HAPPY THANKSGIVING

"Those who live in thanksgiving are usually among the world's happiest people."

-Joseph B. Wirthlin

Here is our lovely Thanksgiving Tree It is completely full!!

I wanted to take the opportunity to say how thankful I am for my family, friends, the gospel of Jesus Christ, prayer, blessings, personal revelations, our wonderful Prophets and Apostles who lead us in righteousness, music, this beautiful world, and for LIFE!!

Enjoy some of the more humorous items my family feels grateful for:

The YMCA?! I am grateful she is grateful for this because I go here to work out.
I don't feel so guilty.

(ME TOO!!)

He has had these slippers since before we were married - probably 15 years!!

It is pretty ironic that she likes the pool because she never gets in.

I am sorry...I am VERY grateful for showers and indoor plumbing. Can I just give a huge shout out to whoever invented the wonderful toilet and indoor plumbing!!

Nicole sincerely means this...She loves EVERY single baby in the entire world. She stops in her tracks when she sees a baby.

YAY!! I didn't even force her to write this.

She loves her Barbie Purple Corvette, along with other corvettes!! Warren is grateful he has one child who loves cars!!

I am being DEAD SERIOUS!! If you haven't tried yoga yet....try it!!

I think we are all grateful for our comfy jammies and blankies, while eating Ice Cream.

Oh, how we love Piggie!! I don't know what Kaylee would do without her Piggie!!

I love this....Missionaries. Kaylee is grateful for missionaries. She is already talking about serving a mission.

"Kayla" is Nicole's baby doll whom she loves!! And I love her cute little handwriting. I am grateful that Nicole has finally figured out how to write her letters without thinking TOO hard. YAY for Nicole.

What are you Thankful for? HAPPY THANKGIVING!!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

YUM!! I am growing Rhubarb in my backyard and it grows like a weed. I get about 3 harvests a year and I finally found a pie recipe that I love. Let me say it one more time....YUM!!

I know Rhubarb can be pretty scary because it looks like celery, it is stringy, and is a vegetable. Why would anyone put rhubarb, a vegetable, in a pie? It tastes really good...that is why!!

So here is my recipe. I combined a few that I found online, experimented, and this is what I came up with. I got the pie crust recipe at a Relief Society Activity and love it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Crust:
2 3/4 C flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C butter
3/4 C shortening
2 egg yolks (beaten) with milk to make 1 cup

Mix flour, salt, and fats first and then add milk and eggs quickly - don't over mix. It will be sticky - use flour to roll out.

Filling:
4 C Rhubarb, chopped (I like to put it in the food processor so it is in smaller pieces)
2 C strawberries, sliced
1 1/3 C sugar
1/4 C cornstarch
1 TBS lemon
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 C coconut milk
1 egg, beaten

Combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut milk.
Put half of pie crust in bottom of 9 inch pie pan. Spoon in filling. Cut vents into crust and paint with beaten egg.

Bake on baking sheet at 425 degrees for 15 mins. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for 45-50 mins.

Enjoy and maybe try something new this year for Thanksgiving.
It is DELICIOUS!!

Thanksgiving Programs

I love cute little elementary school programs. Although the girls school doesn't do anything for Halloween, they DO something for Thanksgiving.
Nicole had a cute little program where everyone dressed as an Indian or Pilgrim. They sang songs like "This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land," "I'm a little Turkey," "God Bless America" (YAY), and "10 little Indians." I was very impressed and pleased to hear the class sing songs that might be considered Taboo.
After we sang, we had a pie feast with Apple Cider. YUM!! Nicole wanted me to make a strawberry pie to share with the class. It turned out just fine considering I made it up with the help of Robin and have never made one before in my life.

I LOVE NICOLE'S TEACHERS!! AND THEY LOVE HER A TON!!

Kaylee had a Native American Day to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was wonderful!! Kaylee dressed up as a Native American (YAY - we already had a costume!!) and wore a necklace her Grandma brought her from Peru.

Kaylee learned how to make an Apache Door, she played some Indian Games, and made a moccasin. We also had a Native American Feast in her classroom - yummy jerky, cornbread, pumpkin seeds, dried fruit, and an assortment of meat.

The boys and girls than each took a turn as a group to recite a very long poem called, "The First Thanksgiving."
I am so grateful that Kaylee and Nicole got to recognize this holiday at school.

Halloween - I LOVE IT!!

I know there is some controversy about Halloween. (Kaylee's school doesn't even recognize its existence - but I'm not bitter or anything....)

But, let me say it on record - "I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!"
I know it is strange, but I think it is my favorite holiday, besides Christmas. I get more excited about Halloween than I do my birthday. I have had this illness since I was a little child. On Halloween, I am a big child ready to enjoy the festivities.

Here we are ready for our Trunk or Treat. I am counting my blessings because it is the 3rd year in a row of nice weather. YAY!! No jackets that cover our costumes needed.

I dressed as a Jester, sort of. I just randomly put together things we had around the house. Someone at the party thought I was Lady GaGa. Should I be insulted? I guess I kind of look like her.

