My Treasure

Brooklyn's Playground

Brooklyn's Playground

Another use for Target popcorn at the lake

Easter morning waiting for "The Hunt', got there 2 hours early

Easter morning waiting for "The Hunt', got there 2 hours early

Easter afternoon with family/enjoying the sunshine together

 

Matthew 6:21 says "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Sometimes it is hard to stay focused on what really matters because of trying to do it all. This scripture spoke to me last night as a reminder of where my priorities are and what my true treasure is in life. First, God and his son Jesus Christ, Second, my husband Steve, Third, my beautiful children.

Bethany

Family Vacation

Two weeks ago we took our big vacation for the little family down to Utah. It only took 3.5 hours to get there so it was as my husband called it, "halfsies staycation". We needed/wanted to a vacation on a budget and easily traveled with our two toddlers. So we put 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates' in their dvd screens and away we went. It was four jam-packed days of fun, tears, tamtrums and new adventures.
(I don't have a lot of photos becuase the rest are on my actual camera and I can't find the cord to hook it up, plus my phone takes better pictures 99.9999999% of the time)

Day one was spent driving down and snacking the whole way. We arrived at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake and spent a few hours walking the grounds and screaming for a multitude of animals. Lilly's favorite was a giant seal that was blind. He was as big or even a little bigger than a sedan and just swam in circles in a large viewing tank. She loved him! We spent a good 30 minutes just on him!
Then we saw the Polar Bear and Isaiah could not get enough of him. This giant entertainer would push off of the bottom of his tank and jump up right in front of the viewing pane and rise from the water and stroke backwards and then dive down to do it again. Another 30 minutes went by.... 

We celebrated Isaiah's 3rd at Chuck E Cheese's and Lilly could not get off of this merry go round horse thing. Literally we put in 20+ coins. They had a blast to say the least running around like orange soda spiked, fruit snacked filled crazy children with an almost unlimited amount of tokens. When we finally left, it had been two and a half hours and Steve and I were exhausted,  beyond what we could ever imagine.

That evening after dinner, Steve allowed me to go to Ikea by myself.... enough said. I actually reined in my spending and after I got home wondered why I didn't buy a few items I had wanted. Then I realized it would have been another $100 and blown our budget. Plus Steve was happy on my total.

Day 2 was spent in the beautiful Temple Square. I had been to the Salt Lake Temple when I was really young with my family to pick up my sister from her mission from the airport there. She served in Italy and the best way to pick her up was there. I don't remember a thing except when I ate a peice of candy during a tour and spite it out. It tasted so bad and the part I remember the most is my other sister yelling at me infront of everyone and made me pick it up out of the flower patch it landed.

We went through the visitor's center and walked around the Temple. Crashed a few wedding photos trying to get away. We headed over to the Church History Muesum and it was amazing! Although we didn't really get to spend any time outside of the children's exhibit with hands on activities. After an hour we realized it was 2 hours past lunch time...

We headed to the newer mall in Salt Lake, City Creek Mall and had lunch and some of the best shopping in ages! Steve bought me a beautiful Coach wallet as a surprise, that I picked out because he didn't actually know which one I had wanted, just the price I had told him ages ago.

Salt Lake Temple

We rode the Utah Trax Train from our hotel in Sandy to SLC for fun and Isaiah loved it!

Lilly could care less....

Friday we went to an aquarium and literally ran in circles for awhile. A long while.

Followed by more shopping at some outdoors stores and the Dinosaur Museum in Lehi. Isaiah was so scared we had to rush through, it being the most expensive site we went too... but in the end he loved it because they could dig for all the dinosaur bones they wanted.

From there we went to Provo and spent the next day with my best friend and her husband. Steve and Mat went shooting and Jen and I had breakfast and hit up Target and Cocoa Bean cupcake cafe. Our usual. We like to repeat what works for us. And I don't know what I would do without this girl, seriously. Plus we went through her clothes she didn't want and I came home with a huge bag of stuff from Jen-ymart!

We headed home and somehow wondered why the kids only slept for a half hour each in the car. We got home on Saturday around 7. Origionally we were going to stay until Sunday but the kids were not sleeping well and we were so tired and out of patience that we almost pulled over to take a nap. We opted out of church the next day to catch up on sleep and get the littles back on their schedule.

It was a great trip overall, and Isaiah and Lilly really loved it. Momma needs a bit of a vacation now though....

Camping in Island Park, Idaho

This last picture is bear tracks... about 50 feet behind my tent. Where I was sleeping. Where I changed my clothes. Where my children played. No biggie...

