Missing Grandpa

With Christmas coming up, Brett and I have been talking a lot about our Christmas plans. We are so excited to go home for the holidays and spend time with both sides of our family. We have been talking about going to Grandma's & Grandpa's house a lot- and it is strange and sad for both of us when we have to correct ourselves and remind us that Grandpa will not be there.

Grandpa was one of the most kind and giving men I have ever known. He was incredibly generous, more than anyone knew, and he loved his family and loved spending time with us.

Grandpa was famous for his huge garden. He grew up on a farm, so he loved fresh produce. He always looked forward to when it came time for planting.
He also had huge grape vines draping over the over-hang and thousands of grapes would grow every year and we would pick them, and grandma and mom would make the most delicious grape juice that i still crave.

When we were home for the funeral I picked one of the famous grape leaves and brought it home to find something to do with it! So, it's been pressing in a large book for the past 3 months and I was waiting for the perfect frame to place it in. I found it!

I placed it on some cute scrapbook paper and placed it in this cute frame

One of the last pictures with Grandpa. Rest in peace Grandpa- I love you!

YUM!!

These are amazing...go try one today; Candy Cane Hershey Kisses. They are chocolaty mint; and taste almost like a thin mint girl scout cookie. I ate the whole bowl that was on our table at the ward Christmas party!! Oops!

Our Newest Family Member

This little guy is what i would really like for Christmas. I can't wait until the day that Brett brings me home a little guy like this. Until that day we will have to make do with the newest member of our family...

We won little Rudolph at a fun Christmas party, elephant gift exchange. Thanks Tara, he is doing great in his new home.

Although, he is not as fun as a real dog, he adds some spice and festiveness to our little apartment.

Look at those big eyes!!

He seems to be adjusting just fine. He is already really attached to Brett... he just waits by the door until Brett gets home! Sweet little Rudolph

stressed

I have so much to do this week. Finals are killing me.
This is what I feel like.

Pumpkin to Pie!!

Saturday i attempted to turn this into a pie.

I began by carving the top off, just like a jack-o-lantern. Then i spooned out the seeds and stringy stuff.

Then you chop it up! Just into 3'' wide strips, then you place those strips on a baking sheet, and put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour. Till the pumpkin gets soft and mushy. An hour is kinda long; i'm sure all the nutrients were baked out, but oh well.

This was after i took them out of the oven. They smelt and looked like a squash.

This part was fun! You scrape off the soft part from the pumpkin and then blend it; it pretty much looked like baby food. I told brett i'm going to make blended pumpkin for our future babies :)
The next part was where i had to make a quick and altering choice! The recipe called for evaporated milk, which i thought we had. Turns out we had sweetened condensed milk. I threw it in anyway, and hoped it would be fine. Also- we had no nutmeg, so i added cinnamon along with ground ginger. Then a couple eggs were added, then blended and i poured it into the homemade crust! ( I'm not mentioning much about the homemade crust because it was NOT that good, crust making is a mystery to me)

Popped it into he oven and it came out with a big bubble in the middle. After i poked a fork in it- this is what it looked like! (It pretty much LOOKS homemade, not very pretty!) haha
It looked ok, but did it taste good? We had to test!

Brett and I really like it. It tastes pumpkiny, but yet a little different then the store bought stuff.

Kaley was not a HUGE fan.
I wasn't crushed though. I know that Kaley is a little, hmmm, how do i say this; highly selective in her eating? haha. I'm just kidding Kays. You really do eat anything i make, which i appreciate.
We force Kaley to try things sometimes. Brett made her try eggnog the other day, she thought it wasn't bad!
We love having Kaley up here with us. It's fun having family come over and doing things with her on the weekends. It's fun that Kaley and I have a class together too. We "Study" together. (Consists of us reading over the study page a few times, in between telling jokes and laughing, then we read over our stuff one more time, then go take the test- it's a highly effective studying method)

Things that make for a great week...

