My Sweet Love

Ryan brought home roses for me for our anniversary. He has only bought me flowers two other times, and never roses. It was so sweet. He picked them up last night on his way home and had them sitting on the counter for me when I came out to eat breakfast. The other present he got for me is a flour sifter - I have been desperately needing one. It will get used a lot. Thanks honey!

Three Years Together

Today marks three years since the day we got married. We were sealed in the Bountiful Temple on a beautiful autumn day. It was a little warm for Ryan, a little cool for me, so the temperature must have been perfect. Since then we've learned to meet in the middle on a lot of things - including the temperature in the house and car. Our personalities compliment each other nicely and I couldn't imagine a better match for me. Ryan is so great to make me feel like the center of his universe. I honestly think everything he does is to try and make me happier or make life better for me. I am so blessed to have married him.

One Year!

We just got back from Caden's 1 year old well visit with the pediatrician. He is 30 1/2 inches long (75%), weighs 20 pounds 2 ounces (15%), and has a head circumfrence of 45.7 cm (25%). Small head, tall, and skinny. My little boy has grown up so fast. Its hard to believe that just one year ago he was born weighing a measly 8 pounds 1.5 ounces.

He's growing well and the pediatrician gave me the go ahead to wean him to rice milk with rice protien powder. Wasting no time, we are currently in the process of skipping the 2 pm nursing. He seemed to like the taste of the rice milk, but is resisting taking a nap now. Wish me luck!

The Farmer in the Dell

Our little boy got all kinds of farmer toys for his birthday. Ahh, fond memories of this song from elementary school.

The farmer in the dell,
The farmer in the dell,
Hi-ho, the derry-o,
The farmer in the dell.

Other verses:
The farmer takes a wife,
The wife takes a child,
The child takes a nurse,
The nurse takes the cow,
The cow takes a dog,
The dog takes a cat,
The cat takes a rat,
The rat takes the cheese,

The cheese stands alone,
The cheese stands alone,
Hi-ho, the derry-o,
The cheese stands alone.

Happy Birthday, Take II

Last night we celebrated Caden's birthday with the Scherbels. The house was decorated with balloons that kiddo played with while dinner was cooking. Since kiddo has been a little sick and fussy the past few days we started with presents, just to make sure he was happy. Grandma and Grandpa got him a rocking horse. Grandpa did a great job with the "some assembly required" - putting TONS of stickers on. It didn't take kiddo long to figure out how to throw his body weight to rock back and forth. They also gave him his very own fabric hamburger set. The bun, burger, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion all velcro together. Caden loves pulling each piece off.

Ryan and I gave him blocks. Grandma would stack them up and he would knock them down. So much fun! Kalina sent a learning by play set that included a rock a stack, shape sorter, and nesting cups. The cups were stacked and knocked over, and the rock a stack was torn apart, but the shape sorter was used appropriately (again, with the help of Grandma). Karlee and Shawn sent the cutest pair of winter boots I've ever seen. The boy will be styling! Kara gave him a singing and dancing learning zoo that sings 5 different animal songs and plays 8 different melodies. When you move the joystick the monkey dances and for the first time Caden was enamored by something other than a wheel. She also got him a flannel shirt and a camo jacket.

Caden's special allergy friendly birthday dinner included pears, cauliflower, baked potatoes, green jello, and chicken. Daddy's little boy devouered the meat and picked a little at the healthy stuff. He may have also had his appetite somewhat spoiled by a taste of cupcake before dinner (bad mommy!).

After dinner came Happy Birthday - Scherbel Style and cupcakes. Caden had saved plenty of room for cupcakes and squealed for more after eating two. Thanks again to everyone who celebrated with us and for the great presents.

The Women's Meeting

Saturday night my mom got tickets to the Conference Center so my sister and I went downtown with her for the women's meeting. There is just something a little extra special about being in the Conference Center as the talks are given. I loved Elder Uctdorf's talk. It had so many layers to it. I particularly liked his encouragement for us to find happiness through serving others. The most quotable line on this subject went something like "It may not matter as much how many of your prayers are answered as it will how many prayers you are the answer to."

Here we go!

Caden loved the slide at the playground we went to yesterday. It was Ryan's company summer party.

The Harvest

We've been harvesting from our garden like crazy the last month. In addition to what we've eaten fresh, we have bottled 21 pints of green beans and 23 pints of beets. Our tomatoes are about half done and so far we've bottled 19.5 quarts of salsa. Ryan traded out with a co-worker and we got enough peaches to do 26 quarts plus 8 half pints of jam.

The dehydrator has been running full time as well. From our garden we have dried and crushed onions and 3 types of hot peppers. From our neighbors' excess we've gleaned apricots and plums to run through the dehydrator.

Still to come: Carrots, potatoes, and corn.

Mmmm.... Pears!

