Brandin' Iron dinner and Forsyth Trail walk

 The kids gave us a gift card to the Brandin' Iron steakhouse in Pine Valley.  We tried to go earlier in the summer, but that just happened to be the day that the big fire started up there and they called to say they were closed.  Now they are open again and we had a wonderful meal on Friday night!  Afterwards we drove around some seeing more of the fire destruction and then went over to the Forsyth Trail and took a walk.  We only went up about a mile because it kept threatening to rain (it rained hard while we were eating dinner) and because it was going to get dark.  But in that mile we saw lots of different levels of the fire damage.  It was very burned near the trailhead, but when we got up a mile there was quite a bit of green left, especially along the stream.  And there was a beautiful rainbow glowing across the valley at the first of the walk too.  It was nice and cool because of the rain.  The burned part got kind of creepy feeling as it got dark.  It felt like a Halloween forest of black tree skeletons.  But, the sunset came and made it pretty again.  I'm glad to see that some things weren't as badly damaged as I thought they had.  There are hints of green coming up in many places.  It will be a long time for the trees to come back, but until then there will at least be some green.  

A date with Torin

We had a fun date with Torin last week.  Ferf had some things to do and asked if he could spend the evening with us.  Glad she did.  We started out with dinner at The Crackerbarrel.  They have a little peg game at the tables that you can play while waiting for dinner.  Paul played first to remind Torin how it was done.  It's really hard to play until you can get rid of any more of the pegs than three.  Torin tired several times and got three and then one time six, which was very frustrating to  him.  Then he really put his mind to it and got it down to two and thought more and got it down to one a couple of times.  I've certainly never gotten it down to one.  We were so impressed with the way he really put his mind to it.  He was pretty excited to think that he had done it.  Dinner came and was really good.  Then we decided to go miniature golfing.  It was lots of fun as well.  Just a little night, but one that helped build some good relations with Torin.  He's going through a lot, just like all of Ferf's kids are right now.  Anything that we can do to help out is a blessing for us to be able to do.  

Temple tour, Fall tour and Tuacahn evening

 Another fun Friday! We took G'ma and went to the St. George Temple Open House.  It's gorgeous inside and out!  Then we went to see the leaves on Cedar Mountain!  Lookin' gorgeous there too!  And that night we went to see The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Tuacahn.  It was the best of the 3 we've seen there this year and was awesome!  Filled up that day pretty much!  (Aspen Mirror Lake area is always one of my favorite Fall spots!)

The Chocolate Geographer!

The kids gave us a gift card to a new and unique experience...a date to The Chocolate Geographer!  Ashley Shelton is a high school friend of Christie's who has started this new business.  She has her degree in Geography and is also a Certified Chocolate Taster (she took the course through a company in London).  This was a really fun experience. 

When tasting/eating chocolate first...Look.  Compare the color of the bars (we had eight pieces).  Some may be light brown, while others appear dark red.  What do you notice?  What are you drawn to? Next - Did you know that you should listen to the "snap" when you break chocolate to tell how it is tempered in the process of heating and cooling down before molding.  Is it a crisp snap or a dull thud? Next smell it deeply breathing and noting the unique aroma.  Does it smell nutty, fruity, sweet? Then taste it by melting it between your tongue and the roof of your mouth before chewing to avoid overwhelming the palate.  Does it feel smooth, creamy? How does the taste change when you bite?  Last close your mouth and breathe through your nose, taking note of the progression of the flavors.  Does the taste linger after you swallow?  We learned about the percentage of cocoa/sugar and inclusions.  We learned about origins of the cocoa and how it is grown, harvested, fermented and roasted.  We learned about where it is grown and some of the politics involved.  We tasted chocolate from Madagascar, Hawaii, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, Dubai, Dominican Republic and Singapore.  We only tasted one white chocolate and it was actually butterscotch colored.  White chocolate doesn't have cocoa in it, just cocoa butter which is still considered a percentage of chocolate. 

