Beauty in the desert is

1. The lemon tree outside my kitchen window. It is a cheery reminder of good things to come. I anticipate the day when I find them ripened to a yellow color. 2. The little shrubs near my front door. I have been coaxing them with water for weeks hoping to see them blossom, and I had given up on the thought, until I woke up to these purple blossoms today. They are radiant. They even attracted honey bees! (How nice to find a sweet little insect here that I don't want to kill)

Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Well, when it's 115 degrees outside, you do this:

(Charge your little sister a plastic nickel to attend you and your brother's puppet show)

When it's not, you do this:

(Sun and swim at the beach! I'm missing the best picture... Matthew completely buried in sand up to his neck! Ha! Ha!)

Whatever you do, it's more fun with family and friends. Thanks to our friends Nate, Kandy, Dallynn and Connelly, our first houseguests. It was a fabulously fun for one weekend!

Missing You

So, Glen and I decided not to make our trip to see family and friends in UT. How sad. We are missing you all! We appreciate the snail mail, email and calls from you. How delighted we are to receive them! Today I explained to my kids, "No trip." To redeem myself to them (and cheer myself up) I made Ellie Krieger's Triple Chocolate Cookies. Chocolate makes everything better! If I could figure a way to successfully ship them to you through the current Nevada heat wave, I would send them to everyone right now. But I have no resources like that. So I am giving you this recipe hoping we can both enjoy them. (separately) And I promise they're not difficult to make. Promise!

Triple Chocolate Coo0kies, 2005, by Ellie Krieger, Food Network

1/4 c butter, softened (takes me 5 minutes on the counter in LV, you 20 minutes in SLC)

1/2 c dark brown sugar

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/4 c canola oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1/2 c whole-wheat pastry flour

1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)

1/4 tsp salt, optional (use it, it's so much better with)

1/3 c coarsely chopped dark chocolate (2 ounces, or 8 little dark Dove promises)

1/3 c coarsely chopped milk chocolate (2 ounces, or milk choc chips)

(2/3 c chopped pecans, optional, and I don't recommend them)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mash together the butter and sugars with a fork until well combined. (no fancy-schmancy mixer needed here!) Add the oil and egg and beat until creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk (yes, whisk) together the flours, cocoa powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in the dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and the pecans and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

Enjoy eating them and know we're missing you! (Photo: Matthew as a baby)

Please stop touching the produce!

I was in the grocery store this evening. As I excused myself past a woman to reach for a plastic bag, (it will ultimately ruin my local landfill, but that's another post for another day...) I noticed her long nails. 5 inches - at least - of hard, yellow-gray. I tried hard not to stare, but she was shucking ears of corn with her nasty nails to see if it (the corn) was high enough quality to buy. I'm pretty sure that the E coli and salmonella crawling under her nails were more of a concern to me than if her corn had a caterpillar in it! Please stop touching the produce!

He's a goner!

I feel very welcomed by my new community. They like to hang around my doors to say hello when I take the trash out at night, and try to keep me company when I'm finding that inevitable missing box in the garage. One even gave up his life in my laundry room when he tried to pass the pesticide barrier. (Poor Fred) I'm talking about the native insect community. Cockroaches.

Prior to moving, I've only seen them at the zoo. Behind glass. Contained. Now they're crawling around my yard and garage. They're not welcome. So tonight Glen introduced me to two new ones he met in the garage and while he stood there looking at them, (Really, Glen?) I sent the whole roach community a message to get out. I picked up the nearest thing (Glen's gas can for the mower) and crushed one of them. The other roach ran like hell. I didn't even get to ask him if he felt lucky. That's right. Run before I find another object to kill you with.

On a happy note, I'd like to thank my friend Kandy for her incredible pesticide spraying skills. Not one cockroach has broken the barrier she sprayed and made it in my house! Maybe I'll thank Glen after he sprays the barrier next month. Or kills a bug instead of looking at it...

Limbo!

We are in limbo! All our "stuff" is in Las Vegas. We are staying with family and friends this week while the boys finish their last week of school.

Shortly I will be sending all you wonderful family and friends our updated address and phone from our new home!

Love you all!

The Smallmans

Home Sweet Home

It's our last week in our Sandy, UT home and I'm getting sentimental.

I'm sad to leave because:

1. I've been in love with the valley and mountain views from my house since the first time I came here.

2. Matthew and Emma were born here.

3. Glen put his sweat and blood into replacing EVERYTHING in this house (yes, even the kitchen sink!).

4. I love my garden areas in this yard. (finally finished most of it!)

5. I feel loved and comfortable in the community of friends and neighbors here. (the reason I cry every 3 days about moving from here)

All I can say about why were moving is: inspiration. Glen and I feel it's right to move although none of it makes practical sense.

It's feeling less like home as everything goes into boxes and we sell the things that we can't take with us. (i.e. the swingset)

Here are pictures of our kids having one last early morning play with it before it was dismantled and sold!

(Note Emma's

shoes: she put

them on herself,

on the wrong

feet!)

Our temporary home will be around the corner for a few months while the kids finish school and Glen waits for a transfer.

Our Home Sweet Home in Las Vegas, NV. (The kids still aren't sure that the pool makes up for leaving their swingset.)

I'm confident that there are great experiences in store for us in our new place!