This morning while I was cleaning up breakfast Caden found himself a little treat in the bottom basket of the produce holder. He made a mess of his PJ's, but loved shaving bites off that pear. When he tired of eating it he started rolling it across the floor. Check out that smirk!

Meels on Wheels

I have always enjoyed getting involved and volunteering. I think that is something my mother instilled in me. So when the opportunity came up to deliver lunches to homebound seniors in American Fork I jumped on it. I went to a training last Wednesday and today delivered my first meals. It takes less than an hour to complete the route and my assignment is every Tuesday. Caden was a little confused by all the in and out of the car, but the seniors loved seeing him.

Farmington, New Mexico

Last weekend we went with Ryan’s family to visit his sister and brother in law in New Mexico. Rick, Karen, and Kara drove down in a mini van with us and Kalina flew in from Houston.

Kiddo traveled really well for the most part. We got him out and walked him around at every stop so he could stretch his legs. At one stop Caden didn’t have his shoes on so Ryan decided to work with what he had. Shawn and Karlee gave us a fantastic locals tour of the area, including all the best places to eat. We had one meal at Serious Texas BBQ and I could eat everything on the plate! It was a picture worthy moment. Caden liked playing with the helium balloon and it kept him entertained for the better part of that meal.

We spent Friday at Chaco Canyon hiking the Indian ruins there. It was a pretty interesting park and one I’d like to go back to someday. I do hope they pave the access road between now and then, though. The van was literally falling to pieces it was vibrating so bad. In the picture on the bottom left Caden is dropping a lizard tail that Shawn gave him to hold – it was still moving.

These pictures are all of Pueblo Bonito, one of the largest Pueblo structures ever found. The site covers over 2 acres and contains 650-800 rooms. It took us over an hour to walk around and through the whole thing.

Caden alternated between Ryan’s shoulders, Shawn’s arms, and my Snugli pack. We haven’t gotten around to purchasing a hiking backpack yet, so we were lucky the hikes were fairly easy.

On Saturday we drove in to Durango, Colorado and saw the sights there. We made a stop at Honeyville and tasted the flavored honeys, then went on to a calcified hot spring further up the canyon road. We rounded off the day by sweet talking our way into two of the Parade of Homes houses without paying and shopping on Main Street in Durango.

Pueblo Bonito

Here is an artist's rendering of what Pueblo Bonito would have looked like in its prime, and two vidoes taken by Ryan showcasing it in its current condition.

Meaningful Prayer

We attended sacrament meeting in Farmington, NM. I was quite impressed with the ward and the speakers. One of them spoke on prayer and quoted Elder Bednar. I remember this making an impression on me during General Conference and just wanted to post the quote again. "Joseph’s questions focused not just on what he needed to know but also on what was to be done! His prayer was not simply, “Which church is right?” His question was, “Which church should I join?” Joseph went to the grove to ask in faith, and he was determined to act." What a good reminder to ACT upon our faith!

Mary Alice's Zucchini

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup minced onion
3/4 tsp salt
dash of fresh ground pepper
1 tsp allspice
5 zucchini, sliced
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

Directions:
Brown ground beef with onion and spices. Add zucchini. Cover and cook until zucchini are soft. Mix in tomato sauce and heat through.

Review:
This is another one from Sophie Safe Cooking. I'm probably going to have to be careful about not posting too many from this book, but it just has so many GREAT recipes. I loved that this was a quick, easy, one dish meal that had a new unique taste. I used one large zucchini (oops, gotta check the garden more often), so I cut the slices into quarters to make them more managable. As always, I substituted mild salsa for the tomato sauce. We added the salsa a little early to help the zucchini cook faster. It made quite a bit, but we all three liked it and didn't mind eating the leftovers for a few days.

Utah State Fair

Last Thursday night we got a call from my Grandpa Dodds letting us know my cousins would be showing their animals at the state fair that night. I was in Salt Lake for a meeting, so I borrowed some of my sister’s clothes and we went for an impromptu outing. Check out my farmer to be! We walked through the livestock barns and saw sheep, pigs, goats, cattle, and horses.

If you believe the commercials, the best part of the fair is the food. As you can see, the kids all found some munchies while we waited for the livestock judging. They munched on the cereal we brought from home; everyone else shared a deep fried Snickers bar. I personally didn’t have a taste, but I was told I didn’t miss much.

After the first round of judging we went in search of the horses and stumbled upon this great interactive kids area. The kids were given a chance to do farm chores. They put on an apron and carried a bushel through the farm. First, they got dried corn and “fed” it to the cow. If they “milked” the cow they got a small plastic milk jug to put in their bushel. After the cow they had to pick fruit off the fruit trees, then plant seeds in the field, then harvest the vegetables they planted.

