St. George

These photos are from our annual Pyne family reunion last week. This year we met at my parents vacation home in St. George, Utah. We had a great time relaxing at the house, hanging out at the pool (the weather was about 102 degrees every day), and hiking in nearby Zion National Park. Gavin had a wonderful time with his four adorable cousins: Christina, Katherine, Caitlin and Ashley. In fact, he had so much fun running and jumping around that he ended up hitting his head on one of the stone fireplaces. We rushed him to the emergency room and he ended up getting 2 stitches under his right eye. It was very scary, but Gavin was such a tough little trooper about it. I hate to admit that this was the 2nd time we have been to the emergency room in St. George. The 1st time was about 6 months ago when Gavin fell on a cactus. Needless to say, I hope to never see that emergency room again (or any other for that matter).

New Bedroom Decor

Tony and I are redecorating our bedroom. Right now he is in the process of enlarging our closet so that it will be twice as big as it was. We will be adding white 3-panel sliding doors. We purchased a new headboard and nightstands and I plan on refinishing our current dresser to match the other new pieces. We will be painting the walls beige. I know, beige sounds a little boring, but we want a paint color that will be good for resale, since we plan on moving in the next 2 years.

I finally made a decision on the bedding. I purchased a duvet cover similar to the one above (left). I plan on accenting the new duvet with a tailored bedskirt, white sheets (or perhaps white and beige striped sheets), and Pottery Barn shams with beige shells. This opens up all new possibilities for me. I've always wanted a beach-themed room somewhere, anywhere in my house that displays my love for the beach. I even found some great wall art of shells with the same colors as the walls and bedding (score!).

Great Recipes for Summer

Fabulous Fruit & Feta Salad

1 bag (10 oz.) mixed salad greens

1 can (11 oz.) mandarin orange segments, drained

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 cup walnut pieces, toasted

1 pkg. (4 oz.) traditional crumbled feta cheese

3/4 cup Kraft light raspberry vinaigrette dressing

Toss everything together and enjoy! It doesn't get much easier than that.

Bumbleberry Lemon Upside-Down Cake

1/3 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh strawberries

1 pkg. lemon cake mix

whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In 13 by 9 inch cake pan, melt butter. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly on top. Scatter fruit over sugar. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter evenly over fruit. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes, then turn upside down onto a large platter or a cookie sheet. Serve warm with a generous dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

More recipes to come...

The Last Week of School!

I am now officially on summer break! Yay! Today was the last day of school. This week has been loaded with fun for the kindergartners in Mrs. Allred's class. I decided to create a fun theme for each day this week. There was no school Monday. Tuesday was pajama day. I read my favorite bedtime stories and we did fun math activities with Fruit Loops cereal. Then they got to eat it of course. Wednesday was crazy hair day and Field day at Emerson. Thursday was sports day because us teachers played a softball game against the 6th graders. You would have been proud, Dad... I made 2 runs (I was only up to bat twice). I thought one would surely be a homerun because I hit it into center field. One of the 6th graders caught it and then dropped it (thank goodness). Needless to say, the teachers won 17 to 11. Today, Friday, was beach day. I chose to wear a beach themed t-shirt with a grass skirt and flower lay (not sure about spelling). The kids really got into dressing up. I thought I would share some cute pictures of them. Farewell, my sweet kindergarten class of 2007. I'll miss you (most of you).