Our Garden

Here is a post that will make my mother, my in-laws, and my Grandpa proud.

This spring we planted a garden. Brian is a true green thumb, and loves to garden. For the first time in our married life, we've been able to plant a garden! It's been fun.

Our next door neighbors have a huge garden plot and they said we could use three rows to plant whatever we wanted. They are in their 80's and decided they couldn't keep up with as big of a garden as they have had in the past. We turned this opportunity into an FHE event and planted tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, and pumpkins.

It has been fun for Jackson to help weed and water our growing plants. He likes seeing the veggies appear and grow( especially the pumpkins...we have six huge pumpkins growing for this fall). He also likes to play in the dirt, but he's a boy, what can I say?

Our Zucchini and squash plants have been producing like crazy! We have had to throw away so much what we can't use between our two families...and I've gotten creative on using up as much as I can. I pureed the zucchini and squash and added it to some home-made spaghetti sauce, which actually turned out pretty good. I've made 16 (and counting) loaves of zucchini bread...and my neighbors love me (or hate me) for it! We've sauteed, grilled, steamed zucchini and squash for nearly every dinner. I also got a really yummy squash casserole recipe from my mom and have made it a few times. My family loves it.

We have given a lot of our veggies away to friends and to the neighborhood "share the bounty" system. It's a pretty cool idea. A neighbor built a veggie shack where people can drop off and collect anything they want for free. It's a great concept to share the different things people grow in their gardens, while also providing a way to share the surplus with others who would use it. I have hated throwing away so much good food, so we drop off our veggies at least a couple times a week. Great Idea.

Here are some pictures of the fruits of our labors...







Here is the Squash Casserole recipe, it's pretty liberal so you can change it to fit your family's tastes:

2 Zucchini
3-4 crookneck squash (small to medium size)
1 large onion
green onions or chives to taste (optional)
2 eggs
2 cups croutons or dried bread peaces (I use cheesy garlic croutons, but you can use any flavor)
1/2 stick butter plus extra for sauteing
2 tsp. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus extra for topping

Pre-heat oven to 350*. Chop squash into bite size chunks and steam. Drain. Meanwhile saute onions and chives in butter until soft. Mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the squash and onions. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Top with a little shredded cheese and seasoning of choice (I like Cajun seasoning, but Italian also works well). Bake for 30-45 minutes and serve.

About time!

As some of you have heard, our camera was either lost or stolen a few weeks ago. Luckily I was in the routine of downloading our pictures off of it frequently, and so we didn't lose many pictures (random shots of the kids, our St. George trip...which I'm sad we'll never get back). But I HAVE lost a bunch of opportunities to take pictures of our family and the kids in the past few weeks of not having a camera. I hadn't realized before just how much I use it!

We finally decided the old camera was not going to show up afterall and broke down and bought a new one. The Sony Cyber-shot. I love it already! I shot 100 pictures the first day...mostly becoming familiar with the settings and all, but it does a great job for what we need it for. It's quick, great at close-ups, has face and smile recognition...great features for when you have kids.

Anyway, I'll be posting some updates of our family now that I can post some pictures to go along with them!

French Bread

Jackson LOVES french bread. He especially loves it when we time it just right at the grocery store and the french bread is getting bagged and sold oven-fresh. He loves holding the warm bread throughout the entire shopping experience...some kids might want a cookie, but Jackson wants to hold the french bread! Yesterday, I was doing my grocery shopping and Jackson was BEGGING me to hold some "warm bread", so he calls it. No harm in that. A little while later, I realize that Jackson is cradling his bread and singing "rock-a-bye baby" to it! So funny! I love that he finds comfort from his warm bread!

Red, White, and Cherry pie....oh, I mean Blue

Some days I love technology, and other days it drives me CRAZY! All within a week our computer crashed, my phone died, our camera was lost, and Brian went swimming with the electronic keys to my car. Needless to say, I've been going crazy without a sense of touch to the outside world! I'm stealing precious time from Brian and his laptop to get in a few updates of our family.

Hope everyone had a fab 4th of July. Ours seemed to extend throughout the whole weekend...Friday to Monday. It was fun to say the least.

Friday, we were invited to a superb pre-fourth of July party at some friend's ranch in Walsburg. They were hosting a pie contest, among many other things (like a mechanical riding bull contest), and so Brian set out to make a beautiful cherry pie. For those of you who know Brian well, you know he's a great cook, and his projects turn out to be masterpieces. The trick was getting the pie from our oven to the party (in WALSBURG, let me remind you...30 minutes away) in as good of shape. We were running late, and so the pie didn't make it out of the oven until we were supposed to be on the road, so I had the job of balancing an oven-hot cherry pie on a cookie sheet up the canyon. It was too hot to rest in my lap, and the rest of the car was packed with things for us and the children, so we decided me holding the pie on a cookie sheet would work. I have to say I did pretty well at keeping the pie from sliding too much, or the juiced from spilling over the side...UNTIL the final stop sign before the party! One glance away on my part, and a jolty start on Brian's part, made the pie slide right up to the edge of the cookie sheet next to my chest, spilling it's ruby red juices all over the front side of my shirt! I was so mad, sad, surprised, I didn't know what to do! I wiped as much as I could with some wet wipes from the diaper bag, but it just made a bigger mess. Then I remembered I had some travel size oxyclean spray....so I went to town with the spray. Within minutes, the stain was GONE! No lie. Cherry juice was completely erased from my shirt. I couldn't believe it, but I whole-heartedly endorse the spray for stain removal!

A week ago....

We have lost our camera and I truly miss it! Luckily my MIL had a camera on her last week so we could get a few snapshots of the family fun.

