Puppy Kisses

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Apricot's X's 2...

My good friend, Marie gave me a second batch of apricots.  This batch I turned into frozen chunks for smoothies, apricot bbq sauce, more blueberry apricot jam, as well as a few more jars of apricot jam.  All 3 of these pots have NO refined sugar and NO pectin.  What does that mean?... they are the healthier jams and bbq sauce you will consume!

First Homegrown Red Potatoes...

Farmer Marc harvest his first batch of red potatoes.  They were delicious.  We are hopeful more are growing successfully!

Window Layer...

For some reason, Maia likes to lay in the window?  She pulls the blinds up and fits herself perfectly on the window ledge.  She is so silly!

Apricot Jams...

My good friend, Marie was really nice and shared all these wonderful apricots she and her children picked on another friend's property.  I decided to make 3 different jams, blueberry apricot, strawberry apricot, and apricot.  All 3 were a hit.  I decided to use no pectin and no refined sugar.  Many people have recipes posted using natural sugars and they jar them.  So I decided I would experiment with canning them.  I was successful and we have lots of jars in the pantry and storage room!

Best Buds...

Maia has a new buddy and his name is JJ.  JJ is my friend Marie's son.  These two get very excited to see each other every time the kids get together!  It's always fun to see new friendships blossom!

Cheap Solution For The Trampoline...

About every 6 months, I have to drop between $50-$70 for a new trampoline pad.  Sick of going through them so quickly (the AZ sun eats them like candy!), I decided to take an idea I saw off pinterest and apply it.  It not only is a cheap solution, but a very colorful as well!

Hanging Out With Papa and Grandma...

Older Girl's Room...

The older girl's wanted a Paris themed room.  We still plan to paint the two white walls silver with glitter but in the mean time, I cut out their vinyl letters and hung the black shelves which Liliana decorated with some frames, a sign we made, and a couple other art pieces she had.  Their room is slowly coming along!                                         

Waterslide Is Up For The Summer...

Waiting patiently for the waterside to inflate for the first slide of the season!

Northern AZ And Southern UT Vacation...

We hit the road and Marc began it with slush puppies...YUCK!

Our first stop was in Snow Canyon State Park (located in Ivins, Utah) just for the night.

After getting some much needed rest, we decided to explore the Sand Dunes Snow Canyon State Park offered before heading to our next destination.  The kids had such a blast playing in the sand but as the sun got warmer, so did the sand.  It wasn't long before we headed back to the van.  

 Our next destination was AMAZING but sadly we didn't explore it much because they didn't allow dogs on their hiking trails.  To drive through Zion National Park, you must pass through a very narrow 1 mile tunnel.  If you are towing a trailer, you have to pay an extra fee and wait for them to shut down the tunnel so that you can then drive down the center.

As we left Zion, the big horn sheep were attempting to block the road.  Luckily, we made it past.  The ranger joked they were causing a "Goat Jam".  Next on our destination list was Bryce Canyon National Park.  We set up camp and the kids quickly settled in.  It was nice to know we would be staying at this campground for the next few days instead of packing everything up to then move campgrounds.  Everything else on our list to explore was within driving distance.

Our first day exploring Bryce Canyon, we didn't plan accordingly and couldn't hike the "shorter/kid friendly" trails because it was packed by the time we pulled in.  So we just drove along the rim and enjoyed the views from all the look out points.

Then we drove past Bryce and came upon Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  It's much larger than Bryce Canyon with endless places to explore.  We decided to explore Kodachrome Basin State Park.  The hike was a short mile but was unbelievably beautiful.  We were very impressed with the children's abilities to hike all these trails we were taking them on.

Knowing they could hike more, we stopped off at Mossy Cave Trail which offered views of a small cave and waterfall.  Another mile and half later it began to rain.  We headed back to the campground to play some games and prepare an early dinner.

The next morning, we got up early and headed back to Bryce Canyon.  We were determined to hike into the canyon.  Although, Marc still insists we didn't hike the wrong path... I know we did.  The hike was suppose to be just a little over 1 mile in length but according to my GPS tracker we did 2.77 miles.  The kids were troopers and impressed many as we passed them by.

After such a long hike, we hopped in the van and headed back toward Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  Marc was really hoping to find some petrified wood at the Escalante Petrified State Park.  So off on another hike we went.  A short 1.46 miles later the kids were beyond exhausted and back to the campground we went.  We were scheduled to stay 1 more night but the rain storms were rolling in and would make exploring any further a little difficult.  So we hit the road first thing in the morning.

We detoured to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes and to the North Rim of The Grand Canyon before making it back home.  AMAZING memories were made.  Hundreds of pictures taken.  Lots of plans for future camping vacations.