The Knotwell Family Blog

I know, I know - every one of you wishes to be part of the next Knotwell sunday dinner. We would love to invite every one of you over, believe me. In the event that the invitations don't come as swiftly as you would prefer, here's the recipe if you want to try it yourself.

Ribs - I was fortunate to be able to experiment the first couple of times on "free" ribs. Missouri raised pork got me most of the way there. You can cook 3 racks of ribs on the Weber, so go to Costco and buy the value pack. Trust me, you'll be eating for a while.

Dry Rub: If you like BBQ Sauce ribs, this is not for you. You should boil the ribs for a bit, then bake them in your oven. BBQ Sauce is for wimps. :)

Here's the recipe from this book:
1/2 cup FRESH ground pepper
1/2 cup paprika
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (you might find this in your grocery store as "Sugar In the Raw." It is critical that you use this kind of sugar. Raw sugar is larger and sticks to the meat. If you use granulated white sugar, you will not be as pleased.
1/4 cup coarse salt (sea salt)
4 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp cayenne

Mix it all together in a bowl. This rub is enough to do 6 racks of ribs, so store it in a cool, dry place (your pantry works).

Cut your ribs into sections of 3 or 4 ribs each. Thoroughly rub the mixture on the meat. Yes, you need to get your ands dirty, don't be a girl about it.

Cook on indirect heat for 1 hour, 15 minutes (or until the juice runs clear). If you're using a kettle style (Charcoal) grill you'll want to cook on indirect flame. 22-25 briquettes on each side, add 10 more briquettes on each side after 30 minutes. If you don't have the ability to cook on indirect heat, bake in your oven. High heat is 350 degrees. Don't quote me on the time though, cause I don't cook in the oven.

Enjoy!

On July 26th my beautiful Mom turned 60 years young. We surprised her and had my long lost brother and his family come to Utah for the weekend. She was so surprised to have them here and to have the whole family together. We celebrated by having family pictures taken up at our cabin. My girlfriend Michelle took the pictures and we had so much fun doing them. The last time we all got together Kattrina, Kari and I were all prego with the baby boys. Thanks for all of the help from the siblings for putting on this wild party for Mom!

I will post more pics when John gets done with manipulating them!

When I was a young pup I took dance, like most little girls. My mom saved my costumes all these years (Iknow there are alot) and I have taken them over. My girls love to dress up in them and perform. Emily had them on yesterday so I took some pics. She is so freakin cute!

Yesterday we made stepping stones for our yard. The girls had so much fun decorating them and putting their hands in the cement. William could have done without it. We put his foot in there to make the mold and his little toes curled up and made a large hole. They turned out so cute.

These are the final products.

I was out fertilizing our garden and to my surprise I found tomatoes! We have three plants total and this is the first to produce. I love to watch our garden grow and produce!

Happy late 4th of July to all. This year our family was able to get Papa (John's dad) out here for the weekend. He got here on Thursday and is leaving today. We have had so much fun having him here playing with the kiddos and visiting our favorite spot in the summer, the cabin. We headed down to the cabin on Thursday night after Emily was picked up by Jared. Emily got to go to Bear Lake for the weekend, Lucky! Friday morning as tradition we went to the Provo City parade. We get the same spot every year have enjoy the parade every year. Our friends Dayna and Sienna go with us every year and we love that they do.




After the parade we went and secured ourselves some tubes to go down the Provo. My mom has never floated the river so she decided to come with us. What an adventure! We did really well until the train truss. The guides told us to get out at the bridge walk around it and then get back in. They call the train trusses the "Bridge of Death." Well my mom and I didn't have enough time to get out so we went under the bridge of death and barely survived it. I was off my tube and so was my mom and we made it to the side bend just beyond the bridge. John came over to make sure we were okay and he tried to help us get back into our tubes. Well my mom got into hers just as we got swept away and I was still hanging on for dear life when my sweet husband was telling me that there was a large log in the river and we were going to run into it. The adrenaline was rushing and I got my butt in that tube in record speed. The rest of the river was alot calmer and we got out with no problem. By the time we were done all of our arms were rubbed raw from paddling the water. My mom's is the worst by far. Her whole inside of her arms were raw and bleeding. My arms are raw inside by the elbow. We for sure are doing it again in August if anyone is up to the challenge! I didn't get any pictures of all of us so here are some pics of John and his dad John being silly.




