Bruges

how I love thee...

Yes, I've blogged about it before, (click here to read that exciting installation) but it deserves another shout out.  Best waffles you can find outside of Belgium, and there's a reason they are famous for their waffles.  It's well deserved.  (The chocolate fame is also well deserved)  And you don't have to take my word for it- I ran across this little gem awhile ago too.

Anyway Bruges waffles and frites = LOVE.

No trip to Utah is complete without at least one trip to Bruges. 

I forgot to take pictures until after I had finished my waffle (raspberries and dark chocolate)  but if you'd eaten there you really couldn't blame me.

Here's a picture of Christopher's half-eaten waffle.- He's a slow eater. 

His is plain, but that's okay too.  It's not like eating a plain American waffle. 

The frites (fries) are excellent too. 

See how beautifully golden they are?  The Belgians deep fry them twice. And they have like 10 different flavors of yummy mayos for dipping.  

Three happy kids:

(Nick was in NYC so we didn't feel bad about going without him, and we ended up going back again later anyway...) 

Orson Gygi

aka - kitchen heaven

I love this place.

Everything you could possibly need or want for cooking or baking all under one roof at pretty reasonable prices.  I was tempted to buy another (I already have two) 4 qt caramel pan just because it was perfect and at a smoking price.

I was also a little tempted to get another wooden spoon or two, (I already have 13) but reason won out.  (my mom's shirt is pretty appropriate for the size of that spoon don'tcha think?)

Last year my favoritest ever new item were the lids for the cookie sheets.  You know, the big silver pans with the one inch deep sides?  Well, who knew you could get lids for them?  A year later I am asking myself how I ever lived without lids!

This year my favorite item are these-

Onion goggles!!

GENIUS.

And they work like a charm.

No burning or fumes or tears.  No taking breaks to wash your face in the middle of preparing dinner.

I suppose people who own ski equipment (not us) can just use ski goggles, but these are smaller and have a handy dandy carrying case and are meant to be kept in the kitchen, not hiding away with the rest of the sports equipment.

Vernal, Utah

We spent a week in Vernal.

Anyone who has ever heard of Vernal, or spent any time there is probably wondering how we spent a whole week there, but when you're with the right people, any place can be fun.

And it was.  We had a really great time. We always do with Nolan and Mindy and their kids.  I don't have a whole lot of pictures-  A couple at the dinosaur museum-

Eating shave ice from a little stand- (why is it shave ice and not shaved ice? that bugs me.)

Other than that- we spent a couple afternoons swimming at the local rec center.  They have a fun pool with waterslides and play equipment.  Even a high dive which Zach had fun jumping off of. (it's amazing to me the things he will try these days.) 

Mindy and I went shopping a couple times.  I got a couple things for my house from a home decor store, which John had fun trying to figure out how to pack home, and we visited the local chocolate store a couple of times.  Mindy wanted to get a sugar cookie, even though she says mine are better, she'd just rather buy one good cookie, than make a whole batch of excellent cookies. (if I do say so myself)  But they were always out.    The point of that story is that it helped to fuel my desire to someday open a candy store.  They offer hand-dipped chocolates and fudge amongst other things.  After I pick out a couple chocolates from the counter (usually chocolate orange cremes) I like to puruse the little bags of goodness tied with cute bows sitting in baskets all over the store.  I settled on buying a small bag of mint cookie malted milk balls.  I'm not a fan of Whoppers, but these are yummy.   

 "I could do this!"  I thought.  Mix some hand made stuff like caramels and peanut brittle and cookies in with other fun things like cute little bags of malted milk balls.  She had tons of more things to choose from, I wished I had taken notes (or pictures).  I did figure out that I could buy those mint cookie balls in bulk on-line. (not that I need 10 lbs of malted milk balls of any flavor in my pantry)

John golfed a couple of times, golfing at all is a rare treat for him in general, but twice in one week is un-heard of!  And one day he had to fly to Denver for some meetings.  Fortunately, Vernal does have an airport, with exactly one terminal and one gate  and one turbo-prop engine airplane heading exactly one place (twice a day) - Denver.  So, he took the first flight out, took care of business, but wasn't able to get back so easily as there was a tornado threatening the area, and he said lightning even struck the airport, but he did make it back safe and sound, several hours later than planned.

