Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We had a great Halloween this year. Emily had a blast Trick or Treating for the first time and Colby liked playing in the pumpkin guts as we carved our pumpkins.

This year Emily was a pretty butterfly and Colby was a little puppy. I made Emily's costume except for the wings and I got them pretty cheap at the party store. I had planned to make Colby's costume too but the pattern for the costume cost as much as buying the already made costume. I decided to just buy it and save myself all of the work of making it. I think they both looked really cute in their costumes.

Colby was nice and toasty in his puppy suit which was great for Trick or Treating. Emily loved her butterfly costume and asked me everyday if it was Halloween and time for Trick or Treat so she could wear her butterfly wings. We had a hard time deciding what to be this year for Halloween. We thought about the Wizard of Oz (Russell-Tin Man, Tiffany-Scarecrow, Emily-Dorthy, Colby-Lion), and Tangled (Russell-Flynn Rider, Tiffany-Mother Gothel, Emily-Rapunzel, Colby-Pascal). Finally we decided to go easy this year and just have our own costumes.

I made a few Halloween crafts this year with Emily's help.

Emily and I made the little Jack-O-Lanterns out of toilet paper and orange tissue paper. We also made the candy corn tree (sorry the picture is sideways) with the help of Terral. I also made Colby this really cute Frankenstein trick or treat bag. I love how it turned out and Colby held onto it all Halloween night. Finally my mom and I made these fun fabric pumpkins. They are filled with fluff and cloves to make them smell really good. I think I can use these for Thanksgiving decorations also.

We also had some really good Halloween food this year:

I made Candy Corn cupcakes for my work on Halloween. They were colored yellow and orange with white icing to make them look like candy corns. They didn't really turn out as I imaged but they were still really good. Next we made Mummy Dogs out of hot dogs and crescent rolls. Hot dogs are always a hit at our house. We also made Mummy Pizzas with string cheese. Emily loved these and even helped me decorate then with cheese. She has requested these mini pizzas for dinner ever since. Finally, the grossest looking meal of all, Worms on a Bun. This meal is actually sliced hot dog in barbecue sauce but it looks like worms. It was also a big hit with Emily.

And of course we had our traditional Pumpkin Waffles for breakfast on Sunday. These are sooo good with maple syrup:

As you can see the kids were really excited about Halloween this year. Colby was equip with his Jack-O-Lantern Binky, and Emily practised by playing dress up every day. Here she is modeling her pretty Rapunzel hair.

Everyone had fun carving our huge pumpkin Great-Grandpa and Grandma Maxwell gave Emily for her birthday. This is also the same pumpkin Emily and her friends had fun painting.

Emily was not scared to dig into the pumpkin guts this year like she was last year. She had to stand up in order to dig out the guts of the big pumpkin. Colby liked carving but he mostly liked ripping and rattling the newspaper I put down to protect the counter top. His hands were black from ink by the time we were done. Russell tried to gross us out but squishing the guts in his hands and then attempting to eat it. Then Emily started yelling when Russell tried to wipe his yucky hands on her!

Colby was having fun carving his first pumpkin until we tried to put him inside the pumpkin. I thought it would be cool to get a picture of him in the big pumpkin but he did not like that idea at all. The moment Russell stood him up in the pumpkin, he started screaming. I don't think he liked the cold wet pumpkin on his bare feet. I still think it is a cool picture!

And here is our finished pumpkin. It looks kind of funny but aren't pumpkins supposed to look funny? The littler pumpkin we carved for our traditional Halloween dinner that night, Dinner in a Pumpkin. We had Russell's family over to our house for dinner then took the kids Trick or Treating around our neighborhood.

Look at all the fun costumes! Paul was Captain America, Alex was a pirate, and Aunt Traci was Little Red Riding Hood. The kids had a blast running from house to house trick or treating.

It was so fun to watch the excitement on the kids faces as they gathered all of their candy. They acted like they had never had candy in their lives. They ran from house to house and would continuously knock on every door until someone answered. Then either Paul or Alex would open the screen door for the person because they couldn't wait any longer. When they saw the bowls of candy they all dived right in and grabbed handfuls. Then we would have to remind them to just take one and they would put some back. After each house they ran to us screaming and showing us what kind of candy they just got before heading to the next house. I was more entertained watching their expressions than anything. Emily came home with a killing.

What a fun holiday! Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween Party

This year my mom's annual Halloween Party was on Saturday October 29th. Only about half of the grand kids were there because Lacie couldn't come down and Braden, Jason and Justin were deer hunting. We still had a pretty big crew and the party was fun.

Here are all of the guests in their great Halloween costumes. Isn't that butterfly and puppy the cutest thing ever? Russell's mom found an added accessory to Emily's costume. She found those fabulous butterfly glasses. They have little glow sticks around the eye holes so they light up in the dark. Emily absolutely loved the glasses and did not want to take them off.

