{Buttery summer in a bottle...

Last week in Utah my mom made this coconut syrup to die for. So, this morning I decided to whip some up and holy smokes! Delicious... You have got to try this even if you're not a big fan of coconut. This recipe comes from sisterscafe.blogspot.com

Coconut Syrup
7-8 T. butter
¾ c. buttermilk
1 c. sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut extract
Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Then turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the 'fizz' to reduce before serving.

These whole wheat blender pancakes are the companion recipe. They are pretty good too (and it makes me feel better having whole wheat waffles with the "out of control, I don't even want to know how many calories it has" syrup.)

Whole Wheat Blender Waffles
1 c. plus 1 Tb whole wheat berries
1 c. milk
2 eggs
4 Tb oil
2 Tb sugar (or honey)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Blend wheat berries and milk on high for 4-5 minutes, until batter is smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend on low for a minute, or until incorporated. Cook on hot waffle iron. (Stir batter before pouring into waffle iron, because the heavier wheat particles will settle at the bottom.)
Makes about 10 waffles.
(To make pancakes instead of waffles, use 1 c. wheat berries and 2 Tb oil.)

{Brothers...

I fell in love with the trail behind Liz's house. It's paved and just so convenient! One night I took the boys up to the trail and we walked while I snapped a few pictures. I love watching them play together and I couldn't pass up this photo op!

{Family trip to Utah...

We kicked off our summer break by scooting over to Utah for just over a week. Anna graduated from High School and my niece Miah was baptized! We stayed at Craig and Liz's home in Draper (thanks for putting us up even with all that you had going on!). We sewed bags, the kids played, we got Miah's ears pierced, and Jackson learned how to ride a bike without training wheels! Go J!
Towards the end of the week I was able to get together with a few of my old roommates from the Y. What a ball! It was like I was a freshman again. We stayed up until 4 in the morning talking and looking at old pictures just reminiscing. So, so much fun. I didn't take one single picture, so girls you'll have to pass some my way!

{Food, Friends and Spaahhh...

A girl couldn't ask for anything more! I have such a fun, fun group of girlfriends... about two and a half years ago my sister-in-law and my friend Julie and I decided that we needed to branch out and meet new people. We really just wanted an excuse to get out of the house by ourselves one night a month, so we started a Bunco group. It was a struggle to get even 5 ladies to come. Since then, we kicked Bunco to the curb and turned it into a general "Ladies Night Out" {actually officially, T.L.C. The Ladies Club... yes, I know... ;) } You pair up with a buddy or two and host one night a year making it anything you want it to be. We have over 40 ladies who are on the "invite" list but anyone is welcome. It has been such a fun thing in my life! Well, last night was my night to host and I was super smart and paired up with the two ladies who own beauty schools and we did a spa night! All I had to do was bring the food... is that great or what? Cori was gracious enough to let us do it at the Paul Mitchell School here in town and both she and Julie donated a heck of a whole lot of product! Thanks gals...

Our services for the night included a wash house special provided by the PMTS future professionals. Lemon juice scrub followed by a Perrier rinse or a raw sugar scrub. We also paired up and gave each other a quick facial and pedicure. Good, good times.

Ashli's rejuvenating mask...

Kari and Wendy partnering up for a deep cleansing...

Tiffany painting someone's toenails...

Katie, just relaxing...

Julie Baer, who doesn't read my blog (so don't tell her that I have this picture posted or she might kill me!)

Cori... the Paul Mitchell rockstar!

Elaina, getting down and dirty with someone's toes...

B-Ridge soaking it all in...

{Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park...

We went to the Sand Dunes over the weekend and had a ball. It was a little bit of a drive for one night, but it's a definate repeat next year! Our family had never been to the Sand Dunes and this year some friends invited us to go with them. We had so much fun. The weather was great and the kids played hard! The mountain runoff goes right through the sand creating this super shallow crystal clear stream that the boys went crazy over. I guess it dries up in the middle of June so you've got to go earlier in the summer. We hiked a little ways up the Sand Dunes and tried to slide down but found out that it was a lot more fun to run down them. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the kids playing around...

{Sammy dropped his smore in the pine needles...

{Jackson waiting to catch a wave on his sled??


{This little man is not complete without a truck in hand...