Crazy kids!!

Happy Summer! We have been having lots of fun, I'm not quite ready for it to end. I can't seem to get anything done inside my house because we have been outside so much. These pics are of my girls and thier new little swivel car thing. If anyone knows what it's called, please let me know. I need to buy 3 more. I hear they aren't cheap, but my kids all love them. A neigbor gave it to us, and they love it. Even Tanner gets on and goes. The girls start at the top of the driveway and fly down and turn and go down the side walk. It's fun for me too taking the kids for a ride. I was just noticing in the pictures that non of the girls are wearing shoes and Anna has her feet resting on the wheel covers...probably not the safest thing. Oops! Oh well, no one got hurt and they were having fun!

KEYES our last name....

Before I was married, my last name was DeJong (De Young). It's dutch, some people thought it was chinese, until they saw us. For the last almost 9 years, I have been a Keyes (Kize). We are usually called Keys. Everyone asks why we pronounce our last name Keyes (Kize) when it is spelled like Keys. Hello people! There is an E in there. It just makes me laugh. It's EYES with a K infront of it. I really don't care if I am called Melanie Keys, it's just funny when people tell me why they think it's KEYS. I got the best one the other day, and that's why I am here writing about it. Because I thought it was too too funny! This person said "Did I say your name wrong?" I told this person it's Keyes (KIZE). This person's response was "Oh, because it's spelled like Keys, with an E thrown in there." REALLY?? That E in there means that my last name is not Keys. FUNNY!!! My husband served his mission in California, and his comps would always say "KEYS if you please". And that's where this blog address comes from...just with the last name spelled right. So I guess I am confusing everyone if you say the blog address in a rhyme. Keys Keyes....whatever...it just makes me laugh.

Aniston Jenice

Aniston, Anna, AJ, Age, Anna-B's, AnnaBelle, she answers to anything! She is now 4 years old, and thinks she is a grown up! When Aniston was born, she came out with dark red skin and black hair. She has big dark brown eyes! We weren't sure where all the darkness came from, so Cassidy decided to do some reasearch in his family tree. His Grandpa was dark, but he wasn't sure why. What we found out was that Cassidy's Great Great Grandpa was African American, and his Great Great Grandma was from Switzerland, and Cassidy's Great Grandpa was from Spain. We found some old census records that showed us this info. It was really neat to be able to find this out. And now we know why Aniston is so dark!

Alyssa has said recently that she thinks Jesus gave Anna to the wrong family, because she is so dark. And Anna has said that her Mom and Dad died so she came to our family. (I don't like when they learn about dying and death, and all the yucky things they learn so early in life!!)I assure her that she is ours 100%, she is just lucky to have such beautiful dark skin, curly hair and big brown eyes.

She is such a happy girl, with a sassy attitude. Alyssa says she is so "moxie" I guess that's the new word that is going around in school.

Here are some of her favorites....

Color-Pink and purple

Animal- Dumbo's

Food- pizza

Fav thing to do- Play with her Daddy

Fav toy- doll house with little dollies

Fav ride at Disneyland(she's been 3 times)- Dumbo and SplashMountain

Fav thing outside- playing in the water

best friend- Daddy, Abbie, Alyssa, Mom, and Tanner
When she grows up she wants to be a Mom that is Hannah Montana

Fav Movie-The Little Mermaid and Princess and the Frog
Fav Princess- Ariel, Jasmine, Cinderella and Princess Tiana-- pretty much all of them!

We took Aniston's training wheels off her new birthday bike, and she had no problems. She still crashes into cars and bushes every once in a while, but for only being out on her bike a few times, she is doing awesome!! And it helps that we live in a cul-de-sac that has no traffic, they learn so much faster in the street.

We love you so much Aniston and are very glad that you are a part of our family!

Bear Lake

Last weekend my little family and I headed to Bear Lake. I love Bear Lake, I went with my family every summer growing up. This was the first time camping on our own, and without my parents. We have been having lots of fun dutch oven cooking at home, so we already knew how we would be doing most our cooking. We purchased a camp stove (which is great for emergency preparedness) and a few extra sleeping bags, and we were set! We camped at the Rendezvous Camp ground and there were about 30 campsites, and only 3 were occupied. It was so quiet and my kids got to explore and walk around all the campsites. They loved it! On Sunday we went to the Beach and were only planning on playing in the sand, the water was super cold. Cassidy and I didn't even wear our swimsuits. The sand was fun, but eventually the girls had to make motes around their castles, so they needed water. So Tanner followed, and ended up in the water. But the shallow part wasn't too cold, so the kids all got in the water and played. They loved it!! Back at our campsite, we had a visitor a few times a day. A rabbit! Of course, we can't go anywhere without some little creature, and my kids trying to catch it. Cassidy and the kids also found a baby bunny and followed it home. He lived in a hollowed out log that had fallen over. We didn't let the kids get too close to the rabbit's because they were wild. The kids didn't mind just watching and following them. Other than a wild wind storm that passed through, the weather was wonderful! My neighbor taught us a new way to make smores. 2 striped fudge cookies and a roasted marshmellows in the middle. My kids love them! We have a fire pit in our backyard, and try and make the kids smores with graham crackers and Hershey's, it's a mess and the kids don't eat them. So we are so happy to have discovered this new way to make them. The wind storm hit as we were making the smores, luckily we were able to roast the marshmellows and eat them in the tent. Aniston's birthday was Monday June 7th, so on Sunday (right before the smores and the windstorm) Cassidy made her a dutch oven cake with cherries. It was yummy!! The kids didn't eat much of it, but Cassidy and I sure did enjoy it!
I love my little campers, we had so much fun and I am looking forward to when we get to go back.

