Ten Months Old

My mom brought over an outfit that I had worn when I was about 10 months old. She had saved the outfit throughout the years because it was one outfit that reminded her of when I was a baby. I waited until Kylie was 10 months old and antisipated dressing her in it to see if there were any similiarities. We couldn't resist but to chase Kylie around the house taking a few pictures.

24th of July

Sorry I haven't written in a long time. I'm backtracking because I want to try turning this blog into a memory book. That should also explain the occasional cheesiness associated with some of these blogs.

The weekend of the 24th we planned our first annual Mills camp out. We spent the weekend at Cub River, Idaho. We ate Dave's delicious dutch oven meals and Christie's sinfully good sweet rolls. We all hiked up to Spring Meadows for a short hike and played silly campfire games while sitting in Ryan and Michelle's outdoor Love Sak. Grandma and Grandpa Mills brought everyone a liter of Coke, mentoes and pipe for a competition to see who's would sky rocket the best in the air. Dave's design looked pretty promising but a mento had snuck through before we were ready and caught us off guard for 2nd place. Grandma and Grandpa Mills gave us an impressive demonstration that swept the competition. We had a great time and it was nice to see all the non-campers "roughen it."

Kylie's First Campout

Everyone warned us that camping with a baby was not going to be easy. However, our expectations were so low due to the warnings that it ended up not being half bad. It helped that we went with the Benoits who have adopted Kylie as one of there own so we always had helping hands. The Benoits are marvelous people who have taken us under there wing. They invited us to the Uinitas for 2 nights of camping and four wheeling. They brought the toys and we brought the food. Dave made some amazing dutch oven meals; ribs, green pepper, onion and bacon potatoes, and Apple Spice cobbler. He also made an impressive loaded breakfast burrito by just boiling it all in a plastic bag. Yummo! How could we go wrong with a menu like that.

Kylie did well for her first time camping. She has always struggled with sleeping anywhere other than her own bed so we knew she was going to be up during the night. She woke up as many times as she would regularly out of her own bed, as if we were indoors, so we felt like it was a success. Kylie shared a sleeping bad right next to the biggest heater in the world, her Dad. Dave sacrificed the most by not moving an inch throughout the night so he wouldn't wake up Kylie. The nights were cold but we were in 20 degree sleeping bags which helped. On our way out of town, Dave was talking with a forest ranger and he mentioned it reached 33 degrees on our last night stay.

The camping trip resulted in a slower pace but we all enjoyed it.
Dave kept mentioning that we had a successful trip because I didn't say I would never go camping again. Now that's what I call success!

4th of July

The 4th of July was fantastic with new made memories. I had wanted to show Dave off to many of my Sandy friends for years and I finally had my chance. We headed down to Sandy to the ever famous and quite lengthy Granite parade. Dave was able to meet friends that he had only heard about and probably thought they were imaginary at this point. Later that day Michelle's family (Ryan's wife) came over to visit and then we went up as a family to Big Cottonwood canyon for a picnic. My Grandma Mills from Burley was able to join us which made it extra special. We played games, ate too much, and tried not to melt in the sweltering heat. In the evening we watched fireworks in the front and then watched them from the ridge in the back. It was a nice change of pace and as always good to be with family.

Chili Mac

Have you ever heard of Chili Mac? I hadn't until I met David Auger. We were driving to Pocatello one weekend and Dave started talking about how good Chili Mac was. I had never heard of the combination and surely thought I wasn't alone. A wager was on the line and I was betting that most people would not know of the crazy combination. We stopped at a rest stop and I approached an older sales clerk with my bizarre question of whether he had heard of Chili Mac. With a big smile on his face he claimed not only had he heard about it but that it was quite good. This bet was not looking good.

Our pantry was looking a little scarce so I decided to try Chili-Mac. Dave thought it was a monumental moment and stated jokingly that we should take a picture. With a comment like that I couldn't help but grab my camera and take a picture. Dave was thrilled about our dinner and pointed out that our meal only cost $2.00 and stated that he could even "taste the sweet savings." Chili Mac was not all that bad but I don't think I'll venture out for awhile unless my pantry gets the best of us.

15 Reasons to Eat Macaroni and Cheese (without the Chili):

1. You can still eat it after you lose your teeth.
2. Some brands glow in the dark for romantic meals.
3. The noodles don't have feelings (not really).
4. You can store it in your cheeks for between meal snacks.
5. Protects your fall if you nod off at the dinner table.
6. Doesn’t taste like brussel sprouts.
7. Grows mold very slowly.
8. You can tell small children it’s yellow candy.
9. If you hold it to years you can hear the wind rustling through the cheese fields.
10. Contains no cheese!
11. Ideal for that new Pasta and Cheddar Diet plan.
12. Vegetarian! Has no vegetables!
13. Cheap way to bribe politicians.
14. Works well with the Heimlich maneuver.
15. Even if it clogs your arteries the blood can still flow through the little tubes.

Found on http://www.maccheese.com/

Bloom Where You're Planted

I have been dying to plant something for as long as I can remember. I have dreamed about someday having my own home, planting a garden and a few flower pots and raising kids. Well my dreams are coming true. I bought a flower pot and called my mom because she is an expert homemaker and gardener. She went through the Master Gardener program and has always been a good one to call for advice. She came up from Sandy and helped me plant the pot shown above. Of course we had to take a picture of the two of us due to the occasion. My mom and I couldn't help but laugh of how ridiculous we looked taking pictures slammed up against the house next to a flower pot. Out of all the years my mom has gardened she had never taken a picture next to her good work. Leave it to me to be the first to be excited about taking a picture next to a flower pot.
I had so much fun planting flowers I decided I must start a garden. During Kylie's naps I would pull weeds and till our rock garden as fast as I could before she would wake up. I'm sure anyone observing would think I was trying to set a new record for the fastest garden planted. I read all the directions and even took out a ruler to measure making sure our garden would have the best possible chance of survival. I planted cucumbers, squash, peas, chives, strawberries, and red and green peppers. I was not sure how many to plant so I just used all the seeds. Apparently that is a lot by the response I have received from others. I now love talking about gardening and find it amusing to discover the tricks of the trade. I'm already calling myself a gardener.

Fishing Hats

Last weekend we spent Friday night with the Jones. Nate just bought Dave's dream fishing boat so Dave and I decided that we needed special fishing hats for the occasion. We have been searching everywhere we go in pursuit of crazy hats that even the fish will giggle at. We found a couple that we liked and decided to show them off to the Jones showing our preparation for our future fishing trips. So it hit me... lets play SCUM and use these hats according to how well we are doing in the game. Genius! So that's exactly what we did. We tried so hard to make our men be in a position in the game to where the silliest hats. What a riot! We had so much fun I felt like I was back in high school playing silly games. We had a great time and it is now going to be difficult not to play SCUM without wearing HATS.