Hike to Long Lake

On Saturday of our camping trip we went on one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on. It was gorgeous. We started at the Crystal Lake trail head. I was pretty nervous when we got there. Here are Scott and I with our baby in a Baby Bjorn front pack ready for a nice little hike and we were surrounded by hard core hikers. I didn't see another woman and everyone we did see was a boy scout or boy scout leader and they had huge packs on like they had been living in the mountains all summer. We headed out on our 4 mile hike anyway and it was perfect. We found beautiful fields of wild flowers all along the way. We stopped to take pictures of Brie in the flowers until she started eating them.

We hiked to Long Lake and stopped there for a picnic. It was a very pretty setting. Brielle was getting very tired though and as we sat there we started hearing thunder. It was a loud roaring thunder and it was scaring me. We looked up and the sunny sky at the beginning of our hike had turned into a big dark black cloud above us. We ate quick and then tried to get going on the 2 miles back to the car. Luckily, it never rained on us, but it certainly rained hard just up the road from us.

Camping Food . . . YUM

I mentioned that I loved the food while camping. I remember my mom packing so much food when she would take our whole family of 11 camping for a week. She then cooked almost every single meal over the fire. We had delicious camping meals and desserts. I have no idea how she did it. I was able to pull off a couple of my favorites though.

On Saturday morning we made 'Eggs In A Frame'. I think this is a favorite for all the Allred children. I remember my dad hovered over the fire with smoke blowing in his face as he pulled off one after another for us. I was lucky and got to cook ours on a camp stove. It is eggs and bacon cooked inside the whole of a piece of bread. YUM! We also made tin foil dinners for dinner that night. Those are so simple, yet so delicious. They turned out perfect! And we topped all the deliciousness off with S'mores. You just have to have them when you have a fire. We got a little creative and used Laura's secret recipe. We replaced the Hershey bar with rolos and reeses peanut butter cups. Wow.



 

CAMPING

We went camping this weekend! It was wonderful. I love camping. I really enjoy being outside, sitting around a fire, sleeping in a tent, waking up to a fresh cool morning in the mountains, camping food and lots more. I am so glad my parents raised me camping and taught me to love it and taught me how to do it.

On Friday after Scott got off of work we left. We drove to Kamas, UT (just past Park City) and stopped at Dick's for dinner. I guess anyone going or coming from the Uintas HAS to stop at Dick's for their popular burgers and shakes. We then drove up into the Uintas searching for a camp site. After some searching (every campground was full), we finally found a really nice one that was surrounded by trees and quite secluded. We pitched our tent and made camp.
Brielle did really well. I think she loved being there. She definitely loved the tent. She was enclosed and had a whole soft floor of sleeping bags and blankets to crawl around and play on. We had her sleep (in her German sleeping sack) right between us and she kept warm and slept well. The only part that she didn't get was the mesh door. She kept trying to crawl through it to get outside. Tricky.We woke up this morning (Sunday) and packed up and drove home. It only took 45 minutes. We were home, fed, bathed, napped and dressed and at church by 11:30 am. We had a great time and can't wait to go back. It was beautiful.

My Crib

I just put Brielle down for her morning nap in her crib. At about 4 1/2 months we switched from rocking her to sleep to teaching her how to soothe herself to sleep. It's a pretty easy process for her to go down for a nap or bedtime. I take her in her room, turn down the blinds, turn on a white noise machine (so she doesn't hear all the noises outside her room since the kitchen and bathroom are so close), put her in her crib and close the door. Done. She moves around the crib a little bit and then is asleep!
I have been checking on her a couple times this morning though because it was quiet, but she was not asleep. Every time I looked at her she had pulled the bumper down and was just looking out. I finally figured out that she could look out and see herself in the long mirror on the back of the closet door. She was just watching herself.
She has started pulling the bumper down when she is done with her nap also. She wakes up, pulls the bumper down to look out the railing to try to find me to come get her. I then hear her yelling for me. Funny girl.

Afternoon Snooze

Well, as you have heard, Scott and I picked Brielle's best friend (Samantha Bishop) already. And now we have chosen her boyfriend for when she is older. Scott's good friend Greg has a son named Lincoln Scott. He is perfect for her. He is 1 year older than Brielle and the sweetest boy. He is so smiley. We love him and we know Brielle does also. On Saturday Greg and Cindy invited us to go swimming with them and their boys. We all had a great time in the pool on such a hot day. Cindy and I were still swimming and the dads were sitting beside the pool with two very tired kids. First Lincoln drifted off to sleep in Greg's arms and then Brielle fell asleep in Scott's arms. They brought them inside and laid them down together to have a nice afternoon nap. How sweet.
P.S. See how Brie is reaching for his hand? 

