Manti Bound

We took the kids to the Manti pageant last weekend. My mom called me early in the week and asked if we would want to go, it was the last weekend. I am glad she called because I didn't even know it was going on and I hadn't been for 12 years. I went so many years in a row when I was little and I wanted the kids to have the same experience. I thought it was a great idea so we decided to take them. I think that seeing the Joseph Smith story played out visually like that really makes a difference in trying to visualize what happened. I hope it increased their testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. The pageant has changed a little since I went last, but it was really good, and well-done. The weather turned out to be perfect!

Here are the kids with "Mormon"

Playing cards before the pageant started.There were some protesters on the corner - of course. How sad that some people would go to this much effort to just pick a fight with people walking by! It really annoyed me. This particular group was dressed up like all the wives of Joseph Smith. They had a script on the back of their paper telling the story of who they were. You can blow up the picture, but basically it said the # of wife they were, their name and age, and ask me about my story. Then they had a whole bunch of people standing in front of them asking people walking by - "do you think it was interesting that Joseph Smith had so many wives?" - trying to get people to talk to them to banter back and forth. They also cheered during the pageant during the part where Robert was going from church to church and the comment is made, "By faith alone ye are saved." There were many other people standing around the intersection yelling stuff at us and kneeling on the ground and praying for us because we were mormons who were going to hell for what we believe in. Many of the people there were clearly not familiar with the beliefs we do have - or an understanding of some of the events in our church history. I can't understand why some people think that it is okay to cruicify other people for their beliefs just because they might think differently. It doesn't seem very christian to me.
We were standing on a corner ready to cross the street to go get dinner when all these women marched right by us across the crosswalk to the other side of the intersection. Jantz saw this lady who had a black shawl on when she crossed the street and said, "I think I found the old maid!" (Old maid is one of his favorite games to play!) FUNNY!

Salina or Bust!

We decided early on in the week that we would much rather stay over in a hotel rather than drive all the way back to Layton from Manti. So we thought we could make it a little mini-vacation. We called a million hotels and finally found one in Salina. We were very lucky to find anything on a pageant weekend! Salina is about 25 miles south of Manti (I had to look at a map). I was a little concerned about what it might be like, a 2-star hotel in Salina Utah. But actually, crisis averted, it was fine! The breakfast was actually quite good. We haven't been in a hotel for quite some time, the kids were THRILLED! They love staying in hotels! But they were MOST excited about the pool! They could hardly wait, good thing the pool was open at 8:00 am!

I think Abby will have floaties for ever. She doesn't trust her self in the water. She can swim but she doesn't have the confidence to be on her own. That is definately her personality.
Jantz put on his swimsuit by himself...LOVE the underroos!

We made it to Salt Lake just about lunchtime. The kids wanted McDonalds and there was NO WAY I was having any of that! If you are in SL for lunch and you are looking for a cheeseburger, you gotta stop at HIRES! I haven't been there in years. MMMMM fry sauce, toasted bun, yeah, it's that good! Made me feel a little closer to "In and Out Burger" for a 1/2 second.

Heritage Park
After lunch we drove up to Heritage Park to spend the rest of the afternoon. I guess this weekend kinda took on a pioneer theme. We had never been there before, but there was sooo much to do, and it was so much fun for the kids! They have renevated this little old pioneer community where you can walk around and see what life was like back then. Some of the sidewalks are made of wood. They have blacksmiths, mercantile stores, old schoolhouses, tinsmith, furniture-makers, saddlery an old barber shop, and lots of others places to see. There are tons of activites and crafts. We never made it to some of them like basketweaving, making butter, rug-making, needlework, hair-weaving or you can go on a mini-handcart trek - (been there, done that - ALL of us!)

One of the first places we went was the dance parlor. We learned how to do the Virginia Reel. At first I was a little hesitant but we laughed HARD and had a great time!

Making a newspaper print
Riding the train that loops the village
Riding ponies

Josh set this picture up. Thanks for looking for a photo op J-man!
Petting some of the animals

We went to the schoolhouse for a pioneer lesson which was really fun and interesting. This is Josh who is demonstrating one of the ways they disciplined kids back then. He had to stand with his nose to the wall and hold some books. The teacher said if you came unprepared or caused trouble the other thing they did was put you on the stool in front of the class and make you wear a dunce hat. It's a good thing Josh demonstrated the other method of discipline, he might've liked the hat! He said the books were really heavy almost immediately. Now at home I tease him that if he makes a bad choice I will put him in the corner with books. It has worked!
The kids writing their name with the pioneer alphabet.
Grandpa wasn't paying attention to the lesson, maybe he should've sat with the dunce hat!

In one of the houses they made an arrowhead necklace and learned about native americans. In another one of the little houses - and when I say little, I mean little. It was only big enough for a kitchen table and a queen size bed. A family of Eight lived there. Mom and dad on the bed, 3 girls on the floor by the bed and 3 boys in the loft above - that you had to go climb a ladder OUTSIDE to get to. Yowzers! This is where the kids got to participate in some chores. They beat rugs, washed clothes and watered the garden. Then they played a pioneer game of hoops and tried their luck walking with stilts!

