Announcement...

Where will you be on November 5th?? Because I am going to CHICAGO to watch a taping of the Oprah Show! When we first found out we were moving to Michigan the first thing I thought about was getting tickets to Oprah. I've been checking her website every day for the last month to see when the tickets would be available (it's all done through e-mail...) So when I saw they were accepting reservations for the month of November for two days only I registered for tickets and then told all my friends here to do the same (you can register for yourself and 3 others). Well, today I got an e-mail that said I had not been picked. Boo! BUT then my friend/neighbor came over and said she had been picked and had put me down as one of the other three. Happy Day!! I am getting more and more excited. So we are planning a girls trip to Chicago in just over a week and I can't wait!!

Where's the baby?

Miles is such a fun little guy. He is pretty good at playing by himself and I often have to go searching for him. He has no qualms about going down to the basement all by himself and finding something to do. It's pretty cute, but sometimes it scares me because he thinks it is funny to NOT answer me when I call his name. So I am often running up and down the stairs calling him and he's hiding in some corner of the house with a mischevious grin on his cute little face (as pictured above). Today I found him in our basement in the back corner of the office by a bookshelf - with all the lights off- just playing with two of his cars. He also loves books right now. We have a fish book that he is constantly bringing to me (or Brian) and saying "ish!!" and he won't be deterred until the book is read. So cute.

Nora's new hair...

Before...                                                               

Fall Perfected

Saturday was one of those perfect fall days that are the very reason why I love fall!  It started out with a stake primary activity for the kids in a small town about 40 minutes away. I planned on driving to it because it was in a gorgeous place and I was looking forward to the beautiful drive. And boy was I glad I did! The kids had a great time and really enjoyed the activity - complete with hayride and doughnuts at the end. I mostly followed Miles around and let him throw rocks and explore to his little hearts content. While he and I were walking down the road an Amish father with his two kids came by and stopped to say hello to us, and let Miles pet his HUGE horses. It was very cool. If you remember from THIS post, we have actually rode in an Amish buggy before (with the in-laws of the man who stopped today). Later this man was kind enough to bring his horses and wagon over to the primary activity and  give all the primary kids a ride in a horse pulled wagon. So fun!

 

After we got home from the activity and the kids had rested up we headed out to a nearby apple orchard. It was pretty chilly but we had a great time! Oh, how I love fall.

 

You will love me...

Once you make this soup. It is my all - time most favorite recipe EVER. I make it weekly from October - March. It is that good. My mother-in-law gave me the recipe and we had it for dinner when we had Nora's baby blessing. I have been meaning to post it forever but the problem is that when I sign up at church to take a meal to someone this is always what I take - so I don't want to take something someone has all the time. Get it? But I think every good recipe is meant to be shared - so here it is! Hope you like it. Oh, and it is best with homemade bread - heaven.

Cheesy Zucchini Soup

Sautee until tender:

-2 medium zucchini chopped (I use 1 green & 1 yellow zucchini)

-1 medium onion

-2 Tblsp. Parsley

-1 tsp. dried basil

-1/3 cup butter

Stir in:

-1/3 cup flour

-1 tsp. salt

-¼ tsp. pepper

Stir in:

-3 cups water

-3 chicken bouillon cubes (or 3 cups chicken broth)

-1 tsp. lemon juice

Bring to boil 2 minutes

Add:

-1 can tomatoes

-1 can evaporated milk

-1 pkg. corn or 1 can drained

Reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes

Just before serving, Add:

-¼ cup parmesan cheese

-2 cups shredded cheddar

I love Mondays

Yes, I really do love Mondays. I love the fun and work and craziness of the weekends but it is always nice come Monday morning to get my house put back together and return to a normal schedule. I am happy to report that Brian is feeling MUCH better today and is not contagious anymore either - yay! He went back to school today but is not going to be riding his bike there and back in this cold weather for a while. We enjoyed watching conference yesterday - there were a lot of talks that were incredible - but Elder Holland's talk - WOW!! I want to watch it over and over again. (If you missed it click HERE and then click on Sunday PM and scroll over until you see Elder Jeffery R. Holland's name...) It was amazing. We went for a drive in the morning before conference started (ours is from 12-2 and 4-6 because of the time difference) and saw some beautiful countryside.

Here are a few pictures of our drive:

Living somewhere like this would be my dream come true!

Yuck...

Brian's been feeling crummy for about 3 weeks now and finally went to the doctor to get checked out;  the verdict: Pneumonia. Darn it. He hasn't even complained about it either. It's a nice weekend to stay home and take it easy, though. We'll be watching General Conference.

Oh, and if you haven't seen it, 
you should take a minute to watch THIS VIDEO!