Happy 24th

We had so much fun this year at the parade. Here are a few of our pictures for those of you who weren't able to go. The main reason we go to the parade:
We love the motorcycles
My mom held up pretty well in the hot, hot heat. Thank goodness for umbrella'sRichard and Fara soaking up the sun!

Cooper had a mouth full of water in this picture
Camden had a blast
Riley cheesing it up for the camera
We didn't sleep over on the streets this year, so we got whatever had not been taken, yet. That always leaves you with no shade. Watch out for the train!

Riley's Fairy Garden

Riley started her fun summer activity class this week. Yesterday they made vases and hats. Today they made this cute fairy garden and scrapbooks. This class is perfect for her because she loves crafts. I thought I would pass this idea along for all the girls out there.

I HATE SNAKES!!!!

I have always been so deathly afraid of snakes and spiders. Since having kids, I have been able to handle my fears a little better. Riley has had me kill many a spider that she has found in our house. The more spiders I have killed the less scared I have been. I have always been thankful that I have never run into a snake because I don't know what I would do. So as Cooper was telling me there was a snake in the house I was very proud of myself. I acted very calm. "Oh, Cooper there is not a snake in our house." Cooper is always trying to say things that will scare me. Sure enough a garter snake was in our house. I kept telling myself "Sarah your kids are here-remain calm so you don't scare them." I just kept repeating over and over in my head "remain calm, breathe." Riley, Camden, and Cooper during all of this were on the kitchen table. Camden kept telling Cooper that it was a rattlesnake. Cooper kept telling Riley it was spitting poison out of its mouth. The conversation between the three of them was hillarious. I got the bright idea to get a bucket and a plate to try to get it out of the house. I sent Camden on the hunt for a bucket. He came back with it, but said the burner was on fire. I was making lunch and the burner caught on fire. I hurried and turned it off and had Camden go get a water bottle to get rid of the small flame. I was still trying to get the SNAKE out of the house! It really was not a big deal. There was some food on the burner that caught fire. The bucket and plate approach did not work, so I finally had the bright idea to open the door and keep nudging the snake out the door. Then it started to move and I have never screamed so loud. Meanwhile, Riley is still on the table telling me over and over how scared she is. The snake finally went out of the house--Yeah for me. I hurried and shut the door-and locked it, of course:) Now, the burner--the flame was out and everything was fine. I thanked Camden and he said just in case I pulled the 72 hour kit out from under the bed. Earlier when they asked me what the 72 hour kit was I told them it was in case our house burned down and we needed supplied to last us a few days. Sure enough I went in our room and our bags of food were pulled out from under the bed. I am so glad he knows where it is, but I thought it was hillarious that because the burner was on fire we needed to get our 72 hour kits out. We had an eventful morning and I can't believe how scared we were of a garter snake.

French Night

It is time for Dinner Club again. The theme was French food. The food was sooooo good. We had quiche, souffle, cream puffs, chicken (yummy), panini's, pastries, bread, couscous salad, crepes, veggies, etc. There was so much food!! I made the crepes and the brioche. The crepes were a lot of fun to make, and they taste so yummy.

Crepes
2 C. all purpose flour
1 C milk
6 T butter, melted
3 eggs
4 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Add all ingredients except for the milk. Add milk a little at a time until the batter is a liquid consistency. Add 3 T to a pan set on medium low heat. Swirl around in pan till the bottom of the pan is covered with batter. Cook the crepe for 1 minute until the crepe is slightly moist on top and golden underneath. Gently flip and cook for 1 more minute. Serve with fruit, jelly, whipped cream, syrup, yogurt, etc.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crepes
1 C chocolate hazelnut spread
4 Crepes
4 bananas sliced(or any fruit)
Can of cool whip

Spread crepe with hazelnut spread. Put sliced bananas down the center of each one. Roll up, and warm in frying pan for about 90 seconds. Transfer to plate and top with cool whip.

French Brioche
1/3 C warm water
1/2 tsp dry active yeast
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 C butter, softened
3 1/3 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C white sugar

1 egg white
2 T water

Combine warm water and yeast. Let sit 5 minutes. Add eggs, butter, flour, and sugar. Knead 5-10 minutes. I found that I needed a little more flour. Divide into 3 Sections. Twist each section and braid together. Let rise in warm place ( I used my oven) for 30-45 minutes, until doubled in size. Mix the egg white and water. Spread on top of bread and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Wasatch Back Legs 2 & 3

My second leg of the Wasatch Back was 8.5 miles long. I was so bummed when I found out they changed the route and made it longer. Originally the course was a small uphill with the rest downhill. After it changed I had about a mile of straight up hill, which killed me, before the downhill. I found out during that run that I needed new shoes. I did it--thank goodness. I didn't notice any of the scenery, but I bet it was gorgeous. My next leg was at 3:30 in the morning. It was 5.6 miles. The night runs are the best for me. It is so cold and I am able to run really well. I was pleased with that run. I ended on a good note, which was good. I really wish I would have trained a little better. I am definately not going to procrastinate so much next time.

Wasatch Back--Leg 1-- 5.1 Miles

I am so glad we decided to run in the Wasatch Back again this year. I can't believe we beat the BYU runners. They finished the whole relay in 17 hours. And we , well, we finished in 30 hours. So we didn't beat them, but we had a lot of fun and gained a lot from this experience. My first leg of the race was 5.1 miles and leaves the city of Logan and winds its way through rural communities of River Heights, Providence, and Millville. I started off pretty good, but I didn't feel as strong as last year. I was in much better shape last time. I still managed to finish at 10 minute miles. So it was all good. The girls before the race began
Not the best picture, but here I was getting ready at the starting line.
Lookin Good
Our van--Rob, Cathy, Mark, Me, Jace, Brian, Britt. They were such a huge support to me, and made this time a lot of fun. Thanks guys!!

ITS TIME

I can't believe the race is already here. I am so excited. It sounds like it is going to be bigger and better this year. For those of you who don't know much about the race, you have a team of 12 people who run 3-9 miles at a time from Logan to Park City. This year our team is Greg, Susan, Michael, Justin, Garrett, and Britney(their neighbor), Me, Mark, Cathy, Rob, Brian, and Brittny. It is going to be a blast. I will definately let you know how we all did.