Goals

So lately I have taken up a few projects with some goals in mind. Now of course I am not putting timelines on myself here or else I would be destined for failure as I have never been very good with timelines. Here are a few:
1. Learning to Cook: I have decided that I really don't know how to cook. I know how to follow a few recipes, but I don't know much about techniques, spices, things like yeast, how to use a knife, etc. I saw that movie "Julie & Julia" and it started me thinking along these lines. I realized- I just need to start doing it and learning along the way. Here are some things I have learned so far: you really do need to sift when a recipe calls for it or you will get chunks of salty baking soda in a cake, cooking a pizza on the grill is DIVINE, mangos are not ripe when they are white on the inside and have the consistency of plywood, I like more other stuff than actual salad in my salad, and onion salt/ garlic salt is not the same thing as onion powder/ garlic powder. Live and learn, huh?!
2. Exercise: I have been running a couple of days a week trying to get rid of baby weight. I have realized that I have hit some sort of wall with my body. 30 is around the corner and MAN I feel like it. I think exercise will be painful and not-very-fun for the rest of my life. But I do feel good afterwards, or is it 'less guilty' when I eat something chocolate later that day.
3. Book of Mormon: Lately I have been hearing some religious discussions at work and it had got me thinking that I need to read the Book of Mormon again. But I know myself and I know I start with the best of intentions and then die out without even getting through 1st Nephi. Seriously! Anyone have any great ways they get through their scripture reading? Study guides? This one is going to take some work.

Our Girl!

I was thinking that it has been too long since I have gushed about our Shaynie. She is such a fun baby. She is 8 months old now, is pretty much crawling and getting into things, and has two teeth coming up on the bottom. She loves to swing at the park, watch Ally (our dog) and grab her face/eyes/tongue, go for walks/jogs in the stroller in the morning, eat Cheerios, and never let her mother leave her sight. She has always been a really good sleeper and her parents are VERY happy about that still. She likes to make noise with anything she can find- blocks/paper/her hand on a hard surface, pull her shoes and socks off, and do the cutest little wave I have ever seen--especially at strangers because then she gets lots of attention. Grandma Nettie taught her how to do "the Indian"-- pat your hand on her mouth a bunch of times while she says 'ah' and it sounds like an Indian call. And she says lots of 'nana,' 'tutu,' and 'dudu's. She is our girl and we love her!!!

Cousins

Over the last couple of months, Shayne has been able to spend lots of time getting to know her cousins. We had such a fun time with all of them.

And there is an announcement. Not for me of course, for my sister Sarah! She is having a girl in January! Yea, more cousins!!

Trips, trips, trips. . . . .

This is going to be a very LONG blog as it has been a very LONG time since I have blogged. And we have been all over the place in the last month and a half. So here goes. . . .

This is in backwards order but I'm just going to go with it. So the last trip we took was to Austin, Texas to visit Danny's sister Katie, her husband Todd, and their little boy who is the same age as Shayne. We went to the pool, went on walks, ate BBQ, and took care of kids. I LOVED their grocery store called HEB and really wish we had one here. It had a huge selection with lots of natural and organic foods. It carried Whole Foods brand products too. Here, I have to go to 2 different stores to find the same stuff, if at all : (
They have a teacup chihuahua named Bella that Shayne was mesmerized by. Shayne is a bit of an excessive drooler, but with Bella around I didn't even need to wipe her mouth because Bella just licked it off Shayne's face or out of her mouth. Sweet!

I also did a road trip with my mom to Washington to visit my grandpa for his birthday. It was really interesting to hear all about his growing up on a ranch in northwestern Utah. One night at our hotel, Shayne was really tired and went to bed at 5 pm. So my mom and I were prisoners in the room and could only whisper and watch TV with the captions on until we finally gave up and went to bed at 9. Ha!

We spent almost a week and a half up at the Box Y in August. I love the perks of being a stay-at-home mom. Vacation, anytime, anywhere, as long as you like. One part of the trip we were there with Danny's extended family, another we were there with some friends, and the last part Danny hosted high adventure camp for our ward.

Shayne and I spent a lot of time doing this:

Our friends with their two for a picnic:

Early morning hike. We saw a moose in the mist, it was beautiful.

