103 Photos and a few words of summary...

So, we sort of fell off of the blog-wagon for a few weeks. What can we say? It’s summer time and life with three kids takes getting used to! This week’s update will have to be a summary of those we missed.

We had the opportunity to go up to Myrna Redd’s cabin in Bear Lake for a few days. It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends up there. It was especially nice to see Andy and Erin Buteau and their children who were visiting from London (their kids have the CUTEST little accents).

Olivia turned five! It’s hard to believe that she is that old. It’s hard to believe that we were in Thailand that long ago, but yes, it has been five years. She is so fun to have around and we learn so much from her every day. She is excited about kindergarten. She loves princesses, pink, and all things girly. She loves sugar more than any of those things, but thankfully, she is very good at eating vegetables as well. She is a very loving big sister. She and Ruby love to sing and be either “mommy and baby” or “rock n’ roll girls” together.

Ruby's 3rd also happened in May...and we neglected to mention it. Sorry, Ruby! She's got to be the most adorable 3-year-old in the history of the world! She's pleasant, easy, sympathetic, (usually) obedient, and loves just about anyone who will talk to her. She's a fantastic little sister for Olivia and a loving and helpful big sister to Sonoma. What a gem (pun intended).

This month my sister Kristen and her family moved to Provo so that Marshall could attend law school at BYU. I got to go down for a couple of days and help them move in. Wish them luck! Also, my brother Clay and his wife moved to Salt Lake City so that he could work full time for the non-profit organization Fight the New Drug. Both families will be sorely missed here in Cache Valley.

In other news, we found a wonderful live-in babysitter named Bailee who will be with us for a while. We are very excited about her and love having her around. She is a Junior at USU majoring in special education.

Other than that, we’ve just been having a ton of fun and staying very busy this summer! Enjoy the photos ... we're using Picasa so the viewing and uploading is easier. You can watch the slideshow above, or click here for all of them.

Sonoma & Shrimp

Sonoma is just over two weeks old now. She seems to inherently know what newborns are supposed to do–eat, poop, and sleep. She’s doing all 3 of them far more often than us old folk, and is thus causing some scheduling issues we really need to talk to her about. Generally she’s a very good baby. Cuddly, quiet (for the most part), and still sleeps a lot. We think we’ll keep ‘er. More pics below.

Ruby and Olivia had their 3rd semesteral (a new word) preschool graduation at Union Preschool. Olivia’s last since she’ll be starting kindergarten this fall. Crazy. 

Ruby turned 3 this past week. Her annual checkup with her pediatrician revealed that she’s in the 5th percentile for height. I guess we need to get her off of my diet of bark and mulch and let her eat “real” food! Honestly, we’re not sure why she’s such a cute little shrimp, but maybe we’ll let her stay up in the evening to watch the giants playing at the NBA playoffs ... that should help, I’m sure. 

This weekend we’re at Sam and Kristen’s in Alpine. Sam has recently taken up painting following a 15+ year dry spell (basically since high school). We’re blown away at his ability to throw together such impressive art in such short time, and as rusty as he is!

I made my own attempt. I have far less experience or raw painting talent–but maybe with another 10 years, I can get to that level. 
Also, my sister-in-law Kristen went way overboard (oh how we love her) before our arrival and created a princess castle in the area under the stairs and painted big murals on the walls. Amazing! The girls loooooved it. Pics below.

Recipe of the week: 

Raspberry Banana Walnut French Toast

5 slices whole wheat breat

1/2 c. fresh raspberries

1 banana

1/4 c. walnut bits

1 T. honey

This is pretty simple, make the french toast as you usually do (with whole wheat bread), throw a 1/2 c. of raspberries and one banana and 1/4 c. of walnut bits into a bowl and smash together with a fork. Add 1 T of honey and smother the top of the french toast. Yum!

I'll put my painting first, so things improve from the top down! :)

 by Sam Smith

 by Sam Smith

 by Sam Smith

 by Sam Smith

Kindergarten & Everything for Sale

One of the girls' favorite things: dress-ups (with cousins this time)


Ruby at preschool playing "house"


Olivia feeling beautiful with new curlers and dress-ups.

This week was a big one for Olivia. She registered for kindergarten and got kindergarten shots. The whole process was a bit traumatic for her. She is full of nervous energy about it, even though it won’t start until the fall. She doesn’t really want to go to kindergarten, but then again, that’s where big kids go, and she wants to be a big kid… so her brain is having a tough time working out where she wants to be. I’m still in denial that she is old enough to go, but then again, she’s been in preschool for a while, so I guess it’s time. We are still hoping that she gets put into one of the charter schools in the valley (she’s on waiting lists), but if not, then we’ll see where she ends up going, because our house is back up for sale!

Yes, our house is for sale – again (www.lundstrom1.com). Hopefully we’ll have better luck selling it this time. It’s by owner for now, but we’ll probably list it officially soon. We’ve worked hard this week to de-clutter and organize to help it look more appealing (assuming anyone comes to look). Either way, it always feels good to de-clutter. We are selling because we really want to downsize (we are successfully living in half of our house right now - about 1200 of the 2400 square feet). We'd like to move somewhere in Logan that has potential to rent should we move abroad again - which we hope is in the near-ish future.

While we’re at it, our cars are for sale! The truth is we need a larger vehicle to make room for baby #3, so we are on the look-out for our latest dream car: a CNG SUV. We are generally opposed to gas guzzlers, so the CNG (compressed natural gas) option is really appealing – not to mention more affordable at the pump!

I met with the board of the Multicultural Center of Cache Valley (http://www.mccutah.org/) this week to present them with the gift of our preschool (www.unionpreschool.com). My sister Kristen and I have been running if for the last couple of years, but have decided it’s time to hand off the ropes to a more appropriate group. Kristen and her husband are moving to go to law school this fall, and I’m about to have another baby (in May), so I’m in no position to run the school on my own. We’d hate to see it fizzle away, so we hope they accept the gift (it would entail some work on their part). We’ll find out tomorrow what the final decision is – keep your fingers crossed!



Recipe of the week: Quinoa stuffed peppers

2 green peppers, halved through the stem ends
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1 small bunch spinach, leaves torn into small pieces
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
2 Tbsp (or more) parmesan cheese

Place peppers cut side down in a small baking dish. Bake at 400 until tender (about 40 min). While peppers are cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, saute garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary, and red pepper for a minute or two, until they're very fragrant. Then add spinach, toss well, and cook until spinach is tender (about 5 min). Add tomatoes and salt and cook for another minute or so. Stir the cooked quinoa into the spinach and tomatoes, and then flip the squash over and stuff it with this mixture. Top each half with 1 Tbsp cheese and then bake at 350 until the cheese melts (5-10 min). Serves 2-3.

*Modified from the original recipe found here: http://fortunavirilis.blogspot.com/2009/10/quinoa-tomato-kale-and-garlic-stuffed.html