Trip to Bear Lake

When Logan gets too hot, for about two months, it is the perfect time to head to Bear Lake - the Mediterranean of the Utah-Idaho border.  Shelly and I had been asked to speak at the ward Youth Conference and decided to make a day of it.  I already look forward to going up again.  

Here's Woolies with her sunbonnet.  

Malachi reacting to the water - actually a very nice temperature.  

Isaiah trying to avoid a photo.  

Mommy loves Woolies.  

The boys playing alligator.  

Splashing!

Isaiah displaying a specimen from the shells and rocks he found.  

Woolies loves her daddy.  

Malachi with a that, "it is the end of the day and I am ready to go home" look.  

Camping and Julianna Walking (and Dancing)

This weekend we decided to go camping with another couple in our ward.  We had a great time, but wow it really wipes you out.  I think I need to adjust to camp sleeping - does anyone else have a hard time with that?  I think I've avoided camping because you feel dirty the whole time.  Plus there is a lot of cleaning to do after the camping trip.  But I do enjoy being in nature and hanging out and talking with friends.  It really makes you appreciate all our modern conveniences.  Our other friends were saying one night is not worth it, but I think our kids are too young to do otherwise.  I really look forward to when they're older and doing more extensive trips.  The only pictures I took was Shelly cooking over the fire.   

Finally, I'm including pictures of Julianna walking.  She started a few weeks ago and has gotten around to doing it every chance she gets.  Incidentally she is wearing one of the dresses her Aunty Melissa made for her.  It really is one of our favorites.  

Also here's a clip of Julianna dancing a bit to her favorite song.  You don't have to watch the whole thing as it is long.  

What to do with blueberries

Lisa asked for our pancake recipe so I decided to post it here to make it easier: 

 L

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients 

2 large eggs

2  C. whole wheat pastry flour

2 C. Buttermilk 

1/4 C. Milk  (more or less based on how thick you want your pancakes)

2 T. honey (or brown sugar)

4 T. vegetable oil

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 C. Fresh Blueberries 

Beat the eggs until fluffy.  Then add the rest of the ingredients, except the blueberries, and mix together - but do not over stir.  You Then sit aside for five to ten minutes and let the buttermilk work it's magic.  Now they're ready to cook.  I like a lot of oil in the pan, to give them sort of a deep fried feel.  Also, I personally add the blueberries to the pancakes when they are on the griddle so they are more evenly distributed.  

Also when we have fresh blueberries Shelly always make these muffins.  They are so good, they do not last very long at all.  

Ingredients:

1/2 C. unsalted butter

1 1/4 C. white sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 eggs

2 c. all purpose flour, divided

2 t. baking powder

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 pint fresh blueberries - rinsed, drained and patted dry

topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. flour

1/4 c. butter

cinnamon to taste

Directions:

1. Position rack in the middle of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray the top of a muffin pan     with non-stick coating, and line with paper liners.

2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1 1/4 cups sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix together 1 3/4 cup of the flour and baking powder. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Crush 1/4 of the blueberries, and stir into the batter. Mix the rest of the whole blueberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of the flour, and fold into the batter. Scoop into muffin cups. Sprinkle (or scoop) topping onto each muffin.
3.	Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, and tops spring back when lightly tapped.

Early American History Made Ridiculously Simple!

Okay, our fireworks have only recently cooled off, but yet how many of us know what we're celebrating?  Here's a few quizzes to test your American history strength:

Easy

Medium

  (answers)

Hard

How'd you do?  Well I personally love history, but am honestly not as good at it as my wife, the History Major.  Here's my abbreviated version of early American history.  Pilgrims got here in 1620 (others came before but pretty much died).  Over a hundred years later America was getting fed up with England and all the taxation without representation and had the Boston Tea Party in 1774.  George III did not take this very well.   Now for all you erudite historians I have included this historical documentary of said events:

After the Boston Tea Party, England stepped up it's taxes to punish the colonists, and put Boston under armed guard.  This of course only fueled the fire, and people in the colonies stopped thinking of themselves as colonists (British subjects) and more as Americans.  As things heated up the "shot that was heard around the world" took place in April 1775 in Lexington and Concorde (by some mystery dude).  The British were coming to take away possession of the arsenal that was there.  Paul Revere and William Dawes made their midnight ride to warn the colonists that the British were coming.  George Washington got in the mix and we had ourselves a war on.  (the Hessians were the Germans that England hired to fight on their side)

So we eventually we won the war which was nothing short of miraculous and a demonstration of God's hand.  England was the super power of the world and we were just a bunch of hillbillies, with the exception of a few remarkable men.  So then on July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress officially adopted and signed Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.  However, the war didn't officially end until 1783 (talk about a long war).  However, we still didn't have the Constitution until 1787.  James Madison is considered the "father of the Constitution" because he took the best notes and had the best attendance at the Constitutional Convention, however, many of the founding fathers were present and contributed.   Our Constitution was ratified in 1788 and George Washington became the first President.  

This country as foretold in the scriptures is the promised land.    It behooves each of us to remember this and hold dear to the ideals that so many valiantly sacrificed for.  I love America and everything it stands for and pray that we may have the same courage as our forefathers (and mothers) to maintain it.

(P.S. I'll give you a bonus point if you can tell me what river Washington is crossing here)

Coombs Family Reunion

Hey just an update on our family reunion/vacation.  This year Shelly and I were in charge of the planning - and it's nice to know that there are seven other siblings before us before we have to do it again.  Overall we had a great time.  Most of all we enjoyed growing closer to our family members, and watching our children bond with their cousins.  I grew up living close to a lot of my cousins and have many happy memories of such, including a certain infamous Easter Egg fight in my Aunt Shirley Ann's house.  Isaiah only has one cousin that is very close to his age, Jonah, and it wasn't until the last two days that they really hit it off.  He also did really well with his older cousin Chloe - who has a similar penchant for imagination and animal appreciation.  

We were in Park City but did many fun activities in Salt Lake City I highly recommend including "This Is the Place Monument at Heritage Park" and "Discovery Gateway Children's Museum". We also loved our hike, which is a mandatory Coombs' activity and a great chance to talk to each other, and for Isaiah to show off his snake catching skills (note this one is bigger than the last and now Isaiah wants one for Christmas): 

Malachi going at his own pace:

And the Alpine Slide, which was right outside our hotel doors, is a must.  I'm looking forward to our kids being a little older and doing an all day pass for the place.  I think it will take me that long to psych myself up for the zip line.  

Doesn't Shelly look beautiful in this picture?

I especially like this shot:  

Jenny (Shelly's sister) and I were talking afterwards and just wondering if we should only have one or two planned activities for the week with the rest of the time just hanging out together. I think we could plan a visit to Baker (Oh yeah, the home of the world's biggest thermometer and Alien Jerky) and still make it fun.  Not that I'm suggesting we go there, but you get the idea.