Spinach Artichoke Dip

 My husband gets so excited whenever I make this dip.  

It is sure to please at any party.  Serve with crackers.

Ingredients:

1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed.
1 14 oz can marinated artichoke hearts, drained
6-7 cloves garlic
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened.
1 C mayo
1 C shredded parmesan cheese
1 C mozarella cheese

Instructions:

Squeeze/ drain out the water from the spinach and put it in a food processor.  Add the peeled garlic cloves- you can press them first or just add them whole.  Blend these up fine.   Chop up the artichoke hearts.  Put this in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.   Put the mixture in a baking dish and bake at 350 for 30-40 min, depending on how deep the dish is.  Serve warm.

Blacksmith Fork Canyon

On Saturday,  July 2nd (4th of July weekend) we headed up to Blacksmith Fork Canyon.   This is a few miles South of Logan canyon, just East of Hyrum.   We had originally planned on going camping but ended up just doing a day trip, which was still nice.  We have never been there before, so this was an exploring trip for us.  We learned that it is better to take a truck up the canyon than a mini van.  There is a dirt road up to the camp sites and trailhead that is drivable in a mini van, but pretty rough.   It is very pretty and looks like a nice place to go back to sometime and go camping!  

We parked at the trailhead and embarked on our journey up the mountain to the waterfall at the top.    I thought "1 1/2 miles- that will be a cinch!"  (I have been training for a half-marathon and running 4-6 miles a few times a weeks so this seemed like a breeze.)    Well, this was a little harder than I expected.  For one thing, it was all uphill.  And, I still think it would have been pretty easy with just Aaron and I, but with 4 little kids this was a different story.  

For one thing,  Aaron had on a heavy backpack with Jared in it (Jared is the perfect size for this :)  and I was with Heidi at the end (the caboose).  She walked no more than 1 mile an hour and I was there to coach her along.  She did awesome considering her size and I was so proud of her.   I joked with Aaron that half the time I was literally walking with one foot just in front of the other (baby steps) up the trail.  It was enough to make me crazy!    She was being very stubborn and refused to let me hold her hand so she fell a few times and still wouldn't change her mind.  Finally, we reached the spot where the waterfall was.  It was really pretty, and bigger than it has been in previous years (I am told) because of the high run off this year.  We sat at the base of the fall and ate lunch.  Then, we hiked back down.  The kids were all real troopers as we had to cross the river 3 times and since the water is so high this year, it was pretty tricky getting over it.   Erika and Kyle did great- They had so much energy and made it up no sweat!

Sitting at the top of the waterfall with the kids.  I was a little nervous about this one,
 but Aaron convinced me it would be okay.  

Along the trail, the kids found a "throne seat" made out of rocks.  We sat on it and pretended to be royalty.  

    

After our hike,  we stopped at a spot by the river and let the kids swim.  We were all exhausted and hot so this felt really nice.  Aaron played with Erika and Kyle by having them float down a little piece and he caught them when they reached him.  They had a lot of fun.  

On the way home, we all stopped for slurpees.  I don't think a slurpee has ever tasted so good.   Okay, I lied- they always taste good to me.    (I think I could eat one every day and not be sick of them :) Yum!  

That night after the kids were bathed and in their pajamas,  we lit some fireworks in our yard.   They had a lot of fun with that.   Children bring so much excitement to the occasion- it wouldn't be nearly as fun without them.  We love watching them get excited.  On Monday, the fourth, we went and saw CARS 2 the movie in 3D in the theatres.  The kids LOVED IT!   Then, after some shopping, we went to see the fireworks at the park in Brigham City.

Michel Reunion at the Cabin

Jeremy- you're so silly!!

Kyle and uncle Jeremy going for a ride.

We had our second annual "Ollie Michel" reunion at the cabin this last weekend and it was a lot of fun!   It was a very different year this time because we were small in numbers, and those who weren't there were definitely missed.   It will be nice to all be together again at next year's reunion.    We still had a great time, though!!   Thursday, June 23rd was our first night.  We got up to the cabin pretty late so all we really did that night was eat dinner and then put the kids to bed, then relaxed and talked for a little bit.

Nate and Kyle searching the mountain for deer

The next morning, we had a nice breakfast and leisurely morning.    The men worked on a project organizing the garage.  We packed a lunch and headed off on a boat ride and "hike".  (I put this in quotation marks because it was more of a walk up a path, maybe a quarter mile.  But it was just fine.)  We drove the boat across the lake and found a nice spot to dock, then after eating our lunch we walked a little.    There was a little stream running into the lake and we couldn't believe what we saw!   At least 50 fish or so were stuck in a little pool in the stream.   We weren't quite sure why they were there, but we think they were spawning.    They were LARGE trout!!   (I forgot to bring my camera on the hike and I was so bummed I didn't get any pictures of this- but it is true.)   Jeremy and Aaron and Nate were able to walk through the stream and catch a whole bunch of fish with their BARE HANDS and just throw them onto the bank!!   How fun!!   We took 4 or 5 back with us.   When they picked them up, a bunch of little orange eggs came out, so they must have been spawning.

Heidi couldn't resist stuffing the whole s'more in her mouth.  

That evening was spent fishing or catching crawdads, going on motorcycle rides and just relaxing.   John came up for a few hours with Colton and it was nice to see them.  Jeremy fixed us dinner and then we roasted some s'mores by the campfire.   That night, the adults had fun playing games and watching a movie.

" I can't believe I am actually touching this thing!"  

"I am a pro crawdad- catcher."

The next morning,  after breakfast, some people went down the lake to see how many crawdads we had caught.   Kyle was so excited about the crawdads- we had at least 30.   He learned quickly and with no fear,  how to pick them up behind their arms and had a great time playing with them on the deck.  Erika was even brave enough to pick one up!   After lunch that day, we cleaned up and headed home.  Overall, it was a great time.   We are so grateful for a wonderful family and we love you guys!

Handsome and lovin' life in the walker.