July by the numbers

Where did July go...seriously???
I am really enjoying my month by the numbers post at the end of each month. So fun to sum up our month and really think about what we enjoyed.

ONE layout completed...so sad!
TWO YW lessons taught. Love those girls!
THREE books were read (Life's a Beach, Goodnight Nobody & House Rules).
FOUR fun filled days with the Clayton boys...yearly tradition.
FIVE soccer tournament games for Tanner and Carter(Wins & tied games across the board).
SIX free meals at Chick-FIL-A. Cow appreciation day.
SEVEN new songs downloaded from itunes...love new tunes.
EIGHT blog posts for the month (still adding photos to two posts. They will be addedd soon :-).
NINE days of swim lessons for Garrett.
TEN days away from the 1st day of school.
TWELVE friends enjoy GNO, Bunko style.
FIFTEEN free games of bowling for the boys...they are loving it. Thanks, Eve.
TWENTY A. little friends enjoy a day on the shore of Lake Tahoe.
TWENTY B. days till the Shoreline John Mayer concert with my besties :-)...I seriously CAN NOT wait.
Thirty Miles logged on my treadmill and outside.
THIRTY ONE days till Brody's 1st day of preschool.
EIGHT HUNDRED, TWELVE photos taken this month...lots of memories to record.
THREE THOUSAND dollars to replace a broken transmission...ouch!!!!
FIFTEEN THOUSAND, FOUR HUNDRED SEVENTEEN steps taken as I walked around 6 Flags with the boys.

Whew...another fun filled month!!!

on the shore

We enjoyed a beautiful Cali day at our favorite Lake Tahoe beach. The weather was perfect. The company was great. The water was refeshing and there were smiles all around.It was fun to have a few of our favorite families join us. Between the 6 families, we had 20 kiddos. That simply means lots of F-U-N!

{Brody had already escaped this photo}

It is always a treat for me to visit with my girlfriends.

{love these girls}









aaahhhhh...another perfect Summer day.

6 Flags FUN

We have season passes to 6 Flags-Marine World. I don't think we have used them as much as the boys would have liked to this Summer :-). We were able to squeeze a trip in today. We opened and closed the park today (10:30 am to 8:45 pm). We brought our good friends, Jake & Katelyn with us. We walked a total of 7.25 miles today. It was a long, fun day!













It is a good thing we walked 7 plus miles today. We ended our day with a few of these to share (Funnel cakes)...YUMMY!

you know he's not a baby (anymore) when...

Brody is usually the first one up at our house. He gets up about 6:30 am every morning. Today wasn't any different. He crawled into bed with me and we were running down the list of family members. He was asking if Daddy had already left for work. Then he asked if each of his brothers(he asked about them one by one) were still sleeping. I replied "Yes" to all of his questions. When he was a baby, we used to ask him this same question all of the time "How big is Brody"? Each and every time, he would raise his hands high above his head and answer "So big"! This morning while snuggling with him and trying to relish in the last stages of babyhood (that are long gone), I asked him< "How big is Brody"? He replied "taller". This my friends, is when I realized that he just isn't a baby anymore...he is taller. It caught me off guard and made me laugh out loud. I love this boy! I need to learn to embrace the fact that the baby stage is a thing of the past. Hello, taller big boy!

summer tradition

One of our favorite summer traditions is having my nephews, Malakai, Kannon and Jace came to visit. We love when we get to have them for days straight.


We rode bikes, had Nerf Gun Wars, Air Soft wars at the wetlands, root beer floats, swimming, Popsicles AND...

They jumped on the trampoline and had water fights...several times a day!




They ate. Oh boy did they eat.


We hit the bowling alley for a few frames.



We played at the water park.



We hit the cememnt slide...weeeeeeee!




We made forts and moved the air mattress to all corners of the house. I am pretty sure they thought it was a portable trampoline.

We had a great 4 days. My boys are already planning the 2011 summer activities with the cousins. We are looking forward to it.

Project Life

The days of Summer are zipping right on by. Blogging seems to take a back seat(as it should) while the boys are home for Summer vacation. I don't want to fall behind in documenting our days :-). We are having a great time and enjoying every lazy day that we can pull off. See for yourself....Project Life style


Lots of bowling. My friend, Eve gave us some free passes for the local bowling alley. We have been 3 times this week. Brody even gets in on the action. It is hilarious to watch him bowl.


The older boys and I were able to enjoy a fun afternoon on the lake with the youth from our church. It was a HOT Cali day so this was the perfect escape.


Lots of swimming! We are trying to get this little boy to enjoy the water. He is very reserved when it comes to the swimming pool. It boggles our mind...he loves the bathtub but will not venture into the pool. We have made it to the 3rd step and were surprised to see him creep along the wall.




















Carter had a weekend soccer tournament in Folsom, CA.. At the end of the game we headed over to the Sacramento Temple. It is always a beautiful sight to see and even more so at dusk. Love the calm, peaceful feeling I get just by being on the grounds.











