Now on to some pictures, I took 836. I won’t show you all of them, but this post is image heavy.

We will start out with a picture of each of the kids. They had a wonderful time, lots of time to play in the water, sand, catch fish and try to find lizards. What kid wouldn’t love that?

2 years ago when we went to Lake Powell, Helen fell off the tube and it scared her enough that she didn’t want to do it this year. But after a couple of rides on the speed boat watching her cousins wake board and ride on the tube, she decided that she would do it.

Then Arthur decided that he wanted a turn to ride in it too

And then when Arthur was done and Jeff asked who wanted to go next Cedric said I do. It was really hard for me to watch Helen and Arthur being pulled behind a fast boat in the middle of a lake. (I’m really not a water person, I have strange irrational fears of water) But to watch my 2 year old was really hard. Jeff had told them to give a thumbs up if they wanted to go faster, thumbs down to slow down. Cedric kept pointing up to go faster and I would tell Jeff he was going fast enough.

Orson almost decided that he wanted to take a ride in the tube and then he changed his mind. Then Jeff gave Samantha and Jeffery a really crazy ride in the tube and just being in the boat was a crazy enough of a ride for me and Orson. I think we might be cured of not wanting to go on a ride like that again. At least until the next trip to Lake Powell.

You would think that a speed boat wouldn’t be very relaxing but it was to Cedric and my 10 month old niece.

Reed, the boys and I standing on the water

One night after a storm and right at sunset I went on a boat ride with Lisa and Jeff, Lake Powell is really an amazing place. On that ride I took some pictures and we saw a full double rainbow. My lens wasn’t wide enough to get the whole thing but it really was pretty. Lisa and Jeff hadn’t see the youtube double rainbow video so my double rainbow, what does it mean comments weren’t so funny.

Before we left for Lake Powell my nephew had given Arthur a fishing pole. Arthur said that it was one of the best days of his life. Arthur was really excited about going fishing and he spend lots of time on the days before the trip practicing his casting off. So much that he broke the reel before we even left for the trip. So we had to get him a new reel and Reed, and the boys spent lots of time trying to catch a fish. Reed, Helen and my nephew all had caught a fish each. They let all of them go but one, Reed and my nephew decided that they didn’t like the stuff that you have to do to prepare the fish to eat. They should have had a lesson on that stuff before we left. Not even the fishing books that Reed got at the library covered how to gut the fish. Anyway on the last day Arthur finally caught a fish, this picture is of Reed getting ready to let it go.

The next few pictures are of the big rock formation that we were camped by, I liked taking pictures of it at different times of the day to see how the lighting would change the look and feel of the picture.

Before we left I wanted to get a family picture, all of our kids were pretty annoyed about it so this was the best picture that we got.

Thanks Lisa and Jeff! We had a fabulous time! And we sure missed all of the family that couldn’t make it this year.

The next 2 pictures are of one bag, it’s reversible!

This bag features a glow in the dark robot

Also next Sat. on the 14th I am going to have my booth at Craft Lake City, it really is the coolest craft fair you can go to in Utah. You really shouldn’t miss it!

You should come and check it out, it should be fun!

Business has been kind of slow in American Fork, so on Tues. Helen said that she was going to set up her table on the corner and try to sell her stuff there. She had much better luck right here on the corner. When she decided that she was done, she had sold most of her earrings and a couple of her crochet flower hair clips.

Now Helen has a history of trying to sell stuff, lemonade, popsicles, and probably the most unique thing was trying to sell swimming suits made out of plastic grocery bags. And to add to the humor of that, it was December, and it was cold. I stepped in and advised her to figure out something that might sell better for the season. So she came up with the idea to sell snowflakes that she had made. She had a pretty good business going there for a little while. She even had a couple of orders that we had to mail.

Now Arthur is to the age that he wants to be able to sell things that he has made and when Helen was selling her jewelry he thought about what he could make. He came up with the idea that he could hand sew some pillows, I helped him cut out the first one and gave him a needle and thread and he tried really hard but the thread kept getting tangled and he started getting frustrated. So I thought I would try to teach him how to do a straight stitch on the sewing machine. He really got the hang of it quick. So now he has made 5 pillows and he is out by the curb trying to sell them. He is calling them car pillows. They are small enough to store under a seat or in the back window, but could make it more comfortable for passengers naps in the car.

Orson also wanted to sell something so he made some of his paper art (I failed to get a picture of the Art, I will have to do it when he makes more) but pretty much it consists of drawing on a paper and the folding or crunching it in some way. After being out there about 5 min. they had their first customer and he bought 4 for the paper art for $.25, Orson ran in really excited to show me his quarter and then about 5 min. later he came in sad because he lost his quarter. He had another customer that bought some for $1, he is very excited about that but he didn’t like sitting out there and waiting, he gave up in about 15 min. after they started. He told me I could go out and sell his art. Somehow I don’t think I could do as well selling it, I don’t have the big brown eyes and dimples.

Well there are a couple that have a problem with being quiet. They have a funny rattle but they really would like to be any kids friend, and protect them from the boogie man.

I also have the regular ninja’s that like to wear black, I guess maybe they are new to the job and haven’t gotten sick of the same old black everyday.

Did you know that some ninja’s have a new job? I call them cooking ninja’s, they help out with your hot cooking needs. They are fabulous at helping with holding hot things, they don’t even mind if you have to lay them down and make them hold a hot pan, it really is what they are trained for, they don’t mind at all.

All these ninja buddies are going to be for sale at the American fork arts market. I will also have some rattles and other fun stuff.