Pioneer Day Parade

Somehow, our pictures from Pioneer day miraculously where recovered by the dear man at Inckley's photo. Here are a few. One of Brie and me from Scott's office building with the parade route behind us. One of Brie sleeping. She slept through half of the parade until a marching band rudely woke her up. One of my favorite float - Mama's Faith Temple Church Choir. And a KFC float! I thought this was so funny. A whole float dedicated to KFC because it started here in Utah! And of course, a float dedicated to the pioneers.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Today I was loving watching Brielle's reaction to Scott walking through the door after work. It is my favorite part of the day! We are so lucky that Scott comes home at about 3:15 in the afternoon. Each day Brielle and I are on the floor playing and waiting for him to arrive. He walks through the door and she looks up at him surprised that there is someone new. She immediately smiles and kicks her legs and gets so excited. Then for the next long while Scott jumps out from any hiding place and surprises her and she cracks up laughing. Or he dances and sings for her and she laughs and laughs. Or he blows kisses on her belly and she laughs so hard she gets the hiccups. Tonight he was singing (with actions) "The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Sand" and she laughed so hard the whole way through. Brielle thinks Scott is the funniest and most entertaining act she'll ever see. (We'll see if that still holds true when she is 14.) It does make me incredibly happy to see how much my baby girl adores her dad and how much her dad adores her.

Happy Pioneer Day!

Today is July 24 - Pioneer Day. Pioneer Day to me has always meant a carnival at "Pioneer Village" in 100 + temperatures in Bakersfield. When we were young my mom would cover our little red wagon to make it look like a pioneer covered wagon. She would then make each of us a pioneer outfit with bonnets and all. I remember loving Pioneer Day celebrations. It meant seeing a lot of friends and eating corn on the cob and cotton candy and snow cones.

So, now I am in Salt Lake City and it is really celebrated here. There have been festivities happening all month long in commemoration of the Mormon pioneers entering the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. Last night I was trying to imagine what they must have thought when they saw their new home. I am sure they were relieved to have finally made it after such a long and hard journey across the U.S. I bet they were also worried though. They came from the green, green beautiful east and they landed in a desolate and dry desert. They certainly made it work though and now I think Salt Lake City is a beautiful place.

Scott had to work on this Utah holiday. Shocking the stock market wasn't closed for this huh? I wanted to celebrate though and I had never been to the big parade. So Brielle and I left this morning to go downtown to see it. I had been warned about how crowded and hot it is. I had no trouble though. We parked easily, walked a block and found some bleachers to sit in that were in the shade the whole time. We got to watch the whole parade from there. It was great!! I didn't realize that different stakes make the floats. They were really good. I love a parade. I loved the floats and the bands and horses . . . all of it. I liked seeing the BYU float and also a float with the Lochness Monster and people in kilts on it. I have to say my favorite float was one filled with black, gospel singers. There was a band and everyone was SINGING! It was great. The name of the church was written on the back and it was "Mamma's Faith Church". Awesome.

We watched the parade across the street from Scott's office. So afterward, we met him for lunch and then he got to introduce us to his coworkers.

Tonight we are going to Brian and Rachel's for dinner and a fireworks show. I hear fireworks are even better on the 24th of July around here. It's been a fun day and should be a fun night. Happy Pioneer Day!

P.S. I took lots of pictures to document our day at the parade, but something is very wrong and the camera says there is a memory card error and all the images are gone. Sorry. I'm pretty sad.

They Loved It!

So after I had comments about my peach soup such as "It was ok.", "That sounds interesting.", "Brian would die." and more, I tested it out on some poor unsuspecting, unbiased taste testers. I invited Fred and Rama over for lunch! Ha! I served them the peach soup (and also offered chicken and couscous in case they really did hate the soup). And guess what . . . they loved it! Fred had two whole bowls! So, if you want a second and third opinion just aske them.

It really is so good. It tastes like you are eating a peach smoothy. It was a hit at the Relief Society party as well. I think you just have to get over the fact that it is called soup and it is 100 degrees outside. Anyway, if you ever want to try any, I'd be happy to make it for you. I'm sure you would love it.

