Category Archives: Uncategorized

Herbs

Carter planted an herb garden this summer and the basil was finally ready to harvest today so we made some spaghetti. Carter ate 3 plate-fulls! It was yummy.

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Carter has started putting clothes on with absolutely no regard to their proper orientation. He frequently goes places with his clothes on inside-out, backward, or both!

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Here is the recipe we used:

1/4 cup onion, grated
2 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (Pomi or Victoria brand)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/4 cup grated onion. Saute 2 minutes. Add oregano and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook while stirring 3 minutes until onions begin to brown. Add crushed garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes and sugar. Turn heat to high and cook while stirring until simmering. Turn heat to medium low, simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in olive oil and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over pasta.

Makes enough sauce for 1 lb. of spaghetti.

Dewey family reunion – day 4

Tuesday, August 16 – our final day

Raine and I started the day shopping for a baptism dress. This was my favorite, but not Raine’s and so not the one we ended up buying.

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After packing up our suitcases, we stopped by Pace’s Dairy Ann to pick up lunch before we headed to the park to meet everyone else. Daddy had to introduce his kids to “the rainbow.” It was pretty good and I know it brought back many memories for him.

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At the park the kids played until it was time to leave for the airport. Bella and Raine could not be convinced to look at the camera.

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Final good-bye with all the cousins…

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Cooper, Tessa, Bella, Camille, Coleman, Parker, Milo, Rachel, Raine, Carter, and Bryce

… and all the adults.

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Uncle Paul, Aunt Katie, Aunt Karin, Aunt Sarah, Momma, and Daddy

Then we were off to the airport to catch our ride home.

Dewey family reunion – day 3

Monday, August 15 – Park City

On our way up to Park City we met the Browns at Waffle Love. YUM!

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When we got to Park City we went to the ticket office to pick up our passes and found out that 7-year-old Raine is too tall for a kid’s pass! I was floored. Not sure when she passed 4’6″ but that extra 1/2-inch cost us an additional $30! Plus, it meant that she couldn’t ride the alpine slide with an adult, she had to ride solo. She didn’t mind but she had a hard time pushing down the lever to lift the break so she didn’t go very fast. I’m sure the people going down behind her minded!

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Raine couldn’t wait to go “bungee jumping,” as she called it. The poor girl inherited my lack of coordination so it took her a while to get the hang of things. But she was determined to do a flip — good thing she has no fear.

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Eventually she figured it out.

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Her second attempt, later in the day, was much better.

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Carter was in one of his moods when we arrived. He wasn’t going to do ANYTHING! (The problem was that he thought we were going to be hiking the mountain, not riding down it on a slide.) He eventually agreed to play mini-golf while everyone else was riding the mountain coaster.

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Carter and I went on a short hike before lunch. After calming down a bit — and eating the snow-cone that I bribed him with — he agreed to ride the chairlift up to the top so he could hike around. I just about had him convinced to ride the slide, assuring him that it was completely safe, when some teenage goof comes sailing around the last curve and FLIES OFF THE TRACK! Seriously. Right in front of us. Fortunately, after the hike, Daddy was able to convince Carter to ride the slide.

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That first ride was all it took, he was hooked. He went down as many times as he could before we had to leave.

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Raine spent some time on the rock wall. She developed a love of climbing at LifeTime camp this summer and she is pretty good. This wall was really difficult — the hand holds were spaced far apart and there were several outcrops to overcome. She did pretty well.

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She also navigated the ropes course a couple times.

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Soon enough, it was time to leave. We stopped by the Main Street Bakery for some ice cream before we left town. Somebody was tired, and when he gets tired it doesn’t matter where he is or what is going on!

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Back on the other side of the mountain we stopped at Uncle Geoff Gabbott’s house for dinner.

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Raine and Coleman

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Carter and Bryce were best buddies.

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Dewey family reunion – Day 1-2

The Dewey family held their first-ever family reunion this year.

Saturday, August 13 – we started bright and early with family photos at the Garden Park Ward chapel. It was gorgeous, I can’t wait to see the final product. Here are a few photos that I took with my phone.

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Here are some of the professional photos.

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After photos, we went to Bountiful Park for a picnic. I didn’t manage to get any photos except this one of Daddy with his birthday cake!

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We headed next door to the Rec Center to swim. Raine found a rock wall on the way to the locker rooms and made it to the top in her flip-flops. The only problem is that she isn’t used to climbing back down and she ended up loosing her grip. Fortunately, Daddy was right there to catch her!

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We stayed at Grandma’s house while we were in Utah, along with Aunt Katie’s family. Raine and Bella were instant besties and could hardly be separated the entire time we were there.

Sunday, August 14 – After church, Carter taught Grandma how to play Pokemon. It was hilarious to hear her say phrases like, “I give you a tail smack.”

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That evening we headed down to Aunt Karin’s house in Saratoga Springs for dinner with some of the Scharf family. The cousins had a blast and didn’t want to leave. In fact, Carter and Bryce were having so much fun that we ended up leaving Carter there for the night so that they could spend every minute possible together.

Daddy’s last year before middle-age

On August 12, Daddy turned the big 39 — he’s in the final countdown to 40.

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Since we were boarding a plane to Utah that afternoon, we had to celebrate in the morning. The kids were excited for him to open the presents they had picked.

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Designer socks and tie (by ‘designer’ I mean the design was definitely picked by kids, not that they were a particular brand); bike shorts and shirt; and an exercise shirt.

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For breakfast, we fed him apple pie and sang “Happy Birthday”!