Memorial Weekend

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I was camping from Friday to Monday. It was a great weekend off to say the least. But in South East Idaho it is always very sunny the week of Memorial Weekend and then the week after. Never during. And this is a yearly camping trip with Steve's parents that we go on every year. These are just a few photos of our weekend!

This is what it looked like when we got there...

On a walk with my kids and my mother in law. Beautiful!

My in laws and Steve fishing on the dock

Lilly and I on the curb, we don't fish

Isaiah's first fishing lesson

And Isaiah's FIRST FISH! See his proud daddy?

Bethany

Date Night!

Steve and I had date number 5 this last Friday night since Isaiah was born 26 months ago. I know, terrible. We had just under 2 hours to get ready when we realized we could get away. My hair was in a pony tail due to having to make dinner for the babies.

But we had fun with our little getaway. We got a sitter, one of my Young Women at church that I have the pleasure of advising. We went to Olive Garden for dinner (Yumm!), Cold Stone Creamery for dessert, and then Toys R Us for Lilly's birthday that was on Sunday, then Barnes and Noble to look at some books. (We get books for our kids for birthdays and Christmas' and everywhere in between)

Wait, your thinking, Toys R Us on Date Night? Yes, when you have little ones, it is hard to escape them. Plus, we live 30 minutes from where we were and it is not that convenient to get there. So we bundle it into one. 

At dinner though, I realized my sitter did not have a phone and we do not have a home phone. I had to call her mother and she took a spare cell phone over for us as a just in case. Otherwise the date would have been cut rather short...

Had the sitter take this picture... You can sort of see Steve

On our way home we were rather quiet, 5 hours being together alone is weird, and we realized we were both thinking about the kids. Funny how that works out. But I was telling Steve how full I was from dinner. He piped in, "I am too full for any ..." Use your imagination.  Way to make a girl feel special was my first thought... and then realized it was a fact not a strike against me and I was too full too. We have been married for 5 years and have 2 kids. The honeymoon phase is defiantly over. And that is just fine with me. 

Bethany

P.S. But sooner or later we will have a night or two away, and I demand honeymoon phase! :)

Summer Time Yummm!

So the wonderful mid-60's we have been having here in South East Idaho make one thing happen above all else in my home...

Bar-B-Que

My husband decided when he was single and bought his first home (that I moved into following our nuptials a year later) he needed to get himself a house warming gift. A $650 grill. Any one else have this happen? All I could think about is how he did not have any curtains up...

But he is pretty handy with it and he truly feels like a Man's Man when he uses it. I even got him a apron and towel to clip to the grill in the theme of his favorite team: the Cleveland Browns. (It was for Christmas and at first he hated the apron because it was "girly")

He is the King of Marinades. And I informed him last week sometime that I had thawed out T-Bone steaks. (A luxury yes, but we split a half of beef with a friend last year and it was a part of it... a half of beef is a half of a cow we bought)

His basic marinade start like this:

Olive Oil

White Distilled Vinegar

A few drops of Soy Sauce

Tablespoon of Worchester

Chopped Garlic Cloves

And then a variety of spices per your taste buds. We like Smoked Apple-wood Sea Salt (Found Here), Pepper, a Costco BBQ mix and so on.

Look at those grill marks!

There are no specific measurements. He eye balls it until he feels there is enough to coat the steaks and then sit in it. Not submerge, the vinegar makes the flavor soak into meat. Just enough to come up the sides a bit of the meat. Make sure to rub it in allover before letting it sit for an hour or two.

This can be used for pork, chicken and in a rare occasion per taste, fish.

Happy BBQ-ing this summer and I hope this very simple and basic recipe helps you. Combine with some roasted veggies, cous-ous, lemonade and a table on the back porch. Enjoy!

Bethany

Lemon Bar Cake

You here loves lemon bars?!?!?!?!? Yeah, me too. A friend of mine recently showed me this amazing and oh so easy recipe for a cake that tastes like lemon bars (to me anyway) and I thought I should share this goodness to the masses. 

All you need is a box of Lemon Cake Mix, the ingredients that go with that (3 eggs, water and oil) and a can of Lemon Pie Filling. 

Just put the pie filling in with the cake mixture and mix until well combined.

Then, just bake as the box says. I got these super cute silicone cupcake wraps at the dollar store for Valentine's. Love them!

When they cool off, sprinkle with powdered sugar and ENJOY!