The day we came home was Aniston's birthday, so we took her to Boondocks. They give a $25 gift card to the birthday person. it's good for 4 attractions and $5 game play. All you need to do is register online or show your birth certificate to prove it's your birthday. It was a lot of fun.

And the day after that we went to the Zoo. It was a great day to go! We finally spotted the Iguana in the Snake house. We have been going to the Zoo for years, and have never seen it. And the 3 tiger cubs (they are huge) Were playing in the water and were so active. I can't wait for 2012, when they have the Rocky Shores exhibit open. They will have seals and Polar Bears (MY FAV)!! It has been a great start to summer at the Keyes house! Can't wait for more fun!!

Dutch oven Peach Cobbler

I don't plan on posting all my Dutch oven meals, but this dessert was so yummy!! I was a little hesitant about the recipe. You add the dry cake mix on top of the peaches that are layered on the bottom of the dutch oven. And then you pour the peach juice on top of the dry cake mix. I have never heard of this. And all the recipes in all the cookbooks that are for Dutch Ovens are just like this. So I had to try it! The girls put all the ingredients in, and after they went to bed Cass and I ate it. My neighbor made a yummy strawberry dessert that she shared, so they didn't go to bed without dessert. After we took the peach cobbler out, non of it was stuck to the dutch oven. It all came out clean. That never happens in my home oven. I read in a recipe book tonight that the more you use the dutch oven, the more non-stick it becomes. This is my way of cooking!!

Dutch Oven Ribs

I decided last week that I wanted to start dutch oven cooking. So I went to Smith and Edwards (awesome store) and got a Lodge brand dutch oven. On Friday night I cured/seasoned it, and then Saturday I got some boneless pork ribs, and tried it out. First I added oil in the bottom of my oven, then peppers and onions. I put the ribs on top and seasoned them with italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper. Cassidy was there to help with the coals, I wouldn't have been able to do that part without him, but now I know, I will be able do it next time. That will be the hardest part. They cooked for a little over an hour, and I drained the juice and added some bbq rib sauce and let it cook for 20 min or so. Such an easy recipe!! It was yummy! So tender! The kids went crazy and ate tons. They loved it I want to try a dessert next.... possibly peach cobbler....yum!

New Adventures

We have found a few new places this week, and I am sad to say that I haven't had my camera when we have gone out. That's not a norm for me. We like to drive by Hill AirForce Base and watch the huge airplanes take off and land, take off and land. They do it tons of time practicing taking off and landing. We drive down the street and follow it as it makes it's landing and we try to get in the perfect spot so the plane is right over us. The kids love it. On Wednesday night, we wanted to go to Artic Circle for some ice cream, but the rode was blocked off and so we decided to go to Dairy Queen instead. We noticed a rode on the east side of the base (NOTE: There are signs all over the main road saying you can't park to watch the jets). We went down the road and there were no signs saying we couldn't park there. So we watched the jets moving around on the ground, but they wern't taking off. That's when we went to Dairy Queen, got some Dilly Bars, and went back down that road. We watched as the jets lined up on the runway, and at 9:00pm we heard recorded music playing the TAPS ( I think that's what it's called, the military music). And right after the music got done playing, 4 jets took off one at a time. It was awesome! We get to see jets flying above our house all day, and we always have to stop and look, but it was so much cooler going and seeing them take off, especially after playing the music. It was really cool.

Our next fun place we discovered last night was in Syracuse. Called the Jensen Nature Park. They had a pond/mini lake that you can fish in. There was a walking path all around it, there were families with bikes, you can walk your dog if it's on a leash. There were Pelican type birds, and lots of other smaller birds that I haven't seen before. It was really fun. Cass had his fishing pole and tried fishing for catfish (it was the only bait he had). The girls aren't patient fishers, so we walked around the water and watched the birds. It was really fun. There is a lot of grassy areas for picnics, and also a few pavilions with picnic tables. It was such a neat place. I am sure we will be going there often.

It's so fun finding new things and places. I can't wait for our next adventure. The kids and I haven't been to Antelope Island, maybe that can be our next destination.