Dinner

Thanks to Andi's bread recipe and her beer, I made a wonderful (if I say so myself) bread today. It went perfectly with the lentil and kale soup recipe from Laura. The bread making process takes a long time but most of that time the dough is sitting on its own and you are neglecting it. The actual work is minimal. Thank goodness for friends who share great recipes so I can have a great dinner for my family.

If you look at Andi's blog her bread looks much better, but I was pretty happy with the way this loaf turned out.

The boys love the soup and Boy #1 asks for more of the "green stuff"

Frankly Scarlett...

I just finished reading Gone With the Wind for the first time. I have been so absorbed in reading it for the past few weeks that I have neglected my house. Tomorrow will be a cleaning day! Having never seen the movie or read the book before, I loved reading through to find what struggles, loves, and triumphs would come next. I had seen the clip of the movie where Rhett Butler says his famous line, but in the book there is a long explanation before hand that makes the comment very appropriate. However, in the book he just says, "My dear, I don't give a damn." Scarlett is a selfish, determined person who does the meanest things to the people around her, but I loved reading about her and about the South. Now I need to watch the movie, but I'll do that after I clean the house.

Margaret Mitchell author of Gone With the Wind

Welcome to Zion

We had a quick trip to Zion National Park this weekend. The boys were great travelers and only asked once when we would get there. It is great to have so many national parks within a 3-4 hour drive from home and I intend to take the boys to all of them multiple times over the next few years. Even though the boys were a little young for most of the hikes in the park, we did go on two short hikes. The boys hiked (walked) over a mile and a half without any problems. I just kept telling them to stay away from the edge of the trail. On a few of the trail descriptions it was stated that people had died from falling off the edge. On the way home we decided to take a little side trip to the In-N-Out near St. George. A good time was had by all!

Jumping from bed to bed is a favorite activity at hotels

Boy #1 found a squirrel who was digging for food

Helping each other on the trail

The red rock is beautiful
The view from Weeping Rock

It was still a little cold

Yummy

Happy Birthday!

I know my last few posts have been about my husband, but today is his birthday so here is one more post about him. Maybe I have been blogging about him lately because I have been reminded again of what a sweetheart he is. He was out of town last week and I really missed having him here to talk to. I also missed having him around to help with the kids, since he is so good at that. He did give me beautiful flowers to look at while he was gone. I am so lucky to have him. Happy Birthday!

Flowers that still look great a week later

The Birthday Boy

Best Husband Ever!

One of my favorite bands is Wilco (my blog title comes from a song of theirs) and I love their song "California Stars". The lyrics are by Woody Guthrie and Jeff Tweedy wrote the music. Thanks to my husband, I was able to hear a live version tonight by Jeff Tweedy that was amazing. Here is a video of the song. My husband called me when the song came on so I could hear it through the phone. I would have been there but the concert was 1,000 miles away. Maybe you too will fall in love.

Rubik's Cube Geek

The boys bought their dad a Rubik's cube for Christmas and he has turned into a Rubik's cube geek. I use the term "geek" fondly, although at times it is both humorous and annoying that he is constantly twisting and turning the thing to solve it. He has become quite good at solving it and a few weeks ago I caught him timing himself. I think his time was about 2 minutes. I am glad that he is so mesmerized by a gift and the boys are happy to see him using their gift.

Running

I have officially begun training for the Salt Lake Half Marathon. Originally I had planned on running a half marathon a couple of years ago. My friend sent me a book on marathon training for beginners and it was so inspiring that after reading the introduction my husband and I were signed up for the St. George Marathon. We ran that in October 2007. Since then I have been lazy about running and I figured I better sign up for another race to get me motivated. Anyone want to join me?

Near the finish line in St. George

Super Bowl Sunday

I grew up in a household where watching television on Sunday was not allowed. The only exception was the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday night. Over the years my mom and I would watch big events like the Super Bowl or the World Series while my dad was away at church meetings. He would come home and look at us like we were crazy for being interested in these events. Maybe because of my strict Sunday television watching as a child I have grown into an adult that loves to watch sports on Sunday and attend Super Bowl parties. Although I was sad that the Giants were not in the Super Bowl this year, I was hoping that the Cardinals could win the championship game. Oh well, at least there is always good food and company at a Super Bowl party.

Buffalo wings-A game watching staple

Mommy and son matching t-shirts - Go Giants!

The kids ready with their 3D glasses for one of the commercials

More yummy food

Tennis Anyone?

My husband and I love tennis. Although we have not actually played a game of tennis in a couple of years, we still love the game. The last two weeks we have enjoyed watching the Australian Open and we are currently watching the men's final match. The shots that Federer and Nadal are coming up with are amazing, especially Federer. These men make it look so easy and I know I couldn't return a serve from either of them. One of my goals is to attend all 4 grand slam events during my life. Maybe I should start with a goal of playing tennis this year.