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Sometimes Wayne feels the need to remind me of the wife I used to be. When we first were married we ate out A LOT! Then we decided that we were wasting too much money and started buying frozen meals. A few years later our dinners went from frozen to boxed. Seriously, our most common meal was Pasta-Roni with a can of veggies, usually green beans, and if Wayne was lucky I'd throw in some rubbery chicken. The only spices I had and used were salt, pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon and our old favorite....season all...which we used on EVERYTHING. I'm proud to say that I've evolved into a much better cook and now own 37 seasonings! Not just do I own them, but I USE them....quite often, in fact.
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I have learned that many things can be made from scratch. Like marshmallows, graham crackers, cheesecake, salsa, lasagna.... and our new favorite thing to make.... Bread and Butter Pickles. Tyler and I have made 4 jars of them so far. We love them!
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And so does Genevieve.
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I've also been taught how to jar apricots, thanks to Amber. And I've made many batches of freezer jam over the last few years.
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Who knew that I could be so domestic! I love making new foods and posting them on www.deliciousdixie.blogspot.com If you haven't checked it out yet....you're really missing out. There are some fantastic recipes on there from me and some of my favorite friends.
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Oh, and I think I'm rubbing off on my Hayden, who dreams of one day becoming a chef, because today he decided that he had come up with the best recipe that we needed to try. So, he and I whipped up a batch of Zucchini Butterscotch Brownies. It really was delicious. Who knew? Well done, Hayden! Keep the recipes comin'.
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Anyway, it's official, I can no longer say I can't cook.

Angel

This is Angel.
She is a great dog.
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She loves to play in the water.
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And drink from the hose.
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She is great with kids.
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It was fun taking care of her for a weekend, but in the end....we are still not dog people! Hayden even said it himself.
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Thank you, Sawyer Family, for letting us enjoy your dog every once and a while.

Zion National Park

We took Wayne's Mom to Zion so that she could experience the Narrows, but first we stopped off at a natural slide.

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I guess the water was a little cold.

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Don't even think about it, Tyler!
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Tyler's turn....

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Tyler decided to jump off the edge - which is so out of character for him - the water came up to his neck and was pulling him backward. Very scary! Thankfully Wayne was right there to pull him out. This is a photo of Wayne reminding Tyler that you NEVER jump into water when you have no idea how deep it is. It looks like he was yelling at him, but he really wasn't.

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Hayden's up next.
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After going down the slide many times we headed over to the Court of the Patriarchs where Genevieve had a great time showing everyone what the term "terrible twos" means. Thankfully we will never see any of those people again!

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On to the Narrows....

After Genevieve almost got away from me after falling, I decided it would be a good idea to tie her life jacket strap to my belt loop. She was loving the water!

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She had a skinny stick that broke, so Hayden gave her a new one. She loved it even more! Hayden is such a sweet big brother.

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Wayne took the boys across some deeper, swifter water to check out this mini cave.

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Tyler had a tough time keeping balanced while walking on all the invisible rocks.

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I told Wayne that I was waiting for him to fall so that I could capture it on "film". He never did, but he still made me laugh by pretending to fall.

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We ended our day with Japanese food, ice cream and a movie.

It was an exhausting, but great day!

we're growing gills

We love water!

I think we've spent most of our summer staying cool in a pool. Most of the time it's Grandma Bingham's pool, but we've also spent many hours at the rec center pool. However, for the last few days we've had the chance to swim at the hotel pool where Grandma Judy stayed while visiting us. It's been so fun! The boys have gotten really good at swimming and Genevieve is very much at home in the water. She loves to put her head under water and even opens her eyes under there so she can watch the boys. Crazy girl!

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Tyler loves his snorkel!

I love that I can hear him laugh under water through the snorkel while he's trying to sneak up on me. It makes me laugh.

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Genevieve really enjoyed swimming with Grandma.
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And I think Grandma enjoyed it too.
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It was a great visit!
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