Speaking of unexpected storms-  One day we (the adults) decided to go out to lunch, and while we were at it, decided that it was a lovely day for a walk as well.  So we left the cars at home, and headed out on what was probably a 3 mile or so round trip which included stops for lunch at Cafe Rio, the candy store to look for sugar cookies, the post office, and the Vernal temple grounds.  (teeniest, tiniest, cutest little temple ever)  As we headed back home, we could see the ugliest rain clouds coming our way, and we did our best to race them home, but alas, less than half a mile home we were caught in a total downpour.  The gutters were filling up, lighting was flashing, and there we were shivering in our shorts and t-shirts and flip flops, standing under a large pine tree.  Lightning? Tree?  after a while we started to ask ourselves, "Hey what's that they say you're not supposed to do durning a lightning storm?"  Anyway, we stood under that tree, hoping the rain would let up soon, and every so often it would seem like it was, and then it would start to pour even harder.  We tried flagging down the few other souls who were unlucky enough to be caught out in the deluge, but nobody stopped.  Mindy tried calling a few friends to see if they could come pick us up, but to no avail.  Finally our savior came in the form of a local poice officer who was just returning home from his shift, across the street from where we stood.  Officer Hall.  (anybody with the name 'Hall' just has to be awesome, right?)

(sidenote- Nolan, the local ER doc, told us that officer Hall was the toughest/bravest guy he knows- he had to fix him up after he broke his leg wrestling with a bad guy on the steps of the courthouse and it was a particular nasty break that usually requires strong painkillers and possibly a sedative, but Officer Hall insisted on having Nolan set his leg totally drug free.)

So we had a good time.   Mindy's cooking was a hit, and most nights we had most of the kids requesting she give me the recipe to whatever was on the menu.  I also helped out with Bountiful Baskets one morning.  Mindy's mom is the site coordinator, and so I helped out for fun.  I just might be inspired to look into ordering a basket from the local site (which happens to be across the street at the kids' school).

I think that's about it.  Not terribly exciting, we had planned on only staying 4 days, but ended up staying a couple of extra.  They seemed happy to have us, and we were happy to be had.  Ü

4th of July

Utah must have gotten tired of seeing all those tax dollars pouring into Wyoming every year, because this year they legalized aerials.  (the big ones that shoot into the sky.)

Anybody who is serious about their fireworks usually heads over to Evanston to get some "good" (read illegal) fireworks. 

Anyway we had a little show at the end of my parent's cul-de-sac.  It seemed as if most people were out enjoying their new freedom to shoot off aerial fireworks without fear that the local police department were going to confiscate (and possibly fine?) you for using "illegal" fireworks.  The skies were lit up with all sorts of colors, the smell of smoke permeated the air, and explosions were going off all around well into the night.

Madison celebrated in her usual artistic fashion.

This year she took advantage of the fact that for the most part in Utah you can't fry an egg on the pavement, and spent hours decorating the street in front of my parent's house. 

catch up

getting behind in blogging sucks.

I have like a month of stuff to blog about. 

admittedly probably boring as snot to most people, but I took the pictures, and the kids and I might want to remember it, so I will probably still blog about it, but still ....

when you're so far behind it starts to feel like a chore.

bah.

when I stay on top of things I like to think of it more like a creative outlet.  (as lame as it may be)

so....

stay tuned for a month of highlights from our annual trek to Utah. Ü

borrowed from facebook

Someone posted this on facebook today-

It's been said that everlasting friends go long periods of time without speaking and never question their friendship. These friends pick up like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live, and they don't hold grudges, they understand that life is busy and you will ALWAYS love them. Borrowed from a friends FB status - feel free to borrow from me if you agree.