 

Party Party Party

We have big parties today. Scott and I were up LATE last night getting ready for our parties. I have a dinner with 20 women from the Relief Society. We (the presidency) have one of these every so often to get different women together. This time is a mixture of new women in the ward and others who we just want to know better. It will be a really fun group. For our light summer dinner we are serving chilled peach soup along with a greek rice dish and some artisan breads. I volunteered to make the soup! Funny because I've never made it or tasted it before. I seem to always try out new recipes on new people. Kind of scary. I made the soup last night though and it is FABULOUS! I will include the recipe so that you can use it if you are also doing a "light summer dinner". Enjoy!
Scott had a lunch party at his work today. He volunteered to make the pulled pork. Here we go again . . . he has never made pulled pork before! I guess we are both kind of daring. He took a lot of advice from Teresa (who we hear makes delicious pulled pork) and it turned out so good. Seriously. He cooked the pork in the crock pot on low for 24 hours with some of Wingers Amazing Sauce. Mmmmmmm! Delicious.


Peach Soup

1 can (29 oz) peach halves in heavy soup
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
1 cup white grape juice
2 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
sliced fresh peaches (garnish)

Drain peach halves, reserving 1 cup of the syrup. Place peaches in a food processor bowl or blender container. Cover and process until peaches are pureed. Transfer to a medium-sized saucepan; add cinnamon, white pepper, white grape juice and reserved heavy syrup.

In a 1-cup measure, blend cornstarch and water; set aside. Bring peach mixture to boiling, stirring constantly. Whisk in cornstarch mixture and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and lemon juice until blended; whisk into peach mixture, reserving some sour cream mixture for garnish, if desired. Pour soup into a container; refrigerate. Serve soup well chilled. Transfer soup to bowls; garnish with sour cream swirls or sliced peaches. Makes 4 servings. 

Happy 32 Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Today is my mom and dad's anniversary. Happy Anniversary to them. They were married 32 years ago in the Los Angeles Temple. I am so glad that they chose each other and that they have shown me the example of such a remarkable marriage. They have done a great job of raising kids together, supporting each other, teaching each other and making each other very happy. Congratulations and I love you! 

Brielle Rodeo

So my days have been filled with laundry, cleaning, watering the lawn, changing diapers, searching for a new swimming suit and many more fun activities. Tonight though I documented one of my big frustrations. :) I'm sure anyone with a child has gone through this before and I can only imagine that it will get worse. It is changing Brie into a new diaper or into new clothes!

It is so hard!! Seriously. It reminds me of wrestling a pig down at a rodeo. Don't they do that? Kamber? She kicks, she arches her back, she twists, she turns, she flips over, she crawls away and it's all I can do to keep her pinned down just to get the clean diaper on her. I had Scott attempt it tonight. And yet again it was an all out wrestling match with a 13 pounder! She's not upset, she just wants to get away and check out whatever she might have her eye on. Do we have a particularly wiggly, crazy girl on our hands or what?


 

New Tricks

A few weeks ago Brielle turned 6 months old. It's hard to believe that it has been that long since she was born and it is amazing to realize all of the changes that have happened with her. How did such a sleepy infant turn into such a wiggly, squealing baby!

We went to Brielle's 6 month appointment with Uncle Brian and she got 4 new shots. It was very sad to see the shock on her face when they went in and then how sad she was the whole rest of the day. Brian checked her out and said she is doing great. They also weighed her. At 4 months she was in the 7th percentile for weight . . . she is now in the 6th percentile! She weighed 13 pounds 11 ounces. It's perfectly fine and healthy. She is progressing on the chart just fine, she's just small and on the lower end of the chart. And to be honest, I'm grateful. I love having a little baby. It's much easier carrying her around.

Along with turning 6 months old came a few new tricks that Brie is perfecting each day: We started solids at 5 months and it has been tough getting her to want to eat them. I felt like I was forcing the food on her. But now, she is eating like a champ! She sits in her high chair like a big girl and is excited about the food coming. She takes it down really well and when she is done she certainly lets me know by blowing bubbles with it back at me.
She has started watching TV! I was unloading the dishwasher and had left her in the front room to play with toys on a blanket. It was pretty quiet for awhile and I caught her laying back watching the news. She watched for about 10 minutes straight. Must have been interesting!
Brie is sitting up all by herself! She can sit and play without any support. It makes her look so old. Sometimes when she reaches for a toy far away she loses it and face plants herself into the blanket, but all in all she's doing a good job of sitting up.
She is moving all over the room! Yikes! She is not up on all fours crawling, but she is certainly army crawling all over the place. She can move quick. It used to be that if she wanted to get to something she would do a series of quick rolls to get there. Now she scoots or crawls herself wherever she wants to get - and fast. I'm starting to have to watch for anything in her reach. I'm afraid of what is to come!