Very cool

Dear Sister,

Wish I was there to borrow it....(not sure Jason would let me touch it, though)

Ambition is a good thing sometimes.

Love,
Sister

Now, I am going to go to bed. A quiet house is sometimes dangerous to my bedtime.

On the 3rd of July we...

drove here
to look at one of these watched the kids boogie to the music

after three hours of Paul haggling and Kristen chasing the kids around, we got to go here... and even though we only spent one hour here, Paul went wha-wha-wha all the way home.

Night at the Drive-In

Third times a charm!

FINALLY! Zucchini has grown!

It usually grows out of peoples ears, but for some reason, our summer squash plants have always struggled. This year, it's growing like mad and we are so excited. We think it might be because we put our compost pile in between the plants....
Regardless as to why they are growing so well, we enjoyed it for dinner last night and it was YUMMY!

favorite things, ie. Ellie

This girl is a crack up lately!

She is obsessed with this bow. It has to be in her hair.And obsessed with this "net" aka necklace. It has to be around her neck.

She loves to say CHEESE for the camera and squint her little eyes.
Dress-ups are becoming her favorite thing!
Her eyes are still my favorite thing (One of my many favorite things. I also like to kiss her little button nose, that's my favorite, too).

Slides are also one of her favorite things.

She is one of my favorite things!

Thinking of you in Laos

I just got the most heartfelt email/picture from my dad, who has been in Asia on business for 2.5 weeks:

Thinking of you in Laos

Love Ya'll

Father's Day Cards

Paul's only request for this Father's day was something homemade from the kids.

We got a little corny with this request, but we sure had fun doing it!

As a substitute for glitter, which is annoying to clean up, we used edible sprinkles.
Rice Crispies do not do well with glue ;)
Dallin's glue and sprinkles portrait of his daddy.

We took pictures of them because Paul loves to save cards like these, but we were afraid that the mice would get to them eventually.

katy's b-day party

Dallin's friend Katy had a birthday, shout hooray! Ellie feeding Sadie potato chips
Tire swing fun

Dallin getting out some aggression...poor Sponge Bob, he never had a chance.

Tasty popsicles

Swinging on the swing set

Squirting his sister with the hose

Ready

Set

GO!

(check out her tongue!)

Here I cooooooooooo

oooooooommmmmmmme!!!!

Thanks for having a birthday, Katy, it was fun!

attn: happy valley, UT--jewelry party

Here's some info on a jewelry party (made by my cousin) that my sister and mom are hosting TONIGHT. There's a ton of cute stuff.

potty training the dog

(Does anyone know where my camera went? baaaaa)

After running upstairs this morning to put my makeup on, I came down to find the kids outside in the back yard. It drives me crazy that Dallin can unlock the door! I asked Dallin why he went outside without my permission:

"Because I am potty training Doh-doh and he is a dog and needs to pooh outside." He had his favorite stuffed animal sitting on the lawn, bum down, going potty.

little pretty dress

{photo by Sara}

I found a bed sheet at Goodwill a couple years ago. It sat in my stash for a long time until I tried to make a dress out of it for Ellie...without a pattern. It didn't work and I became frustrated. Besides, every time I looked at it, I thought of my friend, Sara. So I sent it to her.
The very next day (or so it felt, that girl is quick) I got a package from her. A very pretty dress for Ellie. I was so giddy I put it on her right away. People asked me if I got it at Gymboree, even. She was so cute to blog about it (even quicker than me).
Thanks, Sara!

A Father Indeed

I love MormonMessages. My sister-in-law, Heather J. just emailed us this one. It's a tear jerker, for sure.

and the winner is...........

Paul!

otherwise known as:

Daddy

Dadda

or

Daddy Stuart Duncan

coming up soooooooooo close behind:

Grandpa Stu

and

Papa Steele

and

Great Grandpa Steele

We are so very fortunate to have all these men in our lives! We love you and are grateful for all that each and everyone of you do.

...more GREATS: Grandpa Breseman, Castleton, Duncan...

Oreo Cookies --everyone's got it

I know everyone has this recipe in some version or another. But I would cry if my house burned down and I lost this one. I made this blue icing for all you UK wildcat fans. I made this blue icing for all you Cougar blue fans. I made this blue icing for all you Carolina Blue fans. (Am I repeating myself?)

Homemade Oreos

1 chocolate devils food cake mix

1/4 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 butter

Mix and roll into balls, or I use this small scoop (1 tablespoon).

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Buttercream Icing

1/3 cup butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2-3 tablespoons milk

Blend until thick and creamy, adding the milk in small amounts.

Assemble by sandwiching icing in between two cookies.

a smattering of girls camp pictures

click to enlarge

I didn't get my camera out as much as I should have...boo to me.

Good times were had.

Except when the girl on the swing next to Sadie and I got going real high.

Then snap! Her swing broke and she flew through the air...backwards.

Now that was scary.
Oh, and if you see anyone on youtube or something doing an interpretive dance to "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain", that was not me.