family pictures

This past Saturday we decided to take advantage of the fall colors and take some family pictures.  Everyone got ready, we headed to the park and river where we were going to take the pictures, set up the tripod and got the camera all situated.  Brooke turned on the camera and started laughing.  He asked me when the last time was that i used the camera.  I told him it was last week.  I still didn't understand what was so funny.  Then he told me the memory card wasn't in the camera.  UUUGGGGGggg.  I was totally kicking myself.  Well, Walmart was up the street, so we got another memory card (i don't think i mentioned that the park was 15 min. from our house and the amount of time that the kids would remain happy was rapidly disappearing).  We got back to the park and now all we had to do was get everyone to smile and look good just when the timer went off.  We had lots of not so good ones, but i think we got a couple that turned out decent.  

Here is one of the funnier one that we got.

Brooke and Grace having fun...

A couple shots of Gracie

She hasn't quite mastered sitting on her own, so here she is mid-fall.  luckily it all happens in slow motion.

She wasn't a big fan of the swing

When we want to take a picture of Jake and ask him to smile, we get a pretty cheezy result.  He hasn't quite figured out how to have a nice relaxed smile for a pictures.  It kindof reminds me of a Chandler picture smile.

He had fun throwing rocks in the river when we were taking a break.

Lessons learned...remember the memory card and invest in a remote for the camera!!!

Click

Here are a few pictures I took of the kids this week.

It was a little windy outside and Gracies comb-over was having trouble staying down.

Trunk-or-Treat

Last night, our Ward had a Halloween Trunk-or-Treat party.  I signed up to take dessert, but I had a little drama.  I messed up the pumpkin angel food cake that I was going to take, so I hurried and made a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to take instead.  Well, I think i undercooked the first cookie sheet and then I overcooked the second cookie sheet.  OOps.  I decided to take it all...a flat cake, overcooked, and undercooked cookies.  On top of the dessert fiasco, I procrastinated getting Graces costume put together.  (Thanks mom for finding the red top and bottom for it) But, I got it all done and we were on our way to the party.  It was fun and Jake loved getting lots of candy.

Jake wanted to be Dash from Incredibles and he wanted Grace to be Jack Jack.  I told him she could be Violet.  He LOVES his costume.  I had him wear black socks with it last night and we spiked up his hair, so today when he wanted to put on Dash, he had to have his black socks on and his hair spiked up.  Such a funny guy.  Brooke and I also planned to join the kids with the Incredibles theme.  I asked my sister-in-law Becky if we could borrow their costumes and she kindly mailed them to us to use.  Unfortunately, the Post Office isn't as reliable as my sister-in-law.  She sent them weeks ago and they still haven't arrived.  So, Brooke decided to go as Joe the plumber.  I was a party pooper and didn't dress up.

A special shout out to Amanda for taking these pictures....we forgot our camera.

Field Trip!

Today we had Jake's first field trip with his pre-school class, a visit to a corn maze and pumpkin patch.  He asked me if I wanted to come and I said of course i did!  I was a little worried how Grace would do, i wasn't sure if it was stroller friendly or if I would have to carry her around.  It turned out to be a nice little trip with the weather in the upper 60's, perfect!

When we first arrived, all the kids waited to get their wrist strap before we went into the maze.

After we made it thru the maze (luckily we had a map...i would not want to be stuck in there with 10 pre-schoolers!) there was a little petting zoo.  They only had a few animals, but the kids had fun looking at them.

Then the kids got their snack...an apple.  They were pretty good and it kept them occupied while we were waiting for the hay ride.

Since I had Gracie in the stroller, there wasn't room for us on the tracker ride, so we walked to the pumpkin patch and met them there.  The pumpkin patch was just across the road and I think the kids were in the tractor for all of 5 minutes....including loading and unloading.

Once the ride was over, they were let loose to go pick out a pumpkin.  Jake went right to work and picked out ours right away.

And here it is!

Grace was a trooper the whole time.  

When we got home, Jake ate his lunch and Grace got some wiggles out on the floor.  It was a fun morning!

