The Leaves Are Changing!

We took a quick trip to Bridal Veil Falls last week...

...to go for a walk...

...and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

As you can see, we were not disappointed.

Leave a comment and tell us about your favorite part of Fall.

Chestnuts Freezing by an Open Fire

Ok, I know it's been a constant barrage of new posts and pictures but I can explain! The cord that connects my camera to the computer has been lost since the beginning of July. Ahhh. Well really it had just been carefully tucked away in a sack filled with TV cables and cords and other random things by my mother. Thanks Mom! Well I finally tracked it down (and labeled it with masking tape of course) and I am now trying to catch up. Here are some pictures of our Labor Day activities. The weather was freezing and there was always at least one baby crying (they must have had a prior agreement we were unaware of to do the crying in shifts. At any given point you could here the pleasant wailings of one of the three children) but we had fun none the less.

The Celebration of the Commencement of Our Union

Or, in other words: today is our anniversary (the second one to be exact). A lot has happened in that two year period, two job changes, two moves, two graduations, two car changes, and most importantly a baby (thankfully not two of those yet)! We have been blessed and have learned lots from each other. Happy Anniversary Tucker, I love you! I can't wait to see what this next year brings...

Twilight Gangsta Ballad

The View From Squaw Peak

We took Korbin on a drive up to Squaw Peak a couple of weeks ago and this is my favorite picture from the trip. Korbin kept trying to grab the moon. I am so lucky to have such cute and loving guys in my life. How about that view?

August Birthday Bash

August is a busy month of birthdays for our family so my sister Carolyn and I decided to have one big party and celebrate everything at once. We reserved the big pavilion at Nielsen's Grove and invited friends and family. It was a lot of work but so much fun. We had a pinata, a balloon launcher, party poppers, yummy food, yummy cake and fun with a few bee hives (nestled in the pavilion). Thank you to everyone who came and made it a success.

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me

Last week I went and did a cannery assignment at the Lindon Cannery. My mom watched Korbin while I went out into the bright and early world to can peaches. I had such a good experience and felt such peace (yup, at the cannery). I could not help but notice the cute elderly couples that were able to attend together. It made me wish Tucker was there with me, but alas he was all the way in Moab working.

On Sunday, much to my delight, they passed the sign up sheet around again! We signed up and were able to go Tuesday evening. It was a great date night for us as we are trying to find inexpensive things to do. Our job was to stand at the front of the line and pick out the peaches that didn't need any work done (pit, skin, blemish removal) so that the peaches that did need work done could go down the line to the people with knives. The peaches came pretty fast and at one point Tucker commented that he felt like Lucy and Ethel.

We had a lot of fun together but the thing that made the biggest impression on me was the what they said before we went in to work (I missed this part the first time because I was a few minutes late). The Sister read a poem that I do not remember word for word but the gist of it was that serving at the cannery is like serving at the temple, the only difference is that the work you do at the temple is for the deceased and the work you do at the cannery is for the living. I was excited to hear this because Tucker and I have not been able to go through the temple yet so this was the first "temple work" we have been able to do together. What a blessing for us to be able to serve at the cannery and in turn bless the lives of others. Plus at the end we were able to buy some cases of peaches for our food storage and they are delicous. We want to go back as often as we can. (No pun intended)

Look Out Buff, New Body, Here I come!

So we finally did it! We have had a membership to the Orem Fitness Center since May but all we have ever used it for is the swimming pool. Well today Tucker and I finally went and used the treadmills, elliptical machines and that was as far as we got. We were only into 30 minutes of our workout when Korbin was brought to us stinky and crying. I was a little worried about him because it was the first time he had ever been left without a family member, but when we set him down he went running into the room. The daycare provider said he did really well until another little boy accidentally knocked him over and then he kind of lost it. I think it was during the consoling that they discovered he was stinky. Anyway, here's hoping for a full hour tomorrow!

Seven Years Ago Today...

Seven years ago today there was an attack on the World Trade Center and many innocent people lost their lives. That should not be news to anybody but what may be news to some is the science behind what happened that day. My little brother Jared, who is in 5th grade, had the assignment of writing an essay on September 11th. My family has different views than most about what happened (call us crazy) on 9-11-2001. Jared's essay is based on some of the research that has been done by scholars including Steven E Jones, a former BYU professor. I am posting Jared's paper as it is a mild introduction into the truth we believe about 9-11.

