Gingerbread Houses

We had so much fun last year making gingerbread houses from a kit, that this year we decided to try homemade gingerbread.  My friend Linda shared with me a treasured book that her Grandma made for her with instructions, recipes and patterns.  Linda told me all her tips and basically walked me through it.  This is how they turned out!
Rolling out the dough:

Here are the baked pieces ready to put together:

Some scraps to taste:

And of course some pomegranates to munch on while we work:

Putting the pieces together was the part that stressed me out, but it was actually pretty easy.  I don't know why this photo turned sideways, but you get the idea:

And now the fun begins!

Hard at work:

Success!

And they're all so different!  Wes's house has playground equipment around the outside:

Clint's has a "zombie invasion" theme.  Part of his roof broke off due to extreme candy overload, but it still turned out really awesome:

Kori's house has a peppermint roof, a candy cane lamp post, and a Santa sleigh on top:

Mine is a simple little Christmas cottage:

Thanks to Linda for all your help and inspiration.  I think we have a new Christmas tradition!!

Blizzard

We survived the blizzard of 2010!  Personally, I think the media over hyped the event, but we did get quite a bit of snow.  Also, we have fortunately been safe traveling in it.  Beaver Mountain opens this week, it's beautiful outside, and it feels like the holidays!  What could be better??

Check out how this cornice formed on the hot tub:

The back porch stairs:

Look at the wreath!  The snow plastered the front of the house and we couldn't see out of any of the windows:

The front yard:

Clint was happy!

Look how much snow is on top of our bird feeder!

It is gorgeous out there today!  We love the snow!!

A Weekend Getaway

A wedding at Zion Park provided Wes and me with an opportunity for a quick weekend getaway.  It was a lot of driving for a little time in Southern Utah, but it was fun to be together for a couple of days.  We hiked along the Northgate Peaks Trail on the Kolob Plateau on Saturday morning:

This is how chilly it was that morning:

It was a sandy trail and we saw a little snow along the way:

Of course the views were incredible!

That afternoon and evening we attended the beautiful wedding of Tom and Michelle Nelson.  Tom works with Wes.  Tom and Michelle are both geologists who met at USU.  They fell in love on an adventure at Zion Park so it was only fitting that they began their married lives here.  Congratulations!

We had a little weather on the drive home, but we saw the most snow when we pulled in to our driveway!  We're glad we made it home before it really started to come down.

Halloween!

It's Halloween weekend, one of our favorite times of the year.  We carved pumpkins yesterday and Wes and I went to our annual party at Deer Cliff.  Clint plans to man the door tonight and tomorrow night when the trick or treaters come!  Aaargh, mateys!

Here is the Deer Cliff crowd!  We didn't win any costume prizes this year, but our table did win 3 door prizes.  As always, it was a great time.

Marty and Kathi had awesome Fred and Wilma costumes:

We had a hard time finding Troy and Shauna all night because they were dressed up as Where's Wendy and Waldo:

Kent actually wore this sweet corduroy jacket back in the day!  He came dressed as "Dude" and he brought Kathy, his lovely Flower Garden, (or is that a bloomin' idiot???):

Curtis and Susan dressed up as a Hospital Patient and his Hot Nurse!

Here we are in our Dharma Initiative jumpsuits.  No one really knew what we were, but that's okay because to us, nothing is as cool as LOST, nothing!!  Namaste, and Happy Halloween!

Livin' The Dream

Two things I love about my husband are 1. he's always positive, and 2. he's easily satisfied.  This year his new favorite expression is "livin' the dream!"  If he has an awesome motorcycle ride, he's "livin' the dream!"  If he grills a delicious steak, he's "livin' the dream!" If it's a gorgeous day out on the lake, he's "livin' the dream!"  Whenever Wes and I sit out on the porch on a nice summer evening, we're "livin' the dream!"  Yesterday another dream came true when our new hot tub was delivered.  Wes has wanted one of these for years and finally decided to do it.  He is just giddy about it!  The kids are pretty excited too.  So come on over and join us!  When you see the steam coming from our backyard, you'll know we're "livin' the dream!"

Fall Leaves

Ahhhhh, Fall.  It has been a glorious one this year and the colors are just spectacular.  I've visited a few canyons recently just basking in the beautiful place we live!  Here are a few reasons I love the Fall just from my own yard:

Couple Costume Ideas

I am entering a costume contest on the dahling dating divas blog, where you can find LOTS of couple costume ideas!  Click on my post title to get there.  This is our Halloween costume from a few years ago.  I am the matador and he is the bull!