Here is our "Jessie, The Yodeling Cowgirl". When Taylor told me she wanted to be Jessie, I had no idea who she was talking about until Kaylee filled me in. She has never seen Toy Story 1 or 2, but saw Toy Story 3 in the movie theater. It must have made a huge impression on her because she was determined to be Jessie. In fact, she LOVES Jessie.

Here is our Beautiful Native American Princess. She desperately wanted an Indian Princess name and Pocahontas or Sacagawea did not work. So, I said what about "Sunkmanitu Tanka Ob Waci " (Dances With Wolves). My Dad would repeat this name over and over again when I was younger. He loves this movie!! Kaylee loved this name and it was fun to hear her introduce herself as,"Sunkmanitu Tanka Ob Waci."

Here is our Scary, Mean Witch. When I asked Nicole what she wanted to be for Halloween, she told me a Mean Witch with Green Hair. I am sorry Nicole, but you could never look mean.

Look at this face. Does she look scary to you?

Here is her best scary face. Nicole really got into her character and loved to chase people around cackling. She did have a pretty good evil laugh as she chased
her friends around.

Too my surprise, I won the Chili Cook Off. I was VERY surprised!! And I got this really nice wooden spoon as my gift. I love it.

THE GOODS -

Nicole's favorites - Skittles and Nerds

Taylor's favorites - everything. She loves candy!! But, starbursts are pretty high on her list.

Because of Kaylee's braces, she turned a lot of her candy over to Mom and Dad for some good cash. She did keep some chocolate, which is her favorite.

Carving Pumpkins -
I do not enjoy carving pumpkins. It hurts my hands, I can't ever get all the gook out, and I don't like the gook. BUT, every year we seem to do it.
This year I told the girls we would only carve 1 pumpkin and paint the rest. It worked out pretty well. The girls were a lot more attentive while painting their pumpkins and I picked the smaller pumpkin to carve. Worked out great.

Every year on Halloween, we make a Monster Pizza. It was delicious!!

This year was interesting because Halloween was on Sunday. We did some trick or treating on Saturday with some church friends, but stayed home on Sunday. It was actually very enjoyable. We got dressed up, made dinner, and played games while we handed out candy to our neighbors. The girls loved answering the doorbell. I wish I would have gotten a picture of them sitting on the rug right in front of our door playing card games and giving out candy. LOVED IT!! Loved their excitement and pure joy.

One little side note -
When it was time to go to bed, Kaylee put out a bowl of candy and put a note on the bowl "Please take 1 piece. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! " I knew what would happen. She was pretty disappointed after she heard a group of kids come to the door, take the entire thing of candy and crumble up her note. "Why would people do this?" I wonder if Kaylee learned anything....

Introducing....Kaylee !!

Look at this Beautiful girl....When did she get too looking so old. Kaylee got braces and a brand new haircut. The day after Kaylee got her braces, she asked if she could get her haircut so she could have a whole NEW look. We went, Kaylee told the hairdresser how she wanted her hair, and this is what we got (9 inches of hair were sacrificed).

We love her new hairstyle and new look!! She looks absolutely stunning.

But, mom is having a hard time realizing her little girl is becoming a preteen. AHHHHHHH!!

Fun with Cousins - More Summer Activities

I am slowly catching up on my blogging from the summer. I just found all of these pictures from July when Jill and TJ came to my parents house. I love when we get together. The cousins play all day and at night, my siblings and I stay up late talking, watching movies, and playing Poker.

Love this cute guy - JJ loves the water and has the BEST smile.

Abby, Madison, Kaylee, and Nicole - So fun to have girl cousins close in age. Madison will be 12 very soon, but she does such a great job playing with her younger cousins.

Uncle T and Tyler. Beware of Uncle TJ in the pool. You could get thrown VERY far.

The Splash Park was a hit at our pool. Even when it is freezing cold, Nicole will run through the water.

I don't think I would stand under this buckets of FREEZING water for anything. Not even money!! Well...maybe.

Great-Grandma McVey came for part of the time. It is always nice to have her around interacting with all of her great-grandchildren - Jaydn, Jaxson, Taylor, Kaylee, Jonah, Nicole, and JJ. (Nicole is so tan. I can say that looking back on this picture...WOW!! )

Nicole loves babies, and Jonah is her favorite. She has even named one of her babies Jonah.

I don't get many of these, so thank you to whomever took this picture. When did my Kaylee get so old?

Kaylee and Abby are best buds. They are SO much alike and only 3 months apart in age.

On one of our many walks Kaylee found a snake skin. They were pretty fascinated with it. Aunt Mollie wasn't too thrilled. She hates snakes...ALOT!!

Me and my girls....

TJ with his kiddos. Madison, Robbie, Abby, and Tyler. He has one more Parker, but he stayed home with Mom.

This is a very typical shot of Jill with her young ones. I have always loved Jill's laugh. She looks beautiful!! (I wish you could see but 2 of her kids have on casts. Jaxson and Jaydn both broke their arms...Jill is quite the trooper.)

Taylor fell in love with these frog boots from Target. She wore them everyday during the late summer and loved to wear them with her swimsuit. She is just so darn CUTE!!