Too much fruit

Costco's produce is my Achilles Heel.  I buy way too much, neglecting to realize there are only 3 people in my family.  2 1/2, really.  And the one with the Y chromosome has to be force-fed any fresh fruits and veggies.  

But I can't help myself.  It's always so good, and I go crazy at Costco but then it goes bad before I can eat it all.  I vowed not to do that this time.  This trip, I ended up buying grapes, cherries, strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers, and avocados.  Now consider the fact that all of those come in containers the size of Ellie.  I had to get creative if I wanted to fulfill my goal of not wasting any of the produce.

In addition to smoothies and jam, I made Fruit Roll-ups for the first time.  I don't know why I hadn't thought of doing this earlier.  Not only is it super easy, it used up a bunch of fruit, and Ellie thinks she's eating "candy".  It's a win-win situation.  Even Mike tried some, after much cajoling, and he said he was pleasantly surprised by how "fruit roll-up-y" they turned out.  (I used this recipe.)    

 

Then I thought, "How can I get that husband o' mine to eat some of this delicious fruit?"  And then the answer came to me:  Why, dip it in chocolate of course!

 I feel like I've been cheated my whole life.   Chocolate dipped strawberries are wonderful, but chocolate dipped cherries... oh man.  Especially when the cherries have been pitted.  They're dangerously easy to keep popping into your mouth.  (Pitting the cherries took me forever, and my hands looked like I could be on Grey's Anatomy after I was done, but it was so worth it!)

And chocolate dipped blueberries?!?  I liked them.  Mike didn't. 

 The real reason I started dipping everything in chocolate was that I was trying to re-create the most delicious cupcakes I've ever had in my life.  My old co-worker's sister (I think) made these and I tried them at work a few years back.  Basically, it's a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and a chocolate-dipped cherry on top.  But then you bite into the middle and there was another cherry baked into the middle.  It's like heaven in a cupcake, assuming you like cherries.  And chocolate. 

Mine didn't turn out quite as good as I remembered them being, but they were still good.  I actually made them for my little niece who was supposed to have surgery, but ended up getting sick the morning of and they had to cancel the whole thing.  So again, I was stuck with too much of something.  Luckily, Mike was going to a get-together with some law school buddies and they ate them so I didn't have to.

And I'm proud to report that of all that fruit, I only have a handful of grapes left.   I consider that a success!

Sam Gyop Sal

There was this dish I used to eat on my mission.  It was a missionary favorite called Sam Gyop Sal.  Basically, it's thinly sliced pork that you grill up at your table and dip it in oils and spices and wrap it in lettuce to eat it.  It is out-of-this-world delicious.  Or at least, that's what every Korean-serving missionary thinks.  I've been to plenty of Korean restaurants since I've been home, but no one in Utah serves this dish. 

But now we live in Phoenix!  And they have it here! 

I don't know that Mike liked it as much as I did, but I loved it so much I'm blogging about it.  :) 

The Great Duck Rescue

 This happened while we were up in Utah, but I decided to give this its very own post.  That's how awesome it was!

My parents had a duck lay eggs in their backyard, so when we got up there, we had to make sure our puppy, Tilly, didn't get too close to the nest when we let her loose.  We counted 10 eggs in all.  Then, towards the end of our trip, someone noticed that some of the eggs had hatched.  The most we ever saw were 3 ducklings all cuddled up with their mama.  We assumed the other ones didn't hatch.   

One morning, I was downstairs getting ready to take a shower, when I noticed some loud noises coming from the window well.  I opened up the blinds and saw 2 baby ducks trying to get out.  My Mom and I ran outside to rescue them.  They were so tiny and cute and soft.  Oh man!

 We ran around the yard trying to find the mama duck, and after about 10 minutes of searching, she finally flew down and started angrily quacking at us.  So we gently set down the ducklings, and they immediately ran over to their mom. 

We were about to go back inside the house when my Mom stopped and said, "I think I still hear quacking."  We searched and searched for more ducklings and finally located where the noise was coming from.  It was one of those sprinkler boxes, down in the ground, and this one had a cracked cover with a small hole in it.  My mom pried up the lid and we were shocked to find 8 more baby ducks who had fallen inside.  They were cold and shivering and we thought one of them might be dead. 

I circled the ducks, cause they're kind of hard to see.

Three more ducklings

 But, luckily, they were all still alive.  We put the 8 in a box while we tried to find the mom again.  The reunion was epic!  All 10 ducklings were reunited with their Mama Duck!  It was such a satisfying experience!

Trip to Utah

 

 Summer!  What a wonderful time of year, if you don't live in Arizona, that is.  That's why we decided to spend two weeks up in Utah.  