With their buckets full of milk, fruit, and veggies, they filled the tractor (tricycle) with gas and drove over to the animals. First came the sheep that needed to be sheared, then collecting the eggs from chickens. Finally, they took all their goods to market and sold them for $1. What good is a dollar if you can’t spend it? So the last station was a store where they could spend their hard earned fake money. We got an apple with Caden’s money and shared it among the adults.

We walked around looking at the booths for a little while and took in the live entertainment. There was a great traveling musician, but my favorite was the singing “robot.” The guy on the horse is real, but he does a great job acting like a wax figure while singing. Caden liked the music and wanted to see where it was coming from.

Happy Birthday, Take I

Since Emilee was in town this past weekend we had the family birthday party for her and Caden (they share a birthday). Somehow in the excitement of kiddo’s first birthday party I didn’t get any pictures of Em in her lovely new necklace we gave her. Sorry Em!

We started off by opening the present from Em, Kell, Bill, Madisen, and Caitlyn. The cute toy has four farm animals and a farmer that when placed on the tractor make noise – oink, moo, neigh, baa, and “Old MacDonald.” Caden was only interested in the wheels. In fact, he was so interested he didn’t want to open the present from mommy and daddy.

While we were waiting for Caden to move on from the tractor I unwrapped his presents from Grandma and Grandpa Dodds. He got a new Sunday outfit, a fleece jacket and matching fleece hat, and a tractor riding toy. He took one look at the riding toy and promptly tipped it over so he could spin the wheels. We eventually got him on it and he thought it was pretty funny to go forward and back. It didn’t take him long to figure out how to push himself backward, but forward movement is still a mystery.

After sufficient play time with all the wheels kiddo half heartedly unwrapped the radio we got him. Even though he badly wanted it at the store and at home, it took grandma quite a bit of coaxing to get him distracted from the other toys long enough to play with it. It may have helped that Madisen and Caitlyn had run off with the other toys.

When Caitlyn got on the riding toy and started to leave the room, Caden crawled after her and tried to grab at the wheel. It was pretty funny to watch.

I made Caden a birthday cupcake with a recipe from the Sophie Safe cookbook and for the first time since I started cooking with oat flour my creation actually rose (instead of turning into a soupy surprise inside a burnt outer crust). I was thrilled, and so was kiddo. The only problem was the cupcake was pretty crumbly. He would get a good fistful of cake, then half of it would drop onto his lap while he was trying to get it from plate to mouth. The result was a plate and lap full of crumbs, but a happy kiddo nonetheless.

London Bridge

I rediscovered Ryan's keyboard this week and it has the music on there for London Bridge. I think it will be fun to sing and dance to the music with Caden. Who knew there were so many verses?

London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, Falling down.
London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady.

Take a key and lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up.
Take a key and lock her up, My fair lady.

How will we build it up, Build it up, Build it up?
How will we build it up, My fair lady?

Build it up with silver and gold, Silver and gold, Silver and gold.
Build it up with silver and gold, My fair lady.

Gold and silver I have none, I have none, I have none.
Gold and silver I have none, My fair lady.

Build it up with needles and pins, Needles and pins, Needles and pins.
Build it up with needles and pins, My fair lady.

Pins and needles bend and break, Bend and break, Bend and break.
Pins and needles bend and break, My fair lady.

Build it up with wood and clay, Wood and clay, Wood and clay.
Build it up with wood and clay, My fair lady.

Wood and clay will wash away, Wash away, Wash away.
Wood and clay will wash away, My fair lady.

Build it up with stone so strong, Stone so strong, Stone so strong.
Build it up with stone so strong, My fair lady.

Stone so strong will last so long, Last so long, Last so long.
Stone so strong will last so long, My fair lady.

Fortifications

Today's sunday school lesson was Helaman 1-5. The discussion centered around the Lamanite war strategy of bypassing the heavily fortified outer cities and striking the weak central Zarahemla. We were reminded not to neglect the basic principles of the gospel as we seek to advance our knowlege of some of the other doctrines. This helped me understand why so often the visiting teaching message focuses on fundamentals like "we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father." Having great knowledge in obscure doctrines (heavily fortified outlying cities) does no good if the foundation (Zarahemla) gets weakened.

BYU vs. UCLA

Yesterday's blowout BYU vs. UCLA football game was supposed to be the one of the best home games of the season for BYU. Bill and a friend drove up from Vegas, and Uncle Wally organized a tailgating party with the Dodds men in town for the State Fair. Ryan couldn't miss out on the male bonding time, so he went along and came home sunburned. When I asked him what the highlight of the day was - the food at the tailgating party. Football just isn't his thing. He still had a good time, though. Go Cougars!

