All Packed...

I'm all packed.

The suburban is just about loaded.

We're finishing up the last few things around the house.

As soon as Maggie gets home from work we're hittin' the road, because we're going on vacation! Most of my mom's family is getting together in Oregon for a camping trip! (Unfortunately Josh has to stay home and work...boo!) We'll be gone Saturday to Saturday and camping 4 of those days. I'm so excited to see everyone again, and I can't wait to do some camping! Not counting church camp-outs, it's been 5 years since I went camping. It's been too long! I can't wait to wake up the smell of fresh air in the morning, relax and visit with family, go swimming/boating on the lake, sit around a campfire, etc. Can you tell I love camping?

So, I'm going to be off the radar for a week. I hope you all have a wonderful LAST week of July...can you believe it? 

I plan on taking lots of pictures, so be prepared for a recap of my trip when I get back. :)

PS - You may have already read about it on Maggie's blog, but please keep my dad in your prayers. We found out this week that he was at high risk for a heart attack. The Dr has put him on different meds to get things under control and we should find out results this week from a stress test he had yesterday.  Just in case you're concerned, the Dr knows all about our vacation and was ok with us going, and we're going to make sure he doesn't do ANYTHING but relax! 

"See" ya when I get back!

The family when we were in Idaho in March.

Garden Update

In just two weeks time things have really grown! 

Radishes...Carrots

Spinach...Lettuce

Peas

Green Beans

Here's just a couple of the many green beans that are hiding in there!

Look at the little baby green beans!

Corn - the tallest ones come to about my waist

 Canteloupe...lots of blooms!

More corn

Eggplant

Watermelon

Pumpkins

Baby pumpkin :)

Zucchini

Can you see them? There's several baby zucchinis (zucchinii?) in there.

5 tomatoes...they're getting bigger!

Banana pepper

Chilis

SJM

Today we had a mini 'baby shower' for Selena and Samuel. Nothing much...just gifts and cookies. Instead of a cake I thought it would be fun to do something different, so I decided to do decorated sugar cookies. I was pretty happy with the way they turned out...they tasted yummy too!

*Before*

*After*

*Samoo*

Take 1, 2...

It took me several shots to get a video of Braxton saying Hi that I wanted to post...but looking back at these, they're just too cute not to post! Enjoy!

This one is my favorite! Lol

Hi

Braxton is growing up way too fast! He's saying more and more each day. He's started saying "Hi" and it's just the cutest thing ever. He seems so much more grown up when he says it. :) I had to get a video of him saying it so you could see just how cute it is! 

Recipes

I love trying new recipes! I have several food blogs that I frequent and find myself bookmarking new recipes to try later...sometimes right away! I thought I'd share the food blogs I go to and even some recipes I've bookmarked recently!

My Baking Addiction

The Pioneer Woman

How Sweet It Is

Our Best Bites

Picky Palate

Deliciously Organic

Macaroni & Cheesecake

Cake/cookie blogs:

Bake at 350

I Am Baker

Bakerella

Recently Bookmarked Recipes:

Greek Salad Skewers

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas

Mocha Frappe

Baked Zucchini Fries

Chicken and Avocado Quinoa Summer Salad

Homemade Coffee Creamer

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

Calling all Jane Austen fans...

I love this! I came across an etsy shop today that has all sorts of shirts, cups, etc that have Jane Austen quotes on them! Click HERE to see more!

Gardening

This year we planted a garden. We don't have the space to do one big one, but we have 7 different raised beds (and 1 more that has flowers in it). :) Four in the back yard, and 4 in the front yard! Plus...2 topsy turvy's. We planted a variety of things and while some are coming up really well, others are taking their sweet time. Here are some pictures I took today of everything...I put text on each picture, but now I'm wondering if I wasted my time since it's hard to even see what I wrote. I guess I'll add a caption underneath for those who don't want to click on the pics. :)

4 Chilis

Corn

Eggplant...Corn...Canteloupe

Lettuce & Spinach

More Lettuce

Onions

Peas...Green Beans

Jalapeno...Banana Pepper

Watermelon...Pumpkins

Radishes...Carrots

Rhubarb

4 Tomatoes

Zucchini

Happy 4th of July!

Nicki came over Saturday and we attempted to go to 4th of July festivities in a nearby town, but seemed to have missed everything. :(

Sunday afternoon we went to the Grand Coulee Dam

We toured the visitor center which was more like a mini museum about the dam

Waiting for the laser show while feasting on fair food :)

"The Colombia Basin Project"

The laser light show told the history behind the dam, and was projected directly onto the water.

4th of July dessert...Yum!

Chicken Foot! I'm happy to report that I won! =)

Sitting out on the deck this time of year necessitates a bug lamp!

Enjoying the warm night air and watching/listening to the neighborhood fireworks.

Charlie did pretty good with the loud noise...

but there were some that were too loud for his liking, so he'd run to the end of the porch and start barking. :)