Peaches

Yes, it is time to bottle peaches! Yummy. We headed out on Saturday morning to pick peaches and pears. Unfortunately, some Mennonites & Amish beat us to the pears. There wasn't one good pear left. The boys always enjoy getting to the orchards and running around. Its good for them to experience nature and it burns off energy. Who couldn't ask for there 3 year olds to take a 2 hour nap? And the peaches...well they will be wonderful all winter long!

Bragging Rights

Ok, I have to put some pictures up of my sweet baby, Asher.He just turned 4 mnths old last Thursday. He has been such a good baby. He has endured countless hours in the car this summer traveling, and two long distance plane rides. He never came unglued. It has been wonderful to have such a great baby. Isnt he cute!!!! I think he looks like a cupie doll...just so chubby, and that hair! We love him so much!
My favorite picture of him!







Just for fun picture...The present Asher gave me a week ago

Beautiful Zion

We just got home from our Utah trip. It was wonderful. We were there for 12 days but it went by so fast. Here are a few pictures from the trip. Unfortunately, we didnt have time to see all of our friends and family. We do love you all and wish we could have been in multiple places at once. I hope you will forgive us for missing a bunch of you. We do love you and hope you know it! We spent some time in American Fork and around town. I really love Northern Utah county! Then we headed south for a family reunion in St. George. There were some problems hiking the SUBWAY in Zions, but the men survived. Mike even got in a little golf with his 4 brothers. It was so fun and hot (103 on Sat).

I lived in St. George for 8 years when I was little. I always wanted to go to the temple there. This trip was my first time inside. It is a beautiful temple!!

Breakfast at the condo in St. George. Babbel family reunion



Cousin Lex at Sand Hollow

Relaxing at Sand Hollow, St. George, Utah

Boys in their froggy towels that grandma gave them

Two of my cute sister-in-laws Kristen & Mariangel

Not a great beach at Sand Hollow, but lots of fun on the wave runners!

Mikey at Tuacahn. Like the sunburned face?

We saw Les Miserables, at the Tuacahn theater..it was amazing!

some of the crew at Tuacahn. The rest were watching all the kids. Matt, Darlene, Nick, Mike and myself enjoyed the show, kid free!

Uncle Jake and Cousin Mason

My sister Maleah & Eden aka "Casper the ghost". You can tell I havent seen the sun all summer.

Zach swimming in the resevior, red dirt on his face.

Mike and Asher

Uncle Matt getting ready to get on the wave runners

Tanner being cute!

Daddy and Zach wheeling around the block

Tanner and Daddy are Speed Racers!

This pic is hillarious,Zach was mad and didnt want to take a picture. Here is the result

Tanner and his BFF

Uncle Jake and Tanner on the wave runner

Daddy and Zach take a ride at Sand Hollow

Boys best friend

We are enjoying our vacation to Utah. Tanner and Zach have also found a new best friend..Miss T or "misty" the family dog. Named for her mohawk that looks like "Mr. T's". She is a black lab. The boys cant stop riding her and loving her to death. Poor dog. Double the trouble from these two.
We also hit Gateway Mall for some water fun, yesterday. The adventure continues, I will post more soon.
Ps...yes I have indulged in Cafe Rio and Creamies...Utah really is what they say, heaven on earth. Ok..close.

Cafe Rio & Creamies

This post is random, as many of my posts are. We are leaving in just 2 days to go to Utah to be with family. It has been 2 years since I have been to Utah. I spent many years living in there. I miss many things about it. But, recently I have only been thinking about two things, besides all the family I get to see. Cafe Rio, and Creamies.
Isn't it strange that I am thinking about food?! Not really when you realize that I am still trying to lose baby weight, and nursing every 2 hours. Dieting seems to make me think of food more than when I am not dieting!Such a catch 22.

I love Cafe Rio. I could seriously eat a salad or burrito there everyday. It has to be my favorite restaurant. Unfortunately, I have never found anything even close to as good. Even living in Texas I struggled to find something that I craved like the sweet pork at Cafe Rio. Pennsylvanians do not have good Mexican food. As a matter of fact, they eat very little Mexican out here. I think they believe Taco Bell is authentic Mexican cuisine. Not even close in my book. So, you can see why I would be dying to run out of the Salt Lake airport and haul over to Union Park for some Cafe Rio and some shopping.

