August 10, 2011 Day 1 Kotter reunion at Cowabunga bay!!!

Doesn't this look like fun???  Well it was!!!

First things first, I woke up bright and early did a workout, got me, and the girls ready, got our lunch together, picked up my Mom, headed out to Cowabunga bay and met up with Chris and his family, and my little Bro Quinn. Matt was going to meet up with us later, and so was my Sister Kate and her kids.  The kids were so excited to be there, they could hardly wait to be in the water.
We started out in the Lazy River, went over to the wade pool, and tried out some of the water slides.  The girls weren't too sure about the water slides, probably because they were freezing.  We went on the double slider, and another beginner slide.  They didn't like it.  Maddie wouldn't go on the Maeday.  I don't know why.  I took them on the Hang 5.  Kenzie went by herself and I went with Maddie.  They did alright, but I was worried that they weren't going to enjoy the rest of the day.  Finally Matt showed up.  He was able to take Kenzie and go with my Quinn, Chris, and my nephew Gabe, and niece McKell  on some slides. She did really well.  She loved the biggest purple slide the best. 

Then we decided to go and eat lunch.  We had to go outside of the park to eat.  Yes they had some picnic tables, but they were all taken, so we had to eat at our cars.  You can't bring food into the park, they want you to buy their food.  Not a fan of that, that was the thing I hated about the park.  While we were eating Kate and her kids arrived.  We hurried up and finished eating, and went back into the park.  

We did the Lazy river some more, and then I went with Kate, Quinn, and Sarah. to go have some fun.  We decided to start out with getting drenched by water being dumped from a huge bucket from 60 ft. in the air.  Quite the experience, what a rush!!!  Moved on and went down a slide, Matt came and joined the fun.  We wanted another rush.  So we went and got water dumped on us again.  We decided to lay down on our backs this time and get splashed.  So fun, kind of hurt my ear a little though from all of that water.  Tried to turn my head out of the way.  Went on another big slide, wanted another rush, so we went and got drenched by the other water bucket.  I was on my stomach this time, much better.  I liked the other bucket a lot more!  Then we went down the last of the biggest slides.  I have to say My favorite out of the 3 biggest slides was the big purple one the Mondo.

We went back and played in the lazy river some more, and then Maddie wanted to go down some slides.  We went down the hang 5 twice, and then she wanted to do the Hang ten.  She didn't like that one as much because it was a longer wait, and more water splashes you, so you are freezing.  After that she wanted to go back to the lazy river.  She was done with the slides.  I'm so glad she tried!  McKenzie spent most of her time in the lazy river with her cousins.  She had fun on the slides, but didn't want anything more to do with them when Matt and my brothers decided to take the kids to get drenched by the big water buckets.  I had fun with my family!  It was a fun experience!!!

Starting the day out:

In the Lazy River:

In the wade pool:

By the slides:

Just chillin:

The bucket that gave us a rush:

Kotter family reunion 2011

Last year was Bear Lake, this year we did a staycation.  Just did things in the area.  My Bro Chris and his wife Sarah planned it(I think Sarah planned most of it =)), and boy she did an awesome job.  Thanks Sarah for all that you did.  I love Sarah, she is so much fun, and so creative, and I love hanging out with her!  Our Staycation was 4 wonderfully days long.  We went to Cowabunga bay, on a hike to Doughnut falls, to Hollywood Connections, and had the Kotter family Olympics at my Sister Kate's house, camped in the backyard, and Relaxed. Stay tuned posts coming on each day of our Staycation. =)

Dinner in a pumpkin

Tried a new recipe last night.  It turned out yummy we really liked it.  Very festive and appropriate for Halloween or fall.  The girls were so excited when they came home from school and saw the pumpkin with a painted face.  They couldn't wait to try it.  So here you go dinner in a pumpkin:

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 small to medium pumpkin

1 onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 lb. ground beef

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. Brown sugar

1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained ( I used fresh)

1 can chicken soup

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1 (6 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts drained

Cut off top of pumpkin and clean out seeds.  Paint face on pumpkin with marking pen.  Preheat oven to 350.

In large skillet, saute onions in oil until tender.  Add meat and brown.  Drain drippings.  Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms, and soup.  Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add cooked rice and water chestnuts.  Spoon mix into the cleaned out pumpkin shell.  Replace pumpkin top and place entire pumpkin in filling on a baking sheet.