The American Fork arts market is going to be every Monday until the end of Aug. it is open from 5:00-7:00. You should totally come and check it out. The address is 851 E. 700 N. it is the park that is just west across the street from the American fork temple.

Last night was the opening VIP night, it was fun they had giveaways and Mad Max and the wild ones played. It reminded me of the Friday night rockabilly shows in the basement of Arby’s. For those of you that didn’t come last night, be sure to check it out before Sat.

We had “Cupcakes” for dinner

Then we had “Meatloaf” for dessert

I tried to be sneaky, but before dinner Helen saw the meat in the cupcake pans and she asked me what I was, I told her that it was a new spice cake recipe. Then she saw me cutting the meat loaf and she didn’t suspect a thing. When we sat down for dinner I told them that we were going to have a wacky dinner and eat dessert first, they were pretty surprised that I was going to let them eat cupcakes first. When Helen opened the cupcake and found meatloaf inside she asked if she had to eat that or if she could have the real meatloaf. So I went and got the meat loaf, I had it in the oven and I told her that it was really hot and to be careful. Then all the kids wanted a slice of the real meatloaf. We dished it out pretending that it was really hot and to their surprise it wasn’t hot at all, and it was hard and sweet. I was surprised that I pulled it off so well, especially since I couldn’t get them out of the kitchen for too long while I was making it. The meat loaf really did look like real meat, it turned out better than I thought it would. So if you want the recipes for next year, or just for a fun dinner, here you go…

Chocolate rice cereal Meat Loaf

6 Cups crushed chocolate rice cereal
10 oz. bag of Marshmallows
Green and red fruit leather chopped into small chunks
2 T. butter
Strawberry Jam (No seeds)

Melt butter in large bowl in microwave, add marshmallows and melt. Stir in crushed cereal, and fruit leather bits. Dump into a greased bread pan, spread jam on top and let sit for about 30 min. before cutting.

Meat loaf Cupcakes

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 C. seasoned bread crumbs
1 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
3 T. Ketchup
1 egg
1/2 t. celery salt
1/4 t. pepper

Potato frosting
3 cups mashed potatoes
food coloring

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with foil cupcake papers

2. In a large bowl, mix together all the meat loaf ingredients until well combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the lined cups. (the liners should be about three quarters full)

3. Place the filled muffin tins on a cookie sheet and bake the cupcakes for about 15 min. or until cooked through.

4. Divide the mashed potatoes and color with food colors, pipe potatoes on meatloaf to look like frosting. Or you could spread it on too.

I would love to hear about your pranks. Did you pull a good one on somebody or did somebody get you good?

I present to you the most yummy syrup recipe, you really need to try it! A good friend of mine gave it to me and she calls it liquid gold. It’s really easy to make and you won’t want to buy that stuff in the store that they call syrup. It tastes good on pancakes, waffles, German pancakes and even Ice Cream.

Pancake syrup

1 cube butter
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. milk
1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. Vanilla
1 t. maple flavoring

Melt butter in sauce pan add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and boil for 2-3 min. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat when needed.

I have heard of variations of this recipe that call for buttermilk or cream instead of milk. I have heard from a reliable source that the buttermilk one is similar in taste but easier with milk because not everybody keeps buttermilk on hand. I don’t know about the cream recipe but I’m just going to go with the milk because it’s healthier. I guess as healthy as a recipe can be with a stick of butter and 1 C. of sugar can be.

I don’t know if I have any real readers left, I know I get a lot of spam comments. That is why I moderate all comments before they are posted to the blog. If there are still some real readers out there, I have some news, I am now a super hero of sorts. I am Eunice the proud side kick of Jello girl. We have a website www.joyofjello.com and we have some fun ideas for St. Patrick’s day and we have some ideas for Easter coming soon. Check it out, leave comments, let us know what you think.

Also I am going to be doing the Beehive Bazaar again, it is going to be in May and they have a new location. Check back on updates about that.

Now go and make some syrup and enjoy!

How about a crazy love bird. First birds don’t have arms and they aren’t shaped like hearts. Just in time for Valentines they grew arms to hug with and everybody knows that the universal symbol for love is a heart, so why not.

If hearts just aren’t your thing. Then I have some mini Love Ninja’s. These little Ninja’s decided that they are tired of always wearing black and hiding in the bushes at night waiting to ambush their opponent. They want to spread some love around. What is a better way to show your love than giving your love a Love Ninja? I say there is nothing better. Your Valentine can keep this mini ninja close by to fight off any boogie monsters that might be hiding under the bed at night.

And if you want to REALLY want to show your Valentine that you love them, why not get them one of these fuzzy love ninja’s. These ones really spread the love and if needed they really pack a punch. These ones can be kept close by to fight off the bad guys. Bad guys might suspect an attack from a ninja hiding in the shadows dressed in black but they won’t suspect an attack from a bright red fuzzy ninja.

These love birds and ninja’s can be found now at Frosty Darling and on February 3rd- 13th at the Patina Market.

Speaking of Love… The other day I heard that Orson had kissed one of his little friends. When I asked him about it he said that he had kissed her and it wasn’t even a Eskimo or a butterfly kiss. It was on the lips, he said. He continued to tell me that his friend told him that they were married. He said that there wasn’t any kind of wedding stuff, she just told him that they were married. He got really serious and told me that he didn’t want to live at her house, he wanted to live at our house and be in our family forever. I explained that he wasn’t married. He was pretty relieved that he wasn’t married. When I told the little girls mom, she thought that it was pretty funny that her daughter was trying to secure a husband at 4 years old.