And of course, CREAMIES. I craved Creamies my whole pregnancy and of course, you cannot get them here in PA. I love every flavor, but the dipped cherry with chocolate and banana are my favorites! Yes, I will be buying myself a box as soon as I can!
When I was a little girl, I used to love going to the now destroyed, Deseret Gym. It was a special treat when I could get there. Or ride the bus like a grown up to go all by myself. My favorite part of Deseret Gym was after swimming, going into the hallway where the vending machines were. They had an ice cream vending machine and guess what I always got...A CREAMIE! Ah, memories...
So, in light of my upcoming trip I will tell you my favorite places to eat in Utah:
1. Cafe Rio- yummy!
2. Asian Star- two words -Walnut Shrimp! -Thanks to uncle Darrell for introducing me!
3. Pace's Dairy Ann- in Bountiful, I ate here at lunch at least 2 a week in high school. Astro Pops, Rainbows and a CountryBoy. Oh My!
4. The Porcupine Grill- I lived in Midvale for 3 yrs and loved eating here on cold winter nights!
5. The Mandarin- Prom, Morp, every formal dance through my Utah life. Great food!
6. Deigos Taco Shop- 45 W 300 N, Provo- hole in the wall, great carne asada burritos!

Utah...here we come. And I am bring the next generation for some indoctrination!

Hallo meine Amish Freunde (Hello, My Amish Friends)

For family home evening this week, we decided to go to Lancaster and explore the Amish a little more (abt 40 min drive). We let the kids play with the animals at the petting zoo. Then we hopped aboard an Amish wagon and went through the back roads of a real working Amish farm. It was amazing.
Did you know that the Amish are allowed to have cell phones? As long as they are not "connected" to the world by power cords, and telephone wires, it is allowed. This belief is based on a interpretation of Matthew from the Bible about "being in the world but not OF the world ". Teenagers who are not baptized are not bound by the rules.So technically they are not Amish just because they are born into an Amish family. They have to choose to be baptised at which time they are forbidden to do/use certain things. They go through a period of "rumspringa", or running around, in their teenage years,often with a certain amount of misbehavior that would otherwise not be tolerated.
We saw one farm that had a Hummer3 parked in the barn. Apparently our driver knew the families teenage son who attended public high school, had a drivers license and dated non Amish girls. Very interesting...Anyway, we had a great time. Then we hit the "Family Cupboard" for some Amish cooking. YUM! That nights lesson:
Hard Work + Dedication + Strong Family values = Good People
Plain clothes + Horses + Wagons= Not For Me
See kids, being Mormon isnt really all that weird is it!

The hills are alive with the sound of screaming

We did it, we finally went camping. And yes, we survived. We left Friday to camp at Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Our friends, the Poulsons, joined us for a fun filled night of camping in the great outdoors. I felt bad for all the adjacent campers who had to listen to my boys screaming and running through the woods all day. But hey, that happens when there are 5 little boys, 3 of whom are 3 years old. Then the neighbors had to listen to me blabbering all night around the campfire. Poor souls!
The bad news was there were only non flushable toilets at the site. Yuck!
The good news is there were no major accidents and no major meltdowns. Asher was a champ and slept more in the van that night than he does at home. We woke up and had a pancake breakfast the next morning. Bacon & cantaloupe too. Yum! Then we drove over to the lake for a little swimming and lunch. It was so fun! There were a few things we forgot to bring, but overall, it was a success! Cant wait to do it again!


What do I need a rain cover for?...um rain Mike. Guess who was running around in their underwear in the dark in the rain to find a rain cover at 3 AM?

The mighty camping boys! Tanner, Liam & Zachary. Wondering about Zach's nose, see post from Aug 1st.

Buddies!

Zach & Tanner at the Lake

Inside the Tent with Jen, Liam & Tanner

Why should we sleep in our sleeping bags when dad's bed is more comfy?

Did I actually get any sleep on this mattress...No.

We forgot to bring a spatula for the pancakes, but "McGuyver" Jen engineered one out of a cd she found in her car. Good thinking girl, worked like a charm!