Crisp and snippy

When I was in Utah one of my sisters in law mentioned that she had heard from 2 or 3 others in our family recently that I was “the perfect homemaker”. I know a backhanded compliment when I hear one, and that was definitely one of them. But then I got to thinking about it, and decided I don’t care if they were being snippy about it, it’s something I truly do enjoy. I think having my mom stay at home and be an example of a homemaker has a lot to do with it. While I didn’t do a ton of cooking or decorating while I lived at home, it instilled deep down a desire and love for it that emerged once I got married and kept a home (or apartment!) of my own.

There’s a crispness in the air lately, and temps are way down at night. It’s definitely starting to feel like fall and football weather. One of our sweet friends who is moving away very generously gifted us with a 5.5 qt Le Creuset French (not Dutch!) Oven. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I cannot wait to make some delicious soups, roasts, and sauces in it. Perfect for fall. I get excited just looking at it. I even checked out a few cookbooks and flagged a ton of recipes to try in the next couple months.

I feel like this pot is the start of a change. A change to eat better food, to be a nicer person, to be a better mom and wife. I still kind of feel like I’m riding my high from Education Week. I just love BYU. The feeling there is so amazing. Everything is so clean, and everyone is so nice, and you really just feel a different spirit walking on campus. No lie, I teared up a little walking off campus the last day. You just can’t not feel good there.

So if people want to hate on me because I like to cook for my family, and have a clean home, and enjoy my “job” as a homemaker as much as I can, they can. Besides, I’d rather be called a perfect homemaker snarkily than a crappy homemaker truthfully! 

Phallics and fish

I was going through the pictures on my phone and came across a few gems I had forgotten about.

Exhibit A: An innocent-enough girl simply pouring water from her watering can into her garden, or a gender confused girl pretending to be a boy? Who designs these statues? Actually, what buyer let this pass through??? And that skirt sure it short enough, eh? Sleazy.

Exhibit B: Poor Belle. No wonder she was shunned in her village. It wasn’t because she was a bookworm or her dad was a crazy inventor, it was because she had a giant wiener. Peasant folk aren’t down with that.

Exhibit C: Every trip we take to Wal-Mart must begin with a trip to look at the fish. Part of my own little ritual is to see how many dead fish the employees let float around belly up. Usually the poor 9 cent goldfish don’t stand a chance once you get them home, but this guy was murdered before he even got a shot to swim around in a tiny bowl filled with his own poop. I hope he was delicious.

Utah!

Well, everyone survived and had a great time! The kids had a great time with their grandparents and my grandparents. They were sufficiently spoiled and loved on and came back with no injuries. I’d call that a success!

We had an absolute blast in Utah. We flew into SLC and stayed the night in Park City at the Chateau, which was gorgeous. We had breakfast at the Stein Eriksen, which was also amazing. Seriously, probably the best breakfast I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. I am STILL thinking about it. It was a potato bacon pancake with poached eggs and jarlsburg cheese and cranberries. I almost cried when I ate the last bite. I am now officially addicted to poached eggs. Yum. Combined with the amazing view, the clean crisp air that smelled so so good, and spending time with Derrick, I loved every minute of our time there.

We walked around downtown Park City for awhile and then got a Snowie and watched the Alpine Sliders for awhile. Then my sweet husband let me drag him around the outlets for a couple hours. It was really one of the most fun days I’ve ever had with him, and it felt like we were on a mini honeymoon. I missed the kids for a brief moment, but really I was surprised how quickly I adjusted into doing whatever, whenever, and not worrying about naptimes or mealtimes or discipline or ANYTHING. It was heaven. 

Later that afternoon we went to Derrick’s aunt’s house in Sugarhouse for dinner, which incidentally would be the last time we would eat real vegetables for the rest of the week.

Education Week was amazing. I loved all the classes I took. I took a lot of parenting classes, but also some marriage and scripture classes. I really feel like I came back feeling renewed and refreshed, with more patience and understanding. Hopefully a better parent and wife. We saw a couple shows on campus, included Aida, which was not my favorite, but I got to see my friend Adam, and then a concert of 8 different LDS musicians. I thought it was going to be super lame but I actually like it a lot.

