Camping up at the "Lake House"

Cathy and Mike have some amazing property in Washington State at Lake Merwin. Every time we go to Oregon we get to spend a couple days up there to camp, hang out and go on the lake. One of my favorite things about camping with the Dover's is their homemade eclairs. (I think its because of the Bavarian cream lol)
Here is the recipe if you plan on camping:

What you need:
2 inch dowels with the tips covered in foil
Refrigerated biscuits (like Pillsbury)
Chocolate Chips
Bavarian Cream...YUM!
Cooking Spray (PAM)

Spray the foil with cooking spray and mold 1 or 2 biscuits around the dowel. This will be the casing for the cream and the chocolate.

Hold the dowel with the biscuits over hot coals until its fully cooked. Then fill with cream and chocolate chips. (I like to stagger my cream and chocolate chips)

Now here are some camping pictures!

You have probably already seen this, but I liked it.



This one is awesome!



I love our prophet. He is a prophet of God.

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Foam Swords

While we were in Oregon, Celeste (my niece)inspired me to get creative and come up with things for all the kids to do. Here are instructions for the foam swords and pictures!

Tools:
Knife or saw to cut a noodle

Materials:
Foam Noodle cut in half (1 buck at Dollar Tree)
2 foot piece of 1/2 inch pvc (We found these pre-cut at Home Depot for about 75 cents)
1 PVC end cap (we found it at Home Depot for 27 cents)

Instructions:
This is so easy!

Cut the noodle in half.
Push the noodle onto the PVC pipe, leaving at least 4 inches or more at the top with no PVC. (That makes it soft when you hit with it)
Put the end cap on the other end of the PVC.

Ta Da! Easy as that you have a sword.
Notes:
I tried to buy noodles at the Dollar Tree here in Utah and they are sold out. You can still get them at Smiths for 1.99.
You can also cover the noodle in duct tape to make it last longer. I didn't do it because it makes it a harder hit.

Now for the pictures!

Eddie playing with the swords
Mikel Jr. and Mikel Sr. going at itMikel Jr. and Mikel Sr. action shot

Sibling Rivalry- Mikel Jr. and Michelle (older sis)

Check out these sweet rides

In Oregon I ran into an old friend. All you old Ricks buddies will probably remember Shanell Chezik. Well she is now Shanell Proctor and runs the coolest limo business in Portland. Just look at these pics! (they are all from her website)
If any of you are in Portland stop by and check them out. There website is Executivelimocompany.com It would be a great anniversary or hot date idea (hint, hint honey).

Oregon Zoo

Cathy and Mike Sr. (Nana and Papa) have tickets to the zoo where they can take all theirgrandchildren for free. What resulted was mass chaos. :) It was a lot of fun. Adam loved the animals, for a little while :). Cathy bought all the babies matching tees. It was a lot of fun.



This picture tells the story of how the day ended. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted on the way home. :)

Thanks Nana and Papa for the fun!

Oregon Vacation

Sorry for the posting hiatus. We are in Oregon visiting Mike's family. I have so many fun pictures to share.
Here is the Oregon Coast

Adam playing in the sand. It was so freezing he wouldn't go near the water.

Our family in the ocean. We were trying to explore a cave, but it was way too cold to walk in the water.

Roy'l and Casey with Javan, Mike Sr. Me and Mike with Adam, Sara(pregnant!) and Cavan with Lexi (dog)

Mike Sr. and the tide pool incident. This is a little funny and a little sad. Mike Sr. was freaking me out by giving Adam dismembered crab legs and body parts to play with. I buried the crab leg so Mike Sr. had to get more. In his journeying to get more dismembered crab legs he dropped the camera in the tide pool and fried it. So Mike and Cathy got there new camera a little earlier than planned.

We had such a good time at the coast! We also checked out the Tillamook factory. Adam was in heaven with so much cheese! Tillamook ice cream is about the best ice cream ever made. Here is a small piece of advice to all those looking to go to the Oregon Coast. It doesn't matter if its July, wear warm clothes.

Causing Up Trouble

I went to my mothers house the other day to borrow a springform pan to make this Cheesecake Factory recipe. Its sooo good by-the-way. But I came home to this.

Adam was so proud of himself, all I could do was laugh. What happened was Mike had taken a shower and Adam was hungry so he got himself out a pot from the cupboard and pulled the Cheerios from the pantry and set himself up right outside the bathroom door. He was so proud. Funny kid.

Then the next day I was laying down trying to take a nap. (Mike and I take turns on Sundays) All I could hear was Adam laughing. After about 10 minutes of Adam having a great time I came out to investigate. There is Adam up on a chair with his hand in some dried fruit Mike was snacking on earlier. Where was Mike? Asleep on the lovesac. It was really funny!

Adam's first haircut!

The Sat before Father's Day Mike cut Adam's hair. It was so cute to see Adam sit so still for daddy. When hair fell on his chair Adam would quickly brush it off. We are raising a cute neat freak! :)
Well in one swoop Adam went from the mullet you have come to know and love at this blog to a full blown little boy. I was amazed at how big he looked. My baby is no more. Now I have a little boy running around causing up trouble! How fun.

A Before Shot
An After Shot. With the proud barber himself.

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Happy Fathers Day!

To all you wonderful Fathers out there, Have a Wonderful Day! I have so many wonderful fathers in my life. I was blessed to have a really kind, tender father. He loved to play with us, and is so cute with Adam. Dad I love you, and I am so blessed to be your daughter. I also have an amazing father-in-law. What suprised me the most when I married Mike was how tender and loving Mike Sr. treated me. He is always serving and fixing everything around our house. We are blessed to have you!
And to Mike. You are such a wonderful dad! I fall in love with you more when I see you play with Adam and take such good care of him. I couldn't ask for a better father for my babies. I adore you!
Here is a tribute to my man and the most wonderful father to Adam.
I love you Babe, you are a wonderful father!