Thanksgiving Prep

This year I am preparing the whole feast, for the first time ever. It's exciting and overwhelming all at once. We usually are with family but this year things just didn't work out that way, so we get to do our own thing which will have its advantages. So Monday Ella and I started our preparations - we made cranberry vinaigrette for the salad, and here are pics of making the orange-cranberry relish for the turkey. Yum! She enjoyed "together time" with Mom, but afterward she said "Next time I want to have little-girl together time, not Mommy together time." I guess helping in the kitchen just doesn't compare to playing Barbies!

Pinewood Derby

Josh had his first Pinewood Derby last week! He and Mark had lots of fun making their car and taking it to race...Josh won an award for "Most Futuristic" & took 5th place overall. Great job Josh!

My kids can't keep a secret

I have been getting a lof of questions lately from friends hearing "stories" from my kids - but who can blame them when it's such fun news!!!! I guess I might as well make it official since the word is spreading like wildfire anyway! That's right, baby #5 is on the way! We are really excited. I figure people would have started guessing sooner than later anyway because I'm sure since this is #5 my belly will be popping soon - I can tell already my body is like, "Here we go again!"

We feel really blessed. Since we have two boys & two girls, this baby will be the tie breaker - the kids are already putting in their bets. It's hard to believe but Ammon will be 2 1/2 when this baby is born - they sure grow up fast! Anway, the good news is - I don't have to feel as guilty as the rest of you when I enjoy those holiday buffets!

Celebrating October

It's been a busy and fun month - and true to nature I did not have my camera along for some of it - but here are a few fun shots of some things we've been doing:

OK this was probably September - Josh went on a class fieldtrip to Timp Cave

He's lucky to have one of his best friends in his class

Painting pumpkins for FHE Monday before Halloween:

Mark and Ella teamed up to do this scary witch

Josh did a pirate

Holly did a little girl

Ella and friends on Halloween

Ammon - couldn't get him to smile, even though he really does like Eeyore - too bad you can't see his tail!

Pre trick-or-treating (Ammon was too busy running around to hold still for a photo!)

On Friday before school - Holly was Cinderella this time - I think she's got the pose down!

Girls at Gardner Village

It's a tradition for us to go see the witches every year at Gardner Village - this is always one of our favorites. We went twice this year as I took Mark to "Witchapalooza" last Thursday for his birthday - it's a really fun dinner theater - good times!

The fam at Gardner Village

Earlier in October I organized a Fall Festival for my "Horton" family - we had a super fun bounce house (I won the rental at a fair this summer!)

we had bobbing for apples - all the boys really got into this!

Ammon warming up a bit to Paul

We played a hilarious game called Funny Bones - here are my sisters just getting started - yes it gets better!

We also had pumpkin bowling, pass the pumpkin, ghost bingo, guess the candycorns, a popcorn machine (thanks Andy!) and of course what's a party without a fabulous meal! It was a really fun afternoon. I have a few videos to post - check for a next post cuz blogger is giving me fits!

Here's what I'm doing today...

I have Relief Society cooking group at my house tonight - all about SOUP - so I'm making some of these as well trying out this new shaping technique - check it out:

LION HOUSE DINNER ROLLS

Also mine are from scratch - not from a mix. It's really nice to be done with canning and to be back in the kitchen doing what I really love!

Preschool, Cabin, Canning, Misc.

Well ever since Disneyland I have been in the kitchen canning, freezing, dehydrating, and juicing. Literally. I don't ever remember a year where all the crops ran together like this year. Usually you get a little break between but this year has been killer. I have been working on tomatoes, pickles, peaches, pears, apples, applesauce, apple juice, pearsauce, varieties of jams & jellies, & pumpkin. Still have to do more apples, tomatoes, pears, pumpkin, and grape juice. I am so ready to be done, but at least it is rewarding to see those food storage shelves fill up again. And it's impossible for me to waste produce we grow or I am offered for free. But, I woke up sick today, and it's forced me (thankfully) to take a day off, slow down, and catch up on things out of the kitchen.

Right after Disneyland Ella started preschool. She goes to a great program and gets to go with three other kids from the ward which is fun for her and nice for carpooling! Three days a week - and I sure miss her!

Mark also spent two weekends in September at Woodbadge scout training camp. And an overnight work conference. We missed him but are glad he had a good experience, learned lots, and obviously had good eats:

The last weekend in September we headed up to the cabin for a little overnighter with some friends and Grandma Stum. The leaves were soooo pretty! The weather was beautiful, the fishing was okay, the company was fun, and the scenery was amazing. We even learned a new fun game. It was a perfect weekend. This is the only picture we got (not sure who the fuzzy photographer was) before our camera batteries died...darn!

