PlayDough Cookies

Here's the recipe everyone wanted. It only makes 2 dozen, so I always double it:

3/4 Cup Butter, Softened

3 oz Cream Cheese

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract(I like almond)

2 3/4 Cups Flour

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Assorted Paste Food Coloring

In bowl cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla-beat until smooth. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms. Divide into fourths. Tint each with a different food color. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Take a small piece of each color and make a 3/4 inch ball. Shape into a 12 inch long roll and coil to make a 2 3/4 inch round cookie. (as you can tell I just kind of do any size that i come up with-not to particular)

Bake for 8 minutes. Do not over bake.

You can also place sucker stick in each cookie before baking to make cookie suckers.

Catching Up!

Things have been crazy around here!! Both boys have been really sick with pneumonia. They are finally getting better with a second round of antibiotics for both. We have paid $120 in just office co-pays(not counting prescriptions and chest x-rays), thank heavens for insurance! John has been working a lot. He has only had 1 Sunday off every 2 weeks. This is his first full weekend off in 3 months. To top it off our computer was bogged down with a lot of spyware and I finally broke down and took it to Vernal to have it fixed. Hopefully things will get on track around here. In the next couple weeks we are looking forward to starting swimming lessons that have been moved back a couple times and taking the boys camping around the 24th to our favorite camping spot Paradise.

4th of July

The 4th of July was uneventful this year. John was working and the boys had pneumonia, so we just took it easy. But that night we went to my mom and dads for dinner and fireworks. After dinner we played some lawn games. When it was dark the boys played with sparklers and we did fireworks. We had fun just being together-which we always do.

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays

Mom's birthday is June 23 and Riley's is June 24. We usually celebrate them together. So we had a combined birthday party. This year we did it at my mom and dad's-they have a really big patio and outdoor table that seats all of us. Mom and Riley decided they wanted chicken sopa, spanish rice, and fresh fruit for their dinner. It turned out great!! Then we had cake and presents. We had a lot of fun!!
Mom-my mom is the greatest. She and I are best friends and do everything together. She is the best grandma. My boys love to be with her. When they are with us and we are shopping or something they both always want to hold grandma's hands not mine. I think it's great that the boys love her so much. Love ya Mom!!

Riley-he is such a little character. I can't believe that my baby is 4 and starting preschool this year. He is our family clown. He is easy going and always goes with the flow. Unless he and Kayden are fighting(which is frequent). But they are also the best of friends. We love this little guy a ton!

Bryce Motorcycle Trip

We left for Bryce Canyon on June 16. It was a Wednesday morning and overcast(as you know how the weather was in June). It was very cold over Indian Canyon. We were hoping that we would make it before it rained or snowed and we were lucky and did. We actually made it clear to Salina before it rained. When we got to Salina we made it to a gas station to wait it out. When we thought it had cleared, we jumped back on the bikes and headed out to the freeway. The road was very wet and the semis were drenching us. Then the wind started blowing and we could see rain clouds ahead. We jumped off the freeway just past Richfield in a small town called Joseph. Again we stopped at a little gas station and waited-it looked like it would be all right. So back on the bikes(decided we would stay off the freeway). We were about 30 miles out of Panguitch when we could see a gray curtain in front of us, we ran into that gray curtain and were drenched. Of course we had rain gear, in our saddle bags. We were soaked and pulled over to the side of the road because we couldn't see any more and there was too much water on the road. We were freezing and soaked!!! We decided that it wasn't going to get any better and to push on-we went about a mile up the road and there was an abandoned old gas station that we took cover under. Finally it looked like it had cleared up a little. We pushed on to Cannonville-about 14 miles past Bryce National Park to our Kamper Kabin at the KOA. We were so glad to get there and get some warm clothes and our feet dry(mostly John's-his were soaked).

That night we thought we would just buy some groceries from the store at the KOA and eat in the campground. Talk about expensive!! We thought easy and quick and got chili and hot dogs. By the time we got cups, plates, forks, paper towels, cheese, drinks, ice, disposable coolers, charcoal, and chips we had spent $70!!!!! All I have to say is OMG. But I promise you that was the best chili dogs we had ever ate-we were starving and still chilled from our long ride.

The next day it was still stormy looking and we were a little saddle sore so we decided to just take it easy and go to this place we saw called the Wildlife Museum. It was awesome!! I suggest you go there if you ever go to Bryce. We bought the boys cute little stuffed wolves. Afterwards we decided we were hungry and went to this little cafe/restaurant called The Pines. They had pretty good food, but for dessert we had their pie and it was AWESOME!! Mom and I had our favorite coconut cream. Dad had sour cream raisin and John had boysenberry. It was the best part of the meal. Afterwards we decided to go to this little grocery store in Tropic and buy stuff for dinner in the campground again. We got new york steaks, salad, and french bread. It was delicious. Of course we had to have a campfire too.

The next day was our last day and we went into Bryce Canyon. It was some pretty awesome sights! We didn't see everything-but we kind of do that on purpose so we have something new to see when we go back one day soon. I think next time we are going to take the boys-it would be a fun vacation for them(in the truck of course). Again we decided to make dinner at the campground and we decided on rib eyes, salad, and french bread again. We definitely got our fill of red meat. Again we had another campfire.

The next morning when we woke up and it was raining and time to go home. This time we were smarter and put on our rain gear from the beginning-we were still cold but it was easier to handle when we were dry. My dad took us home by Fish lake. It was really really pretty. We went over 2 passes that were over 10,000 ft and one over 9,000 ft. Probably why we were so cold. It rained the whole way home. My dad says we have earned our stripes and are die hard bikers. Maybe he's right! We had a blast!