Happy Halloween

We had a very relaxing Halloween. Well for me anyway. I hung out at home while my aunts and gramma came over and cooked dinner. It was wonderful.

Gramma cutting up meat for beef soup.
Gramma, Missy and Sarah

"Nice face Chris!!!

Anna loves chocolate just like her daddy.By the end of the night Anna refused to get out of the wagon. She wouldn't even go and TrickorTreat at houses unless we could roll the wagon up to the door!

So sleepy! Thank goodness we had Uncle Albert to carry Lukie!

And with that sleepy boy Halloween Night came to an end. Time to get in the Thanksgiving mood. Time to take out all the totes and put away the Halloween decorations and pull out the Thanksgiving decorations. This is by far Chirs favorite part of the Holidays. Pulling out totes and putting them away. He always tells me how much he LOVES to help. "Thanks for all the help!"
It really does feel like fall now...it rained all day yesterday! Finally!

Thank You's...

We have a very sweet family in our ward and Lukie loves their son Brayden. Every time Lukie sees Brayden he runs to him and just puts his head on Braydens shoulder. Anyway the Shouses were so nice to watch Lukie for me the other night while I went to mutual. I decided to make them some caramel apples as a 'thank you.'

Preschool Halloween Party

Anna had a great time at her preschool party last week. So many opportunities to dress up this year. It really made Halloween fun for both Lukie and Anna.

"Woof! Woof!"

Family Home Evening

Thank You to the Peterson's for inviting us over for Family Home Evening. You guys inspire us to be better at having FHE weekly!!!

In the picture you can see the kids decorating little cakes. This recipe is courtesy of my good friend Paula Dean. You know we both LOVE to use butter in cooking! Anyway they were very easy cakes and perfect for this time of year. You decorate and add any candy topping you like. Great way to make use of some of the TrickorTreat candy. The recipe calls for the cakes to be baked in removable bottom tart pans but I just used cupcake liners and a cupcake pan. Worked perfectly. Have fun and enjoy!

Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Cakes

Cake: 1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix 1 egg 8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling: 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 8 tablespoons butter, melted 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg Fresh whipped cream, for topping Candy for toppings (recommended: M and M's, Reese's pieces, crushed Snickers, Heath bars, mini chocolates, peanuts)
Special Equipment: 10 (5-inch) removable bottom tart pans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cake:
Combine the cake mix, egg and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Divide the mixture into 10-equally sized balls. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand and gently press into the bottom of each tart pan.
Filling:
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs, vanilla and butter. Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spoon a scant 1/2-cup of the pumpkin mixture over cake batter in the tart pans and bake for about 40 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing.
Serve with fresh whipped cream and candy topping.

Baby Update

Everything is great with the baby. The nurse found the baby's heart beat and that's always a relief. I know I always hold my breath until I hear that faint little pitter-patter. So as far as the pregnancy goes I have basically been sleeping or throwing up for the past six weeks. Finally today I told the nurse out of sheer frustration that I sleep all day long and there are times I can't even get out of bed. She asked what kind of medication I was talking for the nausea and when I told her Phenergan she quickly told me that Phenergan is almost like a sleeping pill. The reason it keep patients from being nauseous and throwing up is because they are asleep. What!!! I've been taking two a day!!!! Not everyday, but the day's that I just can't bear to puke up another meal. So now it's back to the Zofran. Let's just hope the nausea ends soon. At least now I won't sleep my days away.

Ward Trunk or Treat

Saturday night we went to our ward's annual Chili cook-off, Carnival and Trunk or Treat. The kids had a great time. I have to say it was kinda crazy and we didn't get to spend much time with our friends. There were three wards involved so it was a huge turn out. There must have been at least 30 pots of chili and 50+ cars for trunk or treating.

Anna is a ladybug this year and Lukie a dog. He was such a stinker he would not keep the hat on.

Our lame attempt at decorating our car. I don't think the kids care about the decorations they were more interested in the candy. This was Anna's first year passing out candy and she had such fun doing it.

On Sunday night we got BOO'D! It was so cute when Anna opened the door to see the plate of treats. Her eyes opened so wide. I love this time of the year. I love to see my children having fun with new and exciting experiences. She doesn't quite understand being BOO'd. We told her that some thinks our family is very special and wanted to share a special treat with us. Anna's response "Someone thinks I'm a very special girl, huh mom!"

Halloween Party

This last weekend was so BUSY and so much fun! On Friday night Chris and I went to a Halloween Party hosted by Chris and Joy. It was a blast. Everyone really got into dressing up and Joy had some really fun games planned. We played donut on a string, couples obstacle course, guess-who and apple bobbing! There was even a costume contest, which I am proud to say that Chris and I won for "Most Realistic." I hope Joy plans this party every year. Hint! Hint!

