my little outdoorsman

We went up the Provo Canyon last night with some good ol family fun. Canyon, the child who cries to get out the front door, couldn't get enough of all the outdoor fun. We were lucky to have Edison there too. Those two are peas in a pod. I think the highlight of the night was the kickball game. I'm so glad we can have a little healthy competition. Thought I'd share a few photos!

Canyon has been a little obsessed with balls lately. There were plenty of balls at the park and he was in heaven!

The two boys enjoyed eating their dinners all by themselves! I think at one point Edison was painting himself with ketchup.

Edison was cracking us all up with his hula hoop skills. That boy is going to be talented!

A Little something green

Well, It's a good time of year to find green things and I found just that in our little backyard (and no the green is not weeds...) We've got a little garden going on. I love it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go a year without a garden no that I have one. Zach is so good with the plants...he treats them like children, I'm sure that's why he doesn't want another baby right now;) I couldn't get great shots of our growing veggies but here are the plants at least:)

Cloudy days

The photo challenge asked for clouds so mother nature obliged. That's all that was in the sky today 9although I'm sure there were some birds too:) I decided to get a shot from our backyard. Personally, I LOVE cloudy days, I could take them every day, but I like sunshine too!

fashonista

Ok...not quite. I love reading blogs with cute girls who come up with cute (and mostly thrifted) outfits, I am not one of those girls. I enjoy cardigans...lots and lots of cardigans. They may not be the most fashionable but boy howdy do I think I look swell in 'em. So, keeping with the fun photo challenge, here is what I wore today.

oh and It's been a few years since modeling school... :)

Photo challenge =

challenging. Photo challenge, should be fun, right? On Monday, then Tuesday and Wednesday, I sat down ready to do a self portrait. I couldn't. I don't know why I'm so intimidated by those two words or what they imply but I kept feeling like "self portrait" meant so much more than just a snapshot of myself.

I spent this morning in my favorite place with one of my closest friends. As I was leaving I snapped a picture, hoping to pile in it all the feelings I had had. Putting it on the computer I realized I wanted it to be my first self portrait (the last day is also a self portrait) This is what I hope my essence reflects, it's what I want to see when I look in the mirror (figuratively of course:)

next---> Tomorrow's outfit. hopefully this one won't take me half a week:)

Dear Utah County

I've enjoyed being your resident, I really have. I love that over the years I've learned the back roads and easy ways to get to my destination. Which brings me to this month's beef. You have torn up the only road out of our neighborhood. That same road was my way to work when the freeway was busy. Well, they both are a mess and I spend more than 2 hours a day waiting. I kindly ask why? Why would you close up the freeway AND it's frontage road? Do you realize that you have made "Utah Drivers" that much worse? If you thought we were in a hurry before you've created a whole new rushing monster. An invoice has been sent detailing the time and effort I have spent in the traffic created by your misjudgment and what that will cost you. I hope we can clear this up soon.

ok ok, just a little bit of the pent up disgust I have for the construction near our house lately but seriously. The once never late girl is now cutting it close for everything! Anyone else having issues?

The best chocolate chip cookie recipe...ever.

I like Sundays. I especially like Sundays because I have time to do things I don't normally have time to do...like bake/cook. I was looking through my inventory and realized that I have accrued quite the selection of items that would be delicious in many dessert recipes. I started going through my favorite cooking blogs in hopes of discovering a new favorite cookie to splurge on. I ended up at allrecipes.com. A reviewer of a cookie I was checkin out mentioned the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that she'd ever come by. I quickly found the mentioned recipe (who doesn't need to try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe?) I read through all the reviews and no one had a bad thing to say about the Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I tried them (thanks to the Davies for supplying the flour) and Zach would agree with the hype...They are delicious!

I guess these thighs aren't going anywhere anytime soon:)

Photo courtesy of allrecipes.com

Now I know this is far from a cooking blog and I'm far from a chef, but I wouldn't dare keep this recipe a secret. Try them, I really don't think you'll regret it (unless of course you've already perfected the chocolate chip cookie, but you know, I thought the Fox's had, and these give those a run for their money) Love you Fox family! and your delish cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

*** Instead of doing the 1/4 cup size I did them with a 1 in scoop and made it over flow a little. That way more were made (so I could share) and they weren't quite as huge! Enjoy!

Me too! Me too! (sorry kenz)

My cute friend, McKenzie, is doing a 30 day photography challenge and I want to try it too! I've been more and more interested in capturing our special moments so I'm excited to focus on certain things each day. Picture number 1 will appear tomorrow!

Number 2467

Zach up and did a half marathon this morning! Yeah I married a stud. He finished in 1 hour 44 minutes. He said he ran right next to the 8 minute mile pacer nearly the whole time (save the part with the cramp). 13.1 miles handsomer, I'd say:)

He really appreciated the opportunity to run the race and I think he had a blast. He was a little worried about waking up at 4:30am to get up the mountain but his adrenaline kicked in and he did fantastic. Looks like he'll be doing the Utah Valley MARATHON next year! :)

Breaking the habit

I don't know about you but there's just something about summer that makes me want to be a better person. I subconsciously start breaking bad habits. I guess it's a little like spring cleaning for the soul. Most of the habits that I break in the summer aren't a goal that I set it just kind of evolves. Saturday night I broke a huge habit...I deleted my Facebook account. I still am in awe that I did it, I've been on Facebook since I was 16 and I've never contemplated getting rid of it.

Yesterday, Zach asked me why I decided to do it. and I couldn't answer him completely because I hadn't formulated any reasons, but now that I ponder on it...there are so many. I guess I'm a mom and a married woman, I don't NEED social networking. I loved seeing pictures of my friends and what's going on in their lives. It was always good to keep tabs on people and if something happened I could try and help almost instantly. Those were the positives of Facebook, but there were so many negatives that I can't justify keeping it.

1. I spent too much time browsing and seeing what everyone is up to.

2. I started to compare myself to everyone else....no bueno. I have a WONDERFUL life and although it may have it's ups and downs, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

3. People get nasty. I've heard and felt some pretty hurtful comments on Facebook, I think people are getting too open. There is no need to air ALL someone's laundry for the world to see, dirty or not. I felt myself being sucked in and I wanted nothing to do with it.

I think my favorite part about "deactivating" my account was the final page. It showed about 5 pictures of me and another friend and each had a caption that read "so and so will miss you", naming the friend in the photo:) It's nice to be missed:) Beneath the photos they asked for a reason why I was leaving. If you checked a box it would come up with several ways to overcome that and continue to have an account. I could help but smile.

I'm not going to lie. I feel the pull a little too often to get on. I think after a few more days I'll be used to not logging on. I love shedding the old and moving on with the new! It's a great feeling.

One more playground picture

By 1 I meant 4. I just can't get enough of these two. They are just too cute for words!

Canyon likes to sit at the top of the slide and scowl. He has yet to go down.

They figured out that the wood chips fall through the steps.

Isn't she just adorable?

I love this one. They both have the chubbiest legs and the cutest faces! Kenz and I are trying hard not to play matchmakers:)

Bun in the oven

Ok so the title is misleading:) Our relatively big bun likes to play with the drawer under the oven. If you can't tell, C had just gotten up from his nap...hence the messy hair!

WANTED:

1 Stethescope

1 Diagnostic Penlight Gauge

and 3 Pairs of royal blue scrubs

Nursing Degree....HERE I COME!!!