Favorite Chocolate Recipe

There must be something in the water around here because I have been craving chocolate A LOT!!!!
Joi gave me a starter for friendship bread that she brought back with her from Pennsylvania. (Which I hope to share very soon...) And while it was really good, nothing can compare to her Cherry Chocolate Cake.

So here's the recipe:

1 Duncan Hines Devils Food Cake Mix
1 large can cherry pie filling
1/4 tsp. almond extract (optional)

Follow directions on box, omitting water and adding cherry pie filling. Bake as directed in 13x9 pan. Test with toothpick for doneness. (May take longer than estimated time on box.) Frost with chocolate frosting or dust with powdered sugar.

You'll be hooked!!!

Our Staycation

Last week Joi mentioned that she was going to be coming up to Salt Lake to complete some of Grandma's paper work. She suggested that Mark and I get away for a few days and volunteered to watch the kids...
After a few days of planning and rearranging we decided to take her up on her offer...It's been a couple of years since we've had "Couple Time." And I definitely needed some down time...
We headed up to Snowbird for a great "Staycation".
On the first day we took the tram up to the top of the mountain and debated whether or not we should hike back down or just take the tram back. There were a few inches of snow and the temperature was around 47. The tour guide told us it would probably take about 2 hours to get down the mountain. Mark and I looked at each other and thought it would probably only take 1 1/2 hours. He told us we would have to hike through some snow, etc. But we didn't seem to care. After all, we had all day with no kids...
On the first part of our hike we came to this sign, "Easier Route". And I thought, 'This is great. It will definitely only take us 1 1/2 hours. Let's choose easy.' And so we did. Mark led the way and we continued our hike down the mountain. After about 2 hours I was wondering why they had called this the easy way.
We trenched through snow, scaled down steep terrain, and argued about the best possible path to take. We ended up creating our own because all the trails we looked at were way too long.
Five hours later we were sitting on our balcony looking up at the mountain we had just come down and Mark turned to me and said, "I figured out what we did wrong. Instead of coming straight down we zig zagged that whole thing 5 times..." I just shook my head and laughed...
I guess the journey really is the destination...

Scout Camp

What a week it was having Cole at Scout Camp. We missed him soooo much. The first day he was gone Mark came home from work around 11:00p.m. and all the doors to the house were open and the lights were on. He came running in the bedroom thinking that something was wrong. I had fallen asleep and the kids had gotten in bed with me. Usually if I konk out early Cole will lock up and put the kids to bed early. I am so used to him taking care of me that I forgot he was gone and just crashed in bed...
Later on in the week Carson and I went up to visit him for family night. It was an eye opener to see my son covered in dirt and to hear about the quality of water in the showers and in the lake. I was disgusted!!! But having him there has taught him how to be a better person and to be a better son...
He just has to have his review with a leader and he will be a first class Scout with two merit badges under his belt...
GOOD JOB COLE!!!

Highland Fireflies

Legend has it that there is only one place west of the Mississippi where you can find fireflies. And that place is right in our backyard...
I don't know if the legend is true or not but the kids couldn't wait to catch them. A few years ago the kids caught fireflies when we had a family reunion in Virginia. Then when we moved here the neighbors started talking about the fireflies down by the river. Nine months later the kids decided to see if they could find any. It was so neat to see them get excited and to watch the fireflies light up in the jar. It reminded me of when I was little...catching fireflies on a hot summer night...