Moab and Arches

Two weekends ago we took the drive down to Moab for the annual canyonlands 6 man indoor volleyball tournament.  Jeff has played in this tournament almost every year since he was 16 with pretty much the same team.  It is a lot of fun to see everyone and to play some good volleyball.  This year the team took 2nd, which is a disappointment, but not bad for a bunch of guys that are much closer to 40 than they care to admit.

After the volleyball tourey, we did some hiking in Arches National Park.  It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time.  

Here are some fun pictures from the trip. 

        

Santa, Spaghetti Squash and Sweet Yams

Our ward had a Breakfast with Santa where pancakes and a yummy "Special Syrup" were served. Here is the recipe for the syrup, you won't regret giving it a shot the next time you make pancakes, french toast or waffles!

"Special" Buttermilk Vanilla Syrup

1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1/2 c buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Bring butter, sugar, buttermilk and baking soda to a boil in an over sized pot for the job (it boils really big). Turn off heat and add vanilla. Serve and enjoy over french toast or pancakes. It can be stored in the fridge and reheated in the microwave.

Here are some other sweets:

M and Kat: "we'd like a candy cane please"


Carl: "I don't know" (playing the 'be not greedy' card)

Maglet: "I would like world peace" seriously.

So I heard from a reliable source that if you are having trouble cutting acorn or butternut squash that you can put it in the microwave for a couple of minutes and it will be much easier to cut. I tried it earlier this fall with great success. With the feeling that one squash is much like the other, I decided Sunday to throw in a tough spaghetti squash when BOOM! the microwave door blew open, Maglet (who happened to be walking by) was coated in squash strands and the whole island was splattered (think 4-5 foot radius). It was everywhere and all I could do was laugh, apparently it doesn't work with spaghetti squash.

Sweet Yams

Jeff has played volleyball (off and on) with the same group of guys since High School. It was nice to live in Utah for him to be able to participate in a tournament other than Moab. The other nice thing was that his brother CJ happened to be travelling West on business and was able to come and play as well. Also, most of the other teams in this tournament were college teams so our "wily, mature and experienced husbands/Dad's/professionals with day jobs" were up against teams that are much younger and play together regularly. Go YAMS!

The Team

Nice pass CJ!!

Strategizing

Go Eddie (and I happen to like your day glo shorts!)

CJ and Jeff

Up for the Block

They ended up taking 9th in the tournament. It was slow going and frustrating at first but they warmed up and figured out how to play together better by the end of today. It was good to win the last game.