After a LONG day in the car, playing in the heat, and virtually no sleep, this is what you get....

Wall-E

Ok, so I wasn't really overexcited to go see this show. The kids were, (of course) and heard on radio disney that they were giving away FREE tickets to the premiere. Well I can't argue with FREE, so we went. The trailers that I have seen kinda makes it look a little boring. But, there is a lot more dimension to the film than what is shown in the preview. It was a little hard for my younger ones to understand some of the storyline. It was actually a kinda cute little love story. They did a really great job animating Wall-E to make him seem so humanlike with his emotions and as all Disney/Pixar movies, it was really creative. I loved the subtleness of the "go green" theme! I don't think it will be an all-time favorite of mine, but it was worth seeing and I am sure we will buy it on DVD! I would have had some great pics of the kids doing the Cha Cha slide and dancing to HSM we're all in this together with the Radio Disney dancers - (good times!) BUT the theatre went Nazi on us tonight and wouldn't let us bring in cameras or cell phones. Because it was a sneak preview and doesn't open until Friday they didn't want someone recording it. They searched our purses and bags, patroled the aisles and scanned us down with the magic wand - security was tight! So here is a picture of Wall-E and Eva in one of my favorite parts of the movie.

Save the Beetles!

In this rental they use irrigation water to flood the lawn to water it. Most of the time the water comes during the night but yesterday the water came around 2:30pm. They kids got on their swimgear and splashed around in the flood. In the midst of the flood all of these beetles started appearing out of nowhere. I am not sure if they were in the ditch beforehand or where they came from. The kids were scooping them up and running them to dry ground. They were so worried that the whole family tree would drown. They stayed busy all afternoon!

I just thought this pic was sweet - she was looking down at all the beetles in her hands worried that they were dying- love the grass!

Then they started to get creative with the kickboard
Jantzen's best buddy of the summer Oakley came over to join in!
The summer has only just begun people!

Smellin good in the neighborhood!

If any of you out there are lookin to freshen up the air in your house my good friend Shauna Cleverly has become a distributor of Scentsy products! I am sure she would be happy to host a little girls night get together if you are interested!

Check her website out at www.scentsy.com/clever

Check me out!

Ok, so how cute are these? I - me, actually whipped these up for dessert this week. My kids are always asking if we are having dessert after dinner and I am not so keen on that every night. So a couple of times a week I try to have something to satisfy that sweet tooth. (Or is that just me?) Anyway these little tarts actually look way harder than they are. I was listening to the weather the other day and they had a preview of a recipe that was coming up on Studio 5. I logged onto the website later that day and got the recipe and then made a low fat version. So they look cute, they taste yummy and you won't feel guilty about it! In my quest to throw up a recipe here and there, enjoy these. They'll be impressed when you set it in front of them!

Mini Fruit Tarts

Ingredients:
1large box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups heavy whipping cream
6 prepared tart shells; these can be found by the graham cracker crumbs in the baking aisle
Fresh fruit; strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, etc…
Apricot jam

Method:
1. In a large bowl, combine pudding and whipping cream. Mix together by hand using a wire whisk. Mix vigorously to ensure a smooth mix. When the pudding starts to set, it is finished.
2. Place finished "pastry cream" into a large zip lock bag. Squeeze out extra air and seal the top. Cut a hole about 1/2 inch wide in one corner of the bag.
3. Pipe pastry cream into each pastry shell, dividing the cream evenly between all 6 shells.
4. Decorate each tart with fruit, using a variety of color and texture.
5. Heat about 1/4 cup apricot jam in the microwave for about 30 seconds. The jam should be runny but not boiling. Brush the tops of the fruit with the melted jam to create a pretty shine on the tarts.
6. Serve immediately

Sleepover at Cami's

Jantz has been looking forward to sleeping at Cami's since Christmas. Part of their christmas gift from her was to pick an activity of their choice and have a sleepover at her house. Jantz picked the Zoo so it took several months to get to warmer weather for that activity. Cami gave me these pictures a couple of weeks ago but I haven't had time to post them until now. I had a hard time picking which ones to post because he looks so cute in so many of them. He has to be one of the most photogenic kids because his personality just shows through so well. He had so much fun on his "date." Thanks Cam for showing a guy a good time!Jantz loves to play card games.

A sleepover at Cam's isn't complete without popcorn and ice cream sundaes! He got to stay up way late and watch movies and have treats! That ice cream looks so good! He got to scoop it and embellish it all by himself with whatever he wanted!

Getting ready for bed!

Off to the Zoo the next morning. This picture makes him look so grown-up!

This picture cracks me up because the one thing he kept repeating over and over was that he didn't like the giraffes because they were so stinky! The other funny thing he said was about the stroller. I don't have a quality stroller anymore because my kids are too big. So Cam had to borrow a stroller from my brother. When she got it out of the car at the zoo Jantz looked at her like what the heck is this. He said, "Umm did you remember that I am four now?"

He had the best time! We still hear about his trip to the zoo all the time. I guess it is true what they say about time being the best gift you can give someone!

THANKS CAM!