The Family That Flees Together, Trees Together

I'm a huge HUGE fan of the NPR Radio Show This American Life.  The other day at work I was streaming an episode called American Limbo this episode actually aired back in 2001, but was reaired last week.  I was particularly struck by the first act about the Jarvis family, a family of eight who's on the run from the law for seven years. During this seven year span the family lives on a boat, in a swamp, in a tree house. The crazy part is all the kids turn out to be pretty normal and fairly unfazed about the whole thing.  I found it amazing to hear a story of this family that just makes due with what they have and also learning different trades and handy work to get by month by month.  I mean if I had to share a 8x8 bedroom with my three sisters for three years I don't think I could make it.  Don't get me wrong I love my sisters, but I have to be honest I'd go nuts. I love the way they presented the family in this episode, they paint a beautiful picture of simplicity and unity. It's a good reminder that sometimes living simply, brings out what matters most and in this case it's a great family bond. While I don't necessarily support them running from the law, but somehow by the end of the episode I found myself routing for this family not to get caught. I'm almost tempted to sale everything and go live on a boat for the next five years. If you have some spare time you should listen to this episode.  http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/177/american-limbo, or just listen to the first act it really is amazing. To end this blog post I'd like to give a shout out to This American Life for bringing a new perspective to the table week after week, for making me think outside of the box from time to time, and for the entertainment you have brought me episode after episode (check out the radio show archives). 

Summer Time and The Livin's Easy

FRUIT PIZZA:

It's the perfect reminder that it's still summer.  Nothing better than fresh summer fruit on a fresh summer night.  Making this lovely dessert brought me back to highschool cooking class days.  I loved that class so much I took it twice.  To bad none of those skills stuck with me. 

Long live the Fruit Pizza... (you better eat it fast it gets soggy after a day)

Uinta This?

Last weekend a group of us took a weekend trip to the Uintas. We camped at Butterfly Lake and made a dutch oven feast fit for a king.

Brownies:

 

Corn on The Fire:

Dutch Oven Potatoes and Popcorn:

Niki, Amanda, and I set up our own little tent:

The next morning we went on a hike and did some climbing.

These next two pictures we're going to play a game of can you spot the cool guy, you know the kind of games they used to put on cereal boxes?

Overall, it was a great weekend.  It was nice to beat the Salt Lake City heat. If you've never been to the Uintas you should get up there ASAP, the summer season is short (July -  August) I'm hoping to get up there again before the summer ends. 

Ohhhhh Baby Baby!

Here's a little video I put together of the flip cam footage we took in Tahoe.  As a side note there's a part where my sister says she farted, she really didn't she was saying that for a funny little dare game we were playing. I just wanted to save her the embarrassment that wasn't even real.  Enjoy...  for some reason the video embedding is not working, so please click on the link to watch the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUAZ_eHZ5s0

Keep Tahoe Blue

First let me start with this:

That's right people KEEP TAHOE BLUE... they say it for a reason.

I recently went to Lake Tahoe for a nice 10 day get away. The weather couldn't have been better.  I honestly don't think I saw a cloud for 7 days straight.  All kinds of different activities kept us busy such as:

Wake boarding:

Skiing:

Wake Surfing:

Tennis (private courts right on the water):

Bike Rides Along the Truckee River:

Photography Making:

My mom's whole family came out including all three of my cousins.  Here's all of the cousins together. The "kids" table never gets old... it's actually a privilege to be part of it.

I'd like to give a shout out to the boat captain! Thanks for the awesome trip.