AC!

Last week Keith and I went on a date to Atlantic City while Carson spent some quality time with his Grandma and Grandpa Penrod. AC is like the Vegas of the East Coast, but I like that it's a lot cleaner and right next to the ocean so you can walk along the boardwalk and the beach. There are fun little shops, casinos, and restaurants all along the boardwalk. We have fun every time we come to AC, it's about a 20 minute drive from Keith's parents house. There was a Chalk Art Festival going on so I was super excited to go, but it had just barely begun so there were only a few designs that we were able to look at. We spent our time just chatting, shopping- (trying to find some Fall boots for my birthday present),walking along the boardwalk and beach, then ate at Tony Lukes. We had to get a cheese steak while we're out here, although it's not the same as getting it in Philly, they're still good.

Getting ready to head out....

Caesars! I love the tall buildings.

Someone built a sweet sand castle.

Perfect day on the boardwalk.

He loves these things.

Feet on the beach.

We always come to this candy store in the mall there.

His favorite candy, everything was super sized!

Sister

Happy Birthday to one of the most incredible girls I know--my sister, my best friend, Misti. I can't believe you're 24, that means I'll be 26 in exactly three weeks to the day. I don't think you know the impact you've had in my life, you see usually it's the older sibling who's the role model, the example, but not in this case--you are. You've been such a shining example of Christ, a true follower of the gospel, one who shines bright inside and out. You make it to the temple more times in one week then I sometimes make in one month. I love hearing your dating adventures and stories, the good and bad. Your future husband is going to be one lucky man. Carson adores you, his "Bippy," I think you became his new favorite person in those six weeks you spent with us this summer. I so wish we could surprise you and show up at your apartment in Rexburg, like last year, man would that be sweet, two years in a row, but yah I'm a couple thousand miles away.  You are going to make one amazing teacher, as you have already taught me a lot. I have so many childhood memories I could list and make this post about a mile long but I'll spare everyone. Mostly, I just want to thank you for being you, for being my sister and best friend.

What I wish Idaho had....

We've been here in New Jersey on our vacation a little over a week now. After a long red-eye flight and a layover in Charlotte, we made it to NJ on the 7th. Last week we spent most of our time at the beach, oh yes the beach in September! The water was perfect and the beach wasn't as crowded since most everyone was back in school. The beach is one thing I wish Idaho had, if it did then Idaho would be complete :). Carson loved the waves and the sand, the seagulls ate one too many of his cheese nips so he wasn't too fond of them. I seriously could have spent all day every day there, my ear is still plugged with ocean water from Keith trying to teach me how to "ride the wave in." One thing I'll probably never get used to is the salt water. Since I grew up swimming in lakes and rivers I am used to the freshwater taste, I couldn't stop spitting the salt water out of my mouth. haha. I'm hoping Wednesday will be nice enough to make it to the beach one last time, or the lake so we can take Nala, Keith's parents dog. Either way I'm just glad we were able to make it to the beach a few times before Fall sets in, since some days are already starting to feel like Fall.

These were the only pics I got on my phone since I broke my camera like two weeks before our vacay. argh! Keith's sis is kind enough to let me use hers for the next couple weeks.

UP NEXT: Atlantic City, NJ for date night

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me!

So yesterday my two sisters went to the church orchard here and picked about a million peaches for hours while I watched the kids. Combined they definitely got over 100 lbs of peaches all for free! So Misti and I have been going crazy baking, freezing etc, and looking up all recipes that involve peaches. Today we made 7 quarts of peach pie filling, 3 batches of homemade fruit leather, and 1 batch of dried peaches. Oh man, and we still have so many peaches left! We're planning of freezing a lot for smoothies, crepes, casseroles, muffins, etc. The homemade fruit leather has been our favorite recipe so far and by far the easiest. Misti, Carson and I ate the whole pan last night! The best thing about it is that it only take 4 peaches and 1 TBS of honey. SOOOO EASY AND SOOO YUMMY.  If you've never heard of fruit leather it's basically a homemade fruit roll-up.

So here's the recipe....seriously...try it.

4 peaches (you don't have to peel, we didn't and it was just fine)
1 TBS Honey

Wash peaches. Blend/puree all ingredients in food processor, Vitamix,  or blender (you will have to blend a little longer since regular blenders aren't as powerful). You can also add other fruit like strawberries, raspberries etc so it has more than one flavor.

Pour mixture onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, or you can use a dehydrator if you have one. We used our oven and baked it for 3-3 1/2 hrs at 200 deg.

Let cool. Enjoy

If some of it turns out a little crispier than other parts (the edges mostly) then let sit over night and it will become soft and chewy again!

Brown Reunion 2013

Last weekend some of my siblings, brother-in-law, nieces/nephews and I decided last minute to go to the Brown Reunion (my mom's side), and I'm sure glad we did. We also met Keith there which was so nice to go camping for the first time this summer with him. Although my parents weren't there since they're in Peru, it was still nice to catch up with extended family. The weekend was full of floating the Onieda Narrrows (twice), swimming at Bear Lake, an auction, food, games (life size bananagrams), fun, laughter, campfires, roasting smores, campfire games and just hanging out with my mom's family, which is always a good time. I wish I had a better picture of Bear Lake for those of you who have never been, it seriously looks like the Caribbean, it's so turquoise! Get ready for picture overload!

Uncle Brian is the Mountain Man of the family

Excited to float the river!

Chillin on the lake

Wasn't too excited about the spot clear down on the end of the beach that was picked,  since it was so grassy, but it was the only way we could bring my cousins dog onto the beach, there was no one around us so that was nice since North beach was PACKED!

Life size bananagrams was a hit!

We hold an auction every year to pay for the next years expenses. Misti and I made some pillows that cost us $1.50 to make and they sold for $13.  Uncle Brian made a stool out of some wood and it went for $80!

Until next year!!!

Guyumes

Carson is starting to talk a lot more and putting sentences together but there are some words that still come out different, I wanted to write these down more for my sake so I could remember. Our favorite has been guyumes, which means ice cream in Carson language. It took as a while to figure out what he was saying. We still haven't figured out what a boppyding is yet.

Names:
Nikki- Kiki
Brecka- This one is hard to spell---bwecka maybe?
Alexa- Wexa
Tristan- Ditden
Brynlee- Maymay
Brielle- B--elle
Malia- Bebe dia
Tyson- Bebe dyson
Skylee- Kylee
Misti- Bippy (this one has been our favorite lately)
Mickey Mouse-  kikies mouse
Thomas (the train)- Momas
Amelia Bedelia- Dia Dia
Bearstein Bears- Bababen bears
Arthur- Arthdur
Daniel Tiger- Dandel

Things:
Truck- guck
Yogurt- gugurt
Blueberries- baberries
Grapes- gapes
Pillow- buhbo
Water- wawo
Battery- bopy
Ice Cream- guyumes (he's starting to say ice cream now though)
Vitamin- buhbine
Lion- dion
Flamingo- gingo
Marshmallow- mamallow
Popcorn- copcorn
Ravioli- Olies

Oh I love this silly boy.