Later that evening we went to Midway to watch the fireworks with our friends. We always buy a pack and do some before the big show. The kids loved it and I know John had fun puting on the show.

William has been saying thank you for the last few days. I asked him to say it for the video and he did, but I have yet to hear it since. I didn't know boys are just as fickle as girls are.

Have you ever seen anything like this? I sure as heck have not. John has turned into a grillin machine since he bought his Weber grill. He will search for recipes until the breaking dawn for that perfect one. He found this recipe and thought it would be fun to put a can of Ginger Ale up a chickens butt and see how it turned out. It actually was some of the best chicken I have ever had! We invited my parents to dinner and my dad could not stop eating the chicken. I know you all want the recipe, but I don't have it. You will have to contact the chef.

I have recently taken up knitting. Each time we visit John's parents, his mother is knitting away and making the cutest things. I am always so intrigued and so motivated until we get home. Well I decided to do something about it and I signed up for a class at Kamille's. She is the funniest and best knitting teacher (besides Sally, my mom-in-law). I completed my beginners knitting class and made this fabulous scarf with fringe. I know you are all so proud of me, me too! I have signed up for another class in August and I will be knitting some Snugs. You are all asking yourselves, what are snugs? Well they are like Uggs but you knit them and then felt them. Felting is when you throw your wool knitted project in the washer and it shrinks and turns into the finished product. I am so excited and I will post my projects. I am going to be knitting something in the mean time, so stay tuned!

We went to one of John's work collegues houses to go swimming on Saturday. We had so much fun playing in the pool, eating lunch, and having popsicles. JOhn wasn't feeling to well after he took a dive in the pool and later found out that he lost his eardrum. This was the ear that he is already deaf in so good thing he can still hear me, right? He is doing fine but he goes to the ENT on Wednesday to find out if he is going to get it reconstructed or if he gets to live without it. Wish him luck!

Sleeping Beauty was Awesome! She came and did some magic tricks for the girls (and adults)with live animals. She had the girls blow wishes into a box and then out popped a white dove. Her next trick she had the girls help her make a birthday cake. The girls put things in the pan and said some magic words then POOF out came a real bunny. She did a ton of magic tricks and made the day so much fun!

We have started a little tradition in our home for birthdays. We decorate the kitchen and the kids wake up to a "Party". Charlotte was so excited to wake up to her party and open her presents. Thank you to Nana and Papa for her cute bag and sunglasses. She loves them!




We bought Char a motorized Gator for her birthday. She loves it but I think Emily loves it even more!

Charlotte really has been the light of our hearts. She is spunky, funny, a show off, loving, and is a really good sister. We are so blessed to have her in our family.

The Purse:

The Stash:

As I wrote earlier Char has a hording problem. Any purse, bag, grocery sack, or pretty much anything with some sort of pouch she will fill. If Charlotte comes to your house and you find you are missing things, she most likely has it stuffed in a bag. The other night I found her purse ready to explode with all of the goodies she has stashed and this is what I found. Here is a quick run down of a few things in there. 3 phones, 2 mirrors, money, 3 pens, dead flowers, some kind of booklet, makeup, and a few hundred other things. We sure do love our little squirrel!!

After making the jam the kids and I stayed and played with my mom and dad. My dad was mowing the lawn, and we all know how much William loves that. So my dad let Will help him sweep up the grass clippings on the driveway.

The girls got the motorized jeep out and took a ride around the circle. William loves the jeep so Emily took him for a ride. He honestly sqeels when he rides in that thing, it is the cutest!

