Halloween Day

Playing in the leaves on Halloween Day
On halloween day, while Tanner took his nap, Gavin and i went outside and played in the leaves. He loved it. I loved it too because it was about 67 degrees that day! Soooo nice! We also carved pumpkins, made caramel apples, and went trick or treating, of course. We went trick or treating in our neighborhood and it was so much fun. One of our neighbors went all out and made their own little haunted house in their backyard. It was cool. Another house gave us king size snicker bars. Nice!

Our unhappy little bumble-bee. In this next picture Gavin is trick-or-treating!

Monday funday

Here is Auntie Holly and Tanner. Isn't this the cutest? Here is an example of a head in the 100th percentile. I don't think hoods on a sweater are supposed to fit a person's head this tight. Well, Tanner's hood does. It is so funny.

Early this morning the boys and i went to the grocery store to grab a few snacks for our day at the zoo. I must say how NICE the lady was that checked us out! Usually the person checking me out at the grocery store acts like their job is the last thing on earth they want to be doing. The lady that checked us out today was so cheerful. She had happiness written all over her. I could tell she loved her life, was grateful for her life, loved her job,(even if she didn't love her job she made the best of it) and was happy to help. I loved it. She made my day a little better. How grateful i am for people who radiate gratitude. The world needs more people like that. When trials hit hard, no matter what someone's situation be, it is so great to be around and know people who make the most and best with what they are given... People who play the hand they are dealt, joyfully. I try to follow that example as much as i can...TRY is the word. :)

Lauren and her kids, and Holly and I and the boys, went to the zoo. It was a bit chilly, but it was fun. They have a playground at the zoo and they played on it for awhile and then Gavin comes over to me with soaking wet pants. He peed his pants. Then we noticed that Avery's bum was wet and realized that she slid down the slide after Gavin slid down. So, we left the zoo. :) Today actually ended up being a beautiful day. It was probably 60 degrees and sunny. I love this picture of Gavin and Avery at the zoo. I just wish i could see them a little bit better. The trees are gorgeous.
There was this tree by the gorillas that had huge leaves. Gavin is holding them up for us to see.

Anyway, then this evening we went over to our friends Halloween party. It was tons of fun. All the kids just LOVE running all over the place and screaming. Gavin and his friend Talmage are screamers! When they get excited, watch out! They go back and forth screaming. It is so funny, but a bit difficult to hear when trying to have a conversation.

Fun-filled Friday

Today was quite an eventful day. First, i have to tell you about something Tanner did to me today, but does all the time. If i get in the shower while Tanner is awake he will come crawling into the bathroom and the next thing i know, my shower curtain goes flying open!! It is hilarious. He LOVES opening the shower curtain up and letting the splashes of water fall on his face. By the time i am done he is nice and wet, but he doesn't care. He loves it! I took this picture right after my shower. He is all wet, but you can't tell in this picture.

Later in the day, Gavin's girlfriend, Avery, came over. I watched Avery, who is Gavin's age and her baby brother Andrew, who is Tanner's age. Let me say, what an adorable little boy Andrew is. Soooo cute. Anyway, Avery and and Gavin kept themselves VERY busy. First they decided to come into my bedroom and jump on the bed, as you can see in this next picture. It was cute. Later i went into Gavin's bedroom and his mattress was completely off of the bed! HAHA! How did they do that?! So funny. They are too cute! After babysitting them we got ready for the Halloween party at church. They did a great job with all the fun games and decorations, but Gavin wasn't into it. I think he was caught up in all the commotion that he just didn't know what to do. He just stood there and watched everyone. Everyone was dressed up-the kids and the adults! It was awesome! We didn't dress up. We are party-poopers. There were sooo many great costumes and some people even acted like the character they dressed up as! It was funny. Gavin dresssed as a dragon and Tanner as a giraffe. In this third picture Gavin found his buddy, Talmage(i am not sure i spelled this right). They both liked playing with the balloons. Then after the party our friends, Lauren and Andy, and their kids Avery and Andrew, came over and played the Wii with us. Yes, Lauri, we got the wii. Could we afford it? No. But we still got it. I took some more pictures of Avery and Gavin because they were being so dang cute. Avery is wearing part of her costume in these pictures, but is missing the main parts of her costume. She was an angel for the party. She looked so cute! In this picture, Avery is giving Gavin a hug, but if you look at his face he doesn't quite know what to do. He is so funny.

Sucker

Today was funny. Gavin wanted a sucker and we told him he couldn't have one because he had just finished eating one. Well, about 5 minutes later Shane was like, "where is Gavin and what is that noise?" I listened and it sounded like lips were smacking....like he was sucking on a sucker!!!! We look under the dining room table and there he is, sucking away at the tootsie pop we told him he couldn't have. We couldn't get mad b/c it was so funny.

Tonight i went to Bunco, also spelled B-u-n-k-o. I am sooo glad that i am able to go to Bunco every month! It gives me a break from kids and i am able to get together with friends and just enjoy each other, enjoy the yummy food, and have fun. My friend, Sarah, hosted it at her house tonight and she always makes yummy food that we can come and enjoy 30 minutes before the game starts. She is a fabulous cook. I am so grateful to have been able to make so many friends out here. The girls in our ward are the most loving and caring girls, and they make life easier and more enjoyable. They are so strong and such an example to me. My family and i are so blessed to be a part of this place.

A few things...

Well, you all know that there are crazy wild fires going on in California. It is wild. I cannot believe what is happening. I have two Uncles that are firemen and live in San Diego. They just left home and will be gone for two weeks fighting the fires. The fires are one mile from my Uncle Johnny's house. They have been packing up there home quickly. They have horses they have to get out of there too. I have yet to hear. It is so sad and so crazy to me. Then, Georgia just declared there state in a state of emergency. They are in severe drought over there and only have like three months supply of water left in their reservoir, or something like that. Then New Orleans has major flooding going on again. Anything else i don't know about? Seriously, as i was hearing about all these things it gave me goosebumps. It gave me goosebumps because horrible things like this will keep happening and keep getting worse.
Next on the list...today has been a rainy gloomy day. I am lazy on these kind of days and just stay inside. Here are some pictures i wanted to share.

Our Monday

Today was a fun day for us. Shane and i drove to the dental school on his motorcycle and Shane cleaned my teeth for me. He did such a good job! You would never know that he is just a dental student. We then came home and ate some lunch.

Later, the boys and i went for a run. It was a beautiful day! Just gorgeous. We got home and Auntie Holly came over and Gavin and her colored. Gavin picked up the white crayon and tried coloring on the white sheet of paper and he didn't notice any color and he said "it is broken". It was so funny. So then Holly got him a black piece of paper and the color magically appeared. "It's working," he said. He thought he fixed it and had such a big smile on his face. It was cute.

Gavin loves his Auntie Holly. When she comes over he demands all of her time and attention. He loves playing rough with her. He likes to jump on her and tease and harass her. It is soooo funny to watch.

Here is Tanner trying to play with daddy's laptop. Shane is with his laptop all the time b/c it is his one source for all of his studies. All of his textbooks are in the computer, which is nice b/c he doesn't have to carry around heavy textbooks.

For dinner i made an Italian Bread Casserole. I thought it was pretty good, but it does have a little bit of soggy bread in it, which Shane isn't fond of. So, he liked it except for that part. It was different than anything i have ever eaten, but tasty.

Ohio's beauty

This is the only tree in our backyard that has started to change its color
Gavin is trying so hard to pull the wagon.
Can you find Gavin in this picture?
Our trees haven't started changing their color! Weird!

Today was the most beautiful day ever! We couldn't really get out because Gavin has a runny nose and a pretty bad cough, and just tonight he told us that his ear is hurting. Tanner has a runny nose and might be getting a fever. Poor things. They went to bed pretty early tonight, but i have a feeling that Gavin will be waking up in the night from his earache. We have to take him into the doctor tomorrow for it, which means we might not be able to make it to church.

Anyway, we did go get some pumpkins today, which momentarily helped Gavin forget about not feeling well. It was fun. I think today was probably in the upper 60's, there was a cool breeze and the sound of the rustling leaves was so relaxing. It was absolutely beautiful. There is nothing more pretty than the east during this time of the year. I love it!

My fire

My husband is the best there is, without a doubt. We got home last night and the look on his face to see us(me) was priceless. I felt so loved. We had a nice conversation on the way home and when i walked in he had 4 roses waiting for me on the table and our house was spotless. He knows what to do to make me feel appreciated and loved. I am so grateful to have a husband that keeps the spark alive in our marriage and constantly makes me feel like i am needed, appreciated, and loved. Unfortunately i feel like i am not quite as good as him, but he motivates me to be better, and hopefully i can make him feel just as good as he makes me feel. Thank you honey.