Ugly Betty and Henry (love the shocks and shoes, I think I may try to bring this fashion style back!) Seriously this outfit does nothing for my pregnant figure!!!
The Party Hosts. Lucy and Ricky
Big Bad Wolf and Little Red
Rocker Chick and Golf Ball

Cleopatra and Dead Bride
There were so many other great costumes. I hope my friends post them on their blogs!
Donut on a string. Or as I like to call it "Make out with your husband in public" contest. Everyone was so into this game. It was a blast!

Obstacle Course. Something about blow a bubble then blow up a balloon, blind fold then spin, tape the balloon to your partners butt, sit on the balloon and pop it and finally catch three skittles in your mouth. All I know is that it was the funniest game ever. Good thing we have a group of friends willing to make total fools out of them selves!

I wish I had taken more pictures of the decorations. Everything looked so cute. She even strung lights outside in the backyard and put out a fire pit with a smores bar. It was awesome! Look at this...she even had a "to-go" treat bar. Fill your bag and go.

It's Awkward!

It's hard to explain but it's a weird thing for me to tell people that I'm pregnant. I know I should be elated, and I am, but how really do you tell people? It's easy to tell my family but you know not really a conversation starter with friends. It was even kinda weird to tell my really close friends. In most cases I just blurted it out. Well after being harassed by them for not picking up phone calls and basically dropping off the face of the earth for about three weeks. In my defense the sickness, nausea and exhaustion hit at six weeks and is just not starting to subside. I still have my daily 'chat' with the toilet every night but it's getting better. I think the hardest part of why I don't like to say tell others is because I don't know what stage they are in their own life. Do they want more children, have they recently had a miscarriage, are they trying with no luck and I guess the list goes on. That's how it was for me anyway. Chris and I tried and tried with Anna. We even had to turn to fertility doctors. Each time someone would tell me they were pregnant, although I was happy for them, it just made me sad for my own circumstances. It still makes me emotional to think of those feelings. Or maybe it's just my whacked-out hormones. Anyway I write this because I'd like those of you to know who I haven't told personally it's not because I don't want you to know, it's because I don't know how to bring it up. OK now aside from the big long explanations "WE ARE SO EXCITED!" As someone at church said to Chris last week "You guys are on a roll!"

I have to give a special "thanks" to my wonderful and compassionate hubby who has watched the babies while every afternoon for the past 4 weeks do I can take a two hour nap. Chris, you don't even know how much those naps help me get through the rest of the day!!!

Pumkin Patch

Yesterday we went on a preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids had so much fun walking through a corn stalk maze, listening to a an old Indian story, going on a hay ride and most of all picking out a pumpkin.

I tried to convince Anna to be either Boo from Monsters Inc. or Princess Tigerlily from Peter Pan but in the end she decided she wanted to be a lady bug. I almost had her convinced to be Princess Tigerlily but when she saw that Princess Tigerlily wore a brown dress she said "she's not a princess!! Princesses don't wear brown dresses!"

Anna's preschool class.

Here's Anna with Leah and Jake.

Lukie loved feeding the donkey. Until it made a funny sound then he ran away!

BUNCO

Each month I get together with a group of my friends and play Bunco. We have a great time eating, chatting and playing BUNCO. October was my month to host. I was so excited about it being Halloween because I love to decorate and throw a fun party. This was my opportunity to show my friends how much I really do care about them and appreciate them. I can't of course take all the credit because Lupe came over and did all the cooking. I only had to decorate and make dessert. Which really is my favorite part!

For dessert we had caramel apples covered in chocolate with heath bar or almonds, mini cake cupcakes, Magnolia chocolate cupcakes and of course some Halloween colored M&M's.
I have to post a picture of this salad because it's probably one of my favorite dishes Lupe makes. I loved how my friend Shannon explained it, she said "it's like a party in my mouth." Along with the salad Lupe made quesadillas with cream cheese, bree cheese and apples and BBQ chicken. I've been asked for the salad recipe so I'm going to post it by memory. Lupe also just makes it from memory so there are no exact measurements for the ingredients. It really will also depend on how much salad you are making.

Fall Salad

spinach

bunch roughly chopped cilantro

fugi apples

chopped almonds or roasted pine nuts (I prefer the almonds)

cucumber

avocado

craisins

feta cheese

bacon

tomatoes

cabbage

croutons

The dressing is a simple mixture of balsamic vinegar, good olive oil and garlic.

Toss the salad with the dressing and season with salt and pepper and your done.

Quesadillas

bree cheese

cream cheese

granny smith apples

Trader Joes Tortillas (they work the best)

One one tortilla add a thin layer of softened cream cheese, then add thin slices of cream cheese and thin slices of apples. Place another tortilla on top and place on grill. Grill for a few minutes and turn. Take of grill and slice up and it's ready to serve.

The Prizes.

My favorite prize was the pumpkins. That's vinyl on the pumpkins. I think they turned out so cute!

The Group.