This has been a pretty busy week. School is coming to a close, so teachers are really piling it on. I really don't like homework. I never have, in high school I did just enough to get by. UNLESS... it was a subject i was particularly fond of, then homework was enjoyable. I was sure that this would change in college. I would be taking classes i loved, so i would love doing the homework, right? Wrong... homework still stinks. Math is still not fun; even in college... Amidst the endless stacks of homework, I have been trying to focus on the positive things these last few weeks, as to not turn into a giant ball of stress, and gain extreme enmity for my homework.

Here are some things that i have really enjoyed this week:

The CROCKPOT! Since I am working now and don't get home until 6:30 somedays I have been searching for some good crockpot recipes. At first I was a little scared of it. Everyone always says you can throw whatever you want in it and it will turn out good- but i was sure i could find a way of making that statement false. Luckily, so far, it has been great everytime! We had crockpot stuffed green bell peppers this week- they were yummy. It's so nice to come home and not have to worry about dinner. And it always smells so good.

This is what I am currently reading. I am really enjoying it. It's the same story line as "The Davinci Code" and "Angels and Demons"

My friend Jamie is currently on a teaching-expiditon in Ukraine. She is teaching kindergarten students, and she really loves it. HOWVER, I really miss her, and miss being able to call her anytime i please. She is included in my great week because she comes home in 12 days! (These are some fun pictures she sent me from Ukraine)

This is one of the Most Exciting. Brett and I shop at Albertsons sometimes for groceries (it is one of the three availalbe here) When you shop there, depending on how much you spend, you get a certain amount off of Albertsons gas. I am always thrilled to use this. I think i just love the idea of saving money for something that is so annoying to pay for, like gas. The problem is, is that the closest Albertsons gas is in Idaho Falls, which is a 1/2 hour drive. We don't go much, but tonight we planned a special Christmas shopping trip to Idaho Falls, pretty much so we could get gas for cheap! As we were driving to Idaho Falls our gas light was coming on and off! Talk about cheap. I love being cheap, it feels so good! We filled up for $2.42 a gallon. Boo-ya.

To finish this great week- tomorrow I am going to attempt to make a pumpkin pie from this pumpkin!! (It will probably turn out a big mess, but i'm excited to try) I will tell you about the finsihed product (and the messy and probably frustratingly confusing process)

Finally this week has been so great because of my fantastic, wonderful, patient, giving husband. Brett always knows how to brighten my days. He always puts a smile on my face, even when i come home a teense cranky from work. (rarely) :)
Thank you Brett for always making my days brighter and better. I love you.
(p.s. for those of you wondering, there is No ocean here in Rexburg. we barely have a city water park, and even that is just a few hoses hooked together. This is an old pic from a summer adventure is SF)

What makes your weeks Great???

A New Baby

My good friend Brittany had her baby yesterday November 27th. We were so lucky to be close enough to go to the hospital and meet little Lilly!

She is so tiny and beautiful!!

NEW MOON...

I saw New Moon tonight. It was good; but I do have some issues with it. First, why does Edward have to be constantly depressed? Yes, i know he is going through a lot- and he has some emotional stress and trauma, but still?! His eyes are always red like he is on drugs or something. And he is SO white and pasty! I know he's supposed to be white...but does he need to be practically see-through?! Gross!

More problems; They didn't build up the relationship at all of Edward and Bella in the beginning. If you read the books or saw the first movie you know how in love they are, and how cute they are together. In this movie- that wasn't shown at all!! I felt no passion, no love between them, so when he told her he was going to leave I didn't even care!- I wasn't even feeling any emotion!!

I have been a debbie-downer so far, so i will state some positive- I can't think of that many, but here are some key things I liked:

• I am totally team Jacob, he is a way better actor then Edward and is awesome
  
• The werewolves were awesome
• Bella's acting was better this movie
• The 'Voltaire' were SO cool!
• Edward's family are all great, and they are all good actors

Point of this blog:

GO TEAM JACOB!!!

