Mom's are so great!

We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year. My mom had a really cute craft project for us to do. She was planning on coming up today to go to Novemberfest with me. We didn't quite finish the first blocks on Thanksgiving, so we decided to finish them up today. She also found some really cute blocks for Christmas. Here they are. You can't tell from the picture, but the letter stick off the block. I think they are so cute. I love my mom!

~Nicky

Who Had The Audacity?

The ever famous Brian Regan once asked the question, "Who had the audacity?". I now pose the same question. What I am referring to is the picture below that we will call exhibit 1.

Exhibit #1

When I woke up this morning this monstrosity was found upon our door! As many of you know I am and will always be a major BYU football fan. So this truly offended me, especially since the rivalry game is today. Well, nobody messes with me and gets away with it. REVENGE IS MINE!!! Even though it was early this morning when I found that THING on my door, my wife and I went to work quickly in retaliation. Now refer to exhibits 2 and 3.

Exhibit #2

Exhibit #3

There was one problem with getting revenge. Who could have done this? I do know that it must have been one of my neighbors. I know that Jason is a Ute fan and I know that his wife, Niki, and him would certainly love to antagonize me. I also know that Brittany went to the University of Utah and her husband Justin has been waiting to pull a prank on me. So instead on guessing which one, I decided to get them both. Now refer to exhibit 4 and 5.

Exhibit #4

Exhibit #5

Who knew that they were such big BYU fans???

Up!

Anyone who meets me knows that I am BIG into movies. Since I was little I have always enjoyed Disney animation, especially. Nothing has changed today. I'm even as emotionally challenged as I was back then (I still cry in films involving Big Bird and Mufasa). While searching for some items on the internet, or as some folks call it: "the world wide web", I stumbled on to this trailer for the next Pixar film coming out this next summer. Let's just say that I'm giddy!

-Patrick

Steve Carell on Jay Leno

I had to put this on here. I love Steve Carell.

The Great Pumpkin

A long overdue post...I know it is a FEW days after Halloween, but we had such a great time, I had to at least put something on our blog. My work dresses up for Halloween, after many hours of thinking and searching, I decided to be something my mom and I found in the storage room(thanks to my sister who left it there when she moved) a Pumpkin. I found the bright green leggings at Target. Here are everyone's costumes from my office. We also had a great time carving pumpkins. This year I decided to make a SCARY face, which ended up being pretty happy.

Patrick did his favorite...a SKULL! A few days before Halloween we did our annual pumpkin walk. It was a lot of fun. Here are a couple of our favorites. I loved the Noah's Ark scene. All of the animals were so cute. In memory of what we have been doing tonight, here is one of Kung Fu Panda.

We watched the movie, it came out on DVD on Saturday. Then afterwards we decided to go through the special features. There are some games...for kids to play, so, of course we decided to see what they were like. Well, lets just say that one of the levels is actually pretty hard. I finally had to go upstairs because I was getting so annoyed that I couldn't win the level. Oh well, it is still a great movie.

Sale

Just wanted to let everyone know that there is a sale on water at Smith's/Smith's Marketplace. I know...buying water...but for storage it is great. They have 3 liter bottles of water for 50 cents a piece. You have to buy 10 of them for $1.00 and then you get 5 dollars off. I think the sale goes through Saturday.

I Saw a Pumpkin 'fore You Did!!!

Ever since I can remember, my dad, mom and I have always raced to see who could find the first pumpkin of the year. This year I have to say my mom won. I got a text a few weeks back that said, "I saw a pumpkin 'fore you did!" I have to say I was a little distraught, because I can count on one hand the number of times I have not been first(I think my parents may have been letting me win all these years). I of course had to call my dad and tell him I saw a pumpkin first. All he could say was I was thinking the same thing the other day. It has really been a fun tradition that we have had throughout the years. I know this will definitely live on for many years to come. We will just have to wait and see who wins next year.

Paradise Pumpkin Patch

The first year Patrick and I were married we decided it would be fun to go to a pumpkin patch. I don't remember ever really going to one, and didn't know where to go, so I looked online. I found quite a few, but this patch was the top one listed. (Actually it is a pumpkin patch across the street, but the first time we came, we thought this must be the right one, so we keep coming here. All the money spent on pumpkins goes to a the young women/young men group in the area.) We have gone back the last couple of years because we really love the drive out to Paradise. It is really pretty and a fun little getaway. As you can see, there are so many pumpkins to choose from...I often have a hard time deciding which one is the best pumpkin. This year was not quite so bad. We found our two really quickly and then grabbed a couple of smaller pumpkins for our dinner. We usually like to get some apple cider from Paradise Farms, but we went after work and the gates were already shut.

Eternity, Together Forever

I finally finished the other sign that my sister made letters for me. I love it. What do you guys think?

Halloween Dinner, a Movie and Caramel Apples

Since Patrick and I have been married, we have tried to start up a couple of traditions. The last couple of years we have made dinner in a pumpkin and then dipped caramel apples. This last Friday, we decided to have the the Staley's, Hughes and Whitmers over for our tradition. I forgot to take a picture of the dinner in a pumpkin, but it was really good. I got the recipe from this website, http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Teris-Dinner-in-a-Pumpkin/Detail.aspx

Here is a picture of the ending pumpkin.

Then came the famous caramel apples. I also got this recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gourmet-Caramel-Apples/Detail.aspx

First you unwrap all of the caramels.