We did a campfire just about every night with s'mores and banana boats:

And we went out on a boat ride on day with Danny's family. I hadn't gotten out on a wakeboard for a couple of years. It was fun.

Grandpa and cousins:

Domesticity and Thievery

How do these two things go together you ask. . . .well they did during this last week. First of all, I spent a day cooking. This doesn't happen often (just ask Danny), but when it does, I am pretty dang proud of myself. I made the best granola (thank you Teddy for the recipe). We'll eat it for weeks. Don't you just get tired of the cereals in the store for breakfast? Well if you do here is a great recipe:

In a pot, boil together until the sugar is smooth:
6 c. oil
4 c. honey
2 c. brown sugar
1-2 tsp. vanilla
*dash of salt

Add this to:
4 large canister of oats
*wheat germ: maybe about 3-4 cups
*millet-if you can find it: maybe 2-3 cups
Coat oat mixture thoroughly and then spread onto cookie sheets. Bake each at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. After it is baked add dried fruit like craisins, raisins, dried cherries and toasted nuts like flax, almond slivers, pumpkins seeds, walnut gems, sesame seeds. Let it completely cool before storing.

Now the thievery. I went up the canyon with a friend to hike a little. When we got back to our cars, both had a window busted and our purses stolen!!!! Such a pain!! Both of our wallets were stolen and my cell phone. And when I called my phone they actually answered it, didn't say anything, but my friend gave them a good PG-rated cursing. They charged some stuff at gas stations on her credit cards too. Please, is that the best you can do. At least buy some expensive leather boots or something nice. When I got my cellphone re-routed to a new phone, I had a voicemail from a woman named Amber who in a lovely gravely, smokers voice asked why I hadn't called her back yet. Awesome. Anyway, I think I have finally learned my lesson. If you give people the opportunity to take advantage of you, they will-so be cautious!

California Adventures

We took a quick weekend trip to the OC to visit Carrie and James. We loved it. You can see why people love to live and vacation there. Good weather, the beach, lots to do, awesome shopping. And houses are so reasonably priced. Seriously, gorgeous there!

Here's little Shaynie checking out Uncle James:
Danny took a tumble in a wave at the beach and got knocked to the bottom. He had blurred vision for a little bit after but was OK. Just a little road rash.

With Auntie Carrie on a duffy boat ride in the harbour around Balboa. We saw so many gorgeous yachts and sailboats. We saw one yacht called 'Terrible' which cost tens of millions of dollars. Ri-dic-u-lous. It was ridiculous.

So much fun. We also went to a tennis match that night. Thanks for hosting us for a great weekend C & J!

Love Affairs

We have been having a busy, but fun summer! Here's a recap. Danny's sister Katie came to visit with Clark. He and Shayne are two days apart in age. He is such a little man! I can't say they truly had a love affair, but they didn't seem to mind each other at least.

My gym class instructor said that your first child is the greatest love affair you will ever have. I think we are finding that to be true. We love everything she does even if it involves slober, snot, and poop.

We went to a family reunion at Aspen Family Camp with a bunch of my cousins and my family was all there. It was so fun to catch up with everyone and my sisters/mom were great and watched Shayne so I got to get out and bike, play badmitton, take a ski lift ride, and play some volleyball. Danny got in some mountain biking too. He's always looking for a buddy to go with......anyone??

The funniest thing though was that my older brother LOVED Shayne. He wanted to watch her and carry her in her baby Bjorn. He said he wants to adopt but I told him I think he should find a wife first. We also spent almost a week with our friends near Lake Tahoe. It is so beautful there. Their two little boys also LOVED Shayne, especially the older one. B- Shayne misses your cute little high pitched voice calling out "baby Shayne" to her. He was so good with her and helpful. And her most recent love affair is with sweet potatoes. And squash, and carrots, and bananas, and water. She is starting to be an eater!!
Next on our list is a quick weekend trip to Newport Beach to visit Danny's sister and then Danny's family reunion at the Box Y. I LOVE summer.

Oh and any advice on this?? Shayne is waking herself up all the time because she can flip from her back to her tummy but not the other way yet. Is there anything I can do or do you just get through this stage????

Hope you are having a great summer.