Pig Roast

So how many people can say they have had a pig roasted in their back yard? Well since we don't quite have a back yard yet I can say, "I have." In our ward we had a family from Hawaii move in and they were good enough to roast a pig for our ward luau. A few days before the roast Keith and a few other guys dug a monster hole where my garden used to be. Then at about 4 in the morning the day of the roast the family came over to start on the pig.

First they put rocks in the hole.
Then they added wood and lighter fluid to get a fire going so the rocks could get really, really hot. The people in the picture are (in the front) Lynn Benabise and then her two boys. Then her husband Paul Benabise and in the back is Paul's father.
After the rock got hot enough they cut the pig in certain spots and placed some of the hot rocks right into the pig.
Here Keith and Brother Helm, the Elders Quorum President are lowering the pig in with the hot rocks.

Then because we don't have any bamboo leaves around they had to cover the pig with wet burlap.
Here Keith helped cover the hole with a tarp to keep the dirt out and heat in. Look at all that steam.
Then they covered it with more dirt.
At about 5:30 that night the pig was done and here we had lots of people to help take the tarp off. They were trying to keep the dirt off the pig as well.
The cooked pig.
Time to eat! Here the ward is digging in. One thing that I didn't take a picture of was my banana lumpia. The Benabise's also gave out some traditional Hawaiian recipes for people to make and this is the one I got to try. Luckily for me Paul was at our house most of the day and helped me make them the right way. They are bananas with honey wrapped up in an egg roll and then fried. After they cool you top them with powdered sugar. They were so good and gone in no time flat!
Here is our Bishopric learning a Hawaiian dance.
Then it was the sister missionaries turn. What a great time we all had thanks to the Benabise family.

My front yard

To say I been looking forward to having a front yard is a understatement! I was so tired of looking out and just seeing dirt for the last 5 years. Well after lots of work and lots and lots of help from friends I am pleased to show you the progression of my new yard.

This first picture is a before picture. Nothing but dirt.

I also had to get a picture of Keith working on our new fence! (:
When I took this picture it was the start of us working on clearing out the weeds and getting the dirt moved around. When we first stared it was just the two of us then Keith's friend Noah came by to help. After he showed up our neighbor down the street came over with his tractor and told us to use it. We were so grateful for the help and such great friends. Here Eli is in the drivers seat he and Mckenna loved having a ride with Dad.
Keith and Noah got my red brick all laid out and now it was time for the rocks.
Mckenna's turn to drive with Dad. The kids in the back are Noah's two girls and Eli.

After a few hours another one of our good friends, Jason came over in his TRACTOR! He saved us so many hours of work by moving rocks and all the dirt for my flower bed.
This is just a picture showing all the hard work the boys did.
A few days later we had a truck come and dump compost into our yard. The boys that are in this picture are some boys in our ward. They were at our house with their parents roasting a pig in our back yard. That story is for another day. (: These boys were awesome. We kept telling them they didn't have to work but they kept at it and helped us so much.
Just some more compost. We had a big dump truck dump the first load and then another small truck dump this load.
Here all the compost is all spread out. We needed all this compost because Keith sent in a soil sample to the University of Wyoming and they sent us back a letter telling us that we have very bad soil. We weren't surprised but they called us and told us the steps we would need to take in order to remedy our sad soil. I was happy to know that all we needed to do was add 2 inches of compost and then rota till it about 3-5 inches deep.
I didn't get any pictures of Keith rota tiling the dirt. It would have been a funny picture too because it was windy that day and a little rainy. Keith looked a mess. I also don't have pictures of the trenches that Keith and my Dad dug for the sprinkler system. Also I was in Utah when the grass showed up and so I don't have any pictures of the sod being laid. What can I say I really am no good at this but I do have these two pictures of the finished product. Drum roll please...

Thanks to all our friends and to Dad for all the hard work that you put into helping us have this wonderful new yard! Thank you Keith for making it happen. I LOVE IT!

First missing tooth

One day in June my kids and I were getting ready to sit down to eat some lunch. I had made hot dogs and had put them in front of the kids to eat and went back to the kitchen to make mine. After a few minutes Eli tells me that his tooth hurts. At first I told him he would be fine and went back to doing what I was doing. (What a great Mom!) A minute later he says, "Mom my tooth really really hurts." So I go over and take a look. He points to the tooth and I look at it but don't see anything stuck in it and tell him to be careful eating. Just as I was about to sit he tells me again, "Mom my tooth is wiggling!" My first thought was that there couldn't be any way he had a loose tooth. He is only 5, right! Well as I took another look and this time used my finger I about fell on the floor when it was in fact loose. I could tell that he was not sure if he should be scared or not so I used my best excited face and told him how great it was that he was becoming a big kid and getting his big kid teeth. As I talked to him I could tell he was less and less scared and even more so when I told him about the tooth fairy. As I talked I wiggled and after about 5 wiggles that tooth fell right out. So here is our first picture of Eli with his first missing tooth.
I wasn't quick enough with the camera but this is him grabbing for his surprise that the tooth fairy left under his pillow.
MONEY!