Bake 1 hour until inside meat of the pumpkin is tender.  Remove pumpkin lid and serve.  For your vegetable, scoop out cooked pumpkin and serve.  Serves 6.

Enjoy!!!

Crazy Hair Day

Last week was say no to drugs week.  Each day they had something different.  Monday they had a red wrist band that they wore.  Tuesday was crazy sock day, so Maddy wore 1 pink sock, and 1 brown sock up to her knees because they were Kenzie's socks.  Wednesday was dress up like a nerd.  Maddie wore stretch pants with a polo shirt.  The shirt was buttoned all the way, tucked in all the way, and the pants hiked up to her chest, and socks mismatched socks over her pants up to her knees..  I wish I would have taken a picture, but I forgot.  She loved it!  Thursday Crazy Hair day which she loved even more.  Friday wear school colors blue and white for the cougars.

Crazy hair day photos:

 I wish that she could have worn the super girl costume.  Classic!

Final outcome what a cutie!  Everyone loved it, and laughed.  She has a ton of hair.  Not so much fun by the end of the day after her shower.  No tears were shed, what a brave girl!

Going darker

 I needed a change, so I decided to dye my hair a dark brown with some red in it.  I loved the outcome in the salon, but when I got home I wasn't so sure anymore.  Matt and the girls loved it.  It was funny they asked me if I was new.  I needed another girls opinion though because I was going to one of my good friends growing up wedding reception.  I haven't seen a lot of these people in years so I didn't want to go looking like a freak. The last time I did something drastic the outcome was awful.  I bleached my hair, and I looked like an Albino.  I tried to convince myself that I looked ok.  When my Mom saw me she was dead honest and said it looked terrible.  When I went to my college classes the next day I felt as if I were wearing some kind of neon sign on my head that lit up my hair making it so that everyone was staring at me.  They probably weren't, but it sure felt like it.  I got if fixed quick.  I will never bleach my hair again!

Anyways back to needing another girls opinion, my Mom was out of town, Sister and Sister in laws live to far away.  I called my friend Jacoy, she wasn't home.  I called my other friend Beth she was busy.  I didn't have anymore time to try my other friends because I had to leave to go to the reception which was over an hr. away.  As soon as I got to the reception all of my insecurities about my hair were washed away.  I got so many good compliments, that made me feel so good!  Someone even told me that they liked the new color better than my old color.  I think that I do too!  My Mom likes the color.  It was funny when I picked her up from the airport.  She didn't recognize me when I got out of the car, and she did a double take.  Too funny!  It feels nice to have a change. =)

Homemade Salsa

This year I wanted to be brave and try something new like making salsa.  My friend Shaina is one awesome cook and had a recipe in a cookbook that she had published a couple of years ago.  So I planted my tomatoes hoping and praying that they would do well so I could make the salsa.  Sorry to say my tomatoes didn't do so well.  We hardly got anything.  Lucky for me though that my awesome Brother and Sister in law Jason and Rachael were able to produce one heck of a garden.  They overproduced, and I was happy to take the tomatoes and peppers off there hands.  I had enough tomatoes to make 2 batches of Salsa.
I really don't know why I was so afraid to try.  Maybe it was because of all of the peppers that I would be cutting up.  I haven't really done much with Serrano peppers, Anaheim peppers, Jalapeno peppers, and the mother of all peppers the hottest the Habanero pepper.  It wasn't hard at all.  Wear rubber gloves and you will be fine.  My biggest problem was the onions.  My eyes wouldn't stop watering.  and by the end they were pretty swollen.  The batches I made were pretty mild, so next year I would like to make it hotter.  Thank you again Jason and Rachael and Shaina for making it possible for me to try something new!  Love you guys!

