Zucchini Anyone?

Today I made some yummy zucchini chocolate chip cookies and thought I would share the recipe with anyone who may have abundant zucchini right now.  This recipe is from a book by Barbara Kingsolver titled "The Animal, Vegetable Miracle" - an excellent book with many practical recipes too.  Here is the link to the cookie recipe.  Enjoy!  Also - zucchini is really good in smoothies too.

Amy Harrison Photography

I recently had the boys' pictures taken by a friend (Amy) from my younger days.  I thought she did an awesome job - especially considering Samuel had a major melt down just prior to going to get pictures taken.  He didn't want to wear the shorts that HE picked out earlier that day - I thought girls were the ones that had these kinds of issues not boys!  You can check out her website here and see what you think.  These were some of my favorite pictures that she took.  FYI - this "smile" of Samuel's was something new that day - why he had to try it out then - I don't know.  Oh well.

The Little Things

This is a sample of the things Samuel said in his prayers tonight:  Bless George that he can feel better (so sweet - George had his 4 month immunizations today), bless my teeth that they won't break (not sure where this came from - maybe because I just set up a dentist appointment for myself and Samuel for a cleaning?), bless that we can go to Stephanie's house and sleep on a bed on the floor sometime (I MENTIONED in passing that we may go to Stephanie's house in October - she lives in CA), bless daddy to do a good job at work and church meetings, and bless mommy and daddy (I need all the blessings I can get!).  He just cracks me up sometimes - it is hard to keep a straight face during the prayer.  I love to hear him pray.  

There are few things I enjoy more than hearing a baby laugh!  Samuel gets George to laugh more than anyone else.  It is so cute.  Here is a clip of Samuel playing peek-a-boo with George.  

This past week was a milestone for George - he rolled over for the first time.  Three times in one day.  But he has yet to do it again.  Is he really growing that fast?  It goes by so fast sometimes.

I have decided it is the little things in life that really make me happy.

Friends (& TJ's)

Yesterday our friends, the Adling Family, came and stayed overnight. They were passing through Utah on their way to Montana for a family reunion. It was so much fun to see them again.



Makenna had a birthday today, so we celebrated last night with a yummy chocolate cake - because we know how much Makenna LOVES chocolate! Samuel helped me make the cake yesterday and he was soooo excited to sing happy birthday! He doesn't care whose birthday it is, he just loves birthday cakes and singing the song.



Paul and LIsa, being the good friends that they are, surprised us with a bag FULL of delicious Trader Joe's snacks/treats. They even remembered some of our favorite things that we used to buy when we lived within a reasonable distance to a TJ (unlike now - Las Vegas is the closest : ( )



If you love good food and would like to see a Trader Joe's near you (anywhere in Utah would be fine with me!), check out the Trader Joe's website and put in a location request. You will not regret it! Thanks again Adlings for a great time. It was so nice to chat with you guys! We love ya!

My Church-Going Guys

Jim came home from meetings this morning to help me get the boys ready for church - it was a nice surprise. I had to take a picture of my boys in their "church clothes" (as Samuel calls them).

Squash Bugs Revisited

Well, I did end up catching about ten squash bugs, but I haven't blended them up yet. I have been finding less and less every day, so I have decided not to blend at this moment. My plants seem to be doing better - we even had two small yellow squash for dinner tonight! I am hopeful that we have the bugs under control (I am sure they are not completely gone, but more manageable now). I was talking with a wise friend of mine about the squash bug situation and she made a statement that has really stuck with me. The day that I first found the squash bugs was not a good day for me. I have been trying to learn how to make whole wheat bread and have not been super successful yet, and then I found those squash bugs. I told Jim I just wanted to give up on gardening, give up on trying to make bread, give up on trying to have a clean house, and basically just give up on everything (a little irrational and exaggerated - don't you think?). Anyway, my friend said something to the effect of isn't it funny how we are going along and then we come to this little block in the road or this little trial and we just want to give up! We just want things to work out perfectly all the time without any trouble. That really made me stop and think about things. It made me think about all of my blessings that I do have and the things that I can do. I am constantly reminded of how Satan preys on our weaknesses and sneaks in to make us feel even worse about ourselves when we are already feeling down. I am so grateful that my friend helped me to see things the way they really are. By the way, I didn't give up on gardening, I tried to make bread again (fairly successfully the last time) so I haven't given up on that, but I am still thinking of giving up on having a clean house - I guess I better work on that.

Just Another Sunday

Several months ago I decided that I needed to make Sunday an extra special day for Samuel (and George) since Jim is gone most of the day doing his Bishop duties. I came up with the idea of a "Sunday Box". I found a good sized box and let Samuel pick out some wrapping paper to cover the box and lid with. He chose some bright, sparkly colors and helped me wrap the outside and inside of the box. I talked it up A LOT before we actually used it. Inside the box are various coloring books, Bible matching cards (people from the Bible, etc), lacing cards, markers - washable of course, puzzles, toy cars (from Grandpa Brookes), shapes, play foam and a few other things. The plan is to get something new in there every few months so that it doesn't get old. But the idea of the Sunday box is that Samuel only plays with the stuff in it on Sundays after church and after "quiet time". I cannot tell you how much this has helped me keep my sanity on Sundays! Samuel looks forward to playing with his "Sunday Box" every Sunday.

Squash Bugs!

My mind has been consumed by squash bugs! I was watering my garden the other day and I found this bug on my butternut squash plant. I thought "Gross! That bug should not be on my plant!" I have heard horror stories about this super bug - which evidently is very annoying and quite difficult to get rid of. Not to mention that it kills your plant fairly quickly. I wasn't sure what a squash bug looked like so I did a google images search for squash bug. Sure enough that is the little critter that I found on my plant. My squash bugs have been busy too! There are several batches of eggs on the underneath part of the leaves.



Adult squash bug - yuck!



Squash bug eggs on the underneath part of the leaves



This is how it destroys the squash and plant - this squash was looking really good before the bugs began attacking!


I was told by a master gardener that the only way to get rid of the squash bugs (organically) is 1) pick them off the plant one by one and kill them or 2) collect several and blend them up in a blender and then put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray all over the plant - evidently the bugs don't like the smell of their own dead. SO, this week my task will be to blend some squash bugs and spray my plants. I really hope this works because I will be so sad if I lose my squash plants! I will keep you posted with my squash bug situation. By the way, I just went out and took these pictures and I smushed the adult bug and it had blue guts - this will be really interesting.

Summertime Fun

What could possibly be better than splashing in a pool and sipping homemade lemonade? If that doesn't shout "summer" to you, what does?

Family Reunion

Last week we had the Brookes Family Reunion.  On Wednesday we went for a hike to Stewart Falls.  It was a good hike with a beautiful prize at the end (the waterfall).  It was nice to spend some good time together as a family.

We also took a tour of Welfare Square in SLC, went bowling (where I had mostly gutter balls!), visited the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point, and had game night. We also had lots of good food. It is so fun to be able to get together on a regular basis with my family. The cousins all have a great time too.

Out of Samuel's Mouth

This morning as I was lingering in my bed, Samuel looked over at me and in a very serious tone said:

"I'm so tired of you saying no to me!"

Hhmmm.  I wonder where he heard that?