We played some fun games at the party. We played ring toss over the pumpkins, put together a skeleton puzzle, and of course had a cake walk which Chelsie always wins.

I also had everyone make a craft. We made ghosts out of suckers and Kleenex and pumpkins out of toilet paper and orange tissue paper. Everyone seemed to have a good time making them. Jess was even excited to finally have a Halloween decoration to put in her new house! Emily is so crafty and smart. She watched me make the demo pumpkin at home and she remembered every step. She knew just what to do to make her pumpkin and was showing everyone else how to make it. Above she is showing off her pumpkin she made herself. I only helped her with the face. As you can see though, she has already had too much candy and looks kind of dazed with her blue mouth! What a great party!

4-Wheeling

A Fun adventurous 4 wheeling trip with my Brother and Sister

During the week of the Deer hunt I took off some time from work to go hunting and take some long needed time off from work. I was figuring on taking the whole week and using it to hunt, but instead my hunt ended at 0945 opening morning when I got my deer. I promised my brother that we would go 4 wheeling on Saturday regardless if I got a deer or not. Traci was an added bonus to the trip. She was supposed to go on a hike with her friends in the singles ward but got ditched. She worked so hard on getting her homework that week that she was determined to to do something fun that day. We took off with the four wheelers up to Utah mountain just off of highway 91 where I shot my deer. It was an adventurous excursion. This is Traci and me on the top of the mountain looking over just south of St. George. Before we got to the top op the mountain, we had a few little crazy close calls. We took a side road that I thought was good to go down. One of the roads had a little dip in it and I went to back up to get Tyler and instead of just backing up my four wheeler decided to buck me side ways and off, and the next thing that I knew the four wheeler was on its top and I was luckily on my feet away from it not hurt. Yeah I was grateful that I was being watched out for that day. I ended getting it back up on its wheels before my brother saw and made fun of me. The next adventure was we went up another road that again was a dead end and we turned around, or at least Tyler and I did. Traci, who was on Dad's beast of a 500 Polaris, decided to have me turn it around. I thought it would be easy, yeah right. This beast does not even move like mine so it was awkward to do. Then the wheels started to spin and the beast started sliding down the hill side ways. Instead of messing with turning it around I found a clearing just down the hill. I jumped on and took off down the hill blazing my own trail and flipped around and roared back up the hill to the only clearing to go through that barely fit the wheeler. This is my hand after a tree branch decided to connect with it. After those two adventurous side trips, we decided to stay on the road and go to Indian springs. We all had a great time and we were glad that we were being watched over that day.

There was a lot cool things to see and go through as we made our way down the mountain. One was this big cotton wood tree where Tiffany's brothers and dad have lunch when they come up and four wheel. It has so much shade and it is so quiet. Just down the road a ways there is a stream that goes down through the road. I was able to show Tyler and Traci where I shot my deer and how far away it was. We stayed out for a couple of hours and headed back for the Halloween party at Tiffany's mom's house. On the way back down the mountain there was a family with truck that had a flat. I stopped off to see what Tyler and I could do. The guy had costume rims on and he had the socket but no wrench. I told him that I had a star wrench at the truck I would bring it up if I think it fits. We got back to the truck and I looked at it and I was not sure it would work. I started to think to myself it is late you are going to be late for the party so do not worry about it and just go home. Then the thought came to me and it said just go help them and see, what will it hurt, if it fits it fits. It was just 3 miles up the mountain. I listened to my gut and put the star wrench in the four wheeler box and headed up the mountain as fast as I could. I reached the family and put on the wrench and it was too big. I started brain storming on how could we get these lug nuts off. I put on the socket and looked on the wrench from their trunk that had a prying tip on it and put it on the end of the socket and began to turn and what do you know one popped free. The owner and I were way excited that I was able to get off the lug nuts. We put on the spare tire and luckily the star wrench fit to put the tire on. The family was way excited that they could finish their hunt and not have to wait two hours for a family member to come from Mesquite. I was way excited that I was given the chance to think of another option to get the lug nuts off. We all had a great time together that day.

Trunk or Treat

It's Halloween! Because Halloween is on a Monday this year, our ward held its Trunk or Treat on Friday the 28th. We had really yummy soup and bread bowls for dinner before starting the Trunk or Treat. I made a really good pot of Monster Meatball soup and it was gone before any of the other soups! Then the YM President, Lee Thompson, brought in his famous Chicken Noodle soup with homemade noodles and Russell and I had to have another bowl of that. We were stuffed but it was so good. Then the Trunk or Treat began.

Emily and Colby had some pretty cute costumes this year. Emily was a pretty butterfly and Colby was a puppy dog. Russell threw on his Fred Flintstone costume I made him last year and I was a pioneer lady with the clothes I made for the Wagon Train trek.