And here is Ella performing "A too dee ta" for Great Grandma Bishop (with an abrupt ending by Joshua's rear end!):

And who can believe that it's already October 6? I haven't even put up my fall decorations yet. At least the halloween costumes are ready to go. See you in a few weeks when I take my next break from the kitchen!

DISNEYLAND!!

Finally! Warning...lots and lots of pictures! Sorry they are in no particular order. I am very proud of myself for remembering to snap pictures - 5 days of magic! Captions underneath.

Overall this was an amazing trip! The kids did great on the drive (gotta love iPods)...we were lucky to be able to break up the driving into 2 days each way. Thanks to the Biglers and the Stums for hosting us! We loved visiting with you! The time of year for Disneyland was perfect...since school had started already the crowds weren't bad - most of the time we didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a ride. Some of them we walked right on over and over. And it was still hot enough for the beach! Our hotel was awesome...we could walk back in the afternoon and take a break, go for a swim, rest, and then head back to the park again for the evening. The pool also had a waterslide that the kids loved. We had 2 strollers (thanks Andy & Steph!) so at all times 3 out of 4 kids were riding. Josh was a trooper and walked! This also helped with keeping track of everybody. Even though we had 5 days in the park we never got sick of it & we were able to do lots of things we never had time for on previous trips. This has to be one of the best vacation spots ever - we all can't wait to go back again! Enjoy!

Riding on the Disneyland Railroad - never done this one before - it was fun & saw some cool new things!

On the way home after our trip we stayed in St. George with Justin & Kristen...here we are by the Erastus Snow (Mark's ancestor) monument near the tabernacle.

Mark at the Beach. We went to Laguna Beach and it was such a beautiful day!

Em trying to enjoy the beach but unfortunately Ammon hated the beach & cried most of the time, which meant I wasn't very happy either.

Josh playing in the sand

Holly looking like a natural

Ella having fun

Ammon played in the sand for a few minutes before deciding the beach was not his thing. Honestly I don't know how it can be fun for anyone in a diaper!

My tough boys with Mr. Incredible himself

Lovely Alice

We waited entirely too long to meet tinkerbell but at least we have a photo to remember her by!

Traditional castle shot

One of the characters Josh was happy to meet - Alladin!

Sailing on the Mark Twain Steamboat...this was something we'd never done before - it's neat!

Ammon's favorite ride - DUMBO!

Stopping by to see if the White Rabbit is home...

Of course we all loved the teacups

Faster Daddy!

We girls had lunch with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto - it was fun to have some one on one time with each princess! Holly was worried that Jasmine wasn't modest :)

Aurora... very classy

Snow White ...very sweet

Cinderella taught the girls how to pose...very charming

And of course Ariel - their favorite!

I love this picture! Golden Zephyr...California Adventure. We stayed at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel & when they saw how many little kids we had they gave us a complimentary upgrade! Our hotel room looked right out over California Adventure - it was especially cool at night. What great service!

Grizzly River Run - Mark is waving. Great ride!

Holly & Josh were both picked for the Jedi Training - it was great! Here Holly is getting ready to fight Darth Vadar! Does she look a little nervous?

Josh fighting Darth Mal (sp?)...He was totally into it!

Bad guy from the front...looked so real

Relaxing a bit in Toon Town

Mark wants to grow a pumpkin this big in our garden next year

Love this shot...Josh and Holly did that without prompting!

Meeting Mickey Mouse - notice Ammon is staring at him...we made sure Ammon liked Mickey Mouse before our trip but I guess the life-sized version was a bit of a surprise!

Enjoying the funny dishwasher in Minnie's kitchen

Minnie's house

Minnie Mouse - hooray!

Goofy gave lots of hugs

Pluto - in Toontown

Ammon totally loved the carousel. He doesn't look super thrilled in this picture, but he loved the "horsies"!! We rode them lots and lots

In line for Peter Pan. One of the perks from staying at a Disney hotel was having Early Entry into Disneyland three days while we were there - so worth it! Lines are so short & you can get tons of rides done.

Cute sisters

Cute sisters again!

O Josh

See how quiet it is? Only on an early entry day!

Miracle: A stranger took a picture for us and it actually turned out great! Ammon didn't cooperate but overall, a good shot eh?

Fun little clip of the teacups

Another cute clip of Ammon on the carousel