Taking in Natural Beauty

As a host family, we were supposed to take our Hungarian friends to do fun things in the area. When we asked them what they wanted to do, they really wanted to go to places where they could see the beautiful places of Utah. For our first day together, we took them to hike up to the grotto and then to Payson Lakes. Here we are starting our hike.
We made it to the grotto! It is a little waterfall that comes down into this little pool that is surrounded by rock walls. Very pretty! This is Aggie, Bori, and Athena.

Bori and Athena

I think it's cute that Athena went through her closet and tried to match what Bori was wearing. Athena never ever wears the skirt she has on, but it certainly worked for today!

This is it . . . the waterfall.

Alexandra had fun throwing rocks in the water, as usual. Samantha is behind her, also throwing rocks.

The water was really cold, so we didn't really get in it much. Just enough to take some pictures. Here is Aggie and Nathan.

All of us together. :)

Jeremy put Max in this little cave and is letting him take a drink.

Right before we left, Athena was trying to show off a bit and slipped on a rock. She got a little more wet than she intended!

We only stayed at the waterfall for about 15 minutes, then hiked down. On the way back, Samantha slipped on a rock when we were crossing the creek and fell into the water. She didn't get hurt, though. Then Jeremy was on a steep part of the hike and he slipped. He actually got hurt pretty bad and cut a big hole in the bottom of his foot.

Next we went to Payson Lakes. We packed a picnic with us and when we got there, all the picnic tables were taken. We finally resorted to a little shady spot where we sat out our chairs and fixed our sandwiches in our laps. It all turned out OK for lunch even though it was a bummer to not have a table. Most of our conversation was about comparing the differences between Hungary and the U.S. It's always so interesting to me to learn about cultural differences and how others live. I enjoyed talking to them.

After our picnic we took the usual walk around the lake. It was really nice. Aggie walked Max all the way around, Bori helped me with the kids as we walked, and Jeremy stayed in one little spot and tried to catch fish, but had no luck. During the walk Nathan fell several times. I don't know how he falls so much. Maybe he does it to create drama. It made me feel like our family is a little bit of a circus act! Constant drama and rounding up and noise. Alexandra made it a point to try and pick up every rock and put it in her pocket. Her pockets were so full that if her shorts weren't overalls, I'm sure they would have fallen off.

I wish we had a boat or a raft to take the girls out on, but unfortunately we do not. They did wade their feet a little before we left. Overall they said they really liked the hike and the lake, so I guess we did good!

When we left, Nathan ended up limping to the car because of his latest fall. He wanted me to take a picture of his skinned knee. Bori gave him that tissue and put water on it to try to make his knee feel better, so he is carrying that around. Poor little boy! Glad he was able to recover.

A Sad, Sad Day

Today has been a very sad day. It is the day our Hungarian folk dance visitors left. This past week has been so busy that we haven't even had time to breath . . . but it's been so worth it. For the first time, we decided to open up our home and be a host family for the international folk dance festival. That means that we accept 2 people from a foreign country into our home and be in charge of all their needs, plus showing them parts of our country. We hosted 2 girls from Budapest, Hungary. Their names were Bori and Agnes (Aggie). We thoroughly enjoyed hosting them, getting to know them, and having them in our home. All of the kids attached themselves to Bori and Aggie and just poured out their love.

This morning at 7:45 am it was time to say goodbye. We exchanged information and gifts. (Side note - I'm quite happy to say that I found them both on facebook today!) Bori is standing next to me with the brown shirt and Aggie is the taller girl with the hat.

I think this scene played out at least 5 times before they actually left . . . hugs . . . hugs . . . hugs . . . and more hugs. We had a hard time saying goodbye.

For our gifts to them we gave them a gift to remember our country, our state, and our family. For the country gift we gave them each a little flag pin that has our flag next to their flag. Our state gift was a rubber magnet of our state that shows the cities and highlights of where they visited. Then for our family gift we gave them each a Book of Mormon in Hungarian with our family picture inside and our testimonies. Athena and Samantha also wrote each of them a letter and drew them a picture.

Then, before all our new friends boarded the bus to be on their way, a bunch of us host families got together and sang "God Be With You 'til We Meet Again".