We walked around to all of the cars in the parking lot and got lots of candy. A few people even put some candy in Colby's bag even though he can't eat candy. (Lucky for Russell and me!) We parked next to the Aldredge's (pictured above) and they had some crazy Halloween music playing in the back of their car. The music just kept playing over and over and we were starting to get annoyed. The funny thing was that the music was starting to annoy Sis Aldredge too but she couldn't figure out how to turn it off. We just kept laughing every time the music would start over.

Colby was the cutest puppy. My favorite part of the whole costume was the little wagging tail in the back. You can see it in the picture above. The Truck or Treat was really fun.

When it was over, we headed to Golden Corral for my dad's birthday. Don't worry we didn't eat anything because we were still stuffed from soup. We just went and visited with the family.

Deer Hunt

October 22 was the opening day of the Deer Hunt this year. Russell drew out for the hunt for the first time this year so he has been really excited for the hunt all year. He headed for the hills bright and early Saturday morning with my dad, Clay, Clint and Justin to shoot him a deer. Here is Russell to tell you all about his first hunting experience:

It was a fun hunt that started out crappy. We left Clay's house at 7am and got to Utah mountain by 7:30am. Everyone was getting ready and unloading their four wheelers and I went to get mine off the trailer and the worst feeling came over me. I realized that I was a big idiot who remembered his deer tag but forgot the four wheeler key to help get the deer. I called Tiffany and she graciously met me half way with the key. About a mile from where the trucks were parked I saw four does and a two point go up the mountain. The only problem was I had my rifle but my ammo was in the four wheeler. The only gun I had was my 9mm, I was really tempted to shoot it, but I did not. I got going back to my four wheeler and put the key in and tried to start it and it was dead. At this point I was not getting any happier. I am glad that I have a father-in-law who has everything in his truck for these moments. I pulled the jumper cables out and jumped it and got it going. Finally, I was off and running to play catch up. I put my gun on the gun holders that I have on the four wheeler. To put a cherry on top of all the bad luck that has gone on this morning, we went down a trail that dipped down and put the wheelers at quite a side angle and I was paying attention to the road more than the rifle on the rack in front. All I saw was a tree limb hit the front of the four wheeler and hit my rifle. The rifle flipped out of the rack and flew around to the left side and went under the wheeler. I was not happy at this point. I looked back and my father-in-law was just shaking his head and laughing at the humor that I was bringing to the trip. I kept telling myself what a great day it was and what a wonderful first deer hunt. Well my luck did turn around. We were riding for about 2 hours when Clay spotted a deer in the brush to our left. I looked up and noticed it was a buck. I pulled out my binoculars and saw that it was a two point. Clay noticed that Braden had gone up the road and could not get back in time so he asked if I wanted it. I said, "I would love too." I did not care about how big the antlers were or how big the spread was, I just wanted the meat and the experience of shooting my first buck. I took aim, it was about 70 yards out and all I was able to see was his neck and head. So I aim just a little lower from the neck and fired. Down it went, I got it. Yes I shot it that far with open sights. What can I say it is my grandpa Farnsworth's lucky deer hunting gun. From then on I was known as Iron Sights. I had to go down into a wash and back up it to get to where I shot it. When I got to the deer, it was dead right there (DRT); a beautiful kill shot through the lungs. I rolled it over and it bled out all over and it sounded like a sucking chest wound. I saw the antler for the first time and I thought, "Holy cow, I shot Bambi's little brother." As you can tell from the pictures above, it was a tiny buck. The antlers barely made it over the top of the ears. We were all laughing when we saw it for the first time. The real party started after we shot it. I had never gutted a deer nor had I seen one done before. Clay, Clint and Terry gave me a quick lesson on what to do and what not to do. It was very interesting, by the time I got to pulling out the stomach it was triple the size of the normal stomach. After we finished gutting it, we found a tree to hang it in until we got back to take it out. All in all it was a great size deer regardless of the size of the antlers. I was in it for how much meat the deer had on it. The rest of the trip I was the dogger or the person who walked up in front or to the side of the hunters to help push the deer out of the trees. I had a great time with them and am looking to many more hunts with them. Here is another picture of my trophy buck:

While Russell was out hunting, Emily, Colby, my mom, and I watched the Dixie College Homecoming parade.

They threw so much candy in this parade that Emily came home with a whole grocery bag full! What a great start to her Halloween treats! I love that I took the above picture right at the right time so that it looks like the Tootsie Pop is standing up! Emily loves parades and especially loves gathering candy. I loved the fact that all of the older Dixie College graduating classes wrote on all of their floats "Rebels forever!" or "Long live the Rebels!" I will always consider myself a Dixie Rebel not a Dixie Storm or whatever the heck their name is now...


