Remodeling.

Lots of remodeling going on. Lots and Lots. Our grass is finally looking green and only 3 of the bizillian plants and trees we have planted in the last few months have died..... actually they were not planted... perhaps thats why they died. I have a nasty habit of buying plants and then letting them sit in the sun for a week before i plant them. Not a good idea when it is over 95 degrees I have now learned.

But anyway, I'll have to post some pictures of our 6 new aspen trees 3 new maple trees, 3 new fruitless pear trees,2 new apple trees, 7 new bushes, and more....

I will not however post pictures of our sorry excuse for a garden..... as it is not growing. The last frost date here in bountiful is may 24th so we planted from seed during about the second week of June...... bad idea. I think gardens like to grow in the spring. not the summer. because here it is the end of July and our biggest plants are like 4 inches tall.... and hiding amidst the more thriving weed patch. yeah.... gardens are way over rated.

Pure Goodness: Sour Cream

Pure Goodness Product: Daisy Sour Cream

Ingredients: Cultured Cream

(Light Daisy Sour Cream: cultured cream, skim milk, vitamin A palmitate)


Lengthy List Loser: Regular Brand Sour Cream
Ingredients: Cultured milk, cream, whey protein concentrate, food starch-modified, sodium phosphate, maltodextrin, sodium citrate, potassium sorbate (preservative), gellan gum, carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum.

(Light version: Cultured milk, cream, whey protein concentrate, nonfat dry milk, food starch-modified, maltodextrin, sodium phosphate, potassium sorbate (preservative), carrageenan, guar gum, gellan gum, locust bean gum, vitamin A plamitate.)

The ingredient list varies by brand, but most have this many ingredients or more!

A Brag for the Blog

Woah! What in the world? Who is that and what is she doing!?
No proper blog is complete without regular brags, and so, a new section for this blog:
Encomia: Tributes to the Amazing People in our Lives!

BRYNN!Last Friday we met a guy who was a fellow missionary with Brynn in Ireland and was her district leader for a while. He said, "I don't know if Brynn has told you this--probably not--but she was the best missionary in our whole mission!" Apparently her mission president said pretty much the same thing. Shocker? I don't think so. We already knew she was amazing. It is just fun to hear other people say so too!

Lou told me a while ago that she was jealous that we lived so close to Brynn and got to hang out with her all the time and get to know her. Lucky us!

Best of all, Brynn married our fabulous brother and made him one of the happiest guys ever.

For Reservations, Please Call... :)

I'm not sure why, but pretty much no one came to visit us in the winter. Perhaps we are only related to and friends with people who hate the snow as much as we do. Well, the snow melted and the Weaver Motel opened for business! We had one crazy-fun month of visitors! Here's a rundown:

June 5-6: Our friends Bobbi & Dennis and their kids, Addilyn & Landon (Dennis helped Lance with the yard and then we headed up the mountain for a picnic!)
June 6-7: Supe & his future-roommate, Chris
(They showed up very late, of course, since they'd been visiting a "hot girl", but we still managed to talk for a while and unload some Korean Liahona's on Chris)

June 10-13: Thomas & Rebecca and their kids, Robbi, Enoch, Joshua, Marianne, and Joseph
(We played games inside and watched movies while it rained and then went for a snail hunt and tried to kill eachother with pinecones at the park)June 14-18: Weed & Derek and their kids, Kaebri, Tasia, and Zade
(We visited Grandma Poulsen, went to Wheeler Farm, and had a BBQ in the mountains for Derek's Birthday)

June 22-23: Sienna
(She played ring-around-the-Rosie's and stayed up late with us while her baby brother was born!)

June 23-24: Lou and her kids, Brady and Ellie
(Lou, of course, got no sleep thanks to Juge's talking and her kids' cuddling. The kids had tons of fun playing and fighting over strollers and we did a Costco run.)

June 25-27: Dorothy
(Dorothy "taught" me how to make drapes by doing all the work herself--thanks! And we did a bridal shower for Carla!)

July 1-3: Thomas
(He drove all the way up here and helped Lance from some rooms downstairs--thanks!)

Sadly, amid the fun and chaos, we got very few pictures! We loved having visitors and had tons of fun with all of them! Hopefully, the accommodations will be much improved before too long and no one will be too scared to come back!

Pure Goodness

Food Ingredient Lists can be frightening things, especially if you read them after you've consumed a item masquerading as something edible. I've been noticing that, for the most part, items with the shortest ingredients lists leave me feeling better and more fulfilled than their lengthy list counterparts. So here's a new section for the ol' blog that will be reoccurring: Pure Goodness!

Pure Goodness Product: ButterIngredients: Cream, salt (if salted)


Lengthy List Loser: MargarineIngredients: Liquid Soybean Oil, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Water, Buttermilk, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Sodium Benzoate, (as A Preservative) Vegetable Mono and Diglycerides, Artificial Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate, Colored With Betacarotene, (Pro Vitamin A).

The above is actually quite a short list for non-butter spreads! Eeek!

There's No Wrong Way to Eat a Cookie!

I recently ate gingersnaps with several surreptitious cookie-dunkers! They were fearful of being spotted and mocked for indulging in this guilty pleasure.
Eden has no such inhibitions! She is a consummate cookie-dunker... ...and proud of it!
P.S. Eden is modeling Lillywhite Family Chocolate Chip Cookies of which a missionary recently told me, "Sister, those cookies changed my life." If you want the recipe let me know!

Three Little Red Hens!

After you have eaten homemade bread for a while, you can never go back, or at least I can't! I really don't love store-bought bread anymore, which means I get to spend time making bread fairly often (luckily I have a Bosch to knead it for me and can make five loaves at a time).

Eden has been helping me make bread for a long time now (she loves to sample the grains of wheat, the freshly-ground flour, and finally the dough, which she will grab in handfuls if I don't keep an eye on her). Noah is my newest little helper. We three little hens just have one question:
Why is it that Lance always gets to help us eat the bread?
Maybe cuz' he paid for it? :)

P.S. If anyone wants a super-easy, super-yummy wheat bread recipe, let me know and I will send one your way!

Happy Birthday Dear Lance...!

Lance turned...um...27...on June 4th and we tried to make the festivities last as long as possible. We started a week before his actual day with cake and a few funny Lance-stories while we were with his family in Brianhead.Next we partied on his big day with Jay and Brynn. We drove up on top of Bountiful Peak and had the smokiest fire and yummiest food ever: salad, warm rolls, baked potatoes warmed in the fire, and deliciously marinated steaks cooked on hot dog sticks over the fire. I tried taking some fabulous pictures, but sadly, had left the camera battery at home! After watching the sunset over the lake from up there we headed home for some spotted cake and the blowing of the candles, complete with the traditional picture!
Here's Lance in his birthday belt (by the way, Mom, Lance really liked the presents you sent--he says they are "awesome-possom!")Later that week, we headed (along with Jeff and Carla) to Aaron and Keumyeo's for a yummy BBQ and games. We finished things off with a Carmel Popcorn Packman Cake (a Weaver Family Tradition...I gotta' work on it a bit...didn't do it quite right, having never actually seen one before):
Another beautiful blowing picture:
Eden and Sienna with their cake booty:Sadly, I pretty much have no pictures of everyone who helped celebrate, but thanks to you all and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANCE!