What a difference a day makes!

This was taken the morning after we took our fall pictures! Goodbye fall! Hello winter! Tommy loves the snow because he knows that Christmas is coming soon.

This was a fun skate party we were invited to. Allison is in a performance choir and they had a party at Classic in Layton. They all have colored hair because my friend cut their hair that day and likes to let the kids choose pink or blue hair spray just for fun when they're finished! The little guy with the blue hair wore me out at the rink- he's never been on skates before, but he was really acting like hot stuff! He was even jumping in his skates. Becca had a couple of bad falls. :( I told her the next time we go skating, she can tie a pillow around her bottom for a soft landing. She's not too hip on that idea.
Our trunk or treat last night! If you can see our basket in the car, we gave apples as our treat! :)

Fall family pictures

We took our own fall family pictures this year- we are all we could afford! :) Hopefully they didn't turn out too bad. We took all of these in our yard and in a yard across the street. Ogden is, believe it or not, a very beautiful place!

Here's just a couple of our outtakes (each of them has one common factor!):

Tommy is patting our heads in this one!

FamilySearch success!

When Allison got her recommend to go to the temple, the bishop said we should take family names for the baptisms. GULP!? Who, us? "Well, okay, I'll try," I thought. The new family search was just opened up for our area. So, I decided to give it a go. Really, you cannot believe how easy it is to use! You've got to try it! There was actually work there for us to do and they let you know with little buttons, with icons on them that have an arrow pointing to the temple! This program could not be any easier. So, I found 13 women and 19 men to do work for in about a day and half, just off and on, here and there. It was so exciting! You print up their information at home, then take the print outs to the temple and it takes them about 5 minutes to print and cut the pink and blue cards for you! We whipped through the baptisms and confirmations, it will take a little bit longer to get through the rest. We're asking family to help us out there.

Anyway, I highly recommend you go to the website and set up an account, you'll be so happy to find work there you can do! Click here to check it out! Or go to: new.familysearch.org

(You do need your membership number- which can be found on your temple recommend and also your confirmation date- both these can be found through your ward clerk.)

Happy searching!

Apple pickin' party!

Annual event at my grandparents' home in Kaysville! We've been enjoying apple crisp, applesauce and drying apples ever since! What a treat!

(The dogs next door were great entertainment!)

35 Things We Love About You!!

35 Things We Love About You!! (Thanks to Jill B. for this idea, :) I can't believe how many husbands turned 35 this last month!)


This is to John, who just celebrated his 35th birthday, the Daddy and husband in our little family.


1. The first thing you may notice about John when you meet him, is that he has a very personable way about him. He has a gift for talking with people, making them feel at ease and doing it confidently at the same time! I've been watching him do this for over 13 years now, and I still don't know how he does it! Maybe I'll learn, too.... someday.

2. You may also notice right away that he has an insta-grow beard. Poor guy, he used to get in trouble for not shaving on his mission! Trust me, I know, he shaves everyday. Those dark hairs in his beard area can always be seen. Don't worry, sweetie, I know the truth!

3. Fans. Those that know John know what I'm going to say. He loves to have a fan on all the time, but especially at night! He claims he cannot sleep without one. When the power goes out, we are in big trouble! That's when he seeks out his battery-powered fan. My count is that he owns around 6 fans. One for each room or each special kind of occasion! Lately, he's been turning two fans on right by his bed. My only question is, 'Why?'

4. This is from Rebecca: "I love how you say 'hot buttered popcorn!'" (This is an almost nightly treat at our house.)

5. John loves to aks the kids at dinner what their favorite thing was that day.

6. When I first met John, I thought, "No one is that nice." And I waited around to see if my prediction would come true. But, I still haven't seen a mean side to him! He doesn't have one, he really and truly is THAT nice.

7. John could have pursued music as a career, but felt that other occupations would be a better way to provide for his future family. He still has the skills of a professional drummer! He amazes me and I'm so happy that he loves music. He is a part of 2 bands and he also performed this last weekend for a High Priests' Party (extravaganza, to be exact)- in a Jazz trio (with no practice) and in a John Phillips Sousa band playing 'The Stars and Stripes Forever'!

8. John never swears.

9. John has always been a good example to me in always choosing wholesome entertainment.

10. John was made a high priest in 2001. He was 27 at the time and was called to be on the High Council. Ever since then, he gets some interesting looks and comments when he attends a new ward in the high priests group. Right now he's safe from all of that, he's been called to serve in Young Men's.

11. John loves a good hamburger. (He's tried to cut down to 2-3 a year, though. Way to go, John!)
12. John now drives a rattletrap car to work everyday, just because it was a cheap car and it's cheap on gas. (It does have A/C, however.)

13. John washes and vacuums both cars nearly every Saturday.

14. John watches a little bit of 'The Andy Griffith Show' nearly every night. I think we have 5 seasons on DVD.

15. His favorite episode of the Andy Griffith Show is 'The Pickle Story.'

16. John keeps our house stocked up on paper products: napkins, paper towels, paper plates, cups, and bowls.

17. John and I have the same length legs. He's all torso!

18. These are some memories of John from his Mom and Dad:

When you were very little you would squeeze your fists and do “grinders” with your teethy smile!
I took you to the grocery store, where a lady said to me, “She has the most beautiful hair”!
I couldn’t find you after school in Camp LeJeune, you and a few boys were behind the school crying because your teacher said she was getting married!
You called me in the middle of the night from Reno.
I was your companion.
You enrolled in 6 institute classes your freshman year at USU!
You always said, “Look Mom”, you wanted me to see everything you did!
One day driving in the car in San Diego, you said “The world is like a big Circus”!

19. This is from Allison: I got some presents from you on my 11th birthday that I specifically remember: pink nail polish and a huge pack of beads! It was so nice of you to get me a last minute great present for me on the night of my birthday.

20. Also from Allison: We went to dinner at T.J.I. Fridays, and you said that I better start eating, because I need to gain 40 pounds in two years! After dinner I said I was really full. Just as we were walking out of the restaurant, you said, “I think you gained a few pounds in there.” I know I said I was full, but not that full!! :) You are the best dad ever!

21. John first asked a roommate of mine on a date before he really noticed me. He was hanging out at our apartment one night and I for some reason was talking about how I love watching 'The Muppet Movie' when I was little. That's what got John's attention and I now attribute our getting together to this little green guy:

22. John likes most foods except for spinach, watermelon and pumpkin pie!

23. John loves to remind the young men that he works with is that it's cool to be good!

24. John served a faithful, but an eventful and unusual mission. He had 2 knee surgeries, served in 3 missions (transfer to stateside and mission split), under 3 mission presidents and 3 prophets (1993-1995)!

25. He supports me in whatever I do! Thanks a million!

26. He has always been a faithful home teacher.

27. John has a real sweet tooth, but I must say he's trying to control it more now. He loves cookies, candy and donuts! He also loves to frequent the day-old bakery area of the grocery store.

28. He's excellent at skiing on snow.

29. He's in a cheerful mood 99.99% of the time!

30. He's always willing to share the computer with Tommy. He'll put him on his lap and reduce the screen he's working on to 1/2 so Tommy can watch 'Sitting Ducks' or 'Scooby-Doo' on YouTube on another 1/2 screen.

31. He loves a hot cooked breakfast. He will make it about half the time for all of us. Bacon (turkey, of course), waffles and eggs!

32. He has a strong testimony of the prophets and of the gospel.

33. He loves to remind the girls about the silly things they would do and say when they were little. Becca liked to call salt and pepper 'the spicy one and the better one.'

34. He gets a little sad when he sees his kids growing up.

35. He is very generous and also has good taste. Every once in a while I will find new clothes hung in my closet, or the kids will find a new shirt on their beds. We love you, John! Thanks for being you!

(We're noticing we have a clear cut family clown emerging, can you guess who?)

Fall soups and rolls

We recently had a bunch of people over for dinner and we served soups and rolls. I had some requests for the recipes, so I thought I'd post them here too. Everything here is super yummy!

Chili (courtesy of Shelley Blackwell, who got the recipe from Jamie and Bill Blackwell!)

1 pound hamburger

1/2 white onion

garlic salt

1 pkg. taco seasoning

2 pkgs. ranch dressing

1 can rotel (canned salsa)

2 cans stewed tomatoes

2 cans corn

2 cans white hominey

2 cans red kidney beans

2 cans pinto beans

Brown meat with onion and garlic salt. Add taco seasoning. Empty into large pot. Add all cans and ranch packets and 2 cups water. Heat! Serve with chips, cheese, sour cream and green onions.

The chili we had was a modified version of this recipe. I did not add the corn or white hominey. I also used my fresh pureed tomatoes in place of the canned tomatoes and salsa, and added some dried peppers.

White Chicken Chili (courtesy of Emily Christensen)

4 chicken breasts
1 can chicken broth
1 sliced onion
1/2 t. garlic salt

Put all in stock pot and boil until chicken is shreddable. Take chicken out and shred with 2 forks, put back in stock pot.

Now add:
4 cans white great northern beans
1 8 oz. jar green salsa
2 cans diced green chilies
3/4 of a 16 oz. sour cream

Heat through. Serve with shredded cheese, extra sour cream and tortilla chips.

Rolls
Mix together dry ingredients:
3 c. whole wheat flour
¾ c. sugar
2/3 c. powdered milk
1 t. salt
3 T. whole egg powder (or add 3 eggs with the liquid ingredients)
2 T. yeast
2 T. vital wheat gluten
Add liquid ingredients:
3 c. warm water
½ c. margarine or butter
Mix well. Add up to 6 or 7 cups of white flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Raise in warm place for 1 hour. Roll and cut dough into desired shape. I like to roll the dough into 4 circles, cut like a pizza for 12 rolls in each circle, and roll from the big side first. Raise in a buttered pan (I put ¼ c. butter or margarine in each pan) for another hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 14 minutes. Yield: 4 dozen rolls (I often ½ this recipe.)

BYU vs. USU

John's parents were kind enough to lend us some tickets for last Friday night's football game! The big question is.... who did we cheer for? The blue team, of course!

Hint: The BIG Blue one! ;)

Lessons learned from show 'n tell

Oops- this picture is a little crooked, but this is our handy dandy M&M dispenser. I think it's so cute and everyone probably has one.... but I thought it would be fun for Tommy to take this and the Halloween colored M&M's to school this week for show 'n tell.

We wrapped it up carefully and placed it in a bag. I said, "Tommy you can show everyone how the "machine" works and share M&M's with your friends!"

So off he went to school with the M&M's in their little machine.

When I picked Tommy up from school, he said, "Mom, I shared my M&M's with Spencer in my class!"

"Great, Tommy!" And I thought nothing of it.

So, I check his backpack and the M&M dispenser is not there. I thought that he might have left it in the classroom. It's not there. I find his teacher and she said he was holding the bag with the M&M's in it as they were getting ready to leave school. Huh?

(Oh!) "Umm, Tommy, did you give ALL the M&M's to Spencer?"

"Yes."

Whoops! I think I put a little too much emphasis on sharing with his friends! He gave the whole machine away! Not to worry, though, we did recover it yesterday afternoon. The office was kind enough to give us Spencer's number so that we could go and pick it up.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were all so innocent and sweet that we wouldn't care if we gave away even our nicest show 'n tell goodies? Thanks for making us laugh, Tommy!

Our green tomato harvest

This is 3 of the 5 bowls we picked tonight! The weather is all of the sudden FREEZING and we thought we'd save all our tomatoes and let them ripen inside. Yum!