 

quirks

I was tagged by my sister-in-law Nicole to blog six of my quirks.  At first when I started thinking about it, I was having a hard time coming up with six.  I asked Brooke to help me out, but he is a smart guy, he immediately said that I didn't have any quirks.  Well, this weekend the flood gates opened and I was thinking of all kinds of quirks that I have.  Here are six of them:

1. Condensation on cups in warm cars.  It doesn't bother me if I have a glass of ice water sitting out on the counter for a while and it starts to get a condensation build-up.  Now, take that same glass of ice water, but it in a warm car for a few minutes, come back to it and I want nothing to do with it.  It isn't like I won't drink it, I just usually wipe the outside off first.  I guess I just don't like getting dripped on.

2. Water from the sink.  Yes, I am a water snob.  Not to say I always have to have bottled water, I just like it to be filtered.  I really don't like drinking water from a sink or anywhere else that has water with a funny taste or smell.

3.  Expiration dates.  I don't like to eat or drink food if it is at all past its expiration date.  Yes, I know it is really just a sell by date and it won't kill me to eat or drink it...i just don't like to.

4.  Gristle.  I HATE eating any gristle on meat.  It sends shivers up my spine and ruins the piece of meat.  Brooke always makes fun of me when I dissect any meat I am eating.  I always trim around the whole piece of meat, even if there doesn't appear to be any gristle.  It may look gristle free, but I know it is there.  I don't just cut the gristle off, but i cut into the meat near the gristle a bit, just to insure no gristle has seeped into the meat.  I'll never get any fast food with chicken in it because i don't trust that they have cut out all the gristle.

5.  Water on my face and in my eyes....and up my nose.  So, I guess my face has issues with water.  I don't like surprise splashes in my face.  I have a hard time holding my whole face under the shower and if i do manage to do that, i have to plug my nose.  I always have to plug my nose and close my eyes if I am going under water.  

6.  Contacts.  I don't like to take my contacts out until JUST before i go to bed.  Brooke is always trying to get me to take them out a little before we go to bed, but i won't.  I don't like to lay down with my glasses on.  usually in the evening we relax on the couch and catch up on our recorded TV shows.  At some point I usually lay down so leaving my contacts in is just easier and makes more sense.

So, that is it.  Six of my quirks.....i have many more, but i will just stick to the six.  I now tag Marcey, Mindi, Stephanie and Melissa. (If you have already done it, don't worry about doing it again)

dElicious

With Fall upon us, I have been wanting to cook with more "Fall-ish" foods.  One day I wanted to try making some Sweet Potato Fries.  We don't have a Burgerville here, (a northwest burger chain that we love) so I couldn't just go to the drive-thru to get some.  I found a recipe, tried it and LOVED it!  If you have a hankering for some sweet potato fries, try these.  They are easy, healthy and YUMMY.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

2 medium sized sweet potatoes cut into 1/2 thick fries

4 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Put it all in a ziplock (i put it in some tupperware with a lid) and shake until evenly coated.  Line a cookie sheet with some aluminum foil and spread the sweet potatoes on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 425 for 30 min. turning every 10 min.  

Enjoy!

flyin high

Brooke has been working on getting his instrument rating.  He is doing a great job and getting thru all the lessons quickly.  Monday he had a flight scheduled and his instructor said it would be ok if he brought Jake along.  When we told Jake about it, he was VERY excited to be able to go flying with his Dad.  Brooke and I weren't sure if he would truly like it because he has an aversion to loud noises.   When I met up with them after they were done flying I asked Jake if he had fun, he had a huge grin on his face and said that he did.  I looked at Brooke to see what he had to say and he told me that Jake slept thru the whole flight.  He lasted thru takeoff, then is head started to bobble and he was out.  Even though he snoozed thru it all, I'm glad he had fun.

Last week, I pulled out Jakes halloween costume from last year.  He wanted nothing to do with it last year, but it has been quite a hit since I got it out.  He does a little spiderman stance and shoots webs out of his hands.

Today while on the computer, he found an envelope nearby and the next thing i know, he is sporting it as his hat.  Such a goofball!

And here is Grace having a grand old time in her exersaucer