We ate at all of our favorites: Cafe Rio, Burgers Supreme, Teriyaki Stix, Jamba Juice, Tucano’s, In-n-Out, the Brick Oven, and J Dawgs. It was our first time at J Dawgs actually, but loved it so much we went twice. Their special sauce is indeed special. I wanted to take a bath in it then lick the tub clean. Needless to say we bought a huge 32 oz. bottle to bring home.

Speaking of shopping, good thing I brought an empty duffle bag packed in our suitcase because we crammed that sucker full. The BYU Bookstore is probably the only place on earth where Derrick likes to shop, and whenever we shop there, I feel like I have a blank check. There is no limit on the amount of BYU paraphernalia we can buy. What? You want a BYU hoodie? Go for it! Jerseys for the kids? Grab 2! We definitely will be well outfitted in BYU gear for the upcoming football season!

We saw lots of family throughout the week which was always fun. We hit up Nickel City and the new Provo Beach at the Riverwoods. A cool place, but ridiculously overpriced.

Other highlights: Seeing sweet little Holland, Casey and Lindsey’s new baby, as well as the rest of their fam.

Going to Wal-Mart and seeing these registers: (they say Price Matching and Coupon Lane. There were 4 of them!)

You know you’re in Utah when you see this line up: 2 Subaru stawags, a VW stawag, and a Honda Element!

And last but certainly not least—getting to spend the week with the fabulous Linda, one of my most bestest friends. I’m so glad that we could make this trip happen. The only thing that could have made it better is if we could have had some of our other great girlfriends with us! Next year, ladies??

Hannah, the Very Hungry Caterpillar!

We celebrated Hannah's 1st birthday today with a Very Hungry Caterpillar party! It wasn’t a very big party, just some of our closest friends, but it was fun and there was lots of food! At least, what was left after a very hungry caterpillar got to it! :) Hannah ate and ate, just as she always does, but wasn’t such a fan of her cake! Maybe she was too full from lunch, but she didn’t even take a bite!

I had a lot of fun making the decorations and getting everything ready. I was so excited to have a baby in the summer so one of us could actually have a party outside, but wouldn’t you know it, it rained. So inside it was.

She got some fun gifts, and had many little friends help her open them. It was a great day to celebrate Hannah and her cute little personality!

      And now Derrick and I are off to Utah for A WEEK. BY OURSELVES! My parents will have the kids while we enjoy a week away, eating at all of our favorite places, I’ll be at Education Week at BYU and he’ll be doing whatever. I’m super excited to fly sans kids, and not worry about naptimes or diapers. Of course I’ll be worried about them the whole time, and I already miss them. Pray for me, my parents, and especially my kids!! Thanks mom and dad!!

One year!!

Happy birthday to our sweet, sweet Hannah! It seems like just the other day Derrick and I were eating at PF Changs for our anniversary and I was contracting in between lettuce wraps. I know I say this every month, but I literally do not know where this past year has gone.

She is truly a joy to have around. Very easy going, and definitely a lover not a fighter.

She, like her sister, has learned to love the moo juice. And she has finally learned how to hold her own bottle and drink it on her own. (Thanks to our road trip when I would just hand it back to her…she had to learn out of necessity!) She loves cheese, fruit, and most veggies. She’ll eat anything, really. We went to Culver’s for dinner tonight and she chowed down her grilled cheese and french fries. And what better way to introduce peanuts than with Reese’s Pieces custard?? She loved that, too.

Still not too mobile, although she rolls both ways at night and can get onto her belly from a sitting position. She’s still in physical therapy about twice a month, although I’m not convinced it’s really doing anything she wouldn’t be learning on her own.

The girl gets some wicked bed head. It’s pretty awesome.

Summer still continues to be the doting sister, overloading her with toys every chance she gets. I should also note that when she is not doting she is shoving her backwards then running away. One day Hannah will get her revenge. One day.