We left and started our long drive home. I heard some sniffling from the back seat and found it was Athena. She just couldn't hold it in any longer. Goodbyes aren't easy!

Then, when we got home, I again heard loud sobbing coming from the living room. I walked around the corner to find Samantha letting loose. They really did love Bori and Aggie! I held Samantha for a little while and helped her calm down.

A few minutes later, in came Nathan! He just buried his face in me and wouldn't even look up.

I feel bad that the kids have to go through feeling so sad, but at the same time I know they had a wonderful experience.

Bori and Aggie also left us with a few special gifts. For all the girls they gave handmade necklaces (that they made). They gave Nathan this little whistle. It's an ocarina with a guide on how to play it. They called it "pear music" because the ocarina is shaped like a pear. They also gave us a CD of their folk music and a pretty decorative plate that was made in Hungary.

It's hard to have great people come into your life and then just leave and you know there is a pretty good chance you will never actually see them again. We spent a lot of fun time with our visitors and feel fortunate that we were able to have this experience as a family.

I have some pictures to share of the fun things we did together and will post more in the next few days. :)

Our Newest Cleaner

We have a new little cleaner at our house. This time it is forced labor. Why, you ask, am I making this little 2-year-old clean my kitchen floor with a napkin?
Alexandra has discovered the joy of finding anything in the house that could possibly be used as a writing utensil and making her mark EVERYWHERE! This time the kitchen floor was paired with crayon. She scribbled all over the floor, so guess what . . . SHE gets to clean it up.

Some of her other favorite writing utensils lately are pencils, pens, markers, lip gloss, lip stick, and soap.

Unfortunately this "learning experience" turned into a game once Max noticed we were all at his level. He started jumping at her cleaning hand and trying to catch the tissue.

It looks like we'll have to go through all of this again, seeing as this just turned out to be a lot of fun for her. RRRR

We Hiked the Y

Last Friday Jeremy had the day off work, so we decided to make a fun day of it. We got up early and took the kids to hike the Y on the mountain. This picture is at the bottom, before we started going up. We thought the trip might be a disaster because as we were starting the hike, I got after Nathan twice for not staying with us and for hiking too close to the edge. Jeremy got after him too and we had to repeatedly tell the girls to STAY AWAY FROM THE EDGE. Nathan folded his arms in a huff and started to pout. That was all within the first 5 minutes of our hike. After that we started telling stories and having a good time and we didn't have another problem the rest of the way!

It took us 40 minutes to get to the top. In this picture we are almost there! You can see the Y in the background.

Once we made it, we sat and enjoyed the view while eating some snacks. Because we went so early in the morning, we had shade on us most of the time. The sun didn't even come over the peak until we were about halfway back down.

Here we all are together. :)

This is the view looking towards our house.

The Provo temple.

This is looking straight down the slope of the Y.

Straight out into the valley and BYU campus.

The kids had a good time on the Y and they seemed to appreciate the views as much as Jeremy and I did. It took us another 40 minutes to go down the mountain and again - no complaining!

This is the last picture of our hike, just as we were reaching the bottom.

I asked the kids if they would want to hike the Y again next year and they said, "NO! We want to do it this year!" They really had a good time!

After our hike we went to Seven Peaks and swam for a few hours to cool off. It turned out to be a perfect day off.

Tradition . . . .TRADITION!

There is one tradition that I try to get out of every year, but have been unable to evade. It is the tradition of my family sleeping out on the parade route for the 4th of July parade. So, every year on July 3rd, we pack up all our gear and go sit on the lawn all afternoon and evening. Then I leave Jeremy and some kids there to spend the night and I drive home with the youngest. Then the next morning I get up really early and drive back up there for the parade. This year was no different . . .so here are our pictures from the event.

Samantha is spending her time watching cars go by and trying to stay cool in the shade.
For dinner and entertainment, we took a drive to Burger King. Then we came back and ate while we watched more cars drive by.

This year we sat in front of some college apartments. A few of the college kids came and told us they would be making breakfast in the morning and we were welcome to join them. Then towards evening, one of the girls who lived in the complex came out to invite anyone who was interested into her apartment for a movie, popcorn, and brownies. She was really nice and all the kids jumped at the chance to do ANYTHING different. None of the adults wanted to go and watch a movie and I didn't think she would want to have all of our kids come and hang out in her apartment. Surprisingly, she didn't seem to mind and all the kids jumped up and followed her inside. They were watching Phantom of the Opera. Our 3 older kids and 3 of Mike and Ronda's kids just went and sprawled out across her living room floor.