The Science of 9-11
by Jared Nevin

On September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers fell after two high-jacked airplanes crashed into them and caused fires. Never before have steel skyscrapers fallen because of fire. Many scientists and engineers have examined the evidence and scientific data, and it all points to explosives. Steel melts at 1510 degrees Celsius and the fires were not that hot. They have found residue of thermate (iron with sulphur, potassium and manganese) and white ash. Thermate is an explosive that is used in the controlled demolition of buildings. Some steel columns, four feet thick, were found with perfect 45 degree angle cuts. Thermate can cut through steel cleanly and rapidly. The buildings fell right into their footprints at free fall speed, with no concrete rubble, just pulverized dust, like in a controlled demolition. We don't know all the truth about that day, 9/11/2001..... but science doesn't lie.

To learn more, visit:
www.911scholars.org
www.911truthseekers.org

and to learn more about Liberty visit:
www.latterdayconservative.org

Another Delicious Recipe

A friend of mine asked me for this recipe today and since I had already typed it up I decided I would post it here too. It is my dad's recipe and is especially good this time of year as the leaves start to change:

Italian Black Bean Chili
by Leonard Nevin

• 1/2 lb Italian sausage
• 2 cans black beans (15 oz)
• 1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth (or beef bouillon)
• 1 can (8 oz) tomato soup
• 1 cup very thinly sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (cook with meat)
• 2 bay leaves

In 4 qt saucepan, cook sausage until browned; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes*. Remove bay leaves. Use a potato masher to mash carrots and beans slightly. Soup will thicken while mashing beans. (approx. 9 servings)

Variations:

• 1 green or red bell pepper, diced
  
• cook 1/2 lb hamburger along with the sausage
• substitute 1 can red kidney beans or small red beans for 1 can of the black beans
• add 1 can of re-fried black beans or regular re-fried beans to thicken
• add any type of pepper that you like to make spicier

*If you add peppers, extra onions, or anything else vegetable-like it will probably increase the simmer time unless you partially cook them before adding.

Making The World A Better Place One Wood Chip At A Time

Just a cute little story about Korbin from our trip to the park last night. Korbin is a very social little guy. He loves to pal around with other little kids whether he knows them or not. I should also mention that Korbin not only loves to play with kids, he loves to pick up the wood chips at the park and lick them and last night was no exception. I follow him around, take the wood chips away and repeat; it's a fun game we play. Last night at the park there was another little boy about the same age as Korbin and of course we had to say hi. Well the other young lad apparently did not know how delicious the wood chips are. Korbin hates to see perfectly good wood chips go unnoticed and saw fit to enlighten his new found friend. He found a nice sizable wood chip (extra tasty I'm sure) and held it out to his unsuspecting comrade's mouth. The other little guy stared the wood chip down reluctantly, then threw caution to the wind and opened his mouth widely and Korbin happily placed the plump wood chip in his mouth. Such trust! I'll bet that little boy's mom is glad that Korbin introduced her son to the tasty treats at the playground.

Adventures in Dinner

I love to cook but I don't do it all that often maybe once or twice a week at the most. We live with my parents' and my mom usually does most of the cooking. However the last two nights Tucker and I made dinner together and it was a lot of fun. I really can't wait until we find a place to move to in Duchesne so we can be our own little independent family, not that I don't appreciate living with my family, I do.

Anyway, on Tuesday we made Italian Meatloaf which is scrumptious (I encourage you all to try it), zuchini, and oven roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic.Tucker loves meatloaf, it is not my favorite thing but this recipe is great.

Last night we had Foil Wrapped Side of Salmon with Lemon and Rosemary which was even better. It is so easy to make but looks very impressive, it's a great "hosting" dish, and it tastes like the best salmon at any fine restuarant maybe even better. We also had broccoli and rice which were great compliments.

So if you need any ideas for dinner, try these recipes. I can't take the credit though because it was Tucker's idea to make both things. He came up the ideas, we found the recipes on Food Network.com, and I just went along with it.