Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Ryan turned four this year, and to celebrate being such a big boy, he planned his whole day himself. First, we went to story time at the Bean Museum. Then Ryan got to choose where we ate our weekly lunch with Nate (El Pollo Loco-"the tortilla place").



Ryan helped plan and decorate his Scooby-Doo cake. He was so excited! We got some Papa John's pizza and then went to Fat Cats for bowling.









We all had a great time, and he's already making plans for next year!

Happy Birthday, Sofie!

It's a couple of days late, but I thought I'd share some highlights from her second birthday.

The kids and I went to Hogle Zoo with Warren, Lindsay, Megan, and Peter. The kids loved the train.






We loved all the baby animals, especially the baby elephant, Zuri. She was adorable and such an entertainer. We also watched baby monkeys, baby cats, baby snow leopard, and the baby giraffe.





The kids also enjoyed the carousel (who doesn't love riding on a tiger or a panda?).





Sofie loved opening her presents and was so excited for each one that she wouldn't pit any down and we had to encourage her to open more. Among her presents was a Minnie Mouse purse with a gigantic lipstick.



Her cake was pink with pink frosting and Disney princesses dancing around a castle.



I love my independent little chatterbox with a heart of gold!

It's Fall!

This is always my favorite season of the year: crunchy colorful leaves, apple and pumpkin pie, crisp breezes, warm sweaters, corn mazes. . .


This year, I'm loving it even more. It's so fun getting ready for the kids' birthdays just a week apart (Sofie wants a pink bunny cake, and Ryan wants an Oreo train).



We've been out enjoying the beautiful weather. This is Ryan on a walk around Cascade Springs. The fall color was wonderful (see the leaves above), but I also loved how his red jacket stood out.



We also took the kids to the Tracy Aviary. Sofie wore this sweater-hoodie and the pigtails to match!

And though I'm still in the middle of making applesauce (with no more mishaps, I hope), I am already pleased with my progress. So here's to a glorious fall!

Harvest

With the summer (and two weeks in California) behind me, I've been learning how to can and use what I've started harvesting. A big shout out to Machelle and her sisters for teaching me the wonders of canned peaches (see below) and to Lindsay for letting me help make applesauce.


I've been gathering tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and the occasional pepper or strawberry. I have also kept some basil, rosemary, and dill alive; there's nothing better than thinking an herb would be perfect and then using a sprig I just cut.

And I just discovered a quince tree hidden behind our roses. I had no idea there was anything there until I cut the roses way back this year and the twigs behind it started producing squat apple-like fruit. Apparently, they were really popular when our house was built. So I'm going to learn how to make quince jelly!

Though many have learned the joys of planting, harvesting, and storing from their own garden, this is a new discovery for me and I'm loving it!

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In Memoriam: Arlene Mickelsen Waters 1936-2009

(Thanks to Lauren for the picture.)
My dear Aunt Arlene died yesterday after a short battle with cancer (she was diagnosed just over a month ago). I haven't yet written my post about my anchors in Christ, but Arlene was one of them. She is one of the most wonderful people I have ever known. She had the patience of Job in caring for my grandmother. Her marriage was long, deep, and truly unifying. Her love for her family and for the Savior was evident in everything she did. Nate and I have often said that Arlene and Ted are who we want to be like when we grow up. She blessed us with her hospitality, generosity, care, and devotion.

For her sake, I am glad that she did not have to suffer long and that she has returned to her Savior and loved ones. For myself, I am grateful to have had her in my life, and especially to have gotten to know her much better in the last few years. I will sorely miss her, but I hope to eventually become the kind of person that she was.

A week in the life

This is our most recent family photo (thanks for all your skill, Dan!).
I posted a lot of pictures in my Facebook album (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=281188&id=593110721&l=0cea2a5525), but I thought I'd also write a short blog about my crazy busy week last week.

Last Saturday, my beautiful niece, Mandy, was baptized.
It was wonderful, and it was such a great opportunity to feel our Savior's love and to remember those things that keep up us anchored in Christ. In addition to all the family meals on Saturday and Sunday, we also took family pictures (including the one above).

Monday, my mom went with me and the kids to Sundance to pick up tickets to the Utah Symphony concert on Friday night. Then we had a picnic lunch at Bridal Veil Falls.
In the evening, we took a FHE to Battle Creek Falls, which was very pleasant.

On Wednesday, we picked Joey, one of the young men from our Phoenix ward, up at the airport and took him to lunch before we dropped him off at the MTC. I loved getting to hear Nate share his mission stories with Joey and see how he has grown and how excited he is to serve a mission.
Thursday, bright and early, I went up to Camp Mia Shalom with a couple of other leaders. We got to Girls' Camp in time for the five mile hike.

We also participated in the humanitarian project and were there for the testimony meeting. I particularly liked the theme of this year's camp: Anchored in Christ (I'm going to post something about it later).

Friday morning the kids woke up in time to see some of the hot air balloons flying. We missed takeoff, but the sleep was necessary.

After a pancake breakfast, we went to Colonial Days and some of the other downtown festivities. Ryan even got to help Grandpa print out a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

That night we went to Sundance for the Utah Symphony. Ryan and Sofie loved the music (what's not to love? Star Wars, The Planets, swing and patriotic music). Ryan's absolute favorite, though,was Beethoven's Fifth. He could even sing a few bars of it (he recognized it from Little Einsteins).

I woke up with a bad sinus infection on the Fourth, so our activities were pretty low key, just hot dogs for dinner and a $7 pack of fireworks.

However, our neighbors down the street were having a huge fireworks program, so we got to enjoy that, and my mom enjoyed the kids watching fireworks so much that she went out and bought a lot of them for the 24th (which is truly a first in the Daynes family).

After a long week like that, I'm exhausted!! But I'm really looking forward to our trip to Cedar City starting tomorrow and Pioneer Day!

Welcome to the garden!

So after months of planning and weeks of work on the new sprinklers, I finally put my garden in last night. First I started with Klay's truck full of topsoil (Nate won 2 cubic yards of it in a contest). I shoveled most of it out by myself to add to the garden, which looked like this before I started:



Nate helped me put in the drip system, and I was able to plant most of it last night. Ryan helped me plant some seeds in the rain this morning.

I found these beautiful flowers along with some lemon mint that actually survived from last year (this is a real surprise since I thought I killed all the herbs I planted).

Here are the trellises. So far we've planted a few winter squashes, zucchini, crookneck squash, watermelon, pumpkin, sunflowers, spinach, tomatoes, basil, peppers, strawberries, dill, parsley, and summer savory.
I'm still preparing the side and flower gardens with extra soil we have from the project, currently housed under the carport. Great motivation to get it finished. Anyway, I hope to share our bounty later in the season. :D