Ah, Summer!

A relaxing afternoon!

 If you didn't know, you would think these three are triplets!



 While Hannah and Joshua lounged in the pool...

 ...David had fun pouring water on himself!

 Ah, summer and to be a kid!

Too Hot To Cook!

What to blog about?  Been back from our wonderful vacation for a couple of weeks and still another week before Heidi's family arrives.    It has been hot lately, so I like to use my crockpot.  I prepared this recipe for the second time and Dan said it was really good--again!  It was also really easy!    These pictures don't do it justice but they are all I have.  

It's a crockpot lasagna!

Before:

 After:

Here are the ingredients: 

1 pound ground beef

garlic

1 1/2 to 2 jars spaghetti sauce (about 4 cups)

9-10 uncooked lasagna noodles

16 oz. small curd cottage cheese

1 T. dried parsley flakes

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Here's the recipe:

Brown 1 pound ground beef with some garlic.

In the crockpot layer about 1/2 jar (1 C.)  of your favorite spaghetti sauce, 3 broken-up lasagna noodles, 1/3 of a 16 oz. container of small curd cottage cheese, 1/3 of the browned ground beef, 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes, 1/2 C. mozzarella cheese.  Repeat the layering 2 more times.  Top with the remaining sauce (approx. 1/2 jar) and 1/2 C. mozzarella cheese.  Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top during the last hour of cooking.

 (You can also add a heavy layer of fresh baby spinach leaves over the cottage cheese instead of the meat.)

It's great to serve when you don't want to be slaving in the

 kitchen on a hot afternoon!

(Adapted from Slow-Cooker Cookbook by Debbie G. Harman)

What Did You Do Today?

One and a half years ago Dan was called as Stake President.  It never ceases to amaze me all that he does  on any given Sunday.   I am keeping a record of it for him because I think it will be 

a treasure some day.  

For example, here are some of the things he did today.

Many of these things are life-changing for the individuals involved.

And he was "in charge" so to speak of each thing, not just in attendance.

1. Conducted High Council Meeting

2. Was the main speaker in a Sacrament meeting

3. Called a new Elder's Quorum President

4.  Called a new High Priest's Group Leader

5. Interviewed a young man to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood before he leaves for school

6. Interviewed a young man for his mission application

7. Conducted a temple recommend interview

8. Called a new High Councilor

9. Interviewed a missionary who has already received his call and will be leaving soon

10. Interviewed a young couple who will be sealed in the temple this coming Saturday

11. The young woman above was also interviewed as she will be receiving her Endowment Thursday

12. Attended the stake missionary preparation class

13. Presidency meeting

14. Set apart a senior couple to serve as full time missionaries in Kampala, Uganda

He left the house before 7:00 a.m and did not finish until 8:00 p.m.  He was home for one half hour at 5:00 p.m. and gobbled down some dinner.

I wonder what he will say to his co-workers tomorrow if they ask him if he had a relaxing weekend!

If She Won't Post It...

I WILL!!!

Heidi did finally get a picture of her girls on the 4th of July and it is darling!

Utah Rocks At Capitol Reef!

 There are some amazing rocks in Utah!

I was talking to someone today who was born and raised in Utah and lived there for many years.  When I told her that we had recently visited some National Parks in southern Utah, she said she had never been to any of them!    What?!!  Oh my goodness!   

It may sound corny, but I felt such a reverence and awe at these parks, that I truly felt honored to be there.  I felt that I was a special visitor privileged to be in the presence of such magnificent creations. 

On our last morning in southern Utah as we contemplated heading back north, Dan was proposing a "Scenic Byway" drive back.  I took a look at the map.  There off to the right was a long, skinny green area--another National Park!  It was only about 1/2 inch away!  Dan did some calculations and figured out it would only add a couple of hours of driving besides whatever time we spent in the park.  We quickly packed up and hit the road!   We were on our way to Capitol Reef National Park!!  And along a Scenic Byway too--it was a wonderful day!

Capitol Reef (not Coral Reef as I kept saying) is a narrow park 100 miles long following the Waterpocket Fold, a giant buckle in the earth's crust.  There are some spectacular things to see.  The name of the park comes from the white domes in the area which look somewhat like the United States Capitol building and "reef" comes from the pioneer days when seamen became farmers and still referred to any barrier to travel as a reef.  

Some looks at the Scenic Byway:

Capitol Reef begins!

There is a 16-mile round trip scenic drive within the park.  It was amazing!

This one's called the Egyptian temple:

From this angle we thought we could see the Sphinx!

It's hard for photos to do justice to the immensity of it all!

After the scenic drive we took this walk:

and this walk...

We were able to see some Indian petroglyphs:

And some more of the "Capitol" domes:

 What beautiful vistas in every direction!

Now that's some divine landscaping!

Bryce Canyon!

Bryce Canyon National Park is not only well known in our country but it must be world famous because I heard multiple foreign languages being spoken there.   That made it lots of fun to wonder about all the interesting people there ooohhhing and aaahhhing

(and taking lots of pictures)!

There is an 18-mile  drive along the canyon rim with about 14 overlooks along the way.  They suggest driving first to the end and then stopping on the way back because all of the pullouts are on the left side as you drive south, so that is what we did. It made for some fun anticipation because we got tiny glimpses as we drove to Rainbow Point.

Here are some of the photos from our stops on the way back.  I think we stopped at about 10 places.  Some are a few short steps from the pullout and others are longer walks along paved trails.

(double click each photo to get the full effect)

Mormon pioneer, Ebenezer Bryce, was homesteading in the area and gave his name to the area directly behind his property.

The interesting red, orange and white formations are called Hoodoos.  They are pillars of rock created by erosion, mostly by the freezing and thawing of water.   You feel like saying: Who do that?     

They are just so amazing!!

The last main stop has the most spectacular vistas.   Here is Dan walking down the trail--just to give an idea of the expansive views.  On a clear day you can see 100 miles clear to the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Bryce Canyon is not technically a canyon but rather 

a giant natural amphitheatre.

This is a little closer view of the above picture:

Closer:

And even closer!

More interesting sites as the day ebbs away:

Almost the whole time we were there, we could hear thunder in the distance.  (Look close to see a rainbow.) It was a marvelous, spectacular, awe-inspiring and spiritual experience!