh air. I was almost delirious with the lack of sleep I had with Dean, but I also needed to get out. So we took Vaughn to a local park and enjoyed a perfect late afternoon and evening. Vaughn was ecstatic! He LOVES going to the park to play, and he made the most of every minute!


Vaughn is a very cautious kid. He is so cautious that sometimes I worry about him. He wouldn't go across the monkey bars without Brian right there next to him. But the great thing about Vaughn is that once he has analized the situation and made a very cautious and careful attempt, he goes full-steam ahead.


Here I am holding little Dean. It must have been quite a shock for him to emerge out of the house into a world of bright colors, sunshine and yelling kids!


Here's Vaughn again, this time crossing the bars with more enthusiasm. I have to say that I do see Vaughn's desire to study out situations as a strength. I'd rather that be the case than him not think about things!


I don't know why Vaughn is making the most grumpy face of all-time here. He was actually extremely excited. I guess I just caught him at the wrong moment. He was very proud of himself for hanging there alone. Maybe he was upset that Daddy wasn't there with him. What a cutie!!!


After the park we decided to drop by Julie's condo. She had a small trampoline out, which Vaughn took to immediately. He and Julie jumped on it together for quite a while, and he held her hands and giggled the entire time.


Julie's roommate Michelle was there, and she loved taking a turn holding Dean. He was happy to be in her arms, and proved it by drifting off into dreamland.


Two days later, on Tuesday the 26th of August, we picked out third cantaloupe, along with some nice zucchini and a good number of tomatoes. There's nothing like a fresh tomato cut into thick slices and seasoned with just a little bit of salt.


Laura came over to visit just as I was getting some lunch for Vaughn. He was very excited to see her and busted out a cute smile.


Laura took the opportunity to hold little Dean, and he immediately calmed down and drifted off to sleep. Aunt Laura has "the touch." Every single time she comes over to see Dean, all she has to do is get him in her arms and he relaxes. She sings a little sone and he turns to butter. I don't know how she does it, but I love it! And Dean doesn't just relax, he goes into this coma-like sleep. Since he doesn't really sleep at all the rest of the time, I am so grateful!!!
Laura is my guardian angel. She is so good with Vaughn and Dean and she has this way of calming them down. She also helps me to be calm with the kids. I love it! You're the best Laura!

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

Thanks Laura!!!

Love, Lisa