Utah, Bread, Shoes, and Fringes

We went on vacation with my dad to Utah to visit family.  We did a lot of driving and that can be pretty stressful with two little ones, but they did pretty good.  We had a lot of fun.  On our way out we stopped and visited my brother Ben and his wife Beth.  While we were there Ben got to show his new work truck off to Pace.  Then we were off to four corners and Natural Bridges National monument.  I always forget how much I love the landscape of southern Utah.  It always takes my breath away when I see it again.  While in Utah we saw Oma and Opa (my mom's parents) and my Grandma (she moved back to Utah).  We were also able to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins while we were there!  We had so much fun visiting, being interviewed, dancing, and playing with all of them.  Pace loved being with the kids.

Smiling at Grandpa

Coonskin Hat

The new truck

A lucky random stop for lunch on old route 66!  In the Texas pan handle

Pace with a cool cactus

Just chillin' in the desert

4 Corners

Oma and Opa

Grandma

For mother's day Jake got me a wheat grinder.  I was so excited for it, but it took a while to arrive.  But I am happy to say that it has arrived and I love it.  The flour comes out great and it looks great on my counter so I don't have to worry about putting it away and getting it out every time I want to use it.  Also, I have been on a natural (or wild) yeast kick right now, because it is healthier for you and I am getting it to work so well for me.  Which means I have been making bread a lot.  So call me baker.  And everyone in our little family seems to love eating homemade bread.  I may never buy a loaf of bread again (unless it is a good baguette, which is hard to find around here).  Next thing I want to try is grinding and making my own cream of wheat.  Oh, and side note but I have banana bread in the oven.  Yum!

Wheat before it is ground (Thanks mom we got this wheat from you)

My wheat grinder (isn't it beautiful?!)

Flour ground in my grinder :)

Whole wheat, natural yeast bread.  MMmmm! (adapted from Kathy Monson's recipe)

Pace loves Jake and really looks up to him.  He may be clingy with me when he is needy, but his favorite play buddy is usually Daddy.  So it is only fitting that we found him trying on Jake's shoes.  We couldn't believe how hard he tried just to walk a little bit in Daddy's shoe's.

Grant is 4 months!  He is just starting to play with toys, but as all mothers find out the best toys are not always toys.  So it is funny to see what Grant enjoys playing with.  Right now it is the fringes on our pillows.