Our 'Three Hour Getaway'

Craig and I decided it was time to go on a date. We have a favorite place to go "our place". Springdale, Utah right outside of Zion National Park. Plenty of time to people watch, sit and enjoy the beautiful outdoors and count our blessings. Don't you just love the pictures your kids take of themselves while they are obviously holding their camera in front of their face? Well I was determined to get one of those shots of the two of us. Pretty good uh?

We parked and walked a short distance to the river. It was so pretty!

Here's a couple more of those pictures. We were laughing so hard, this man asked us if we wanted his help and that he'd take our picture. I said,
"No thanks, we were doing it this way on purpose."



Woops! Of course Craig had to close his eyes.
It was so fun to getaway with my best friend.

A gentle touch, a morning hug, breakfast made to share...

A knowing kiss, a quick phone call just to say you care...

Romantic meals by candlelight, early evening walks,

Snuggles by the fireplace, quiet late-night talks...

Simple pleasures every day--little bits of life

Are golden moments cherished bya husband and a wife.

Pomegranates!

Here's to you old pomegranate tree.

May your branches always blow freely in the breeze.

And may you bear bushels and bushels of pomegranates with ease...

Here's to you - Great Pomegranate Tree

We don't spend very much time on the side of our house where the pomegranate tree is. That would explain why I had no idea how it had grown this summer. At first I thought the grape vines had overtaken it. The branches were so weighed down with fruit that they touched the ground. I've never appreciated the pomegranate very much. I remember when I was young, my mom being very upset with my siblings and I, the evidence of sweet pomegranate juice on our clothes. I recall breaking it open, the pretty red seeds squirting their juice everywhere. I was "never" to eat that again! And so I didn't.

I looked at that poor exhausted tree and got the idea to make pomegranate jelly. With Nikki's help we picked the biggest and most red, it was a chore but well worth it. I will definitely be doing this again next year.


Getting the seeds out to make the juice was easy but time consuming. I used about 20 pomegranates and got 9 cups of seeds. I then put the seeds in the blender and pulsed a few times to release the juice. I strained the juice through three thicknesses of cheese cloth to remove all the pulp or icky chunks. All I wanted was the clear, sweet juice.


Next I added lime juice. The recipe called for lemon juice but I had a few limes in my fridge so I used them instead. Then the pectin and sugar went in and I boiled the heck out of it for a couple of minutes.


Next I poured it into jars and sealed it, it was so easy, sweet and delicious!

These little jars of jelly are so pretty. I'm so glad I gave this a try.