Camping

Sorry this is getting out a day late but yesterday we went camping and I had no internet access. :) We had a fun time camping, we haven't gone camping as a family for 2 years now so it was great. We went to Yuba Reservoir and fished and had tons of fun. The kids wanted to stay for 5 weeks! Kerby thought that was a good idea too. I didn't have a hair elastics so there was no way (even if it were possible) that they could have talked me into that. ;) I did find some ribbon in the car that I kept retying into mine and Skylar's hair.

 Time to swim. They had a blast!!

Fisher fishing while he swims. I think he loves fishing more than Kerby.

 Playing some basketball.

 Here you go daddy.

 Very pretty sunset.

Levi caught the first fish.

 Do we have a spirit watching???

 A carp (that's mostly what we caught but it was still fun).

Skylar with her favorite blanket that Grammy made...even though it's not even close to cold.

 That's one thirsty dog. She loves to stick her whole face in the water...up to her eyes to get a drink. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that.

 Where's Fisher?

 Kerby trying to take a nap.

 Playing in the sand, building sand castles.

 Fisher...still wanting to fish.

 

 My first fish. Another carp.

What a fun night. And for camping it was pretty cushy and easy. We really should do it more often. We used to go all the time. Thanks for reading. :) Check out today's post....you don't want to miss it!

Rio

 Today the kids and I along with Carrie and her kids and Tina's kids went to see Rio at the Spanish Fork Theater, their dollar showing. Can you believe it that my kids and I had never seen Rio? Well, we hadn't. I thought for sure at least my kids had at someone's house but they hadn't. So, it was a fun movie for us all to see. I think Kerby really would have enjoyed it too. That's one I'll have to buy, even Skylar sat through it. In fact I didn't even have to take her to the bathroom once, usually I take her at least 3 times. Landon, Easton and Oliver sat through it too. It's not very often that all the young kids are holding that still and a movie keeps their interest that long. Super cute, clean movie to watch. Why can't we have more like that?!? It was fun listening to the music I hear and dance to during Zumba so often. I was doing the dance steps in my head while watching. If you haven't seen Rio yet, I strongly recommend it....if you don't mind kid movies like me. Oh ya and I just discovered there will be a Rio 2 in 2014. That's some exciting news.

Snow White and the Huntsman

I'm trying to get in as much fun as possible this last week of summer so we went and saw this movie.  I liked it so much I immediately researched to see if there was going to be a second one...and there is!!! Possibly a third too. I really liked this movie and had been wanting to see it for a long time. 

I love how different it was from the original Snow White. Such a great movie! I read that the next movies will revolve around The Huntsman, I just hope that eventually he and Snow White end up together. I was a little confused by the Queen and what her story was. I didn't understand (maybe I missed something) what her mom had done to her, why she did the spell she did on her and what exactly it was. I'll probably have to watch it again (darn!) to understand what happened there. Anyways, I liked the fresh new spin they did on the Snow White story. Yes, there are lots of different spins out there but this one I really liked and it wasn't corny.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

My sisters Tina, Collette and I got together and made lots of jam. We made Strawberry Rhubarb and Strawberry jam. I was nervous to make strawberry rhubarb jam because rhubarb is so sour but the jam actually tastes really, really good. Mmmm I love fresh, hot, homemade jam. It tastes so delicious, now if I only had had the energy to make some homemade bread to go with it. Here's a sad fact about me...I have probably only made bread a handful of times. Ok including banana bread it's probably been about 10 times my whole marriage. I really need to do that more. I need some really good, easy recipes.

Here is the Strawberry Rhubarb recipe, it's just the recipe that comes with the Sure-Jell Certo packages.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

What You Need

2 1/4 cups crushed strawberries

1 3/4 cups prepared rhubarb 

6 1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

1/2 cup water

1 pouch CERTO

1/2 tsp. butter or margarine

Make It!

1. Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water, to simmer. 

2. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.

3. Discard stems and crush strawberries, set aside. Finely chop rhubarb; place in 2 qt. saucepan with 1/2 cup water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover. Simmer 2 minutes or until rhubarb is soft.

4. Measure exact amount of prepared fruit into 6 or 8 qt. sauce-pot.

5. Measure exact amount of sugar into separate bowl (reducing sugar or using sugar substitutes will result in set failures). Try Sure-Jell for Less or No sugar needed recipes fruit pectin for no or low-sugar jams and jellies.

6. Stir sugar into fruit in sauce-pot. Add 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired.

7. Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.

8. Stir in pectin quickly. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon.

9. Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with 2-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. (Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add boiling water, if necessary.) Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process 10 min. Remove jars and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, lid is not sealed and refrigeration is necessary.)

 

I used my steam canner and processed the jars in that for 15 minutes. Way less water to bring to a boil and I think you can do it in less time but I don't have instructions for it so wasn't sure how much time to do.

 

I Am Number Four

 I finished reading this book today and it was pretty good. There was a little swearing in it so I didn't like that but it wasn't too bad.  Other than that it was a good book, better than the movie of course. It's a book that covers a lot of territories; aliens, superheroes, high school, bullying, romance and more. Was it a book that I couldn't put down? No, it wasn't. I also didn't have the time to not put it down either but I wasn't so excited to read it that I was looking for any spare minute I could read. I would read the other books in the series, just not sure if I'd buy them. I'm rooting for John and the others to save earth and their own planet too though. :)

Madagascar 3: Europes Most Wanted

Skylar and I watched this while Kerby and the boys went fishing and she loved it because it was such a cute movie and because she got to go without her brothers, just her and mommy. It was so cute, she paid attention to this movie more than any other movie I've taken her too and half the time she was dancing in her chair or on my lap because she liked the music so much. I really liked the movie too, probably because I had a pretty peaceful time watching it but I think I like it better than the first two. It's a great animated movie and I just might buy it to give to the kids for Christmas.

In this movie the animals become part of a circus on accident and they end up being really good. It's a super fun show and I love that we got to watch it at such a good price at the Spanish Fork, Water Garden theater.

Seven Peaks

Today my kids had their last day of swimming lessons! They were sad but I am glad. No more driving to Spanish Fork every morning. Not that we probably won't head that way most days to go have fun though. The last day of swimming lessons they get to jump off the diving board and go down the slide so it's always my kids favorite day.

 After swimming lessons we went to Seven Peaks. Skylar knew she was going swimming and was very mad when we left the Spanish Fork pool instead of letting her swim. I finally had to point to the mountain and tell her that we were swimming in a pool by the mountain. She completely understood once I did that. I haven't been yet this year and Tina has taken some of my kids a couple times so it was pretty fun to go. Next time we plan on getting there right when it opens so we can go on more slides and stuff without the huge lines. Hopefully it will be better that way.