Mike is doing a summer internship, plus he's taking summer classes so we've been seeing less of him than we ever have before.  So Ellie, Tilly, and I decided to make the trek up to Utah.  It was my first time driving to Utah alone, so we split it up over two days.  We spent the night in Kanab, and then drove the rest of the way the next day.  The drive went really well, and it was totally worth it to get to see friends and family.

The timing was perfect because I made it to 2 of my friends baby showers: my long time friend Duckie (whos' having a boy in August), and my dear friend and old co-worker Emily, who just had her sweet baby boy).  Sadly, I didn't take any pictures.  

One night we went to Chuck E. Cheese's and we all had a great time!

Chuck E. Cheese

The spoils: 2 princess crowns, stickers, and one slinky

Swimming with Kingsley @ Grandma's house

 Sadly, Mike and I were apart on our 4th Wedding Anniversary, but he did send a Cookie Bouquet!

 There was lots of swimming...

 We also celebrated Ada's 2nd birthday!  Ellie had a hard time understanding why Ada got to open all the presents, and she didn't get to open any. 

I made Pink Lemonade cupcakes for the birthday celebration.

My attempt at taking a fancy food picture. 

I think she liked them.

These 2 are doomed to wear the same clothes for the rest of their lives!

 There were several trips to the park...

 Lunch @ Zupas with Emily B, Emily H, and Kristen.  Emily H. brought her cute little girl, who's 5 months older than Ellie.  They had fun running around together, harassing the people sitting behind that large window in the background. 

 

 We went to a Splash Park in Highland with Courtney, Heidi, and Duckie and the kiddos.  It was such a fun place and totally free!  I think all cities should have these for the kids! 

Playing at the park with Mindee & Anna and the kids

I don't know how, but we ended up taking Mike's family (including his grandparents) to our favorite Korean restaurant in Provo.  His grandma tried Kim Chi.  I'm glad we got photographic proof that this actually happened, cause I don't know if I'd believe it if I hadn't been there.  They were very brave to come with us! 

Eating some good BBQ with Kings & Tiff

One of the photos we'll use to embarrass them when they're older.  So cute though!

Trying on Grandmother's Clown Gear

 We also went to the Salt Lake Farmer's Market.  I've always wanted to go, and we had a good time!  We stopped for lunch at Bruges Waffles & Frites, across the street from the Market.  So good!

The Machine Gun Sandwich, with a chocolate-filled waffle

Mike flew up to join us for the last few days of our vacation!  It was a nice reunion!

 We managed to fit in Wheeler Farm before we left.  Ellie loved seeing all the animals!

Ellie still talks about how the pig was laying in the water to cool off.

 We had such a good time visiting family and friends! It was hard to come back to Arizona!

Grandmother Litres

 Right in the middle of finals week, Mike got a call from his parents and they told us his grandma had passed away.  She'd struggled with her health for a long time, and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about a year ago.  I'm grateful that we have the gospel, and can view death as a blessing and the start of the next great adventure! 

She was a neat lady!  On top of being the mother of 5 children, she earned her PhD, was a teacher, worked for the US Department of Transportation, and was a professional clown!  Sir Laffs-A-Lot brought a lot of joy to children!  She was always giving gifts and thinking of others.  She was also a very crafty lady, and a talented painter!

I asked Mike what some of his favorite memories were with her and he came up with a few:  When he was little, he had to be hospitalized for what turned out to be Giardia, and Sir Laffs-A-Lot came to the hospital to put on a show for him and the other kids.  He also remembers staying out all night with her when Harry Potter Book 5 came out so they could be the first to get a copy! 

One thing I loved about her was every time we went to visit she would say to me, "How's your husband?  Oh, he's such a rotten kid.  Takes after his Grandma (wink)!"  And then she'd tell me, "If he ever gives you any trouble, you come see me.  I'll take care it!"

She donated her body to the University of Utah's Medical school, so there was a memorial for her  instead of a funeral.   The upside to having a memorial, is that you can wait as long as you want to have it, so they held it over Memorial Day Weekend, which worked out perfectly for us.  It was the only weekend Mike had free between the end of finals and the beginning of his summer internship, so we were very lucky to be able to drive up to Utah for a few days. 

It was a beautiful memorial.  Each of the kids got up and told stories about their Mom.  You wouldn't believe the trouble those kids got into living in the middle of nowhere in Florida. 

I love how all the men are barefoot in the next picture.  It's so Trowbridge.

 

 

 

 

 

Toby, Nola, Jack, Julie, and Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Face painting!  I love Kingsley's villain mustache!

It was so wonderful to be surrounded by family to honor the memory of Grandmother.  We'll miss her for now, but know that we'll see her again!