Independence Day

We left Wednesday when Chris got home from work and we packed every inch of the van because we brought Xena and Valentine with us.

My little mini-fam went up to my family homestead aka "the ranch" up in Heber, Az. My great grandparents settled here and built this old cabin where my family has enjoyed for over 100 years!


We used to camp out here but the hunters, rats, bats and anything else you can think of have taken over the past few years to the point you wouldn't even want to go inside it. My family (Rogers) have been fixing it up and making it stayable again. We emptied the cabin and attic and found some really awesome treasures.

Some of my favorite things
A hat box full of perfectly preserved ladies hats. A tin cake holder. A flower tea cup and a tea kettle. Among other found treasures were antique salt and pepper shakers, old long john button up garments, lots of fancy dishes, hand embroidered napkins, blankets, brand new baby squirrels and so much more. It was seriously like an episode of that show on BBC where they go through their attics.







Well, onto the main part of the trip, the celebration of the 4th of July!
The day began with my patriotic pancakes and then we were off to the parade.

It was freakin' hot and we didn't get to sit by our family but we luckily found an open spot. Thank goodness for the fire trucks otherwise I would have turned into the cranky lava lady I become when I get overheated.

{Brother in-law Olen and nephew Porter were in the parade!}

That night we went to the AMAZING Heber fireworks show, it's always worth the wait. I brought this pie to share but Chris let the kids have it first. {very sad face}


Other Activites at the Ranch...

PUZZLES! SO FUN!I just listened to my book and got in my puzzle zone which was really relaxing!

Man time shooting. {The girls shot too but Chris told me I could leave with Ash and the camera cause he didn't think they would so we didn't get any pictures.}


And I didn't get any pictures but Chris and my nephews used 4 bags of potatoes shooting them with the potato gun.

My favorite part of the trip was hanging out with my niece and nephews. They are teenagers and totally cracked me up while we played all kinds of card games. I wish I got a picture of us!

For those who care...

I had wanted this desktop but I missed the day it was free! But Shabby Princess's desktop is still cute.

In other news...

Lael {Rocky's wife} had her baby!
Espyn July Gaviola Rogers
July 2, 2009 - 7 lbs 3 oz - 19 1/2 inches
{July is Laels father's name and all their kids have her maiden name as part of their middle name.}

I met him yesterday and I love him! I couldn't hold him because as stated before I am baby hungry and I need to stay away from things that are cute, small and snuggly.

Chris and I had a FANTASTIC long weekend up at my family ranch in Heber, Az. More on that later, I have a essay due at 6pm that I just started last night, Chelsea is getting endowed tonight, she is getting married on Thursday! {and I need to work on her wedding video!!!}

Red, white and blue Pancakes

1 3/4 cups Flour
1 TBS Baking Powder
2 TBS Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
3 TBS oil

*I pour the batter on the pan then I drop fresh blueberries on the batter while it cooks. When you mix the blueberries in the batter they go to the bottom and its hard to get an even disbursement of blueberries.

*I cook on a medium, maybe medium low heat all depends on the stove but I leave it on 5 if your dial has numbers. The mistake most people make with pancakes is they cook on too high of a heat so they get too dark on one side.

Top with whip cream and strawberries and TA DA! Patriotic Pancakes!

ps: Not to boast or anything but I have been told by many people these are fantastic and I make the best pancakes, sooo... yeah... I'm awesome.

Rogers' Weekend Getaway

I left on Saturday with my family on Saturday morning for a weekend getaway to Oceanside, California. A small vintage beach-town near San Diego.

All you need to know about my trip.

One
It was short. I got there Saturday @ 3ish in the afternoon and left on Monday after dinner at exactly 6:16 pm. Chris couldn't come because he had to work so I decided to be {crazy} super mom and drove both ways on my own. Thank goodness for audio books! {and my momma and little sisters for helping me!}


Two


Three
My room was SMALL.


Four
I had the best view!


Five

Now we're off to 5 glorious days at my family ranch for the 4th of July celebration in Heber. It's supposed to rain every day. All I'm going to do is read, sleep and play with my family.

Want to start a craft club with me?

I've seen this a couple times on other blogs and I had actually wanted to start one a couple years ago but got too insanely busy to do it. I thought it might be hecka fun if I could get this going now! A chance to meet new people, get out of the house and away from the kids and work on a goal of being more crafty and learning new things.
I was thinking of starting it in August maybe September and just following THIS GROUPS formula. It seems to be working out splendidly for them.

If these criteria fit you then give me a shout and let me know that you want to be apart of it.

1. Live in the Mesa area or willing to drive.
2. You're able to get a babysitter to meet on a weeknight once a month.
3. You want to have fun!!!

THIS BLOG has tons of ideas of things you could do when it's your turn to host.

Have you met my pet?

What Chris wanted for his birthday more than anything in the whole wide world was a puppy! He looked and looked for the perfect dog and even turned down the cutest little puppies I have ever seen and picked Valentine. She's a boxer and the breeder we got her from was AWESOME. They will even dog-sit for us!

Valentine is a name we got from the book Ender's Game, it's been our name list for our girls but never fit. She was almost Pigeon (from the childrens books Pigeon wants to drive a bus, Pigeon wants a puppy... they are AWESOME!) but Cecily and I voted Chris and Jocelyn down.

Did you know that puppies are contagious? It's actually quite serious and spreads quickly. A month ago Chris's sister got a puppy (boxer/bull dog mix) and then his parents fell in love and got one and then Chris (and me and Cec and Ash) had to have one too. The same day we got our puppy my brother went and got one (not a boxer though.) What's scary about this whole puppy wanting disease is it even spreads to wanting babies. I am so baby hungry right now, it's weird. WHY IS MY BABY-ASHER GROWING SO FAST!

ANYWAY! Back to the dog. Xena is loving her and is so happy to have a friend. We're one big happy family!

A Man Date; a social engagement between two {or more} straight men.

Today is Chris's 29th Birthday, hard to believe but the guy with the baby face is getting old! I planned a Man Date for him on Saturday so he could hang out with his manly friends and do men things like shoots guns and eat meat. I was so nervous being a girl planning what I thought would be a good man date. It turned out good I suppose since they all said "it was fun!" when asked by us wives.
They didn't go out to Usery Pass they went to a place far away in the desert. But they did get some man food.

My brothers are gun crazy right now and have SO MANY! They brought all of theirs to share. Thanks Tim & Rock for being so awesome and helping your sister out!

Anyway, it's been a party weekend here at our house because Saturday we friend celebrated Chris's birthday, Sunday was Father's day and now tonight we will be celebrating Chris birthday family-style.

Happy Birthday, Chris!