Carter's team had an awesome weekend on the fields despite the 100 plus degree weather. Notice the Mohawk on Carter :-). This has become his little ritual for the first tournament of the season. He grows his hair out all Summer long just for this weekend. These were their first official games of the season(they have been practicing for a month and a half). They beat Rocklin 5 to 1 to take the whole tournament. Sweet Victory.



Loved having my parents visit for the day. John and I gave talks in Sacrament meeting and my parents came to cheer us on and sit with the boys. We had Linner(late lunch/early dinner) so they could hit the road by 4 pm to go visit my Grandma Pung. She is in the hospital with a broken pelvis. Wishing her a speedy recovery.

Recipe Share

aaahhhhhhhh...I love Sundays! We had a great day! We started our day off with church. Then we came home and had lunch...grilled cheese sandwiches and fresh strawberries. It has become a Sunday tradition. After lunch, we took naps...my favorite part of the day! It was a nice, calm, relaxing day!

After naps, I started to make dinner while the boys turned the water on while they jumped on the trampoline. It was very Hot today. They needed to get some energy out and wanted cool off.



I tried a new recipe this evening. It's a keeper. It was very yummy and perfect for a warm summer evening.

Here is what I made.
Almond Crusted Chicken Nectarine Salad with Buttermilk-chive dressing.(This recipe is from the July Relief Society newsletter)

The Dressing
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 Tbs. sour cream
1 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. of honey
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, sour cream, vinegar, and honey. Slowly whisk the oil to blend. Stir in the chives and season to taste with salt and pepper.

The Chicken
2 large eggs
1 3/4 c. sliced almonds
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 lbs. chicken tenderloins, pounded 1/4 in. thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 Tbs. vegetable oil

Lightly beat the eggs in a wide, shallow dish. Pulse the almonds and flour together in a food processor until the almonds are chopped; transfer the almond mixture to another wide, shallow dish. Season the chicken on all sides with 1 tsp. salt and 3/4 tsp. pepper. Dip one piece of chicken at a time in the eggs. Shake off excess and dredge in the almond mixture, pressing lightly t help it adhere. Set aside on a wire rack.
Heat 2 - 3 TBS in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering hot. Working in batches, cook the chicken until light golden brown on both sides and cooked through, 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a paper-towel-lined plate when done. Between batches, remove any stray almonds from the pan and add more oil if necessary.

The Salad

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce,arugula,or both and the nectarines with about half of the dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among 4 dinner plates. Divide the chicken among the plates, overlapping the pieces on top of the salad Drizzle additional dressing over the chicken and serve.

My friend, Laurie turned me onto these crash hot potatoes that can be found on the Pioneer Woman's blog
They were the perfect addition to our meal. Thanks, Laurie!

Here are a few of my notes/adjustments for the chicken/salad.

* I did not have white balsamic vinegar on hand. I had balsamic vinegar and it still tasted great.
* I love chives...my family, not so much. I used 1/2 Tbs. of chives in the dressing and it was perfect.
* I made the salad dressing the night before.
*I pulsed the flour and almonds the night before and just put it in a Zip Lock bag till I was ready to use it. Loved getting that prep work out of the way.

Let me know if you try this. I think we will be having this again, next Sunday!
Enjoy!!!

Fun on the 4th of July

We love the 4th of July! I especially loved that it landed on a Sunday! At 1st I wasn't too thrilled that one of our biggest party days of the year was on a Sunday. Once we got to church and sang Patriot songs as a congregation...my heart began to swell with Pride. I am so thankful to live in this great land. I am so thankful to be raising a family in a land that allows me the freedom to bring these boys up how I choose and see fit. I am thankful to live in a land that allows me to worship as I please, when I please. I am so thankful for the men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis to see that I enjoy those very freedoms. It really was the perfect way to start our 4th of July! Once we were done with church, everyone took naps. AAAAHHHHH...loving that Sunday tradition.

From there, we headed over to our friends, the Solano's house. They are a family, who has 4 boys too! We love hanging out with them any chance we get.

The boys decided that their red, white, and blue shirts weren't patriotic enough. With the help of Kristin's craft supplies, they took it upon themselves to decorate a little bit more.









We enjoyed an evening filled with yummy food, fabulous friends, live dinner theatre, Nerf gun wars, tons of dessert and fireworks. This 4th of July will go down as the year that Brody did not like the fireworks and had to pee every 5 minutes...even if it meant dropping his drawers on the patio in front of everyone :-). That is potty training at its finest.

We hope you had a Happy and safe 4th of July!

fun on the 3rd of July

Or what Tanner likes to call his half birthday party (He is catching on, Katie).
We enjoyed a super fun afternoon/evening with friends.

We swam.


We caught air.



















We ate...and we ate.


We had endless water fights.



We made our kids pose for photos...of course we did!


We had fun hanging out with our friends.





We lit Sparklers and watched fireworks.

We had a blast!
Thanks for the fun afternoon/evening Sugden Family!