Last week was our Beutler reunion. We had alot of fun...of course I might be biased because Brian and I were hosting it this year and so we got to plan all of the activities and stuff. Thursday was the kickoff with a movie, BBQ (we also made homemade ice cream in #10 cans), slide show and games. Friday, I taught a couple of rounds of Yoga, then we headed to the pool and played until the thunderstorm kicked in, did some crafts and science experiments with the kids (who doesn't like to create bombs and rockets?), came home to play a round of kickball, and stayed up late listening to fun family stories (and playing mafia...a Beutler favorite), Saturday started off with what Brian and I called "Lindon Survivor", which were games we modified from the TV series to an "attempted at-home" version. We had high hopes, but it really turned into a family dispute over rules of the games and declaring players cheaters and such. Ultimately it ended in a big water balloon and shaving cream fight. All in good fun.

Here are some pictures of the highlights.

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This weekend is our Beutler Family reunion. We, Brian and I, are hosting this year. We have a lot of fun things planned, so we'll update after the party is over, but for now, take a look at our slide show we created of our wonderful family and the highlights from this past year.

Beutler Reunion

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Vecinos y Carne Asada (Neighbors and BBQ)

Brian and I like to take walks on Sunday afternoons. Sometimes we smell families having a "bar-b-Que" in their backyard and it smells more like their burning leaves or twigs. But today, ahhh....we passed a home just a few houses down from us and the smell coming from their yard was wonderful! As we passed, I noticed they were Latin. I said to Brian, "I didn't know we had Latin neighbors! They sure know how to cook." Brian asked, "Do you want to go say hi?" I was skeptical at first, but then a breeze blew that wonderful smell of Latin Bar-b-Que past our noses. Why not?

So here we are. Brian and me with our two children, strolling up to our Latin neighbors home, having never met them before, and wanting to make friends and introduce ourselves on a Sunday afternoon....when they are having a family Bar-b-Que. This situation might deter some people, but those people have never had authentic carne asada. And they probably don't understand how kind and open Latin people are. The phrase " Mi casa es su casa" (my house is your house), is a reality and a real part of Latin culture.

Before we knew it, they were more or less pushing plates of food on us and asking us to sit with them. Never mind that they were drinking beer and smoking! The food was delicious and mouthwatering! I learned how to makes a really yummy authentic pico de gallo from the lady of the house named Graciela. It all makes me laugh just thinking about it.

They were easy to talk to, fun and welcoming. We had some laughs, and I understood most of the Spanish conversation. Jackson mingled with their kids and looked at the horses. In the end, we invited them over to our place next month for another BBQ. They kept saying, "we have a big family!" We can handle it! Brian loves to grill.

What a great Sunday afternoon!

Happy Baby

There is a yoga pose called "happy baby" and it's not too far off of what you see Zoey doing these days. I've always thought it was so appropriately named, and I love it when I see my babies doing 'yoga' poses in their own! Jackson is very familiar with yoga already. He will see me stretching and ask "yoga?" How many 2 year old know what yoga is? I love it.

In reality, Zoey is our happy baby. She is such a delight. I think a lot of it has to do with the amount of sleep she gets, but she is just so pleasant to be around. Of course she has fussy times, like when she's hungry, tired, teething, or if Jackson bites her (or any combination of these), but these times are few and far between her happy times. She's so wonderful.

She is rolling, scooting, pivoting, and starting to balance her body weight on her arms and toes....before long she'll be crawling! She got her two front teeth in a week ago, and she hadn't started solid foods until yesterday.

She is soooooo uninterested in baby food. There is a rat on the Pixar movie Ratatouille that says to his brother, "If you work your way past the gag reflex, it opens up all kinds of possibilities!" That's Zoey. She can't get past the gagging. I've tried pureed bananas, pears, applesauce, peas, and finally sweet potatoes. She will eat sweet potatoes, but she doesn't like it! I'm afraid she'll never want to stop nursing.

I can't believe she is almost 6 months! I love seeing her little personality come out. I also love seeing how different she is from Jackson. She is very much a girl and I LOVE it (or maybe it's because Jackson is such a boy that he makes her look more girl-ish)! Either way, I love having one of each.

Jackson's Two!

Happy Birthday to YOU, Jackson dear!

Today, Jackson is two years old. I can't believe it! He's such a little helper in so many ways. This is a picture of him helping me make his birthday cake. He LOVES chocolate. He gets that from me, ha ha!

We're celebrating his birthday tomorrow by having a swim party with the family at the Lehi indoor pool. It's one if his favorite places to go.

I just wanted to write down a few things I love about my ever-growing boy and the sweetness that comes with the innocence of childhood. I'd hope for these things to stay for ever, but I'll know he'll grow out of it someday, as he should. I just want to make sure I remember what he's like at this time in his life.

I love it when (if he wants something REALLY bad) I can tell him "it will cost a kiss" and he quickly obliges! But I love it even more when he does it unprovoked, and just wants to give me a kiss.

I love it when I catch him doing silly things when he doesn't think anyone is looking, like making faces at himself in the bathtub faucet (reflects like a mirror) or walking on his heels just to be silly.

I love it when we ask for "bear hugs" he's all about making the sound more than the actual squeeze.

I love how he sucks on his bottom lip and plays with his cowlick when he's a little unsure of things.

I love how me asks me to kiss his owies better.

I love it when he wants me to do something with him, he'll take my hand and say, "come with me!"

Although I love that he's independent, I love it when he needs me too.

I love how anxious he is to be able to play with Zoey. He can't wait for her to be his playmate!

I love his facial expressions and his excitement over little things.

I just love, love, love him! I'm so glad he's a part of our family.