SUMMER DRAWING TO AN END

Our days are numbered as school starts August 4th in our school district (in AZ, its too hot to do much outside in the summer, so an Aug 4th start date is most welcome).

We've been swimming a lot. By now blond hair is going slightly green and stiff. Throw in some shampoo and we have Conehead Hair! The gals love seeing pictures of themselves with thier hair in wild shapes in the tub.

Friday night is our unofficial Pizza/Movie and Swim Night. It seems we've always done it and we probably always will as long as the calendar permits. We snarfed down pizza and jumped in the pool. Way fun.

Sunny Summer Days

We have our cousins in town and we had a fun, fun day at a local pool. Be sure to check out the videos - they are a great play-by-play of our afternoon.

Here's Aunt Tenille (flew in from SLC last night to join the party) and Hattie on the high dive. Go Hattie go!

Neeley off the diving board! Go Neeley, go!

This is a crack-up, she notes Ken's absence from hanging out.

Here's Hattie - she's finally tall enough to go down the waterslide. I interviewed her after and asked if she wanted to go down again. She said, "No." Which is funny seeing that she went down about 100 times.

Neeley was distraught she couldn't do the slide. Next year she will be tall enough.

Great day!

Making the Most of the BBQ - Thai Peanut Sauce Rice Cakes.

Check these out! Ok, the pictures don't do them justice...

Tristen and kids are visiting us from San Francisco. It's been great! But the heat and humidity of this time of the year promoted a quick trip for everyone to Pinetop. Except me. They are enjoying the serenity that comes from Craig & Diana's cabin, the aspen trees, pine trees and cooler temperatures. Pinetop is amazing.

So, when the gals go out of town I usually try to make food I like. On Sunday I tried to make these for dinner, but messed it up. So yesterday I decided to try again.

This receipe comes from a BBQ cookbook Taani bought for me for Chirstmas a while back with my killer new BBQ. I love Thai food and I love BBQ-ing, so it was a match made in heaven.

Here's how it works in a nut shell:

Cooked rice pounded into a 8x8 pan. Refigerate for several hours. When chilled, flop out onto cutting board and cut into squares. BBQ the squares for 15 minutes. Put the homemade Thai peanut sauce on in the last five minutes. Finely cut green onion sprinkled on the top. Man, I love these.

Thai sauce: 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce, two tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, about 1/4 cup of peanuts crushed, 3 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of sesame oil. OUTSTANDING!

I wonder what I will have tonight?

Secrist Survival Summit 2008

A friend took his young family on a series of summer vacation trips...At the end of the summer he asked his son which of these summer activities he enjoyed most. The father learned from the reply... “The thing I liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.”

- Dallin H. Oaks General Conference October 2008

This was our year to take a "look at the stars and talk" vacation. We have been running crazy all year and have always enjoyed camping trips or outdoor adventures as a way to come down from life strains. This year we chose to stay close and see part of this vast State of Arizona. Yes, this is Arizona! Green, lush and with flowing waters!

We booked a week in a rustic cabin in the primitive wilderness in Eastern Arizona at Hannagan Meadow Lodge. At 9k feet we enjoyed nature, stars, loud and exciting thunderstorms, fishing, horseback riding, loads of mountain biking, exploring, and hiking. We also enjoyed a festive and simple 4th of July celebration in Alpine, AZ. Sometimes the best vacations are the simple vacations. Mission accomplished.



The gals in their new "outdoor gear." Of course I had to make a trip to REI before we left to poke around the merchandise and see what I needed for survival in the mountains. Hattie was with me and she found the shirts. One for her and one for Neeley. One has to promote REI while the kiddies are in their youth so as to pass the torch.



The PUZZLE. We've had this for years but never have done it. Throw in quiet nights and loads of time and there you have it. Taani was the ACE PUZZLER. She was at it until it was finished.




The family puzzle adventure.




There she is...in all her puzzling glory.




At the lodge - Hattie was so excited. It took hours to get Neeley up on the horse but she did it for 15 seconds. Where was Grandma Debi when we needed her?




Hattie and Wild Bill McClain. The people were so friendly and the girls were fascinated with Bill's beard.

This captures Neeley - eating chips. She can down more chips than anyone I know. This is her hippie look. She's just her own person and we love her! Hattie also picked out the hats and sunglasses.

The gals on a hike.

Hiking the Ackre Lake Trail. Amazing scenery!

Hattie and Neeley gathered flowers in the field to decorate the cabin. The pine trees, aspens and wild flowers were perfect. We also saw loads of wildlife from foxes, to elk and every night deer would gather in the meadow beyond our cabin.

Bike riding was a favorite activity. There are loads of dirt roads, trails and a main road with some amazing scenery.

Yup, it's official...I can walk on water. Ha ha. This land is so untouched and we found this river at the bottom of a gorge. Next time we are taking inner-tubes. It was 43 degrees that day due to a hail storm. BURRR!

More of the Black River.

Fishing....the favorite activity. We grabbed a couple of Barbie poles and went to town. This was probably one of our most favorite activities. We could have rented canoes, but we chose to say on the land (Neeley's idea). She's our land shark. "Sure-footed-Neeley."

Sure-Footed Neeley fishing on Luna Lake in Alpine, AZ.

Fishing the next day at Ackre Lake. We caught SIX fish that day! Wow! As soon as we could see the fish the girls would scream and hand the poles to us. They were little trout and as this was a catch-n-release lake we had to put them back.

Taani loves this picture because it is the 2nd fish I've caught in my life and I've been fishing millions of times. I have no luck with fish. I've fished in the Wind Rivers, all over Utah and have never caught a thing except when I was 8 at Farmington Pond five miles from my home. I was using my friends pole and when I started pulling the fish in he took the pole back and we fought over the fish. So I ran five miles to his house and told him Mom. He brought me the fish hours later. So, even my first fish was a lousy experience. So, here I am, age 33 with a Barbie fishing pole and I catch #2. I guess my dream of hosting a fishing show on an obscure cable network will never come true.

And Taani caught her award winning catch too! Yes, she had success with a matching Barbie pole too!

Neeley caught the first fish of the day! Go Neeley!

Here's our home for the week! It was rustic and fun. We really enjoyed our time here. One of our favorite things was getting online (we had a very faint Internet connection) and watch Pink Panther cartoons with the kids before putting them to bed. Netflix was great for that! I have to mention that I watched Pink Panther growing up and watching them again - wow, they use guns a lot. I'm surprised my generation survived the violence. People are always getting shot in the Pink Panther. And then Taani and I would watch the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents series on the computer from Netflix. Then I would sleep with one eye open...

I love this picture. They are best friends and are two peas in a pod. They are our yin and yang. It works. And that concludes our vacation pictures. I guess blogging is the new way "to invite people over to view your vacation slides." SORRY! Wake up, it's over!