Prelude to a Family Reunion

I wish I could remember everything so be patient with my writing.  My Sister in-law Sarah, and the kids came out to Utah a couple of weeks before our big family reunion.  My Brother Chris came out a week before it so he could be there with Sarah and the kids for her side of the family reunion.  Sarah and the kids didn't get to my mom's house until late evening on Friday July 29th to have a fun sleepover weekend.  We had dinner, and talked.  The kids played.  We made plans for the next day Zumba, swimming at the outdoor pool of the rec center by my mom's house, and to see the races at Rocky Mountain Raceway.  We have lived here in Magna for over 3 years, and we had never been to one, we live 5 min away from the track.
Sarah and I woke up bright and early and went to the rec center and did some Zumba.  I love Zumba, but it's so hard to do when the class is packed.  I can't concentrate.  It was nice when people had to start leaving and  space opened up, and I could concentrate.  Sarah is awesome at it, and it was fun to be able to go with her!  Next stop was swimming.  We were trying to decide whether to swim in the indoor or the outdoor pool.  The weather was kind of iffy.  We chose to do the outdoor.  It was nice at first and not very crowded.  We were able to stay for a couple of hrs.  It started to get windy and cold near the end.  The deciding factor of us leaving was when they blew the whistle telling people to get out of the pool because someone either pooped or threw up in the pool.  Good timing, and oh so very nasty!
Next stop Rocky Mountain Raceway.  We thought that the races started at 5 p.m.  We were so wrong and got there way too early.  You weren't able to bring in food or drinks, so I had to leave my backpack of snacks in the car.  We went up to the bleacher area, and only a hew other people were there.  We sat down for maybe 15 min. and the kids were starting to get board.  We went back out to the parking lot to the cars and had cookies and warm water.  Oh YUMMY!  Then went back up and waited.  It got very hot, just sitting there, so Rex the guy my Mom was involved with at the time bought us all snow cones.  I'm not a huge fan of them, but this one I so was, and so was everyone else.  Very thoughtful treat!
Luckily we didn't have to sit and watch nothing for too long because they started doing practice runs.  Then the real races started.  Some were fun, and others not so much.  I don't think I could ever get into NASCAR with  the hundreds of laps that they do.  It gets boring.  We wanted some action cars cutting each other off, tires squealing, you get the picture.  There were some races with lot's of close calls, and it was awesome!  I wish that it had been a demolition derby.  I love those, and they are so much more action packed!  The kids started to get restless again, and so we decided to leave early.  We went home ate some yummy food, and just hung out for the rest of the night.
The next day was Sunday and we had planned on going to my Mom's ward, but we were so tired from the day before that we slept in and took our time getting going for the day.  We decided that we would go to Temple Square for our church and walk around.  Maybe go on a hike up to Ensign Peak if the weather stayed nice.  We got ready, and left.  We parked a few blocks away from Temple Square by a park.  I can't remember the name of the park to save my life, but we were able to get some nice pictures with the kids there.
It was nice to see the Salt Lake Temple, and sit by the reflection pool, to go to the visitor center for the temple, to go see the visitor center at Temple Square and see the new family video, and to go see the Joseph Smith Memorial building.  It was closed, but they did have Church meetings going on.  They let us go and see the statue of Joseph Smith.  It was a nice replacement from church meetings for the week.  Sarah and my Mom were able to take some great pictures of the kids.  I'm so glad they have good cameras.  Thanks Sarah and Mom for taking great pictures. =)  The weather turned on us so we weren't able to do the hike, which was okay because we were tired.
We went home and just relaxed.  The kiddos in between rain storms played outside and started gathering snails.  Nasty!  My girls were the ring leaders of gathering, but the real ring leader was my niece McKell who told everyone what to do.  My nephew Gabe was kind of iffy about the whole thing, but gathered the snails anyways.  It was hilarious.  They filled up my Mom's little bird bath with snails.  Then my Mom gave them a huge zip lock bag to put them in.  We were going to throw them away, but the kids started to get upset.  So we compromised and took the snails to the park to let them loose. So gross to see this huge pile of snails by the lamp post in the park.  Hopefully nobody got angry with all of the snails being there.  That ended our fun sleepover party.  I'm so glad we were able to do it, and spend time together.  I love family!  Stay tuned for my post on our fun family reunion this year.  Thanks for reading, and enjoy the pictures below!

At the pool:

We really did have a lot of fun at the pool, but by the end our girls had had it, they were freezing.  I love the picture with my nephew Trace kissing Madisynn on the cheek.  Priceless!

At Rocky Mountain Raceway:

Like I said earlier, the races were fun, but they got old fast.  Madisynn fell asleep for a good 20 min. or so.  That girl could sleep anywhere!  Don't those snow cones look delicious?  They were so good!

At the park by Temple square:

I love how the girls are all wearing bright colors with flowers in their hair.  They are so beautiful!

At Temple square grounds:

Inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building:

Inside the North Visitors Center at Temple Square:

Sunday night catching Snails:

It was so much fun to have them come and have a little party over the weekend.

Love this picture of them, so stinking cute and priceless!  Thanks Sarah and kids for coming and spending time with us.  We love you!!!!