That's nearly perfect timing, as I was about to post about my oldest and bestest bff Jamie.

I've mentioned her before, but I just gotta again.

We only get to see each other when I am visiting in the summer, and have to work around her work schedule and my schedule, and we rarely have contact the rest of the year, maybe the occasional e-mail or text, but when we're together, it's like no time has passed. 

I mean we were bridesmaids at each other's weddings, she was at the birth of my first born (I don't think she has forgiven me for this) and I am probably partially responsible for the fact that she has no desire to ever give birth herself.  This is a picture of her back in high school. (on the left) I have no idea who that chick is next to her.  Judging by her outfit she is clearly mentally unstable.  Brown loafers with white socks and gym shorts?  Where are the fashion police when you need them?

My kids love her too and get really annoyed when I try and claim a "grown-ups only" time with her.

This particular time though we went to The Training Table.  Another "must go" place on my to-do list.  I really wish they'd get one in Arizona.  The hamburgers and sandwiches are really good, but the must-get item is the cheese fries with the special dipping sauce.  It's like fry sauce only made with bbq sauce and mayo instead of ketchup. yum. 

 And instead of ordering at the counter or having a waitress take your order, you place your order into the phone at the table, then the phone rings when your order is ready and you go pick it up.  Kinda cool, unless you have obnoxious little kids who won't leave the phone alone.

Space- the final frontier.

I found day two of cub scout day camp to be pretty dang amusing.  I'm not a total sci-fi geek, but on a scale of 1-10, one being I don't know who Spock is, and 10 being I dress up for conventions, I'm probably a solid 6 or 7. 

For starters the theme for the day was "Galaxy Quest", but the official flag (besides the US flag) of the camp was a blue "United Federation of Planets" (Star Trek) flag. (The movie Galaxy Quest is a spoof of Star Trek)

I am trying really hard not to sound to mean or judgmental here, and have erased sentence after sentence, and the counselors were all super nice, and I am partial to geeks (I even married one)  but that camp was some sort of geek heaven. (I kept thinking how Nick, my favorite geek, would LOVE a job there when he's older)  They all wore wooden name badges in the shape of the Star Trek badges, and some had lightsabers in their belts, some were wearing pants several sizes too big for their scrawny frames held up by a belt.  One kid was an over the top A/V geek who went by the name Maverick who wore a lab coat taught a class on the planets in a tent he constructed which was more like his geek sanctuary.  Computer hooked up to a TV, posters, geek toys on shelves, models of the planets hanging from the ceiling, etc. (yes, all this in a tent in a canyon where I had to use a port-a-potty and had no cell phone service) 

Anyway, the theme for the day was space.

Zach learned to use a bow and arrow (not sure what that has to do with space, but it's still fun), made a simple paper rocket and shot it off, stamped designs into leather, played games, went for another hike, and did another obstacle course, and learned about our solar system.

Zach loved it all and we totally will be back next year if it fits into the schedule.  I think he earned 4-5 belt loops and passed off several other things (except I am wondering if it's all stuff he's already passed off?)

The wild west.

Since we'd be in Utah for quite awhile, and since I am Zach's scout leader, and since it was so close and so reasonably priced, and since I hadn't signed Zach up for anything else all summer, I elected to sign Zach up for cub scout day camp in Milcreek canyon.

It was fun.  I did get a lot of weird looks though.  I guess most wards/packs send their whole pack there, so I got a lot of people asking why we came "all this way" to go to day camp, and if we really only had one kid in our "whole pack".  Apparently I am just a crazy over achieving mother.

It was a two day camp, about 6 hours a day.  And the weather was gorgeous in a shady tree filled canyon, so despite the fact that I was surrounded by a hundred or so 8-9 year old little boys, it wasn't that bad. (okay, admittedly it was kinda fun, plus I always enjoy one on one time with my kids)

The first day had a frontier theme going on. (the pictures aren't gonna be in order, I'm feeling a little lazy, so feel free to decipher for yourself what's going on)  Activities included rifle shooting, knot tying, hiking, an obstacle course, learning about Native Americans (don't call them Indians), panning for gold, and other fun activities.  Zach personally thought the skits were the best.  I thought he was going to fall off the bench he was laughing so hard.