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Things that within the last week Caden has discovered roll well: toilet paper, plumbers putty, his sippy cup, the cordless phone, and the vaccuum extension. He finds it wildly entertaining to crawl around the house pushing these items (or balls, trucks, or other toys) in front of him. Not picture are the shoes he moved from one end of the kitchen to the other multiple times this week as well. Those hard plastic shoes make a great thumping sound on the tile when tossed a few inches.
Update: While I was typing this Caden crawled into the bathroom, opened the cupboard, and is now pushing around my hair spray bottle.

Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:
4 sweet potatoes
2-3 Tbsp. oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:
Peel and slice sweet potatoes. Put oil, salt and pepper in a resealable plastic bag, add potatoes and shake to coat. Spread sweet potatoes on a non-stick baking pan or greased cookie sheet and bake 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

Review:
I made these one day while Ryan was at work and by the time he got home they were gone. I left the cayenne pepper off and Caden ate them like candy. Mine got a little dark on the bottom before they finished cooking. Next time I'll stir/flip them halfway through. I found there was enough oil on the potatoes that I didn't neet to grease the cookie sheet. I've got to give credit for this creation to my new favorite cookbook - Sophie Safe Cooking by Emily Hendrix. Kalina sent it to me and I LOVE it.

Climbing

Grandpa took some pictures of kiddo climbing the stairs. He went all that way to get the remote control car he had seen grandpa put away up there. What an achievement!

Jack and Jill

Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

Kiddo is wanting to explore everything right now! He tries to pull up on just about everything, which means he ends up falling quite a bit as well. He'll be half way or all of the way standing up, then plop down on to his bum or back. Most of the time I'll say "You tumbled!" with a happy intonation, so he just gets back up and keeps moving. Thinking of tumbling made me think of this rhyme. I love watching our baby learn new things!

The 4 Minute Mile

We had regional stake conference this weekend, and while all the talks (including the ones by President Packer and President Uchtdorf) were good, my favorite was the one our Stake President gave during the Saturday evening adult session. He talked about the Olympics and the amazing level of athleticism each of the Olympians displayed. Then he noted that same level of performance that warranted a gold medal 20 years ago probably wouldn't even qualify the athlete for the team anymore. He went into great detail about the year the sprinters broke the 4 minute mile mark. Most commentators said it was physically impossible to run the mile in under 4 minutes, but one runner vowed to break the record. He broke it during the qualifying run, but he also came in dead last in his heat. Suddenly running a 4 minute mile simply wasn't good enough. Our Stake President related that to our lives and spiritual achievements. He challenged us to examine our level of commitment and to increase our spirituality each year, just as the trials of the world increase. The same level of spirituality that was able to buffet families from the temptations of the world 20 years ago will probably not be enough to make it today. We need to continue to strech a little further and improve ourselves.

Mail Sorter

While Ryan continues to plug away at the Thunderbird, I spent the day at my mom's house. While there, she helped me design and sew this fabulous mail sorter. We are eternally trying to figure out where to put our mail so it doesn't just end up in a pile on our kitchen counter. I think it will help de-clutter the house and decorate the wall all at the same time. Yay! (I included the calendar in the picture for a size reference.)

Battle Creek Falls

For date night this week we hiked Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove. It was a short, fairly easy hike of only about 25 minutes to the falls and 10 minutes back to the car. Just about perfect when you're carrying an extra 20 pounds and running short on light. Caden was so fascinated by the loud, rushing water it was hard to get him to look at the camera for a picture.

Labor Day Weekend

Our weekend was just busy enough the blog was sorely neglected. I didn't pull the camera out once, so you'll have to settle for a written recap.

* Grandma and Grandpa Scherbel have been teaching Caden to crawl up and down stairs. They have the perfect location to teach him - right where the dining room steps down two steps to the living room. Kiddo wasn't so sure at first, but now he loves the feeling of success when he makes it to the top of the steps. He still doesn't get the whole concept of going down backward, but it will come.

* Grandma and Grandpa Dodds got back from Alaska and it was Christmas early. Caden loves the book about Alaskan animals and is fascinated by spinning the prop on the float plane bath toy.

* I went on the Alpine Coaster with Ryan's mom and sisters on Saturday. I couldn't believe how fun and scary it was all at the same time!

* After the coaster in Park City kiddo and I hopped over to Swiss Days in Midway with my mom and sister. I'm always so impressed at how talented people are, and I got some good ideas for Christmas presents.

* Grandpa's drug store was broken into Sunday night. It was Ryan to the rescue with his sheet metal window patch. The thing was rock solid by the time he left. The cousins and Ryan's sisters came out in force to help patch the ceiling and do the misc. clean up. The caught the guy in the store this time. Yay!

* I managed to cut my thumb pretty good while making salsa yesterday. I guess Shawn's key knife skill ("don't cut yourself") didn't really stick. Perhaps I need a refresher course. See the "wrong way" picture? Yup, thats how I was cutting.

* Ryan spent the weekend hunkered down in the shop working on the Thunderbird. Hes had to do some pretty extensive patch work he wasn't really planning on.