So many blog-worthy events have happened and will be happening in our family over the next few weeks.  One event was Cousin Camp which came at the very end of July. I didn't have as much time to prepare for this one as I wanted but I think we still had fun.  We invited a little lonely neighbor boy to join us who needed some friendship. We also invited a toddler cousin who enjoyed the splash pad with us one afternoon and came over for dinner and s'mores on another day. Our first activity was making little melted pony bead creations using cookie cutters. Our next activity was going to the nearby splash pad. It was appropriately hot and everyone enjoyed it. For dinner that night, we had macaroni and cheese. After dinner we did a fun bike ride down the canal trail. On Friday, we did a little scripture study, then we visited the Monte L. Bean Museum. It worked out well since it was a little rainy and we got there before the crowds. After some lunch, we drove down to Big Sprin...

This year's garden features a bumper crop of zucchini. We have SO MUCH ZUCCHINI. Talmage planted what he thought were yellow squash seeds but which turned out to be zucchini seeds. In any case, he planted a lot and the harvest has been plentiful. So, we're trying lots of zucchini recipes. We have a streak going of two week of zucchini consumption so far.  Here are some I've tried from a few cooking websites: Creamy Cherry Tomato and Summer Squash Pasta This recipe from CookieandKate.com turned out well. It was pretty easy to put together and I had all the ingredients and it tasted good. It used both summer squash and zucchini. I will make it again. I didn't take a picture of my version but here is the one from the website: Mom's Zucchini Bread This recipe is from AllRecipes.com, one of my go-to websites for recipes. It's the most popular zucchini bread recipe on the site with 10,793 ratings and an overall rating of 5 stars. I followed the suggestions of the most...

 Today our Susanna completed her mission and came home! We are so glad she was able to serve an awesome mission and also so glad to have her back home! We went up to the airport to pick her up and arrived just in time. Here is her last email which I loved reading: Hello all!! Our friends Kristy and Tony got baptized yesterday!!! It was a stressful baptism but still super good. Tony and Kristy aren't related at all, but it just worked better to do their baptisms at the same time, so we just had a double! A lot of the ward came, plus Tony's family, Kristy's family, and some of the young women! It was a PACKED room and definitely got pretty hot, but it was worth it. Tony's wife (already a member) was crying the whole time (tender), and the Spirit was there so strong. I taught my very last lesson as a missionary on the Restoration of the gospel right after the baptisms, while Kristy and Tony were changing, and it was so powerful. I am grateful beyond words for the power of ...

When I was growing up, my mother kept a family history. We wrote in it once a week, usually on Sundays as part of family council. So when Scott and I started our family, we started keeping a family history too. It's a great resource to see what happens from year to year. Today I looked at our family history to see what we have done for the last several 4th of July holidays. We almost always have some type of family barbecue but our morning activity has varied somewhat: 2011:  David and Jan biked down to Provo and saved our family a spot to watch the big parade. Lincoln and Garrett marched with the Orem High marching band. I stayed home with Camille because she had just gotten her kidney transplant and we were supposed to avoid crowds. Everett was the photographer. 2012:  We went on a hike to Stewart Falls. Talmage (age 10) got lost at the very end but we found him.  Talmage and Everett ran through the falls. 2013: We rode our bikes from Vivian Park to our house. Everett j...