Here is a little recap of our month.....This is me trying to be a photographer with my non-professional camera.  I think my super cute kids make it kind of easy!  :)
I  got Ryan to do Blue Steel and a bubble for me at the same time.  He is talented.
This is our SWEET friend Boston at his birthday party.  Thanks for the invite!  We had lots of fun!
This is Talan's bowling stance.  
Every morning Maddy looks so cute for school, so I have her pose and I take lots of pictures.
We went to The Melting Pot for Kurt's birthday.  SOOOO YUMMY!  It's always fun to go out with the Palmer's! (Especially without all our little cutie's!)
So our husbands are a little gay.... so what!

A wonderful discovery!

I found this blog about a month ago and I find myself looking for any extra time I can find to get new recipes from this lady.  She is amazing!  So I've been making a list of all the things I am going to make and I have FINALLY made some!  This one looked really easy so I thought I'd try it first.  It was easy and so yummy!  (I did add some mozzarella cheese to it).  My kids even loved this dinner which is really rare for both of them! I think they loved the shape of the pasta the most.  It is amazing that the shape of pasta can make or break a dinner at our house!  Anyway the second recipe I was making for a party our friends were having.  I made it right before so it would be nice and hot and gooey.   Not a good idea.  I was so disappointed!  Nobody really ate them.  So I took them home and put them in the fridge and tried them the next day..... AMAZING!  So if you are going to make them, I suggest make them the day before!  Her blog is pickypalate.blogspot.com  you all must check it out and let me know if you try out any of her recipes and how they turned out!!! 

Ditalini Pasta In Beef and Fennel Ragu

8 oz Ditalini Barilla Pasta

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced

Pinch of salt

1 lb lean ground beef
Pinch of salt, pepper, garlic seasoning

26 oz favorite homemade or store bought pasta sauce

8 fresh basil leaves, chopped into chiffonade, thin ribbons

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Saute onion, fennel and salt for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Stir in beef , salt, pepper and garlic seasoning; cook until browned. Stir in pasta sauce, basil leaves and cooked pasta. Season to taste. Simmer on low until ready to serve.

8 Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars

1 box devils food cake mix
1 egg
1 stick softened butter

8 oz softened cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 Cup sugar
10 regular size Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, cut into little pieces

1 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips
4 Tablespoons heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with tin foil. Spray with non stick cooking spray. Mix cake mix, egg and butter together then press into baking dish.

2. Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in egg until well combined then stir in peanut butter cups. Pour over cake layer and bake for 30-40 minutes or until cheesecake is cooked through (it only took 30 minutes in my oven). Remove and let cool completely.

3. Carefully lift bars out of dish using ends of foil. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals until melted through.Stir in heavy cream and stir until glossy smooth. Spread chocolate over cheesecake layer, cut into squares and serve.

Kindergarten Time!!

I was so worried that after the first day of kindergarten Maddy would say that she didn't want to go back.  She has been telling me that she really liked her pre-school teacher and she just wanted to do pre-school again.  She was a little nervous to start her first day but she had so much fun and she is so excited to go again tomorrow!  HOORAY!!
These are her two friends Sydney and Ewa, and they are all in the same class together!  So much fun!!
This was after school.  She was soooo thirsty.  She said the kid behind her in the drinking fountain line counted to 5 way to fast so she didn't get very much water. 

Here are some pix of our cuties.

Talan is making a pretty sweet face after cooling off at the Saint George splash pad. When we ask him, "who made you so cute?" he replies, "Lille." For those of you who do not know, Lille is our Persian kitty.

Maddy is coming out of the water after riding down a slide at one of Sandy's friends house. Maddy loved hanging out with all of her friends from Saint George. She hopes that Dad gets a job there someday, so she can be close to all her friends.

Ryan buddy is donning one of Dad's hats on Pioneer Day in SLC. Doesn't he look so good! One of Ry's favorite things to do is eat Mom's bodies. If you need clarification you will need to ask Sandy or Talan; they can set you straight on what "bodies" really means.

Memories - I have a million of them - How about you?

Memory Lane..I got this from a friend's blog. I thought it would be fun! I hope you will play along. Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!  You can do it for Spencer, Sandy or both.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. 

4th of July

This is our 4th of July. We enjoyed some night swimming and ended the evening with the Tolleson fire works display. Talan became quite bored with the whole idea and sat in the car for nearly half of the show. Maddy's favorite part of the day was watching the fireworks. 

Talan and Maddy are getting pretty good at swimming with their floaties on. With the temperatures rising above the 105 mark in Phoenix, the water in the swimming pool was a balmy 90 degrees. The water felt a little like swimming in a hot tub; regardless it was nice to soak in some rays and cool off in the pool. Night swimming was pretty awesome, our friends have a disco ball that is placed in the water and lights up the whole pool. For this being our first 4th of July in Phoenix, it was pretty enjoyable. 

Best Friends Forever

Maddy's friend Taylor came to visit her over the 4th of July weekend. Even though they hadn't seen each other for nearly 2 years, they acted as though they had been spending everyday together. Maddy now wants to have her Dad get an internship site in Utah so she can live by Taylor, Jasmine, Eliza, & Paige.