Any way back to the deer... Russell called my at about 11 am to tell me he got a deer. I thought he was joking but he wasn't. So now we have to go buy a freezer or something to put all the deer meat in.


We let the deer hang from Saturday to Monday in my dad's garage. On Monday, Russell went and got it and brought it home to butcher.

Seriously I thought Emily would have nightmares if she saw the deer but she was actually really interested in it. She wanted to know all about the deer and asked the funniest questions. Here is one of our conversations:

As Russell was hanging the deer up by its legs to our basketball hoop:

Emily: "Dad don't hook him up like that, he will get hurt!"

Me: "It's okay Emily the deer is dead he can't feel anything."

Emily: "What happened to him?"

Me: "Dad shot him with a gun."

Emily: "WHY DAD!! Why did you shoot him?!"

Russell: "So we can eat him."

Emily: "We can't eat him, that'd be gross!"

We laughed and laughed. A little while later Emily noticed that the head of the deer was cut off so she asked, "Where is his face, Dad?" We laughed some more.

Clifford was also very interested in the deer. He kept pacing back and forth around Russell and the deer hoping something would drop so he could grab it and run off. I, on the other hand, was grateful to have Colby, which was my excuse for not being able to help cut up the meat (hee hee). We had probably every fly in the neighborhood at our house coming to see what that great smell was.

Russell and I didn't know how to butcher a deer so we turned to the greatest resource we could find, the Internet. We actually found a video on YouTube that told us step by step how to butcher a deer. After watching it for a while, Russell got motion sickness and just decided to cut it up into a bunch of chunks and call it good. So we did.

We got quite a bit of meat off of the deer. We filled about half of an ice chest with roasts and steaks. Yeah they might not be the most perfect cuts but they will work. We also made about 3 pounds of jerky. After cutting deer meat all day Monday, Russell thought that maybe getting a deer wasn't all its cracked up to be. So far we have only tried the jerky and it is really good. I hope the rest of the meat is good too and not too gamey.

We had originally planned to go hunting with Russell on Tuesday but since he already got a deer on opening day, we just went 4-wheeling and had a picnic instead. And of course we wore our Orange.

We drove up to General Steam for our picnic and 4-wheeling. General Steam is near Veyo and Gunlock, in the mountains there. I had never been there before but it is a really nice place for 4-wheeling and especially for picnicking because of all the big trees. The weather was perfect for an autumn day. It was beautiful.

There are a lot of wild fruit trees growing at General Steam. There are apple trees, pear trees, grape vines, and raspberry bushes. We spent some time gathering and picking apples before my brothers, Clay and Clint, joined us for lunch. They had ridden their 4-wheelers from Gunlock while hunting. We cooked hot dogs and just relaxed under the shade of a huge pecan tree as we were entertained by Emily's chatter. It was great. After riding around on a few 4-wheeling trails, we headed home. The trip was a lot of fun.

Corn Maze

The Young Men and Young Women in our ward went to the Staheli Corn Maze this week. Russell said we could come so the kids and I tagged along with the group. It was a lot of fun but I wish we would have gone about an hour earlier so we wouldn't have been in the dark. Oh well the dark makes it more fun, right!?

Here we are at the entrance to the Maze before we got lost wandering through the corn. This year the Maze was in the shape of the Staheli parents' upper body and a big heart that said "Happy 50th Anniversary." In order to complete the Maze, you had to make your way through the husband and wife's bodies to the center of the heart on the other side. We wandered up and down every line on that Maze it seemed like and we still couldn't find the center of the heart. Finally, we met up with the YW President Sis Alldredge and her counselor, Sis Norman, and together, with the help of our one flashlight and Sis Alldredge's cell phone light, we made our way to the center. By this time, we only had about 5 minutes before our time was up in the Maze. The bishop told us to all meet back at the entrance at 8:30 and it was now 8:25. We text some of the kids and they told us that we were the only ones in left in the Maze so we had to hurry out. For some reason it was much easier to find our way out of the Maze than and it was to find the flag in the middle of it. Maybe because we were walking toward the light instead of away from it. (There could probably be some spiritual lesson behind that!) Any way we finally made it out and they only had to send a couple people in to find us. I was glad we were with the YW President and Counselor because I would have felt bad if it was just our family they were waiting on.

I kind of stink at taking blind spots with the camera. As you can see I totally cut Emily's head off but this picture is proof that I was there! Any way, Colby and Emily had fun in the Corn Maze too. Emily liked running through the Maze and holding the flashlight. Then, toward the end, she fell down and the fun was gone and she had to be held the rest of the time. Colby liked riding in the stroller and was totally chill in it until he actually got chilly! After he got cold, I carried him wrapped up in his blanket and he was fine. Then Emily rode in the stroller and that was just fine with her.

The Corn Maze was a lot of fun this year and the youth in our ward are great. They don't seem to mind us tagging along once in a while.