Mom's Slush

I surprised the family with mom's slush for our meal on Easter Sunday. We hadn't had it since Audrey got married 5 1/2 years ago. It was refreshing and so yummy! Here's the recipe.

Ingredients: 3 oranges, 3 lemons, 3 bananas, 1 quart pineapple juice, 3 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 7-up, strawberries (optional)

Directions: Combine water and sugar and bring to a boil. Squeeze oranges and lemons into a large bowl. Mash bananas and add to fruit juice. Add pineapple juice and water/sugar mixture and stir. Place fruit mixture in freezer and let freeze several hours. Just before serving, scoop fruit mixture out with ice cream scoop into cup. Pour 7-up over top. Add a strawberry if desired.

note: I use a hand-held juicer (the yellow handled utensil in the picture) that cost me a couple of dollars. It works great!

Mom fixed slush for mine, Kelsey's and Audrey's wedding.

Who else had mom's slush for their wedding?

Easter Outfits

Mike, Ben, Alia, and Audrey in their Easter Sunday outfits. Audrey made Ben's tie. Cute family!

Alia was so excited to wear her new Easter dress today. When she entered the nursery, she stopped in the door and said to all the boys and girls "I have a flower dress!" I think she was on a sugar high in Sacrament meeting! Audrey said she ate about 5 plastic eggs of candy before church. Her legs were flipping up and down and all around. She flipped her mom's hair, about 20 times, using both hands and saying "you have pretty hair!" Then she finished up by saying, "my hair is pretty like yours."

Easter Egg Hunt

Makaela and Alia are hunting for eggs in the wild grass and sagebrush at Promontory Point. It was a good old fashioned, out in the sticks, kind of day yesterday.

The Wild West Adventure!

It was a day out for the cowboys and cowgirls! We went to Promontory Point and the Golden Spike National Park for the day (it was free National Park day this week). It was on the chilly side, 48 degrees. But the sun was out so it didn't feel quite as cold as it really was. We were outfitted with bandannas and cowboy hats. We ate sandwiches, chips, grapes, and carrots in pie tins. Lunch was topped off with miniature cupcakes decorated with green coconut for grass and jelly bean bird nests on top.

Our hiking trail was the old train route. Alia was so cute. She ran the whole way to the former trestle site, which was at least 1.5 miles away. She chased her shadow and entertained us with her funny sayings.... "that's a bridge man!" (mimicking her mother's remark). When we headed back to the picnic site, we asked her if she wanted to ride in the stroller. She said "no, I'm happy!"

Once we got back, the kids hunted for Easter eggs. Then, it was off to the Golden Spike Museum. We rummaged the gift shop and each of the kids cranked a Golden Spike memento out of the penny crushing machine. Kelsey bought the kids souvenirs, and we saw where the last spike was hammered into the rail. It was a good day. We had the trail entirely to ourselves! We all agreed that this will probably be the start to an Easter outing traditon... our desert in the mountains!


That's Brigham City in the background.... about 25 miles East against the beautiful snow packed Wasatch mountains. The trail the kids are on is the old, original train route.