Oh, and here's a funny story for you- So, there I am at camp, standing around in my very un-flattering scout leader uniform, waiting for the other scouters to get there to get things going, and someone walks up to me and says "Hey, do I know you?  Kirsten, right?"  I turn, and wouldn't you know it, there stands my high school crush.  I had a total thing for that guy for three solid years.  Of course I never told him, but if he figured it out I wouldn't have been surprised with all the blushing and stammering and saying stupid things while I fought off the butterflies in my stomach all the while timing things just right at my locker so I would get the chance to talk to him on the way to class.   Of course, the feeling has long since gone, and there was no blushing and stammering or butterflies to fight off, but still, if I had known I was going to run into anyone from my high school I might have worn make-up. Or showered. ( sigh.)

Sweet

There's a candy factory here in Salt Lake by the name of Sweet's. 

They make the only cinnamon bears I will eat.  They're the best. Especially when they dip them in chocolate.  Their chocolate covered jelly sticks rock too, not to mention their chocolate covered marshmallow bears/santas/bunnies.  yum.  I think they are most well known for their salt water taffy.

Anyways, you can tour their factory, and see how they make all their candy,

and then of course the tour ends at the factory store where you can buy all the treats you started to crave sometime during the tour.

My friend Misty set up the tour.  She's a friend from high school.  This is us at our high school graduation.  I haven't aged a day, have I?

Misty, Charity, and I hung out quite a bit in high school.   

This is Charity.

We were also in Academy of Finance together.  That was a concurrent college course during our junior and senior years of high school where we got college credit for taking classes like banking and accounting and economics.  (I kinda rocked at economics- not so much in banking though.  I think it had a little to do with the fact that I really liked the economics teacher, but couldn't stand the banking teacher)  Anyway, those two girls were the ones who really taught me the joys of ditching classes.  Our AofF classes were at a different high school which we had to commute to and from every other morning so there were many, many times we would take an extra long lunch and skip 5th period and go out to lunch.  In fact the other day I went to lunch with John and we went to Olive Garden, and ordered their soup, salad, and bread stick special and I got all nostalgic so I took a picture.  Good times.

  

Miss those girls. And would you believe that despite the regular phone calls from the school informing my parents of the class(es) I missed that day, my parents still regularly encouraged me to hang out with them? "You're going out with who? What about Misty and Charity? Why don't you hang out with them more?"

sledding with Pa

According to my Utah friends and family on facebook, this spring has been pretty terrible.  I could almost count on somebody complaining each and every day about the weather up here in Utah.  Snow, rain, snow, and more snow. 

Of course I was cheering on the inside because their misery was my joy.  Because I could almost count on it coming south.  Their bad weather was my mild weather.  I think this last May was the best we ever had.  It was awesome. 

And then, as an added bonus, when we finally got to Utah, it wasn't that difficult to go and find snow to play in.  Score!

The kids and I drove with my dad up to Alta, my dad's favorite ski resort, to do a little sledding.  Snowbird, the neighboring ski resort was actually still open to skiers, but Alta was closed for the season, which means we had the place to ourselves.

We found a little hill that wasn't too hard for the kids to climb up, and had fun sledding down several times.

Nick had been sledding with the scouts before, but I think this was my other three kids' very first time.

Christopher was wary of the snow at first, it took some convincing for him to even step on it, but he got the hang of it pretty quick.

The kids even convinced me to go down once. 

So I sat myself on the round disk sled, made it about a third the way down the mountain, before the disk spun around backwards, then promptly tipped over, dumping me out of it, and sending my legs flying straight up in the air.  Apparently it was quite the sight, and everybody is just sorry they didn't get it on video.

I was the one and only casualty of the day.  Everyone else made it down the hill over and over without incident.

Go me.  At least I'm good for a little bit of entertainment.