Winter Wonderland

We had a dumping of snow today. It is actually really fun, and it is really pretty. It does make it a little to cold for my liking, but I am just trying to toughen up. :)

I kind of tricked Brett into helping me take the trash out, so that i could throw a snowball at him, and record it. It was a mistake though...he got me back way worse then i got him.

Introductions

We did an introduction recently, it involved Brett and an Artichoke. I came home from the grocery store with two artichokes, and i was astonished when Brett stared at the two little green things like they were two talking pigs! (meaning he was staring very oddly). Come to find out he didn't know what they were!! So i cooked them, and we tested them.

This is how i feel about artichokes

This is how Brett felt before he tried them (Good pose, don't you think?)

testing...

They didn't pass!!

We really like the Winger's sticky fingers, but to save money i searched for a recipe online. We found one here that is super close and really yummy.
Brett was a little bit happier about this meal!

The Happiest place on Earth

We had such a FUN weekend. Disneyland was the perfect break from school, work and the cold.
I love Disneyland- it's magical! It really is just like the commercials that show the little kids smiling and glitter gliding through the air, it's just so happy!

The best part about Disneyland are the smells you smell when you first enter the gates. Friday was there first day celebrating the holidays, so they had their HUGE Christmas tree up and all decorated, and they had glittering lights, and pretty wreaths hanging everywhere, I am ready for Christmas! So back to the smells of Disneyland- these are what you smell;

• the yummy, mouth watering smell of cinnamon-sugar Churros
• The Peppermint from candy
• Popcorn form the popcorn stands
• the MAGIC in the air ( not really a smell, but it's there)
  

It was fun having all the kids there to make it even more exciting. Audrey and Caitlin's eyes lit up when the princesses came out, and at all the glittering and lighting trinkets. When he saw Mickey Mouse, little Alex stared at him and whispered in a breathless whisper..."Icky mouse..." Little Alex was star struck.

We also had fun swimming in the hotel pool and spa- Dev and Cam loved getting "Rocket-launched" by uncle Brett in the swimming pool

On the shuttle, on our way to Disneyland!

This is one of the BEST pictures I have ever seen... Dad looks like Mr. Cool and Travis' face is priceless

Alex really has a bond with uncle Brett. He LOVES to wrestle brett, and gets a huge smile and yells, "HI BETT!!" Whenever he sees him. Alex is such a character, and is so entertaining...although he is rambunctious.

One night we were eating dinner in the hotel restaurant, and Alex was sitting in the chair next to me in a booster. He was rocking it a bit, but i didn't think much of it. I looked the other way for a second, and the next thing i know, Alex is on the ground! He had rolled himself out of his booster, and was lying flat on the ground next to it. It was sad, but he's so tough it barely phased him

Travis turned 30 on Friday!! and he was SO excited when the people at the restaurant came out and sang to him and gave him a big piece of chocolate cake. (As you can see, Dad is helping him, and that is Kate speed walking, with her spoon in hand, behind Trav to come try some)...As a discaimer to helping Travis eat his cake and dad and kate appearing rude, he had just finished a small ice cream before this :)

Rod was trying to pull a 'Mike face'

Traivs went on ALL the big roller coasters, and even wanted to do some twice. This was turing a new page for him... This picture was right before we went on California Screamin, he was showing me how excited he was.

Eating icecream before heading over to the Mickey Mouse light show. (Eveyone is really into their ice cream, except Brett, he had to split one with me, and it was already gone)

Abby looked like a cute little eskimo all bundled up, she is sooo tastey cute!

Lizzie eating ice cream very seriosuly

I wonder what Traivs was eyeing?!

Brett and Clark 'bored' on Space Mountain. That ride always breaks my neck, and i get a most ginormous headache afterwards. How come no one else seems to be feeling the whiplash on their neck like I am?! I must have a weak neck. :(

We were leaving California Adventure and Mickey came up and put his arm around us!! It was a fun suprise... he sure gets a crowd though, little kids were swarming him like bees on honey right after this picture was taken. I think that's why we're so awkwardly standing, there were kids about to stampede!