Puts his pants on one leg at a time..just not quite like everyone else

Luke is becoming a full fledged independent toddler.  He is busy busy busy.  The other day he wanted to but his shorts on by himself...he got really really close to getting it right.  He walked around for a while just holding them up like that.  Then I showed him he had them on upside down.  Such a fun age!

Bryan and I went to Deer Valley Outdoor Symphony to round out his B-day celebration.  He loves rock music with a symphony.  So this was a fun one.    It was the music of Led Zepplin.. so I must admit my favorite part of the concert was watching all of the older ladies relive their youth and dance like they were in their living rooms...hilarious.  It was in the most beautiful setting and we had a little picnic.  The fun thing was that it felt like we were outside of Utah, everyone with their fun alcoholic drinks.  Then we were there with our fun drinks: simply grapefruit and sobe, it is fun to be different, we so rarely get that opportunity here. 

Too efficient.

Well we have been doing quite a bit of camping this summer.  This past week I spent more nights in a sleeping bag than in my own bed.  I got to go to girls camp and youth conference, both really fun, I really love my girls and enjoy being a YW leader.  But they were planned really close together and I have a hard time leaving my little family.  Anyway combine that with our couple of family camping trips in the past month and I've become quite the camper...I know the drill.  I can pack and even unpack in a moments notice.  That is actually what got me in trouble.  Our M.O. is to come home and strip all our stinky clothes off right into the washing machine, so efficient.  This last time we had gone camping with my brother & fam, & sister and they were hanging out at our house after, but I wasn't going to change my routine.   So we all threw our clothes in and started chatting away ( we showered and changed...this isn't a nudist colony mind you)  I went to change the load over and what do I find...my camera that I had left in my hoodie.  Lame.  Luckily I upload pictures pretty frequently, so I only lost that camping trips worth, but I have been without a camera since July 24th arg.  Hopefully it should arrive tomorrow.

But in the meantime I missed some great photo-ops trying to capture these pictures in my mind:

• Luke covered in chocolate laughing hysterically in the back seat, joy!
• Bryan's Beatles B-day
• Bryan didn't want a birthday "cake"  so I make a rice krispy bundt.  Fan-cy

Fro those who are wondering...

The most wonderful bread recipe ever:

EZ Wheat Bread recipe
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tblsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey or 1/3 cup sugar (I use honey)
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (I started by doing half and half, it took me almost a year to work us up to it, but now we do all wheat flour)
1/4 cup wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tblsp nonfat non instant dry milk
1 Tblsp butter/margarine/oil (I use oil)
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)
Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and shape into loaf or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.


It comes from this website: everydayfoodstorage.net

There is also a really good recipe for cookies made with beans.   Just don't use beans from the previous evening's dinner that you happened to flavor deliciously with garlic and mexican spices.    Great side dish, not so great in cookies.  (but they still all got eaten)  

Yellowstone

We have decided that while we only have one kiddo and he isn't super young and isn't potty training this is the perfect summer to just live it up and do all sorts of spur of the moment weekend getaways.  On Thursday we were having a picnic lunch at the ponds by Bryan's work feeding the ducks etc and talking about how it would be fun to go somewhere.  Bryan had Friday off so we needed to do something, right.  Couldn't leave Thursday night cause I had book group at my house.  So 4 a.m. we headed out.  CRAZY. 

• Saw the Tetons.  
• Had a ton of fun in Yellowstone.  
• Luke learned how to demonstrate a geyser.  
• We stopped and pet every dog we saw.  
• He made friends with the whole crowd while waiting for old faithful to go off, he is such a friendly little guy.  But they did think he was talking about bullets at one point... when he wanted to "blow it" out :) 
• Luke thinks that geysers are a "huge mess"
• We all had so much fun going down the waterslide at our hotel

Things we learned

• Don't leave at 4 a.m.
• Don't forget to pack a stroller
• Perhaps we should invest in a dvd player for the car.

At one point in yellowstone we were driving and saw our first Buffalo (buffo) Luke was drawing in the backseat and I couldn't quite tell if he had seen it.  I was sure he had seen it when he said eat him, kiss him, pet him.  That's our Luke.

Ride, ride ride that pony

We went to farm country with some friends this week.  Luke loves animals and has absolutely no trepidation.  He would just take a piece of corn and put it right up to their mouths.  Except of course for the geese which he though were the worst animal ever.  They were "honking" he told them "no no" the weren't impressed and just kept right along with their business, so he skedaddled.  A highlight for him was to ride a pony.