Mostly I'm a fan of milk chocolate, but I find that I do like some dark chocolate...but usually it has inclusions like caramel/sea salt and isn't just straight dark chocolate and sugar.  I'm not much of a fan of white chocolate.  It just tastes too sweet to me.  I wasn't able to taste/smell too much of the differences because of my tasting/smelling difficulties, but I still enjoyed the whole learning/tasting experience in such a cute setting with fun people.  My favorite was a 60% dark chocolate by Markham & Fitz (Nutty Nostalgia) of Columbian origin.  It was smooth, buttery, salty and had inclusions of peanut brittle, honey, sea salt, cocoa butter and kosher salt.  One that was very unique had the flavor from rose petals in it.  I didn't taste that for sure!

I wish I had taken some pictures of the set up, but I didn't.  Here are some of what we brought home as leftovers and of Ashley and the place where she hosts.  The set up was beautiful.

Grand Edventure with the Smith Kids

 

We had good times with Tasia, Zade and Trigg at Fiesta Fun - miniature golfing and then at Dairy Queen for treats afterwards.  We went on the last day of our school Spring Break!  It was a fun time and a great way to finish it off!

Grand edventure date - Eliza and Trigg

 Eliza and Trigg were our dates for mini golf yesterday.  It was a little wild and crazy with not too many rules to follow - you could help that ball along in a lot of different ways if needed.  But we had fun and that's what matters.  Time in the car on the way to after treats was spent singing the family song book complete with There's a Hole in the Bucket revised to Dear Trigg and Dear Liza!  Trigg loved singing La Cucaracha because he remembers singing it with his mom.  We had to sing along to a few versions of Sea Shanty too.  We hear that school is good with them.  And Eliza gave us a little preview of a song she and a friend will be singing in church.  It's good to see them growing up and being confident in their abilities.  Hopes of the future!  

Great date night fun - Happy Earth Day!

 

We walked Dog Town Wash up and back for the end of our date night.  It was as beautiful as ever with wild flowers blooming and rocks being so amazing and full of variety.  An owl hooted to us on the way back as the sun was getting low.  The sounds of water flowing over the rock and frogs croaking added to the wonderfulness of it all.  I love getting out and enjoying the beauties of God's creations.  It's a drink of water to a thirsty soul. It fills me to the brim and overflowing.   Happy Earth Day to us from Heavenly Father!

 Date night walk a few weeks ago.  Jenny's Canyon at Snow Canyon.  

Valentine's dinner...early date!

 In order to beat the rush and get in at a super busy place, we had our Valentine's dinner on the Tuesday before.  It was still crowded, but we did get a reservation at Sakura.  Our kids gave Paul a gift card for there for his birthday and we used it to cover most of the cost.  It was so fun - we did the hibachi dinner where they cook it on a grill in front of you.  It's entertainment and oh such good food!  We had the Geisha special which includes shrimp, chicken and filet minion and we got fried rice, salad and soup too.  We had enough leftover for dinner the next night!  Glad our kids take such good care of us with fun stuff for birthdays, etc.  (One thing this cook did was make an onion volcano, set it on fire and then put it out...and then cooked up that onion into a yummy vegetable side dish.)

 

Madi, Tahlia and Essie - into the wild Grand Edventure date!

They were in town for their Tolman reunion and after the rest of the gang went home, their part of the family stayed in town with us for an extra few days.  And that meant we could take them on a date to the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum.  And it was so FUN!  They loved all of the animals and they liked the insect room too.  And they even watched the hunting movie at the end pretty well.  But they had so much fun in the children's room with all of the props to play like they were camping, to pet actual bears and deer skins and to just use their imagination to play.  It was fun to watch them enjoy themselves that way and to enjoy being with each other.  

After the fun at the museum we got lunch at Wendy's and took it to a park and ate it despite the wind trying to blow it away and then played on the toys some.  Next we went to another park to see the baby swans!  Then it was time to get them back to Mom and Dad!  Another 'grand edventure' date was accomplished!