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We’re so glad this guy is ours. He does a lot to make our household function day-to-day. The kids adore him and I think he is absolutely fabulous! He is patient and understanding. Just the other day Carter told me that there is only one person in this house who hasn’t yelled at everyone else — Daddy. Very true. He puts up with all our craziness and keeps the threads of our lives from completely unraveling! I wouldn’t be able to do what I love without him, and that means a lot to me.

Carter’s 6th birthday party

July 16 was Carter’s birthday party. He wanted to play laser tag, but it took some looking to find a place that allows kids under 48 inches to play. Finally we found LaserWhirld and it was perfect for our party.

Carter is obsessed with mustaches. He loves them and wears the stick-on kind every chance he gets. I found a whole sheet of them for him to hand out at his party. Most of the kids put them on for at least a little while — it was hilarious!

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Caleb, Carter, and Spencer sporting their ‘staches!

Once everyone arrived, they geared up for a round of laser tag.

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Jack, Gunner, Carter, Spencer, and Caleb

The second time around, all the dads joined them. Carter loved playing with “Bob” — that’s what he calls his dad. It’s short for “Bob the Troll,” a name that Carter and Raine came up with for one of their plays. Carter religiously calls him “Bob” now, it is super odd in a hilarious sort of way.

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Daddy, Spencer, Carter, and Jack

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Gunner, Caleb, Jack, Caleb, Spencer, and Carter

After laser tag, the kids had pizza and gatorade (another of Carter’s favorites).

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Next was cake.

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Carter wouldn’t smile for me, he doesn’t like being the center of attention and he was getting a little goofy.

Opening presents was a group effort.

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Spencer, Ben, Carter, Jack, and Gunner

They played a few video games, then everyone left. It was an awesome party!

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Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of everyone. Evan and Jay managed to avoid my shutter.

Carter’s 6th birthday

July 12, Carter turned the big 6. DJ and I both skipped work so that we could celebrate all day long!

We started the day with Carter’s breakfast of choice: breakfast burritos.

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After a little playing outside with the neighbors, we headed to LifeTime for a swim.

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Carter thought it was cool that he could pick up his dad in the pool.

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The library had a clown show at 2:00, so we went over after lunch.

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Carter loves clown-humor. He is a bit of a clown himself a lot of the time.

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Next stop was Rainforest Cafe for an early dinner.

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I couldn’t get Carter to stand in front of the sign outside with Raine. He finally agreed once we were inside though.

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Finally, it was time for presents…

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Daddy and I gave Carter a (much needed) punching bag for his birthday. He LOVED it.

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…and cake.

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Carter has been scared of fire ever since “fire-safety day” in preschool. He got up out of his seat when DJ came to light the candles and it took a little convincing to get him to sit down so close to the flaming cake.

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Current stats:
45.6 lbs
47.5 inches (so close to 4 feet; he grew almost 3 inches in the past year)

Carter is such a fun kid to have around. He is incredibly shy but deals with it by being goofy. He is a homebody and loves to make-believe with figurines (jungle animals, dinosaurs, pokemon, minecraft). He is always engaged in some sort of epic battle.

Carter is a good student, very obedient (in class, not always at home :), and a great little swimmer. He loves to cuddle up to read and has made some good progress in his reading abilities.

We recently came to the realization that Carter gets very hangery. When his blood sugar drops, he turns into a little hellion. It has made a huge difference to know this; now, instead of trying to manage the behavior, we simply feed him!

We really love this cute nut!

Independence Day

The 4th of July started early. Around 4:30 a.m. mother nature put on a spectacular fireworks show — lighting up the sky with rapid-fire streaks of lightning and booming thunder. Carter climbed into our bed at some point.

We headed to the Ward picnic at 8:30 and enjoyed a yummy breakfast. Last minute, Raine remembered that they were having a bike parade, so we threw on some ribbon and tissue paper. Carter didn’t want to participate.

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Raine and Cambrie

Carter tried to catch water balloons. Fortunately, he didn’t catch any!

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Later that afternoon we packed up our towels and headed to Lake Lewisville. We had a picnic, then rented a boat to tube the lake.

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Both kids wanted to ride with Mom first, to make sure it was okay.

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Mom and Raine

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Mom and Carter

Carter also wanted to give it a whirl with Dad.

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Once they were comfortable, they both hopped on and spent the rest of the time on the tube.

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Family selfie.

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It was great weather to be out on the lake. The evening was more than warm enough to enjoy the water, but we didn’t feel like we were being baked alive under the sun. Here are a few other neat photos of the sky with the kids riding down below.

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We headed for home about 8:00 and as soon as we pulled into the garage, Carter wanted to know why we didn’t see any fireworks. Raine has always hated fireworks and we were up so early in the morning that I didn’t feel like fighting the crowds in order to watch a fireworks show. Fortunately, Carter was easily pacified with the promise of our own party with glow-sticks, poppers (the only legal “fireworks” around here) and, most importantly, FatBoy ice cream sandwiches!

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Mother nature started another impressive fireworks display shortly after mid-night. Needless to say, we all had a hard time waking up Tuesday morning!

Grandma and Grandpa Anderson’s visit

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The week after school got out, Grandma and Grandpa Anderson came for a few days.

6/9/16 They went to the Fort Worth Zoo.

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6/10/16 I skipped out of work early and we all went to play Lunar Golf.

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Then we stopped by Bass Pro Shop to see the animals (and eat some fudge!)

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It was a quick visit, but Raine and Carter loved having Grammy and Grampy come to our house.