The Rebound

We're grateful to have won at least ONE game this week...thank you neighborhood turkey bowl! Happy Thanksgiving!

Zoo Fun

Here's how we spent our day before Thanksgiving - headed out to the Hogle Zoo. We love that place...though we sensed some tension among the turkey flock.

A Rock by Any Other Name...

I love this idea for place cards at the Thanksgiving table. I am now on the hunt for beautiful, smooth rocks. Care to share any other interesting feast ideas you've found?

A little photo fun

I love that my friends actually think I'm a decent enough photographer to shoot them and their families. I love the practice... and this one was just scrumptious.

Best Motto Ever

This is one of my favorite necklaces I've made. My friend bought one to send to her girlfriend for her 40th birthday. Isn't that the perfect decade-turning birthday gift? My next venture includes one that says this and another that says this.

Rise and Shout

Take a peek at Bryce's blog for all the fun we've been having with Rivalry Week. Many of our great friends are Utes (we live mere blocks from the University after all) and are such good sports to participate in our crazy antics. Sneaking into the neighbors and leaving a "BYU" themed message on their answering machine was one of my best yet. Go Cougars!

Butternut Squash Soup

This is absolutely one of my favorite soups. I tweaked a few recipes I found online a came up with a winner.

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash, peeled (I used Costco's cubed and peeled version as a major time saver)
  
• Nutmeg (1/2 teaspoon)
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• Salt and pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cans chicken stock
• 1/2 cube of cream cheese
  

Directions:

Cut squash into 1-inch chunks. In large pot melt butter. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add squash and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender. Remove squash chunks with slotted spoon and place in a blender and puree. Return blended squash to pot. Stir and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Slowly melt cream cheese into soup. Simmer and serve.

Zoo treats

Although there is still a good week of pumpkin-displaying season left, ours were looking a little on the shriveled side so we donated our un-carved pumpkins to the zoo. Max was hoping to see a monkey making a pumpkin pie for his Thanksgiving feast.

A Proper English Morning

Enjoyed a very civilized morning of scones and lemon curd with Max and Josie at Elizabeth's Bakery and Tea Shop on 7th East. And by civilized I mean wiping snotty noses, taming Josie's stroller joy ride, and fending off questions of why we can't have one of everything. All in all - a lovely start to our day :)

Wisdom

My mom was cleaning out her files and sent me this article. It is a gem.

From her column, "At Wit's End" by Erma Bombeck:

On a rainy day last week I met my past.

It was a chance meeting. As I rolled over in bed and listened to the thunder outside, I declared for myself a day off from the typewriter. To do what? What was it I used to do before the deadlines, the travels and the mail? How did I spend my time before I became a "fulfilled woman," before my worth measured by a credit line, before I got my black belt in goal setting?

I sat at the kitchen table over a cup of coffee. It was 8 a.m. By this time in my first life I would have had three kids who smelled of spray starch and vitamin breath off to school with a lunch box and thermos of soup which they wouldn't bother to open.

I would promise myself that I would knit until 9 and then I would absolutely get dressed and bring the house up to minimal health standards.

During the years, I would remember birthdays with approriate celebrations, clothes that were in the cleaners, pets to be fed, doctor and dental appointments for everyone, homework that was due, science projects to be started, bills to be paid, overdue books returned, deposits made at the bank, and five bags of fertilizer for the lawn.

I would remove spots, add water, scrub toilets, write letters, polish shoes, clean ears, plant trees, knot shoestrings, mend wading pools, and blow up balloons.

I would hustle food, keep laundry moving, volunteer in the community, decorate the house, keep staples in supply, dispense chores, counsel, discipline, mediate arguments, hand down decisions and listen. I would listen a lot.

As I showered I wondered if I could go "home" again. Home to that domestic treadmill that I had fought to escape. I called my mother "just to talk." I called my best girlfriend and we dumped on one another. I called our kids and invited them to dinner and proceeded to fry chicken, bake biscuits and snap fresh green beans. We ate laughed, argued, talked and disagreed.

By present-day standards, it had been a non-productive day. I hadn't earned a dime. Hadn't made an impact on anyone or put down anything on paper for posterity.

Then why did I feel at peace with myself? Like I had done something special that day that no one else could do? It was the way I used to feel when I bedded down three kids between clean sheets and they all had clean feet and no one's nose was running. It was my turf and I knew it.

Lying in bed I thought about that person of the past and her day. What had she done that made her feel so important, so vital, when she herself had categorized it all as crud detail.

Then it hit me. My turf. Wouldn't it be ironic if my turf yielded the most important commodity being grown today...a family. A crop of children, seeded by two people, nourished with values, protected form disease and emotional storms and in 18-20 years harvested into worthwhile human being to go through the entire process again.

Nothing else I would do would equal it in importance.

Wouldn't you have thought someone would have told us?

(At the bottom of the article, my mom wrote "I'm telling you. xoxo." So dear friends and readers and family and strangers who are in the thick of it like I am...carry on. We have the hardest, but best job in the world.)

November Weekend with the Fam

taking pictures...am I always taking pictures? practicing a song with the girls for a church performance. loving this charming movie we watched on Friday night. dinner in Park City with the kids. using the gap/old navy friends and family discount a'plenty!! and finally, some water storing, gutter cleaning, and other winter preparations. be well and happy week.

Modern Martha

I just cannot stop linking over to drool at this house on design*sponge. I love everything about it...especially that she gave her style the name "Modern Martha." Can I be a Modern Martha groupie? Maybe I'll start a fan club and call myself president.

Rain Rain Stay Today

I love this rainy November Monday because:

• I've had my fireplace roaring all day and its just so cozy.
  
• I'm still thrilled about the antique chest we rescued from the deepest darkest corner of my garage on Saturday and placed perfectly in an empty corner of my family room. Seriously, how did I forget I had that?
• I happened upon a killer sale at the Gap Outlet in Park City this morning...40% off of all clearance items starting TODAY.
  
• Monday night means no soccer, no dance, no piano lessons, no playdates. I get my kids all to myself.
  
• While the kids and I are nestled in, B is down in Provo speaking on business strategies at BYU. He continues to make me proud.
• I want to kiss the genius scientist who developed the flu mist. No fear = No tears
  
• Josie's teeth (yes teeth, not tooth) finally broke through and I'm hoping we can enter the happy zone again. We've been in the unhappy zone for a solid week now.

An Early Christmas Gift to Natalie...

(*If this doesn't inspire you to comment my dear, I don't know what ever will :)

BYU Mint Brownies

Ingredients:

1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
12 oz. chocolate icing (Use your own icing recipe)

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

Directions:

PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.

Before I forget...

I've been meaning to post a few pictures of an exciting event that happened in our neighborhood at my friend Cami's house. Hollywood came a knocking and filmed a movie at her house. One of the most exciting props was this tree house they built - not in the backyard, but right in the front on the park strip. Needless to say, the neighborhood children came in droves and played and played until they un-built it a week later. Don't we all wish we could have a permanent one of these in our own tree?

Have you heard?

I found a fabulous skirt for the holidays for all my girls here. I love the "live" marketing...It's so fun to see the clothes move. There's a lot of items I can live without...but the site is definitely worth bookmarking to check in on every once in a while. And an added bonus? I found an online coupon for 20 percent off and free shipping and returns. Now go shopping!

Halloween Collage

The costumes are washed and back in storage and the decorations are boxed up and put away. I'm a little bit sad to bid farewell to my favorite month, but looking forward to the upcoming holiday season. We had such a fabulous month - how could we not with two birthdays, a baptism, and Halloween? I'll send off the month with a few pictures from our 1st annual pre-Trick or Treating Party.