Then you dip 'em in the yummy caramel. Here is a picture of Patrick's perfection in caramel dipping. His secret...the freezer! Then to the fridge for some settling. While they were in the fridge, we started watching Monster House. This is a cute animated Halloween movie, I would recommend. After the caramel the best part comes....CHOCOLATE! I used the blue symphony bars, 'cause they are my favorite. This part is a little messy... ...and took some talent Here are the finished products. Patrick and me Bob and Haley Jason and Niki Justin and Brittany From the previous post you can see that Patrick was little messy while eating his apple, he decided he couldn't be the only one, so after a whopping kiss, here is what I looked like. We had such a great time. Thanks everyone for coming over.

Coming Soon!

A full report on last nights party...

TRICK or TREAT

While we were in Illinois a couple weeks ago, my sister made some vinyl letters for me. Our neighbor Jason cut some blocks for us. Thanks Jason. This weekend I painted them. Here's the finished product. I especially love the spider and pumpkin. I can't decide which way I like them set up, I am leaning to just the one row, but let me know what you guys think.

He's Got My Vote!!!

Have you ever seen one of these?

This last weekend we were able to go out and visit my sister in Effingham, Illinois. My nephew, Spencer was baptized-we are so glad you made this choice in your life and so proud of you. We had so much fun hanging out with family.(Thanks again Krista for the plane tickets-you are great) While we were there, my sister showed us a mushroom that she has in her backyard. I don't know about you, but none of us had ever seen a mushroom like this in real life. We have just seen cartoon drawings that look like this. To be honest...I didn't think they were real. Check this out. We also helped to dig a couple of window wells. They are going to grade(I think that is what it's called) my sister's backyard today, and she needed to have the window wells in place before they came. I know, I have great shoes for shoveling, but it was flip flops or my new white tennis shoes.

Mom and me

My cute sister, Denise

I just thought this next picture was so cute. My niece and nephews love Night at the Museum, so Patrick brought it along for them to watch. This was the second time that day, and Patrick was plum tuckered! We had a really good time. Thanks for letting us come and stay with you Denise and Scott.

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Two weekends ago we spent some time at my parents house. We went to the Mount Timpanogos Temple on Saturday morning. It was so beautiful. That is the very first temple I went to, and it was fun to go back. We also tried some new recipes

Luscious Lemon Fruit Dip

• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup cold water
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups heavy shipping cream, whipped
• Fresh Fruit

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in water until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-hgih heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes onger. Remove form the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentl boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Cover surface with waxed paper and refrigerate until cooled. Fold in whipped cream. Yield 5 cups.

Cherry-Chicken Salad Croissants

• 2 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 2/3 cup dried cherries-I used craisens
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1/3 cup chopped apple
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 4 teaspoons buttermilk-I used regular milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• croissants

Combine chicken, cherries, celery, apple and pecans. Combine mayo, milk, salt and pepper. Add to chicken mixture and mix well. Spoon into croissants. Makes 7 sandwiches.

Russian Cream

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 10 oz frozen raspberries, thawed

In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 min. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat; set aside. In another saucepan, heat whipping cream and sugar over meium heat until sugar is dissovled and mixture is lukewarm. Remove from heat; stir in gelatin mixture until completely dissolved. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min. until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. In each of four parfait glasses, place a scant(that is my new favorite word) 1/4 cup of cream mixture; top each with a rounded tablespoonful of raspberries. Repeat layers. Top each witha scant 1/4 cup cream mixture. Cover and refridgerated for 3 yhours or until set. Just before serving, garnish with fresh raspberries and mint if desired. Yield 4 servings. I really enjoy trying new recipes, especially with my mom because I know she enjoys it too. We had a great weekend. The three recipes were from the Taste of Home Magazine.

Snug as a Bug!

A couple days ago, it was pretty cold outside. I decided to bring my big fluffy down blanket downstairs. I left the room for a few minutes and came back to find this. He is definately snug as a bug in a rug. I just thought he was so cute and had to take a picture.

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons

On August 4th we set out for our summer vacation to Yellowstone National Park. We actually just kind of picked and left one day with only a few preparations behind us. We camped just outside of West Yellowstone in a KOA where there warned us constantly that we could be dead at any moment at the hands of a bear. It was surprisingly really nice because there were showers and bathrooms! After setting up camp and building an anti-bear environment we started our search for great scenery, adventure, and animals. Here's what we found: 1st Day: Geysers and Mudpots

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At every entrance to a geyser or paint pot there was a sign posted warning parents to watch their children and to keep off the hotspots. We couldn't help but laugh at the sign though. The following picture is just plain funny. It's definitely a clear warning that death looms for the disobedient. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Perfect Smores We discovered some information right before we left on our trip that has led us to the path of the perfect smore. The discovery is that of the chocolate marshmallow (chocomallow)! When in proper use with the fudge shoppe cookie the chocomallow can create amazing sensations in one's mouth. Here's a quick model for proper usage. mmm! mmm! Good! In this next picture Nicky was done with pictures being taken of her. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd Day:Little Grand Canyon and Lots of waterfalls

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Elephant Graveyard While visiting one of the paint pots, Nicky noticed that there were a plethora of dead trees that were plastered on the neighboring hill. She quickly referred to them as an elephant graveyard like the one Lion King. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jenny Lake and the Bar J Wranglers I need to thank Spencer Holmgren who was insistent that we visit a place just outside the south entrance of Yellowstone called Jenny Lake. Jenny Lake sits right at the base of the towering Teton Mountains. There were a lot of activities offered there but the hike to the waterfall caught our fancy and we indulged. Well worth it! We then visited the Bar-J Ranch which is always a good time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The only bear we saw the whole trip Although Nicky didn't get to see a bear or moose we still enjoyed the trip. It's was a nice excursion away from civilization and to view some of this beautiful country around us.