T-Day

We had a busy but fun Thanksgiving this year. Due to Alan's new work schedule we were not able to go visit anyone out of town so we spent the holiday with our close friends here. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiay to cook for so I spent most of the day Preparing food with Alan's help of course! :) We split the cooking between the people coming so I didn't have to worry about a turkey, which was great because I find that unless you have a double oven the timing can get tricky! We of course make Gma K's cranberrry salad, my favorite stuffing (cornbread, sausage, cherries, apricots, pecans, yumm!) rolls (thanks to Mrs H) and this fun Sweet Potatoe receipe that I found from Paula Dean a few years ago, and believe it or not it does not invlove any butter!



After dinner we went to another friends house for desert and games. We played the Worst Case Scenario Game and even though we did not win, we now know how to escape a swarm of killer bees, what to do if you are standed on a lifeboat and there is an oil spill and what to do if you find a wounded bird! :) We made a pumpkin cake recipe that I thought I would share, I forgot to take a picture of ours but it looked pretty close to the sample-and it is FABULOUS!

Recipe links:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/luscious-four-layer-pumpkin-cake-65930.aspx



http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/sweet-potato-balls-recipe/index.html

Halloween

Ok, so I am a bit late with this post, but to my credit I spend most of Halloween in an airplane or airport, so Alan being the trooper that he is went to the ward trunk or treat by himself, dressed in my clothes even! Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Alan and the little karate kid...

He handed out chop sticks and fortune cookies, guess which went first!

Our "adopted" niece-that is flour, not crusties :)

One cute frog!

By the time I got home, it was quite late so we watched the "Corpse Bride" (Tim Burton has quite the imagination) and had apple cider. I really did miss getting to dress up, that is my favorite part of Halloween. But, I guess there is always next year!

Coastal Living

So I have been in Oregon this past week-which stinks because Alan had the week off work before he starts his new job, ask him how his Physicis is going! But everytime I come out here I am reminded how much I love the Ocean. I love the smells, the sounds, the sunsets, the fog, the hippies, all of it-well maybe not the big storms. I thought I would share some of the pictures I have taken while I have been visiting here for work

Ok-so this one is from our honeymoon, but I love it!

I am determined that one of these times I will see a whale-you never know earlier this month I was in Colorado Springs hiking in Garden of the Gods and I hiked right up to 3 deer, they just stared an me then walked away! Glad it was deer and not a bear! :)

Don't Forget to Vote!

Ok, so I know I am a week early-but just a reminder for the procrastinators out there! Regardless of who your "candidate" is I really do think that this will be an interesting election and that in these times that we live in we cannot afford to not let our voice be heard. As I have traveled through different states during this election year I have seen and heard many different ideas and thoughts, and I find it still amazing how the media can spin so many different stories from the same event. So I guess my soapbox is this, study the candidates, learn about what they support and really pray and think about who you believe will lead our country the best. I don't think we are at a point yet in this world that we are in the minority, so stand and be heard.

Oh, I am down now! :)


Happy Voting!