Back from New Mexico

At the pumpkin patch.

On the hayride, sipping on their apple sippers
Looking at the flamingos.

Like a sand box, but filled with corn instead.
Decorating their pumpkins with stickers.
At the zoo.
At the zoo.
At the pumpkin patch.

I just got home from New Mexico yesterday. The boys and I were visiting my best friend, Lauri, and her daughter Jocelyn. Jocelyn is one month older than Gavin, and they get along so well. I don't think they ever got into a tizzy with each other. They were so nice and kept each other busy the entire time. It was kind of a break for me in that sense. We were in the car one day and Jocelyn said, "Gavin i love you." They were just so cute. They will always be best friends. We did so many things. We went to the pumpkin patch and it was so much fun. We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and picked our own pumpkins, and they had so many other fun activities for the kids.
Another day we went to the zoo, which was a lot of fun, but the food wasn't too great. Poor Lauri got a hamburger with stale bread.
Lauri's mom came over another day and watched the kids for us while we went to a session at the temple and then afterwards we went to the Deseret Bookstore. I wish we had one here in Cleveland.
We went to Chuck E. Cheese. There we encountered a difficult little boy who kept picking on Gavin and other little kids. Don't worry, we dealt with him. :)
Another day we carved pumpkins and the kids decorated their pumpkins with stickers.
Just about every night Lauri and I did scrapbooking of the kids from their vacation when they came to see us in June and this vacation when we went to see them. Cute cute cute. I am still working on it though. I am far from being done.
Lauri has that game box thing called "wii"....we played tennis against each other and that thing is soooo fun! I don't ever want nintendo in my house, but i would get that....it was fun!
Lauri is the bestest friend anyone could ask for! I luv u Lauri! She had so many beautiful pictures all over her house of Christ and i absolutely loved them! She got them at Deseret Bookstore and hopefully one day i can get some of those.

I have known Lauri for almost 15 years now. We are like sisters. Hopefully we get to see each other in May. Shane and i are talking about driving to Idaho in May to see his family and if we do then hopefully we will meet Lauri, Graham, and Jocelyn at Bear Lake and spend a few days with them in their cabin and have fun on the lake! :)

Here it is...

Okay, here is my egg roll "recipe". I don't actually have a "recipe" for these that i follow. I basically put in what i thought would be good.

*Bean sprouts(this is the main ingredient)
*carrots chopped into tiny pieces
*celery chopped into tiny pieces
*soy sauce(don't put in too much b/c then your egg rolls will be runny)
*chicken cut up in little pieces(it would taste really good if you cooked chicken in teriyaki sauce all day in the crockpot until ready to put the egg roll together.)
*i bought some chicken raamen and used the chicken spice pack inside. I used 2 of em. (i used these in place of chicken broth b/c if you use too much liquid they will be runny.)
*egg roll wrappers
*egg whites for sealing the roll
*olive oil
*If you are not sure how to roll up the egg roll just let me know and i can assist. :)

Ready to cook:
I put olive oil in a skillet just enough to cover the bottom. Cook the egg roll until each side is slightly brown. I think you want the burner on medium. Then you dip them in sweet and sour sauce! Yum! You could make a lot of these and just freeze them for days you don't feel like cooking. These are fun and easy to make.

Other things you could add that i didn't:
You could add mushrooms, shrimp, onions, zuchinni. You could use steak in place of chicken.

If you have any questions just let me know, and hopefully they turn out for you like they did for us!

I am going to post another recipe really soon that i like a lot! If any of you feel like posting recipes on your blog, please do....i really like trying new things. It helps make cooking bearable.

Weekend fun

This last weekend we had a lot of fun. Holly came over on Friday and we took a bunch of pictures together. Some of them i can't post because Holly would probably kill me, but we made some pretty funny and scary faces. We then made these wonderful eggrolls. Boy they were good good good. And you can see Gavin and i were making(eating) Tanner's cake. Gavin loves to help me cook and LOVES to eat the food i am trying to cook. When i am chopping up onions he will come over and take em and eat em! I am like, "man, where do you get that from." I do NOT eat raw onions and neither does Shane. Then i remembered that my mom does! There you go mom! There is a trait that you passed on to my child! Anyway, he even tried the cayenne pepper once. I turned around and he had just put it in his mouth...poor thing. He will never do that again!

More cards

Here are some more Christmas cards that i said i would put up. I definitely didn't make as many as last time! If you would like to see more of my Christmas cards, scroll down.