The Summer

It has been MUCH too long since this blog was last updated. So, here's the run down of our summer in pictures.


Will made a new friend.


He discovered how fun laundry is (you will see that this has grown into quite a hobby)


I made a practice cake to teach my new assistant the ropes.


And another cake for Cami's baby shower.


Will found Grandma Woolley's wall outlets and air vents (not shown) at our sleep over.


He also found the joy of toilet paper rolls.


Carter and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary in Park City.


And went to an IMAX at the planetarium


And had fun at the gift shop :)


I made this wedding cake...


.. AND this wedding cake in one day. Thank goodness for assistants.


We went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Pointe with Rob and Renee. After seeing pictures from this day I gave up eating refined sugars... I don't know if I've lost any weight yet but a feel a lot better at least.


We fed the llamas.


And Will rode his first pony.


Mom had her birthday, and loved her presents.


And her (fabulous) cake.


And the lovely birthday glasses.


Eve loved the glasses too.


William likes to play laundry pirate.


And loves his new toy from Serafina and Paolo.


Besides this being a fun "laundry boy" costume, this was an attempt to keep him from grabbing already-folded clothes. It works better when they're a little bigger and you tie the socks together (I know this because my grandpa used to do it to me). As it happened, it worked for about 30 seconds and then Will just shook them off.


Ah, dirt. It would be cute if it was chocolate of some sort.


The washer is all the rage.


As are boxes. He climbed on top of this, around it, knocked it over a bunch of times, and then decided to play inside of it.

He's getting to be a little mover and climber. He'll climb up anything he can (he gets that from me, dangit) and is constantly re-arranging the kitchen chairs. They'll be spread all over the kitchen and I have to put them back around the table, and then an hour later they're all over again. It's good walking practice. I caught him trying to scale the oven the other day. he stepped up on the handle below the oven and then grabbed the oven handle, which made the oven open and he fell backwards. The oven is now always locked and I had to take off all the knobs for the stove. We almost blew up the other day because he turned on the gas and I didn't see it. Ah the joy of parenting. :) He's grown up so much this summer, I don't realize it until I look at these pictures.

Hey y'all, Will again. It's been a while since I posted. I've been busy perfecting my sitting and crawling, and falling with finesse. We just got back from St. George. It was a pretty crazy weekend.



I took a nap on the way, I knew it would be all play and no sleep down there. Sheesh.





I thought the life jacket would totally throw off my groove and it took a while to get used to, but I ended up totally rockin' it Lake Mead style.



Got to hang with uncle Kyle... he taught me new phrases like, "that's so sick" and "dude that's sketchy".



Nap time



Dad, uncle Kyle and uncle Sam, Grandpa was driving. Needless to say, they didn't land this so well.



Cousin Nick, we're destined to be best friends. I'm trying to play it cool but I'm pretty sure I busted my cover by laughing hysterically at whatever he did. That kid's pretty sketchy.



Yeah, I'm pretty



Check it, sittin' up in the tub. What up.

Sun Dried Tomatoes. Tutorial.

I was telling my sister how I make my sun dried tomatoes a few weeks ago and figured I'd do a tutorial for fun. They're easy, quick and a lot cheaper than buying the bottled kind.

You'll need (quantities can change depending on how much you want):

9-10 Roma Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
5 Cloves Garlic
Basil
Rosemary
Balsamic Vinegar

I prefer using fresh herbs, but dried work too.



Cut your tomatoes into 12 pieces each, 3 out of each quarter. You want the pieces to be pretty small so they dry quicker.



Take all of the slimy seeds out. Amazingly, they never ever dry. Put your slices into a large bowl.


Salt, garlic, olive oil, pepper, balsamic, basil.


Mince your garlic, if you have a hard time peeling the skin off, just crush the clove with your blade. It will pop and then you can get the skin right off. Easy peasy.


Put your ingredients in with your tomatoes, enough oil and balsamic to coat the tomatoes and not too much more. Mix together thoroughly.


Line a cookie sheet with foil and line up the tomatoes. You can squish them pretty close together.


Pour the oil mix left in the bowl over the tomatoes.



With the oven set to 170, bake the tomatoes for 8 hours. I usually do this at night. I put them in, go to bed and take them out in the morning so I don't really time it.

Put them in a tupperware in the fridge. They last for a long time.

These lovlies can be used for so many things. Chop them up and put them on salads, on pasta, in sauces, puree them and make delicious tomato bisque or eat them plain! I like to take french bread slices, put cream cheese mixed with rosemary and bake them, then put the tomatoes on top for a yummy bruschetta. You can pretty much put them in anything because they're so delish. Enjoy!

Eat. Sleep. Crawl?

The new favorite sleeping position. I risked a lot to get this picture with the flash.

Baby. Sitter.

This whole sitting thing seemed to come out of the blue, but actually we've been practicing for the last month or so. It just happened that this last weekend he got really good at it. He was doing good for the last two weeks, but now he can reach to either side without toppling over. So hooray for baby! Isn't he just the cutest little lump?

How the Time Flies

Will is 6 months old today. Holy Molie. He is growing so fast, it seems like he learns to do something new every day. Some of his new tricks include sitting up and eating solids. A few weeks ago he found some consonants rolling around in his mouth and decided to let them out, he's now a very big babbler. He's figuring out his toys, what things spin and what things stretch and is getting very quick with his hands. He loves to touch and feel people faces, I love it when he gets both hands on my cheeks and checks out my face. He also gives me kisses when I rescue him from his crib (as long as I don't take too long). Needless to say, he's growing too fast. We are excited for all of the new discoveries to come! Happy 6 month birthday to my baby boy.