☀Rock Canyon - family hike

We had a fun time together on this hike. I remember being very tired and now I know it is because I was pregnant. We had so much fun hiking up to a few caves and finding secret castles to have lunch in. We also spotted this little friend on the way back. I think he was scared of us. Altogether it was such a fund adventure. Like I said we are ready to get hiking again as a family!

☀can't wait to go hiking

 We did a lot of hiking last Summer and Fall and I can't wait to get going again. I think every other Monday FHE activity turned into a hike. Our girls are a great age for hiking and when we go we often talk about how it might seem hard, but that we can do hard things. On this hike we went up to the Y and then quite a ways past it, there is a trail that keeps going up the mountain. We just love being together and outdoors  - hiking is perfect for that.

☀canning & new recipes to try

I have another site where I put my favorite recipes and things I want to try, but I happened upon this site, America's Test Kitchen, with some how to videos and I want to try a few. These are things I've never made. Homemade anything always tastes better so I'd like to put these to the test. So much to try with so little time. I'll let you know how these go. Last Summer Carol {who taught me everything I know about canning} and I did a boat load of canning and dehydrating. We canned apples, apple sauce, pears, pear sauce, peach butter, peach sauce, peaches. I also did some pepper jelly with Janelle. I dehydrated lots bananas and Carol did apples and pears too. We also tried some pear pineapple jam. I think our family favorites are actually the simpler ones to make, peach slices, pear slices and applesauce. {Homemade applesauce is so delicious and good baby food!} I have missed blogging, but now have a zillion photos from the past 5 months, here they come.

fun how to's from America's Test Kitchen:
{things I've never made, but want to try}

Homemade Marshmallows

Maple Cream

Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread {aka: nutella}

Corn Tortillas

Marinated Mushrooms

Raspberry Peach Jam

☀boy or girl

I thought we would start off with our most exciting news. We are expecting a little addition to the family, sometime mid June. They keep changing my due date, but I'm sticking with June 16th. Other dates have been the 13th and the 22nd. The later date is the most recent because they say this baby is measuring a little small. I said hallelujah out loud right then and there. Maren weighed 8lbs 12oz, Hazel weighed 9lbs 10oz, my goal is not to have a 10lb baby!

So hooray to a baby that is measuring a little small, for now. This one is happy and healthy by all the measurements that were taken during the ultrasound. So, you've probably skipped the reading and already checked out the video to see what this little one will be.

We are so excited!!!