Logan Lately

Logan's been growing like a weed lately! He started crawling a few weeks ago, and I swear he's now "big enough" to get into everything. He gets under the sink in the kitchen, gets up on the coffee table and grabs my books, takes the DVD's off the shelf, and gets his fingers stuck in the VCR. Makes me wonder why we still have a VCR. He also is able to check out his fish finally. He loves tracing his finger along the tank following the fish.

He also learned to roll his R's recently. It's hilareous to see him do it to his cousin Andrea. She can't do it, so she stares at him like "what in the world", then she tries, "R R R" before giving up. I'm convinced between the R rolling and his love for Latin Ladies he's going on a South American mission.

Dave and I started rearranging Logan's room too. Up until now my desk and crafting stuff has all been in Logan's room. But lately if I sew while he's taking a nap it will wake him up. So this weekend we moved my desk, sewing machine, and everything else into Logan's room. I'm still trying to decide on how to lay out "our" new space (since Dave's two desks are still in there), but I'm glad to be out of Logan's room.

We also spent some serious time on yard work this weekend. Nothing major, just weeding and bush trimming. But it needed to be done! The yard looks so much better now. I planted a few more irises that a lady in the ward gave me. My Grandma Yoder gave me a few last year, and I've just loved watching them come up! I look forward to having tons more next summer.

Solar Eclipse in Southern Utah

Last weekend we made a quick trip down to the cabin for a weekend of relaxation and a solar eclipse. My Uncle James orchestrated the whole weekend; finding out about the eclipse, buying 40 pairs of solar glasses, and setting up a telescope so we could get some great pics (since we were told the intense sun can ruin cameras and we weren't willing to chance it).

We drove down with my parents late Friday night. Saturday Dave went rock hounding with my Dad and found a killer "arrow head". It was really used by the Native Americans as a drill bit. They would put it on the end of a pole and use it to drive it down into wood or whatever. It's extremely cool to see something this intricate last so long.

Mom, Logan and I stayed at the cabin and had a relaxing day with Grandma cutting out squares for a quilt, crocheting, and showing off all our crafty projects. I had just finished a quiet book for Logan's Birthday that I'd made out of felt Grandma gave me. So I brought it down to show off! Each page highlights a different color with a fruit. You can fold down the fruit to see what's inside.

Sunday we spent a casual morning at the cabin. Logan was still exhausted from not sleeping on the drive down, so we let him have a nap and we read the scriptures, tidied up a bit, and packed up. In the afternoon we drove up to Cedar Breaks, looked at a few sites, and went on a few hikes. Eventually we met up with my Uncles James & Michael, as well as my Grandma Yoder.

Logan refused to take his second nap, and became grumpier and grumpier. So we watched the moon slowly cover the sun, and eventually decided to drive down the canyon to finish the eclipse. We stopped about 5 minutes before the final coverage, and watched for 10 minutes.

It was really cool to see this eclipse (called a ring of fire). Because of the placement of the moon in relation to the sun and the earth, the moon didn't cover the entire sun, so you can see a ring of sunlight around the outside of the moon. This type of eclipse doesn't happen very often, so it was really exciting to see!

We drove back, and Logan promptly fell asleep. He's been recovering sleep wise from the weekend ever since, but we're glad we got to see it!

Happy Mother's Day!

My first "real" Mother's Day turned out really well. Something my family has always done for birthdays and Mother's/Father's Day is insist the girl/guy of the day does NO work what so ever. So we prepped the night before by cleaning and getting everything ready.

The food was great (and let's be honest, not cooking or cleaning is what it's all about)! For breakfast Dave made me some Orange Cinnamon Rolls and an omelet. For dinner he made Steak Gorgonzola, a salad and garlic bread. In the evening we needed a snack, so I introduced Dave to Muddy Buddies. It was a tasty day!

Dave also was so kind to teach my lesson as well. It was great to just have a break! We relaxed, ate, went on a walk to the park, and just spent time together. So nice!

We decided for gifts this year to combine Mother's and Father's day and get ourselves a bike trailer! We used all of our REI Dividend to buy it, so it didn't cost us anything! Dave also bought me the Hunger Games trilogy. I wasn't expecting anything on top of the bike trailer, so it was a pleasant surprise. Over all it was a fabulous day!

Ladies Lunch: Salmon Chowder

We had a great ladies lunch today! We chatted, got to see Alison's newly decorated baby room and we ate. We always eat good food at ladies lunch. My mom made some fabulous peanut butter oatmeal cookies and I brought a Salmon Chowder recipe I found a few weeks ago.

We've been trying to eat salmon at least twice a month because it's healthy, so I've been experimenting a lot lately with new recipes. This one is super easy and delicious!

Salmon Chowder

2 T butter
1/4 c onion (chopped)
1/2 c celery (chopped)
1/2 t garlic powder
1 1/2 c potatoes (dices into 1 inch cubes)
1 c carrot (thinly sliced)
2 c chicken broth
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t dill
10 oz canned salmon
12 oz can evaporated milk
can of creamed corn
1 c cheddar cheese (shredded)

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and garlic powder until onions are tender. Stir in potatoes, carrots, corn, broth, salt, pepper, and dill. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in salmon, evaporated milk, and cheese. Cook until heated through.

Graduation, More Teeth & Life

Dave is officially a graduated man! He finished all his classes about a week ago, and last Friday it became official. It's been a lot of work, but I'm so glad it's over. One of us has been in school since we were married, so it's so nice to have nights to focus on our little family!

Dave did take a few days off work to relax, unwind, and finish up his portfolio. We did some heavy yard work as well as got in a few bike rides and a hike to Doughnut Falls. It was nice to have a break, but it's time to start the job hunt.

It's been also been a rough week in the Plastow home! Logan's been teething again, and He is one ornery boy. After babysitting him last Saturday my Mom decided he's getting 3 teeth at once, and that's what's causing the hubbub. He's gnawing on everything! I can't even get a picture of him without at least one finger in his mouth.

He's also getting so big; these jammies are 12 months old! I got him a pair of these and a Spiderman pair from Walmart for the summer. Dave now loves putting Logan to bed at night.

I should be getting a new calling in a few weeks, and I've started trying to prepare for it. It's totally different than teaching Gospel Doctrine. It's been a good calling for the past 3 years, and I'm trying to get excited for the next one. As soon as I'm called, I'll start some new projects.