Mckenna's Tangled Birthday

Mckenna is now 3 years old! She is very into skirts that twirl, princesses, and most of all books! So it came as no surprise to us that she wanted to have a Tangled Birthday party. This of course could not have been done without the help of my wonderful sister Heather. To start she gave her a skirt that is easy to twirl in and best of all pink!

Next she made her cake into Rapunzel's tower. It looked amazing! My contribution was the Tangled doll at the side. (I know I know, thank you hold your applause!)

I don't think my camera does this cake justice because it has the bricks and the flowers on there. I mean she went all out and Mckenna loved it!

Next it was time to open presents. I had to put only one gift from everyone on the blog because if I posted them all we would be here awhile. This first gift was from Heather and just one of the cute shirts she gave her.

We told her she should give hugs to the people who gave her gifts and she did, after every present so some people got 4 or 5 hugs.

Grandpa Allen gave her more My Little Ponies. Can you tell she is excited.

Eli gave her a Tinker Bell doll whose wings light up. He was very excited about his gift to her and wanted to show her right away how it worked.

More hugs!

Keith and I got her a computer. It is only July and it already needs more batteries. I'm just happy she likes it.

Grandma and Grandpa Metcalfe got her a little pink dog with a skirt. Now she has someone to dance with.

They also got her this cute butterfly necklace.

Grandma Judy got her this Glow doodle that she can now draw on at the same time Eli is drawing on his doodle board. It has come in very handy on road trips!

Last but not least it was time to blow out the candle!

And then eat cake!

Happy birthday Mckenna we love you and are so happy you add so much joy and that little bit of girl into our lives.

Finally an outing

I have read quite a few blogs recently about how families are trying to go outside here and there due to crazy weather. Well it is no different for us here in Wyoming were one day it's 70 and sunny and the next day it's rain/snow! There was one Saturday not to long ago that it was nice out, so we took full advantage of it! We packed up our things and for this outing we went to a spot where Keith wanted to set up a bike trail for his group of friends who have all been riding together. (That will be a story for another time.) Any way I got these fun pictures along the way and I wanted to share them with you all.



Here are all my kids! :) Here is Keith showing Eli how to tie the orange markers on the bushes because he wanted to help. Eli hardly left Keith's side he was so excited to be out of doors and just wanted to do what ever was needed.
My kids loved playing with the long grass. Eli and Mckenna were fighting each other with it acting like they were swords. The fight wouldn't last long though because the grass would fall apart and break and then the kids would just laugh and laugh.

Here is Mckenna with her grass sword.

I had to take pictures of the flowers that were trying so hard to grow in the colder weather.
After Mckenna watched Eli helping Keith she wanted to help set up markers as well. Here Keith is showing her how.
Making sure it is nice and tight.

Keith's friend Noah was out as well and caught up to us. I loved the picture of him with his dog and the elk sheds he had found. Looks very authentic.

This picture is my favorite! Mckenna had fallen asleep and Keith was holding her but most of all I just liked how this picture shows how much my kids love their Dad!
I had to get a picture of me in there somewhere! I had to show that I was really there and so Noah was nice enough to take our picture.

We had such a fun day and now we want more! Here's hoping for more warm weather!

Dino Eggs

So as many of you know I am a BIG fan of the blog, Our Best Bites. They do lots of yummy recipes and also some crafts. If you haven't been to their site here it is... http://www.ourbestbites.com/. Go check it out it's great!
Any way as I was looking through their site I came across these cool Dinosaur Eggs. I knew that my kids would love these and so for family home evening this is the fun had by all.
I was late about getting out my camera and so I didn't get any pictures of Keith and I helping the kids crack their eggs. I also didn't get any of them picking the colors they wanted. Oh well, at least I did get this picture of the cups and inside of each one was our cracked, but not peeled eggs. You leave them over night and the next morning you take them out of the cup, wash them off and peel them. The result is this...

Dinosaur Eggs!
The kids were so excited the next morning to see what their eggs looked like.
Here they are eating their eggs with a little salt.
Mckenna loved hers but Eli wasn't so sure. You can tell he was struggling by the look on his face. He did eat it though and in the end liked it.
Here are my two dinosaurs! Rrrroooaaaarrrr!