Our 13th Anniversary Cache-Valley-n-Bear-Lake Style, Day 1

 My sister agreed to watch our children while we went on a 5 day Cache Valley and Bear Lake anniversary vacay!  Woot woot!  We took our kids to Payson to stay with their Aunty, spent the night, then the next day, we took off around lunchtime.

First stop- the Cracker Barrel in Springville.  We both really enjoyed our meals.  Steve got the lemon pepper trout with cheese grits and I got some salad that I don't remember, but I really enjoyed.  Then dessert was mouthwatering.  Steve got the multi-berry cobbler sundae, and he said it's his new favorite.  It even trumps the Dr. Doom Lava Cake at Denny's!  Yes, it was that good.

 Then I saw some really cute sun hats, and guess what?  I need a sun hat, so I tried some on.  It came down to 2, the white and the tan one.

 Which one would you have chosen for me?

 I ended up buying the white one and I've worn it everyday since we bought it.

Next on the docket- drive to Logan.  Let me tell you, that was a beautiful drive.  The hills were alive with the green grass and bright wild flowers!

After we checked into our basement room for the night that we rented for $35.00 from a guy on Airbnb.com, we asked our host for some recommendations of places to eat.  One place on his list was "the Crepery."  It sounded good, and it was close, so we ventured over and really enjoyed it.  The food was awesome, but the patio by the river really made the experience complete.

We went shopping for some food at the local Macey's grocery store (Steve used to work as a produce specialist at one in Pleasant Grove when we first met), since we would be cooking some of our own meals while at Bear Lake the next couple days.  While there, of course, Steve needed a King Kong Cone.  And yes, this is right after he had a chocolate strawberry cheesecake crepe at the restaurant.

The sweet tooth is strong in this one.

 We bought some sandwich makings, stuff to make our own campfire dinner, some fruit, and granola (instead of trail mix because it was cheaper), and beef jerky.  Then we checked out, dropped the stuff off at our residence for the night, and headed off to go see a movie, Captain America Civil War.  The movie was no good in my opinion, but I think Steve liked it alright.

April, Devon, and Tommy Came To Our Ward Auction!

 Back in April, the Relief Society presidency was in charge of our annual ward auction fundraiser.  We had been planning it for months, and I've always loved the auction and was extra excited this year since I helped plan it.  I told my sister how much fun it is and invited her to come, and guess what?  She was able to take a weekend trip and come up for a visit and attend our ward auction.

My mom helped me decorate the night before, and we had a few men there from setting up chairs that helped us put things where we thought was good.  It took us over an hour, when I thought it would take 15 minutes. I love how all the banner signs turned out and my mom's bright table cloths really made things look nice, as well as the fold-up celebration paper wheels which we hung from the curtains on the stage.

My mom brought 2 office chairs to auction off, and Bro. Peterson and the Bishop sat in them to attest to how comfortable they are.  Bro. Winn was our auctioneer, and he always does a great job.  This year we were lucky to get him, because he was still recovering from surgery.

 We staked out front row seats which gave us plenty of leg room and space for the littles to spread out; however, we ended up taking them into the relief society room where they just ran around and played with Lily as the babysitter.

The service certificates are one of my favorite things to bid on, and I bid on almost all of them.  I offered 2 certificates for bidding: 1 heirloom brandywine tomato plant delivered at the end of May, and 1 Thai-inspired dinner for a family at my house.  The tomato plant was won by the Heaton family who bought it for $6.  The Thai dinner was bid up and up and up until the Allred family won it for I'm not sure how much, but it was maybe like $80.

At the back, we had a bake sale, but we also had a snack table that had free nachos and popcorn for everyone.  There were silent auction items placed on tables all around the edges that had themed mystery bags, baskets of donated goods, decor, etc..  The mystery bags were my idea and I think they did really well.  I handed out 45 bags at church and almost all of them made it back to the auction!

Here's a picture of me and the girls with our hefty service certificate hauling!

With April in town for the weekend, we had some fun!  My mom came over and taught Tommy how to play the uke!

One day I introduced everyone to the new park in Fort Duchesne.  We had a lot of fun there and the sun warmed us up!

Later in the month, after April had left, I had the Thai dinner for the Allreds at our place.  My mom came and decorated the table for us (bless her sweet, ever-serving heart!) and I made all the food.  We had fresh spring rolls~

Shoyu cucumber salad (I know that's not Thai, but it's good, and the Allreds have a family of 10, so I needed another side dish).

A yummy fruit platter- which, by the way, was devoured.

Here's the table setting.  The lighting in the photo doesn't do it justice, because it really was stunning.

 Each place setting had a little bamboo boat with a fortune cookie on it, just for fun.

For the main entree, we had massaman curry and jasmine rice.  None of the Allreds had ever had Thai food.  They were all very gracious, and no one complained, but I noticed the real winners of the night were the fruit platter and dessert!

And for dessert we had a tropical cake, a recipe I found in the Lion House cookbook.  It was a TON of work (especially the spring rolls that took 2 hours of assembling and rolling), but so worth it.  Good times, good food, good people, it's really worth all the effort.

Mother's Day 2016

Homemade breakfast in bed!  Lily made microwave scrambled eggs, Amara made the toast, and Steve helped cut up the red pear and kiwi. YUMMERS!  I feel so loved!

 What a wonderful Mother's day I had this year!  Being a mother is the greatest joy, and it's what I always wanted to do but never knew it, until I was blessed to become a mom.  My family is my life, and I love it!

The kids made me multiple cards and bookmarks.  I got flowers from my mom and Tom, and at church I got chocolates.

God gave me a beautiful double rainbow, too!

Lily reminded me of the pretty finger painting she made me for Mother's Day when she was in kindergarten, 5 years ago.  It's one of my favorites.

I got to spend time with my own mommy!!!  I'm so lucky to have her nearby!  We had dinner at my house.

 Tom surprised us with sweet yellow roses!

Our dinner was faboo! We had these Asian porkchops, the recipe that my mom found online and I made.  I saved 2 in foil off to the side so that Tom could have something to eat that wasn't drenched in teriyaki sauce.  I also made a delicious spring-inspired fried rice with radishes and chives from our garden as garnish.  But, the show stealer was my mom's famous krab potato salad!  THE BEST!

 The table was set beautifully by Amara.  Pretty tables and yummy food make me feel so very special!

 Thank you to all my family that I love so very dearly!  I am so happy to be a mom.  And I'm so lucky to have the best mommy ever!