Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving this year was spent wih our McMullin family. We all met up a Brady's house and had a wonderful weekend.

 Jaycee and Britnee learned how to make Parker House Rolls in Young Women a few weeks ago so Jaycee made our Thanksgiving rolls.

 As always, Grandma Jo made us a yummy, traditional dinner. Tamarie brought inredients to make some fun table decorations. The kids took a lot of pride in making these cute little creations.

 Jo, Tamarie, Jaycee, and I got up at 3:30 on Friday morning to go Christmas shopping. It was pretty hairy but I look forward to spending time with these die hards every Black Friday. The guys spent their time fixing trucks and shooting guns.

We had to come home on Friday because Matt had to work the weekend but I'm so grateful that we got to spend time with family and share the holiday.

State Fair Corn Dogs

 Okay, so they wouldn't win any blue ribbons, but Sunday we sure had fun experimenting with the great, new recipe that I found in Pinterest for State Fair Corn Dogs.

This was our first attempt. It wasn't very pretty but after some trial and error we got the oil right and tried dipping both hot dogs and string cheese in the batter. I'm pretty sure these aren't healthy on any level, but worked great for something fun on a Sunday afternoon.

Halloween Mayhem

This Halloween was full of mayhem, and we loved every minute of it. It started off with our annual witches party. It's getting so big that we're running out of room but I love dressing up and visiting with all my friends.

We went to the Paris Elementary Carnival where this year, instead of buying tickets for the kids, we put our names in the raffle. We won golf balls, a gallon of hot cocoa mix, and a free nights stay at  hotel in Pocatello. Jaycee and I also took our turns in the kitchen helping serve dinner.

We all went to our wards trunk or treat at the church. All we had were our cell phones so Matt took a few pictures of the kids. They don't do justice to how cute they looked in their costumes. Even Jaycee, who swore she was too old to dress up, walked around and got a little candy. 

Monday night we went over to Garden City to their big Halloween celebration. We ate chili dogs for dinner and then the kids rode in a wagon and jumped in the bounce houses.
I totally dropped the ball on getting good pictures of everything but we did have a great Halloween.

Creepcakes

 This year for Halloween we decided to try making "creepcakes" to give to our neighbors. Jaycee got up and made the cupcakes and everybody pitched in to make them creepy.

 

 By the time we were all finished, the kids had created some pretty scary creepcakes. Brit, Cody, and Brit's friend, Skylee, were so proud of their creations that they had second thoughts about giving them away.

We all had a fun time making these and sharing the spirit of Death Day. It may just have to become a tradition.

Annual Cattle Haul

 This last Saturday Jaycee and Britnee went with the Young Women to fly in Bro. Motta's plane. Matt,Cody, and I spent the morning hauling calves to the stockyards. It was a beautiful day that started off a bit chilly but warmed up pretty quick. 

 We took three horse trailers full of calves over. When we got there and started sorting, some of the calves pushed the gate and escaped. We ended up chasing one through a couple of fields and across the highway. It was quite a little rodeo there for a minute, but thanks to Matt's quick thinking, we rescued the cow and returned him to the fold.

When the calves were safely onto the semi truck, Lyman took us all out for breakfast. We went to the Ranch Hand and Cody ordered himself a huge plate of Biscuits and Gravy. He was so excited.

Later that day, we went to our cousins house to dig some quaky trees. Cody got playing with his little cousin and they buried him in the leaves.
I just love fall!

A Yugo with Wings by Jaycee

Saturday the Young Women went to the Dingle Airport and rode on a plane. Bro. Motta, the 1st counselor in the bishopric owns a little Sesna 152. When we got to the airport he took us into the waiting room area, he talked about his experience and showed us a map of some airports around us and how you are to land into them. After, we went into where the plane was and he showed us what needs to be done before you can take the plane out. Everything was good so we took the plane out and got everything set up and took the first group. When we got up into the air he took us around the west side of the lake to see Paris, Bloomington, and St. Charles, then we went over the lake. Right when we got over the lake there's a little things called +G-Force and -G-Force. Well, its a little interesting and scary! When you push the steering wheel in you go DOWN really fast and your stomach comes up into your throat, then when you pull the steering wheel out you get sucked into the seat and you feel like you can't move your arms. When we landed I wished the ride could've been longer. It was super fun to see my house and the lake from the air. If I could, and money wasn't an option I would fly everywhere!!!

Lava Hot Springs

 Friday was a cold, yucky day. The kids were out of school and Matt was working graveyards. What's a mom to do? Grab everybody and go to Lava Hot Springs of course!

It was the perfect day for this. It was only about 40 degrees outside and the hot pools felt wonderful.

 

We played in the hot pools until the big indoor pool opened at 5:00. By that time, they were pretty toasty and ready to swim around more.
It ended up being so much more fun playing in the water than trying to be quiet at home. We will definitely be using this activity more often.