The Knotwell Family Blog

Today I took the kids to Gardner Village with my sister in law and her kids. The girls were so scared to see the witches at first, but then they started to warm up to them. We always have so much fun when we get together with Triny and her kids.

This picture of William is so funny. This is him smiling for the camera. I looked at him with the camera and this is the face he made. I think he has watched his sisters do the camera pose one to many times.

As most of you know we have purchased us some land. We bought a lot in the Cove at Herriman Springs just 7 miles west of us now. We are so excited to plan out our new home and get it just right. We will not be leaving for a couple of years or until the market starts turning for the better. So don't start planning all of the going away parties just yet.

Charlotte started Preschool last Tuesday. She LOVES it and asks to go back every day. She loves her teacher Miss Amy and loves her friends too. She is getting so big and I love watching her learn and grow. She has really started asking alot which letters are which and wanting to know words and numbers. Maybe this school thing is a really good idea?

I am sure by know you are all sick of these posts of the hat I made for Charlotte. I am quite proud of it! I learned how to make the flowers for her hat and had them attached. It turned out so cute and I promise I won't show any more pictures of this darn hat!

My friend Leslie and I took our girls to a pond at some apartments to feed the ducks. They loved it and had alot of fun. William was fascinated with the water and kept going over by the edge of the pond. I asked him to come over by me and he thought it was a game so he took another step closer to the water and stepped in a hole of duck poo and mud. He fell in it and smelled like a sewer. Luckily there was a broken sprinkler and WE were able to wash off the best we could and head back to Leslie's for a picnic.

Emily started 3rd grade 2 weeks ago. I know I am a slacker mom and posting really late. She is loving her teacher and her class. She really is growing up so fast and it has been so fun to watch her learn and get more responsible. Charlotte had to wear her shoes and socks like her Emy and pose with her too.

We are finally getting blooms on our shrubs. We planted 5 of them 2 years ago and they have been struggling showing us any blossoms. This year all of our shrubs have blossoms. Charlotte is my little gardener and she is always out helping me pick weeds and "paydo's" (tomatos). We thought the flowers were so beautiful we took some pics for all of you to enjoy!

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.