The Beach

Every time we visit Nana in California a stop at the beach is a MUST!! Tyler's favorite is skin boarding and boogy boarding. The younger boys are getting are getting into boogy boarding as well, which of course is AWESOME!!!

We sure LOVE Santa Barbara!!!

Shredded Chicken Tacos and Spanish Rice...don't mind if I do!!

Scott and I invited Brynnlee and Zak over Sunday night for dinner, games and dessert. It was fun, as always, with these two! I wanted to make something new, but didn't want to use the oven (it's so dang hot out there!) So, I tried a new recipe, two actually! Cute Brynn tried a new dessert recipe as well, and all 3 turned out delicious!!

I found the Shredded Chicken Taco recipe in my favorite cookbook,
"365 Days of Slow-Cooking".

I used two different recipes in one for the chicken tacos. They turned out really good!! (pg. 66 and pg. 70)

 I placed 2 chicken breasts into the crockpot with 1 T chili powder, 3 garlic gloves, minced, 1 tsp. oregano, 1 T oil, 1 8-oz can of tomato sauce, 1 tsp. brown sugar, 1/2 onion chopped for 2 hours on high. I also added lime juice form a large lime, salt and pepper. I shredded the breasts with forks until it was completely shredded. I then turned my crock pot onto low. (total cook time was 3 hours on high and then a short amount of time on low while I was preparing the salsa.)

I heated some corn tortillas and added the meat with cheese and fresh salsa I whipped up. Delicious!

 I have a couple of different Spanish Rice recipes but I wanted to try something new, and I'm glad I did. I liked this one better than the other two!

2 C. rice, 3/4 C. oil, 1/2 C. tomato sauce ( I used 1 can of RoTel Mexican Tomatoes instead and it brought more heat...Perfect!), 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 onion chopped, 1 tsp. garlic powder (I chopped up 2 cloves instead, I always like fresh!), 3 C. water , 1 bouillon cube, and a dash of cumin. 

Heat oil in the pan and add rice until golden brown. In a small bowl, add water and bouillon cube and place in microwave for 2 minutes. When done, add water mixture to rice. Also add tomato sauce, salt, garlic, onion and cumin. Cover. Simmer 45 minutes-1 hour.

We also put the rice into the tacos and that was yummy too!! 

1 year photo shoot

I know everyone always says this about their own kids, and it's always true, but I have the cutest little guy!! Preston is such a cutie, but his blossoming personality makes him even more cute. Seriously! All my boys have been good babies...thank goodness. And Preston is no exception!

He sleeps well, plays well, is happy and smiley all the time and is so much fun. I lay Preston down for a nap and he'll sleep 3-4 hours. Sometimes, I have to wake him up because he's sleeping too long! He lays right down and falls asleep by himself. At night, he'll sleep 10-12 hours straight! 

Preston's hair is long and stringy like Tyler's and Brigham's was. And it so blonde! My adorable, California surfer boy! He has 6 teeth and counting. He's a super fast crawler, stands whenever he can and is taking a few steps here and there.

Preston loves playing with his brothers. He's always super excited to see them. He claps, tries to snap his fingers, eats like there is no other meal coming, tryies to walk around, blows kisses, points his finger when I ask him how old he is and loves playing peek-a-boo. 

The picture above is of him clapping.



Blowing kisses...

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!! You have been such a wonderful addition to our family! I am honored and so blessed to have you in my life. To raise you and to love you. Thank you for the wonderful space you have filled in my life and in  my heart. You are such a special little soul!

I love you always!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!!!

Oh my goodness, my baby turned ONE years old!! While we were in Santa Barbara we celebrated Preston's 1st birthday. I made a small cake for him and cupcakes for everyone else. While we were singing, Preston was looking at us, like we were crazy! We FaceTime-d Scott, Will and Jackson (because they were in Salt Lake at the time).
Preston was fascinated with the cake! Once he grabbed at it, there was no going back. He dug those cute petite fingers into the moist cake and fisted it into his mouth. He started gnawing on the plate after the cake was gone. He was so cute!

He would suck it off his fingers and make cute little noises while doing that.  It was a great day! We also FaceTime-d Grandma and Grandpa so they could watch little Preston chow on his birthday cake.

           HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!!

4th of July Festivities

For the 4th of July we headed to Park City and met up with several other families from Santa Barbara. This is the second year that we've done this, and it is quickly becoming our new tradition for the 4th of July.
We meet at a great park tucked back in the area just east of Park City. It's several degrees cooler there and was so beautiful. There is a huge field, play ground, skate park, tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic area and bike trail. We bring skateboards, bikes, scooters, basketballs, football, Frisbees and lots of food. After we eat lunch, we play Crazy Ball, which is like kickball on steroids. It is the most fun game (with a large group of people). You can either kick or bat the ball, which is a volleyball. First base is super close, only 10 feet away. But second base is far, far, far off in center field. You can have any amount of people on the base at the same time, but once you leave you can't come back. You get a ton of people on first or second base and then a big hitter comes and gets all the players home. You can either catch the ball for an out, touch the base or tag someone.

 There is second base, waaaaaaay out there!!

After the BBQ, we went to Midway and met up at my friend's house. The kids went swimming and the adults had fun catching up. After swimming, we ordered pizza and headed into town. We found this cute area with a gazebo and bleachers and decided it was the perfect place for fireworks. The boys had fun taking turns lighting them off. Several other families were around us and we were all setting them off. It was awesome!

Bowling

Bowling is a very fun summer activity. There are tons of summer deals that, of course, we're taking advantage of thoughout the valley. Some deals are for kids to bowl 2 free games every day. Others are a Buy One game Get One FREE.
While Papa was here, we went bowling. It sure was fun. All my boys enjoy bowling and are pretty good at it. But, no one was even close to Bill's score! 147 first game and a 153 was his score for the second game! Way to go Papa!!

On a different evening, Scott joined us for some bowling fun at Fat Cats.

  And this is how champions bowl...while holding a baby!! CRAZY SKILLS!!!

After bowling, we hung out at the arcade for a bit and played some games. My boys are always scavengers and they would find money and coins everywhere we go!!

FIRE WORKS!

Our family LOVES lighting up fireworks. We always spend way too much money, but it sure is FUN! We set off fireworks in the church parking lot, which is right in our backyard, with friends and family all week long. I love playing with the setting on my camera as the boys spell out their names and other words.

 GO OLY!!!

This year I WON the grand prize box of fireworks from the TNT fireworks stand. The box is worth $150.00!! I was thrilled, but my boys were ecstatic!!