Gingerbread House Contest

Thanks Emily for allowing us to use your place of residence as our Gingerbread House contest location.

The kiddos had a great time making (and eating) these beauties!

Oh, and even some of the "big" kids got into the action.

Aunt Cheryl's

What fun!! We came out to ride horses and go caroling, and ended up getting rained on--phooey! But that never stopped us from enjoying ourselves!!

The girls loved watching the horses, and yes Meghan and Haley had the chance to ride BAREBACK for about 5 min. They loved it--thanks Logan and Colton!

Well, at least Haley got to ride a horse, and Sadie got to fly a plane.

We did get rained out, but we still had lots of goodies and enjoyed socializing with friends and family--Thanks Cheryl and Ed for letting us come out!!

What a pleasant sight

It has been kinda chilly the past couple of mornings, so I've been putting Caitlyn in long pajamas. I heard Caitlyn one morning after she woke up. When I went in, this was what I found.

NO PAJAMAS!!

Not only no pajamas, but she was bouncing like crazy in her bed. Needless to say, we now use a safety pin in the zipper to keep them on.

WooHoo. . .It's Christmas!!

Well, it's not quite Christmas, but I'm usually behind on my blogging, so I thought I'd try to post a little about Christmas before it snuck up on me.

For dance, Meghan got to perform with her class at a big festival here called Misteltoe & Magic. She had lot's of fun and they did a great job!!

This year Brian allowed me to set the Christmas tree up early. We actually set it up the weekend before Thanksgiving. I guess he figured we wouldn't have time later because we were going to Rachel and Cameron's for Thanksgiving.

I also think this was the 1st time that I didn't get to put any decorations on. The girls pretty much did it all by themselves. I figured I'd have to redo some of the ornaments, but I have to admit the tree looked pretty impressive without my help, so I left it alone.

Mac the knife

So I got this WONDERFUL brand new knife set. I absolutely love each and every one of them. However, there is one that doesn't love me back!

This big long knife is for cutting bread, english muffins, etc. Oh, and I guess it's also for cutting ME! I have used it several times and cut myself at least 3 times. They weren't tiny little cuts either, they went deep and bled for a long time.

The cut in this picture isn't so bad, although it hurt like crazy, but it is deep (I know it's difficult to see). So, now whenever I need to use this knife, Brian jumps in and offers to cut whatever it is I'm about to cut. Thanks Brian :)

Veterans Day?

O.K., I know I'm backtracking, but I just remembered I had these pictures, so I thought I'd throw them in.

Meghan and Haley entered a poster contest for Veteran's Day. Well, believe it or not they BOTH won 1st place.

I know the pictures are kinda hard to see, but they are both standing pretty much right below their pictures.

Haley's is the one with all the stars, and you can see part of a flag.

CHUNKY POTATO SOUP

Ingredients

3 medium red potatoes (although I use regular potatoes)
2 c. water
1 small onion
3 tbls. butter
3 tbls. all-purpose flour
Crushed red pepper flakes
Ground black pepper
3 c. milk
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 c. shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 c. cubed cooked ham

Directions
1. Peel potatoes and cut into 1 in. cubes.

2. Bring water to a boil in large saucepan. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Drain, reserving liquid. Set aside potatoes. Measure 1 cup cooking liquid, adding water, if necessary; set aside.

3. Peel and finely chop onion. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to suacepan; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and tender, but not brown.

4. Add flour to saucepan; season with pepper flakes and black pepper to taste. Cook 3-4 min.

5. Gradually add potatoes, reserved 1 cup cooking liquid, milk and sugar to onion mixture in saucepan; stir well. Add cheese and ham. Simmer over low heat 30 min., stirring frequently.

Finally Thanksgiving!!!

We were SOOO excited to be able to go somewhere and visit FAMILY for Thanksgiving. Rachel and Cameron let us come and stay with them, and we had a great time!!

Shortly after arriving there, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with Roast Turkey, homemade dressing (THANKS Cameron), 3 different types of pies (THANKS Rachel) and the list goes on and on--anyways, THANK YOU Rachel & Cameron!!!

The next day we decided to go to the Houston Zoo, and all I have to say is, "WOW"!! It was a lot bigger than our Zoo here, they even had a Sealion show which the kids all got a kick out of! In fact this Zoo was so large, that we were there for at least 2 1/2 hours and we still didn't get to see it all. Oh, well, I guess we'll just have to go back and visit again!

Brian and Kirsten got along real well from the gecko. I guess Brian is just a "girlie man"--I mean that in the manliest way (I guess coming from a family of 7 sisters and 4 daughters will do that to you).

The next day was Wii day. Meghan was showing Uncle Cameron just how many times she could beat him, although she had the advantage since she has played all the games before, and Uncle Cameron has not. I'm sure there will be a rematch soon.

All-in-all, we had a marvelous time and can't wait until we get to have them over to our house again or until we can visit them again!