(Like my Valentine's tulips from Steve? He thought they were planted so we could keep the bulbs but the package fooled him. I thought it was hilarious!)

I have been known to eat too many, but they taste so good! I sent Steve with a cake to a Super Bowl party and it was gone in minutes. Some of the people that had it called for the recipe because they absolutely had to have it the next day. 

And for someone that can't cook that good on a regular basis, that felt pretty good!

Bethany

What is your Love Story?!

Today through Valentine's Day I am linking up with the totally cool blog, From Mrs. to Mama on Steve and I's love story! How fun is that!

 

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We will have been together for almost 7 1/2 years!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

We were going to the same church years ago that was for "single adults". I was trying to date his cousin since he had money and I was looking for something to do. Not marriage by any means. I was going to move back home to Oregon and get back with my first love, my high school boyfriend. Or so I thought. Steve actually really didn't like me for awhile. (He thought I was rude and to much to talk to)

 

He lived with this cousin and I saw him here and there. Another roommate who I was friends with suggested to him to ask me out. It took a bit but he agreed.Our first date was watching Love Actually while I was babysitting for a friend. (The baby was asleep). 

 

And from there we were off and on for 2 1/2 years. He broke up with me, I broke up with him. He asked me to marry him, I asked him to marry me. Finally in a brief moment of mental insanity or mental clearness, still not sure, I said "Let's do this in 3 months!" He had didn't complain. We got married Easter weekend 2007 in between my Winter and Spring semesters.  

3. If married, how long have you been married?

We have been married for 5 years in April.

 

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

 We were married in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints Idaho Falls, Idaho Temple. Which was a small ceremony of about 12. The reception was smaller as well and we maybe had around 75 people come.

 

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

 My nickname for Steve is Doughnut. Can't really remember why... and his nickname for me is "The General". (When it comes to housework)

 

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

 1. When he cooks for me it is because he is really trying to do something nice for me. That is a sign of love for him.

2. He works really hard for our family. In the winters he gets laid off so throughout the rest of the year he works like crazy to make our kids and I's lives easier. He works in the cold and can go over a day at a time, sometimes more, with no sleep. 

3. He is hilarious! Constantly making us jokes and teasing. Everything is funny to him. And when I need a pick me up he makes me laugh. And he makes everyone around him laugh too.

 

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

 At that point in our relationship we just agreed to get married. He told me like a week after we got married that if I did not say yes when I did he was going to dump me with the month. Nice honeymoon talk...

 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

 He is a flowers and strawberries kind of guy. Half of each!

 

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Depends on how the kids were for the day.... ha. A movie on the couch in baggy pair of sweats. 

 

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I want to go on a month long cruise to Europe. I think after that I would need to get away from him. Just kidding honey!

 

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day. 

 If he is home we are just planning on a dinner out. We have been on 1 date since Lilly was born, 3 since Isaiah was born. Seeing a pattern yet?

 

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

 No. But some quality time away from the house without the kids. Not that I don't love them, but sometimes I forget I am an adult.

 

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love. 

 Telling him how grateful I am for what he does to help with the house and kids. There is a lot to do and sometimes Steve does more to help when he is exhausted from work.

 

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

 This is our family picture for our Christmas card for 2011. This is love in my eyes, the family we have built together. Our children. 

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

What is your Love Story?

Bethany

Steve's TV Fishing Trip

So a couple of months ago I heard yelling at the television, "I won a fishing trip!!! I won!!!" Of course I said he didn't because he is really good at getting me going, like the time he said we won $25,000. He proceeded to show me his name on the TV. 

It is with the local outdoor show, Jared Scott Outdoors. Steve watches it religiously every week and I would have to say I enjoy it to. It highlights outdoor activities, hunting and fishing in Southeast Idaho. He won a Sturgeon fishing trip in Twin Falls for a day that included a guest to go with him. He picked his father, a great bonding experience. Steve was so excited I could have totaled our car and he would still be in a good mood. It is hard to get a Sturgeon tag and plus the guided trip he went on for two people is $575. 

 Here is Steve's fish, over 60 years old, over 6 feet long and 170 pounds!

So on October 1st, Steve and Dayle went out and it was a great day! It was not too hot or too cold and they each caught a Sturgeon. Steve said it was a little scary trying to catch something that was over 150 pounds with only a 60 pound line but he said it was amazing. Thank you Jared Scott!

 Here is Dayle and his fish. Don't remember how big it was, but it was just a little smaller than Steve's.

Nothing like a good day fishing for a couple of guys! Glad you two had a blast!