I went out to my mom's to learn how to make raspberry jam. I always thought it was really hard and really time consuming. I was wrong. Mix a few things together and let the jam set up and voila, ready to freeze or eat!



The finished product. Nice jam for my little family. Char and I had some and it is really good. It tasted like candy!

Emily has really taken up cooking for the family. She got a cute new apron from her Nana for her birthday and she loves putting it on and cooking for us. She woke up and decided to make pancakes for us this morning. She is getting really good and I really don't need to help much anymore. Charlotte is starting to get the bug and loves to help as well.

Charlotte is going to start preschool this fall and she is getting ready. She has been so curious as to what letters are what and learning the ABC's song.

William loves to be apart of the "Manly World". When anyone is using any kind of a power tool he must be involved. Friday night John was mowing our lawn, as you can see it desperately needed it. William followed him around the yard and was yelling at him because John was ignoring him. John picked him up and walked around the yard with Will on the mower. He was so happy and could have been there all night. Of course Charlotte got jealous and she wanted a turn pushing it.

The Rules:

Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.



1. What I was doing 10 years ago: Playing carelessly and working full time I'm sure.


2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order): Take Charlotte to dance class, buy goodies for Char's birthday party, get some summer clothes for all of my kids, play with my mom, go to Enrichment.


3. Snacks I enjoy: Trail mix from Costco, ice cream bars, pretty much anything salty and sweet.


4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire: Pay off all of our debts, buy land and build a new house for my in-laws so they will move by us, travel, and shop.


5. Places I have lived: Utah, I know pretty sad!

I will tag anyone who wants to do this :)

I promised some pictures of the basement with paint so enjoy! We should be getting carpet in the next couple of weeks!!

This is Johnny after spraying the basement, he is so hot!

I know it looks like it is snowing inside but I think my camera is jacked up. This is the office, federal blue.

The family room

The play room

Charlotte has become the latest fan of Hannah Montana. She loves what Emily loves and so she obviously has fallen for her. She sings this song for everyone she meets and loves to perform.

I have not posted for an eternity it seems like. I do have pictures to post, but for now you will have to just read. For Memorial weekend our family headed down to Wildwood and spent the weekend there. Wildwood is the place where my family has a cabin and has had a cabin for like 100 years. It rained all weekend, but it was so nice to just sit and read and watch movies. The girls played at the park and Emily has a friend that lives there so she was also busy with her. William hung out with his boring old parents back at the cabin. My sister and her family came down for one night and most of Saturday. The cousins have so much fun playing with each other. John has been REALLY busy with work. He got a new boss and has been adjusting, thus working more hours. Our yard, like every year, is a slow long process. Most of you know that we flood like 14 times a summer and so far our windows are filling up with water but not getting into the house, yet. This year it will be fixed and we won't be flooding any more. We created some new flower beds and did some curbing last fall to make the yard look a little better. I will post some pics once we plant the shrubs and flowers that are waiting anxiously in the front flower bed. Our basement is coming along nicely. We have started painting and are almost finished. Emily's room is the last room to be painted due to the multiple colors and the difficulty. She is really excited to move downstairs and have a more mature bedroom. I've got some really cute ideas for her room and I am so excited to get her room finished. Charlotte is turning 3 on June 13 and she is a little spit fire. She cries over pretty much everything and she has become a horder. She loves to find purses, back packs, boxes, and grocery sacks and fill them up with everything. When we go over to my friends house she almost inevidibly comes home with 2-3 things from her house. When she has a good stash going on I will show you what I mean. William is starting to run (without bending his knees) and he is getting his bottom 2 molars. For the love will they come in already!?! He is getting so big and he is learning to taunt his sister like she does to him. I am just keeping up with my babies and getting ready for a LONG summer with all 3 kids. Emily got D track for next year so that means she gets out on June 6 and doesn't go back to school until August or September. I will post some pics so you can see how big the kids are and I will post pics of the basement. Until then toodles!