This weekend was one of my favorite weekends of the year — General Conference. It doesn’t get better than dozens of inspirational and uplifting talks. Plus, it seems that it’s everyone’s excuse to make the biggest and most delicious meals.

Our weekend was no exception.

 We started off Saturday morning with homemade waffles (using my favorite recipe for waffles and pancakes) and homemade buttermilk syrup. My family was in town (for general conference), and my mom brought me a fun new cookbook, so I quickly took advantage of the new delicious-looking syrup recipe, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Peanut lapped it up, and after finishing his waffles, picked up his bowl of syrup and drank the rest. I may or may not have done the same. (recipe at the bottom of the post).

We spent Saturday evening in Salt Lake at my aunt’s house with all the girl cousins, aunts, and Grannie, while the men were off at the Priesthood session of conference.

On Sunday morning we took advantage of another big breakfast opportunity and invited Kayla and her little family over for monkey muffins, breakfast casserole (made by Kayla), and bacon. There would have been pictures, but we scarfed it down too quickly.

 After the last session was over on Sunday evening, we took a family walk since we’d been cooped up in the house all weekend. It turned out to be 40 degrees, so we all nearly froze, but the cemetery across the street from our house was beautiful with all the trees in bloom.

And to finish our weekend of gluttony, we made homemade s’mores over our electric stove (which worked surprisingly well).

A fantastic weekend.

And now, since you’ve waited so patiently, here is the recipe:

Buttermilk Syrup
from The Gathering of Friends Celebrations (volume 3)

 3/4 c. butter
1 1/8 c. sugar
3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter, then add sugar and buttermilk. As it begins to boil, turn down heat and let simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and soda. The syrup will foam immediately. Serve warm. May be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

*this is only half of the recipe, and it made plenty for all three of us, plus leftovers. Also, make sure you use a big pot, because the soda makes it very foamy, and it will overflow if you’re cooking in a small pot.

Neither Philip or I are from Utah, and we’re not planning to live in Utah forever. However, both of us have jobs here, and so we’ll be here for the next few years and have mutually decided that we should enjoy our time here. We’ve also decided that in order to enjoy our time here we should take advantage of the beautiful nature around these parts. Sometimes our weekends get lazed away, watching movies and sleeping in, but this weekend we decided to go hiking! We’re not really big hikers, and actually have only been a few times since we’ve been married, but it’s nice to get outdoors every once in a while. The week that Philip and I met, we went up to Stewart Falls by Sundance with some friends. It’s a two mile hike to the waterfall, then two miles back. Not strenuous, but slightly more than just a walk.

Here we are the week we met!

Since we hadn’t been back for about two years, we decided to go hike the trail again, this time with different friends.

Look familiar?

We had an awesome time, with a delicious trip to Sonic on our way home. Here are some other pictures from the hike:

Don’t we look like natural born hikers??



The highlight of the hike: when Kevin went under the ice cold waterfall. Hyperventilation finally wore off after several minutes.