We also enjoyed our Sunday time together by watching Music and Spoken Word, having a wonderful SS Lesson led by Jay and Brynn and watching a B of M movie that went with it, singing and sharing the sacrament blessed and passed by Jay and Paul. We took a drive up to very cool Pine Valley and spent some picnic time at the little Nature Center picnic area up there. The girls also loved having Bean play with them (should have gotten pics).  After naps and movie break we had delicious German Pancakes and bacon cooked by Jay and Brynn!  During the weekend we also had Derek and kids and Moss, Christie and kids over for dinner on Friday night and then Supe, Beacher and the Borrowmans over on Saturday night.  Bean and I (and Moss and Christie and kids) also got to enjoy swimming with them on Friday afternoon at the Arcadia Resort where they had been staying with their Tolman family reunion.  We missed seeing the Randalls and the Weavers from Enoch and Cedar, but look forward to spending time with them at our Family Uncamp coming right up.  

Dinner Date - Kaebri & Tavin

We had such a fun evening dining out (first time since Covid-19) with Kaebri and Tavin.  She graduated and we usually take grads to dinner and Tavin is leaving for the second installment of his mission next week.  We wanted to spend this time with both of them.  We had yummy dinner at the Outback and chatted away.  We followed the guidelines of eating far apart from other diners, the waiter wore a mask, we had throw away menus that we folded into paper airplanes!  Then on the way home we decided (I decided) we should check in at Nielson's Custard to see if they had lemon.  They didn't, but we did anyway!  

They are both amazing young adults and they have been affected by this pandemic a lot.  Tavin had to come home after just a few months on his mission in the Philippines, quarantine at home for two weeks, and then wait for several more weeks after being released, to be recalled and set apart to go back out to a different mission - Tacoma, Washington.  They tell him to keep working on his language in case they can put him back in the Philippines sometime before he's released.   Kaebri had to miss the last quarter of her senior year of high school and all the fun stuff that goes along with that.  She had to do all of her schoolwork at home/on-line and miss a big completion she could have attended in graphic design.  She had an on-line graduation ceremony. She was a rock and found other ways to celebrate and other ways to proceed with her college plans. She had some job plans interrupted too.  Life goes on and they are doing it with a great attitude!  Couldn't be prouder of both of them.  

Grand edventures for 2019 - mission accomplished!

Friday night we enjoyed a circus event with the final four grand kids we needed to take for a date.  Torin and Noah have been hard to catch - we've tried more than once on  both of them.  We were just waiting for the right thing to do with Sarai and Afton and this seemed like that fun thing.  And it was fun!  Luckily Juge was coming down from Cedar and brought those 3 with her saving us a lot of back and forth driving.  We enjoyed a pizza dinner and then we were off to the Circus with Bean helping by coming along to drive and enjoy it with us.  There were a lot of fun things including orange and white tigers, elephants, dogs and horses.  The juggler was hilarious and the lady who could change clothes in nothing flat was funny and amazing.  The ladies in the silk and other up high events were cool.  The man on the balance wheel was scary and the guy who was shot out of the cannon was crazy!!!  There were lots of little acts beside these too.  I didn't enjoy the huge effort and time spent trying to sell food, rides and toys, but other than that it was a really fun evening.  Afterwards we came home for hot chocolate and donuts (it got a little cool for the second half of the show with the Hurricane wind blowing a bit).  In the morning we took the thee Cedar kids home for their soccer/Saturday activities.  And we are done at last.  We love doing it, but it does get a little hectic sometimes trying to get it all in and work around so many busy schedules.

Finishing up the grand edventure dates for 2019

It's been hard to find a time to get together with some of the grand kids for their dates.  Especially Noah and Gaige.  Lots of busy things in their lives.  We usually take Gaige and Brady together since they are close in age and interests.  Finally got them together - not in the usual more outdoor/active way, but it was a fun evening.  We took them to see The Fighting Preacher - a really excellent movie about Willard and Rebecca Bean's 24 year mission for the Church in Palmyra, New York.  We had fun visiting with Gaige up and back to Cedar and Brady en route to the movie and over french fries and ice cream afterwards!