A Few Days Late

This is a belated birthday post for Duncan, who turned 33 a few days ago. It was a pretty low-key birthday, but we did have a little celebration, and Chloe helped me make a birthday banner. We love you, D. Here's to the best year yet!

Have you read any good books lately?

Why, yes. I finally finished the roughly 800 pages of Charles Dickens' final novel, Our Mutual Friend; one that I had never heard of until someone in my book club selected it for our group to read. Talk about a menagerie of characters and a plot with lots of twists and turns. This was a fun, yet somewhat difficult read, with the usual dose of Dickens' characteristic darkness. If you're looking for a good, long book, I would recommend this one. The BBC adaptation is also very good, so if you'd rather get the main story in 4-5 hours, you can check that out.

Tri #2 for Duncan

When, due to an emergency appendectomy at the end of May, Duncan couldn't compete in the Battle at Midway Triathlon for the second year in a row, he decided to look for another opportunity to complete a triathlon this year. He was going to do Daybreak, but was too late in registering. Then he came across the Jack and Jill Triathlon in Honeyville, north of Brigham City. It was only a week away, but was also a shorter distance than the olympic length tri at BAM. Despite little to no training, he decided to do it. So we packed up Chloe and headed up Friday afternoon. The race started at 5 in the evening. Here he is getting set up for the start of the race.

It was a very spectator-friendly race, since you could stand along the beach and watch the entire swim; you could even take a dip in the water yourself if you wanted to (and it was hot enough!). The running part of the race consisted of three times around the lake, so you could see your competitor go by several times. Anyway, here's Duncan finishing the swim--his strongest event.

I had quite a time chasing Chloe around. There were lots of kids, because they were having a kids' triathlon at 7 that same evening. (The women's tri was the next day--hence, the Jack and Jill title). They did have a Kids' Zone where kids could draw pictures with washable markers. Here's Chloe drawing to pass the time while daddy raced.

Duncan finished the race with a smile on his face. (Although I didn't happen to capture it in this picture.)

Here he is relaxing in the water with Chloe.

It was a beautiful evening, and a fun time for our family. If you want to find a short, family-friendly triathlon, we recommend the Jack and Jill in Honeyville. :)

And the Third Place Winner Is...

I finally won something in a contest! I entered a recipe in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Competition at the Utah State Fair this week and won third place, garnering the items you see in the picture. And can you believe I didn't take my camera to the competition?! So, you don't actually get to see the Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars that I made (and you know how I love taking pictures of food), but here's the recipe, which is now owned by Ghirardelli and the Utah State Fair.

Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars

(Makes 16)

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

1¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup toffee bits

1 cup Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips

Extra Ghirardelli Milk and Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (about ½ cup) and ½ tablespoon vegetable shortening for melting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and two sides of an 8-inch square baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on the two sides. Butter the other two sides of the pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add flour, and beat until combined. Stir in toffee bits and chocolate chips by hand.

3. Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven; cool completely in pan.

4. In a microwave-safe bowl, add the vegetable shortening to the extra chocolate chips. Microwave on high for 20-30 seconds at a time until the chocolate stirs smooth but is not too hot. Spread the melted chocolate over the cake. Let set until chocolate is firm.

5. Grasping foil overhang, lift cake from pan. Peel away the foil and, using a serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store bars in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

Our Little Cougar

Duncan was changing Chloe this morning, and while putting her BYU t-shirt on her he asked, "Chloe, are you going to go to BYU for college?" She immediately answered with a very confident, "Yeah!"

It was so shocking and funny, we had to try and get her to say it again. We got an even better reaction the second time!

A One Car-One Motorcycle Family

That's us! With Duncan starting a new, commission-based job, we decided to sell his car to free up some cash and find a more economical mode of transportation for him. After weeks of research, he finally found what he wanted.

This is one of Duncan's dreams come true. He got a great deal on it, and is enjoying the ride! It'll be interesting to make this transition from two cars to one car and a motorcycle, especially as the winter months approach.

On another note, I am grateful that Duncan takes riding a motorcycle seriously, and that he takes every precaution to be safe. He took the motorcycle safety course a few years ago, and has had enough experience to teach him some important safety lessons! :) Ride on, babe!

She's a Lefty

At least that's what the evidence suggests so far....