But overall they love each other, and are always making each other giggle in the back seat or at the dinner table.     It’s been an amazing year, with plenty of ups and downs, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We love you so, so much Hannah and we’re so glad you’re ours!

Fairest of the fair!

Probably one of my top 5 most favorite days of the year, we hit up the State Fair on Saturday! If you’ve been a long time reader of the Wet Donkey then it’s no surprise to you that I am in deep smit with the State Fair! As we walk to the car afterwards I’m already looking forward to going next year. This year was no different!

We tried most of the new foods this year including…..

The Elvis: Deep fried peanut butter cups in banana batter. Pretty good, but you couldn’t really taste any banana flavor. Still, it has peanut butter and chocolate so it gets a B-.

Deep fried bacon wrapped hot dog. Derrick’s most anticipated food. Not only does this just look a little dirty and disturbing, it was a total disappointment. A normal wiener with one piece of bacon. I could have made this at home, and for far less than $5. D-. Should have bought a corn dog instead.

And the highly anticipated, most talked about new food: Deep fried butter. Yes, butter. Pats of butter deep fried in what was probably some kind of wonton wrapper. Initially not so bad, until you realize you are essentially drinking melted butter and chewing on some gross dough. If you look closely you can see the butter dripping out. Ugh. C-.

Of course we got our regular fair staples as well: grilled cheese, roasted corn, flavored milk (the root beer is SO good. I was also loving the strawberry this year too), and my favorite, the cream puff!

Both girls are chugging chocolate milk!

Hannah couldn’t get enough of the cream puff. Congratulations, you’re officially a Wisconsinite!

Summer loved seeing the animals and got surprisingly close to them, despite her hesitant nature. Some cows walked in front of us and she informed us that those cows “aren’t wearing any shoes!!”

We rode the giant slide as a family, my first time riding since probably high school. I don’t remember it being that high…or that scary!! I may have let out a few screams…Hannah seemed to enjoy herself!

The fair is always a great place for mascot spottings! I added 3 more to the collection!

This Beef guy:

This pickle guy:    

And the Potowatomi Bingo guy! How cute is he??  Summer was terrified of him, of course. The girls did pretty well while we played Bingo, and true to form, one of us won! Derrick won a cooler/grill thing during the raffle. Sweet!

The Spencer’s were great company and followed us wherever we went. Wes is a trooper and hopefully a fair fan for life!

Until next year!

Winners!!!

Were you thinking I’d never post the winners? Have you been waiting on pins and needles to see if you won?? Sorry for the delay…I took a road trip with the girls to Omaha while Derrick was in NYC on business. 10 hour drive there and back and everyone is still alive. A miracle in itself. Still, we had fun, got plenty of Sonic fixes, and of course always good to see the fabulous Foches.

So who won?!?!?!

Congrats to Lindsey who said “My favorite is you next to Cosmo of course! But I agree with you that the cutest mascot is the Culvers Ice Cream Man.” Lindsey is about to pop out her 2nd baby girl and I will probably get to snuggle her (the baby, not Lindsey) next week when I’m in Utah! Your prize will be hand delivered!!

And also to Becky who said “Super impressed Karen! I'd have to say the Culver's ice-cream is the best, but I like the girl next to the pig too :) You don't need to include me in the giveaway either. Just knowing you is prize enough.” Becky is one of the sweetest girls I know. Most of my friends would say that last line jokingly but she probably means it. (She probably just don’t know me well enough yet.) ;) Becky, your prize will be hand delivered as well! Lucky you!

And last but not least is Heidi who said, “To pick a favorite out of your collection is a hard task. I love the pose with the Oreo so I vote Oreo cookie. Congrats on the 1000th post...very impressive and inspirational to us all.” Yes, yes, that’s me alright! Inspirational! Ha! Heidi lives near me and is a fabulous mother. Sometimes I wish I were one of her kids so I could do all the fun things they get to do! Your prize will also be hand delivered!

Thanks to random.org for choosing local winners for me and saving on postage! This can only mean the value of your prizes will increase by a buck or two since I’m saving on shipping! Congrats to you ladies, and thanks for reading!