I checked up on the kids a few times and they were having a great time. It was so nice of her to let them come in and join her little party!

The next day when the parade was about to start, I noticed that same girl sitting outside on the steps trying to see the parade route from behind us. I invited her and her friends to come up and sit on our blankets and watch the parade with us. All of my kids just gravitated to her, especially Nathan. He wouldn't sit anywhere except right by her side. It was really cute! She seemed to just soak it in. So, out of the tradition that I dread every year, the kids made a great friendship for the day. :) It turned out to be a fun memory for them!

Here is Nathan, Heather, and Alexandra waiting for the parade to start.

Samantha, Athena, Janelle, and Amber.

Here are the kids with the college girls. See how Nathan is just tucked so nice and tight between them? The girl in the striped shirt is the one who invited them in. She was so nice and cute with all the kids - and she is the one Nathan just attached himself to. Her name is Jaime.

One last picture after the parade, before we packed up and left.

This parade was like our last few parades. It did rain on us. Who would've thought on the 4th of July we would get rained on! Another fun thing - Nathan got to shoot the big gun that the men pull along at the end of the parade. They were looking for a little boy to come and pull the rope that fires the gun and Nathan ran up there. After he shot the gun we asked him what he thought of it and he just said, "It was really loud." Even funnier - he really ran up to the guys because he thought they were handing out candy!

I Saved $91.86!!

For all this stuff I spent just $31.52. :) I also got a coupon for $2 off my next purchase when I go to that store when I bought this stuff. You can click on the picture for a larger view. I've been couponing for several months now and have loved the savings. This past week I matched a bunch of my coupons to a sale at Albertson's and came out with all of this. It's such a great feeling to be able to stock my house with foods we eat for so much less. I only paid normal price for the chips because we needed them and they were on sale. Everything else was a great bargain - the wheat thins were free and Albertson's actually paid me about $2 for each gallon of milk that I took off their hands. SWEET!

Trying New Recipes

I have a hard time coming up with things to cook in the summertime. I enjoy cooking and trying new things, but usually I experiment more when the kids are in school and I have time to actually think about what I'm going to make. During the summer I feel like I'm constantly trying to think up meals for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Well, I finally branched out a little.

When Jeremy and I went to Dominican Republic last fall, we ate a traditional meal at one of the homes there that was so tasty! They served red beans over rice with fruit and bread on the side (and a few other things). I've been wanting to have that beans over rice again and let the kids taste it, so I went on the hunt for a recipe that looked similar to what we ate. I scoured the internet and WALLA! I found one! I made it this past week and it turned out to taste just like I remembered it - - - and the kids LOVED IT!!! The recipe made so much that we ended up eating it for a few days, but we were able to eat it into some yummy variations. So, in case you are having a hard time coming up with a good summer meal, here is one to try. It was really easy to make.

Red Beans over Rice

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 med onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp goya seasoning or Accent seasoning
2 tsp seasoned salt or salt & pepper to taste
1/2 sm. bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
2 c. (1 lb) dried red beans soaked & cooked

1. Heat olive oil in pot large enough for all ingredients.
2. Saute onion & garlic for 5 min
3. Add oregano, bay leaves, tomato sauce, seasonings
4. Bring to simmer & add cilantro and beans. Add enough water to cover (about 3 cups).
5. Bring to boil, then reduce to low simmer & cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until beans are tender.

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I didn't have bay leaves, so I omitted them. I also didn't have time to let it simmer for 1 1/2 hours at the end and my beans were already tender, so we just ate it and it was still very good.

We put this bean mixture over white rice and then we had watermelon and yellow tortilla chips on the side. The next day I mixed the rice and beans all together and heated it up. Then we put it in soft tacos with cheese and sour cream. The other variation was to microwave the rice and beans with cheese on top until it melts. Then eat it like a dip with chips. YUM!

So, let me know if you decide to try this recipe. My whole family loved it and the kids even asked for seconds. :)