Twin Falls Temple

I was in Twin Falls last Sunday for my nephew's mission homecoming, and took the time to drive over to the temple. It's a beautiful temple, with landscaping to match the southern Idaho climate. I like how it's so, so white against a perfectly blue sky.

It's way past time to share another Wysocki picture! This one is really cute, with it's Root Beer wagons and America theme.

Baby Birds

Lots of birds live and make babies at Rose Ranch. At the June show there, without fail, there is stress over baby birds- either we find dead baby birds, or we find baby birds that can't fly, or baby birds want to live with us- you get the picture. Shannon, bless her black heart, wants the huge barn cats to eat the baby birds. Our friend Ann, the romance novelist, wanted to step on and squish them, because "they were just going to die anyway." But my 8 year old friend, Jennifer, being a lover of all animals, tried to save them all. She made a donut box home for this one complete with a straw bed,and hand-fed it worms dug up from the mud puddles. Honestly I don't know if it survived, but it's good to see such a soft heart.

Rose Ranch Rocket

We've been at the Rose Ranch show for the last few days. Rose Ranch has lots of rose bushes and lost of blowing dust- I don't think I've ever been so dirty! Shannon and Rocko were great on Thursdayin the 98 degree heat, doing fun equitation courses that had crazy turns. Today Rocko was cranky and spunky- not a great combination, but Shannon held him together with her super-strong legs long enough to make it through 2 rounds. For her, it was a bit like riding a lit rocket! :) So, Rocko went to Time Out, which means he had to run in circles for a while until he got tired. Then they came back to get a nice score of 74 in the HCHH medal, which ended up as 4th place. I really proud of Shannon!

Candid Camping

A few more shots of the camping trip- Bruce is famous at out house for slathering on the sunscreen. He puts so much on that big globs end up in his ears, on his nose, just everywhere.This is my nephew, Thomas, and my BIL, Ken. Thomas just about turned inside out with excitement when Ken caught this fish. Everyone, and I mean everyone in the campground knew that "He caught a fish! He caught a fish!!" For Ken, that means fish and eggs for breakfast. Ewww.
If it isn't chipmunks, it's ground squirrels. This one looks like he'd like to teach me a lesson or two.I like this picture of Brian, chillin' on the Fish Slayer before the Regatta.Camping is the way to go!

Waiter, There's a Fly in My Fat.

Saturday morning on the campout brought the men making breakfast. After the bacon was fried, Brian drained the grease into two cups. The hot grease immediately melted the top one into a strange disk shape.Flies like bacon fat! One daring fly got a little too close, fell in and was deep-fat fried. Brian seemed to think this whole precess was pretty cool! He was thinking of waiting till the fat hardened, cutting out the piece with the fly, and giving it to Lindsey as a gift. Ah, the joys of camping!

Stratford Regatta

Moon Lake had a nice sandy beach. It was a perfect place for Mark's kids to play.
Bruce put together his big inflatable boat (aka The Fish Slayer), which was toted sown to the lake, along with Grandpa's canoes:
Bruce organized oar choreography out on the lake:The canoes are always a fun thing for everyone to try:What a nice way to spend a sunny summer day!

Moon Lake Campout

Last weekend, Bruce, Brian and I went to the Stratford Campout at Moon Lake in the Uintahs. It was a great campground with two of my camping requirements: trees and flushing toilets. My third requirement is electricity so I can blow-dry my hair, but hey- you can't always have everything! Here's our little campsite:This is Bruce setting up the trailer. He has his "I'm working as hard and as fast as I can" face on. His hands are blurry because he's always in perpetual motion.Brian was pretty hungry when dinner finally rolled around. Notice how I've tried to save myself work by lining my saucepan with foil. There's something just gross about washing camping dishes. It didn't work. Bruce made Dutch Oven cobbler for dessert- yummy!Once the sun went down it was COLD! I didn't get much sleep that night, even with my nice flannel sleeping bag, and extra blanket and socks on my feet! Here are a few pictures of my cute nieces Sarah, Rachel and Carly:

Love Those Lilacs!

I have several Miss Kim dwarf lilac bushes in my front yard landscaping, and they are the best! They bloom a little later than traditional lilacs. My favorite thing: Open my front door wide and let that lilac smell fill my house!

Cat Kabobs

My poor kitty. Sometimes I think no one loves her but me. Sure, she barfs on things and wakes up Bruce in the middle of the night, and leaves mouse pieces by the door, but who couldn't love this face:My kids have plans for her when she goes the her reward in kitty heaven. Shannon says she is going to make a coon skin (cat skin?) hat out of her. Brian and Lindsey are going to make these out her: (Obviously not my picture- there's broccoli on that plate!)
I made these for last Sunday's family party. No, they are not made of cat. They are made of chicken, but somehow they started to be called Cat Kabobs. You can call them what you want to.

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sherry
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
• skewers

Directions

1. In a shallow glass dish, mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic powder. Stir the chicken pieces and pineapple into the marinade until well coated. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken and pineapple alternately onto skewers. Grill 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until chicken juices run clear.

I substituted apple juice for the sherry. I didn't have any sherry. :)

Dad's Remembrance Party

On Sunday, the Stratfords got together to have dinner and share memories of our Dad and Grandpa, Dale Stratford. (He would have been 80 years old yesterday. (See yesterday's blog! :)) Edna collected stories and pictures from family members, friends and church and business associates and put them in a Book of Remembrance.Nancy prepared a quiz about Dad for us to take:We BBQ'd and have a fun time together:Brian has led Lindsey to the Dark Side of picture taking.