One Horse Open Sleigh

This afternoon we headed over the The District at Green Valley Ranch to take advantage of the free carriage rides that they offer in December.

Our horse was Betty and we had a great ride down around The District.  Jasper liked the live music playing and off the fun decorations.  He was looking super cute in his mini Santa suit.

If you want to go, the rides are from 12:00 - 4:00 PM on Saturday until Dec. 19th and the carriage departs near Anthropologie.

Cruisin'

A couple weeks I pulled a brochure for the Disney Dream Cruise Ship out of our Family Fun magazine to show Jasper.

He is now obsessed with it, and reads his brochure at most meals.  Every time he gets in his high chair he asks for his cruise brochure. 

This is his favorite page to look at and talk about -- the AquaDuck waterslide.  It actually seems pretty cool.

It is a high-flume ride that takes you through a translucent, acrylic tube above the ship’s upper decks and over its edge to offer a view of the ocean.  It's like a water rollercoaster -- pretty cool!

Happy Halloween!

I figured I'd better post this before Christmas!

This Halloween we went to Trunk or Treat at our church for the 3rd year in a row.  We joined the Laurel Hills Ward -- so it was fun to see old friends (1/2 of our Ward was taken to create the Laurel Hills Ward a year ago).

Jasper was a race car driver, but we should have just put him in a track suit and had him be a runner, as his favorite thing to do was to run around the church parking lot.

He wore his "silver bullet" shoes and was fast as lightening!  (Jasper affectionately calls them his "bullets".)  He had his cowboy boots on at home ($1 find at a thrift store) but they are 2 sizes too big and he was a bit wobbly so we made him wear the bullets.

Thanks to Josie for helping us keep track of Jasper and rounding him up when necessary.

Jasper was a Bumble Bee when he was 2 months old and last year he was Michael Phelps, and I was his #1 fan.

This is the first year that Jasper has actually trick or treated.  He was one word for the candy -- MINE!

Jasper can't say "Trick or Treat", so we just went with "Please" and "Thank You" when he was given candy.

Jasper thinks that when he gets a piece of candy he should eat it.  He didn't understand the concept of putting the candy in his blue plastic pumpkin.  The whole night Jasper had a piece of candy in his mouth and each fist gripping tightly to a piece of candy in each hand.

By the end of the night he was a chocolatey mess. He even biffed it in the parking lot and black marks all over his WHITE polar fleece race car suit (which were really just some Carter's PJ's that I got for $6.50 at Costco).

We teamed up with our friends the Quandel's and the Scott's for the passing out of candy.  Kim brought her black cat that lights up and plays music.  Jasper loves to play with that cat every time we go to their house, so he was thrilled that Kim brought it.

My award for favorite "non-candy" items goes to Nancy for the glow bracelet (Jasper LOVES those), whoever handed out the little fighter jet and Michelle Tanner for a cup of slushy root beer. Thank you! (Jasper is still loving the fighter jet -- 1 month later).

After Trunk or Treat we knocked on doors in our neighborhood.  The problem is that Jasper wanted to go inside everyone's house and visit and play with their toys - even people we'd never met before.

The full size candy bars at the Gornichec's were a hit -- even though Isaac was super scary!

All in all we had a great night with good friends -- and lots of treats!

Hide Out

While I make lunch Jasper usually runs around in the backyard. 

It is always a struggle to get him to come in to eat and then nap -- he'd rather play all day.

When I go out to call him in he grabs puppy and they hide out in the barn -- as if I can't see them. Silly!

Sticky Fingers

Jasper was begging me for a marshmallow that I was pulling off the roaster for a s'more.  I gave it to him, and he was not sure what to do about all of the residue it left behind. 

It's hard to believe that he got any marshmallow at all in his mouth because he had so much on his mouth and hands.

We had some of our favorite friends over for dinner and s'mores. We love the Abbott family!  They help us out far more than we deserve.

Photo Shoot

Our friend Brittany's sister Tiffany is a great photographer, and we were lucky enough to catch up to her when she was in town last month.  We had so much fun with her.

We went to Bicentennial Park in Boulder City and it was SO WINDY.  I felt like my hair was in a whirlwind on top of my head the whole time. 

Jasper does not like 70 MPH wind gusts.  He was grumpy and wouldn't sit still for 1 minute.  I count it as a miracle that our photos turned out well.

Here's our photo shoot and here are some extra photos. 

Thank Twink!  We love you!

S'more Fun!

I'll be the first to admit that a gas fire pit is just not functional in Las Vegas in the summer.

It was May when I added it into our backyard design plans.  Mike said, "Great.  Just what we need.  Another heat source."

Now is definitely the time of year for a little toasty fire to keep you warm. We had the Paul family over for dinner last night and dessert was s'mores round the fire.  Fun times with a 1, 2 and 3 year old and I am happy to say that and no kids were harmed in the making of dessert.

Service with a Smile

Last week Jasper and I were whipping up dinner for a friend in need.

He was obsessed with the whisk and oven mitt.  Oh, how he loves to help in the kitchen!

Happiness is...

Petting a bunny for the very first time.

Cars Birthday Party

Jasper went to his first Birthday party by himself and had a great time.  We carpooled with Peyton and I snapped a few photos of the boys going in.

Rook turned 3 and had a "Cars" party.  Maridyn went above and beyond and planned a wonderful party.  They played a lot of fun games, including:

• Musical Tires
• Pin the Tire on the Car
• Junkyard Dig (in the sandbox)
• Car races (in the garage) 

They tried to break a pinata and had a lot of fun being "boys".

Jasper gave Rook two superhero capes.  The capes are reversible, and I put an "R" on one side of Rook's cape.  I do stars and/or lightening bolts on the other side.  I made one cape for Rook, and one for a friend to play with.  I put both capes in a little bag I made with an applique #3 on it.

Maridyn said that Rook loved the capes and slept with them the night of his party.

Happy Birthday Rook!

HOORAY for Banana Mini Muffins -- 100% Whole Wheat & Low Fat

I made these mini-muffins for my friends who ran the RAGNAR race and everyone has requested the recipe.

It is one of the few recipes where I can use 100% wheat flour that I grind and it still tastes great!

Here's the where the original recipe comes from.  I add All Spice and Cinnamon.

Banana Mini Muffins
4 T margarine (or butter), softened
¼ cup applesauce
2 eggs (or 2 T. Dehydrated Eggs +1/4 C. Water)
2 T skim milk
¾ Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup mashed banana (2-3 medium bananas)
1 ¾ C Whole Wheat Flour
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
2 tsp all spice (optional)
¼ t salt (optional)
¼ Cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)


Beat margarine, applesauce, eggs, milk, and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until smooth.

Add banana and blend at low speed; beat at high speed 1 to 2 minutes.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, all spice and salt; mix into batter. Mix in nuts.

Pour batter into mini muffin pan, . Bake at 350º F for 12-14 minutes.  ENJOY!

Thank You for Coming!

 Thursday  night I hosted our monthly recipe exchange at our home.  It was wonderful to see so many friends and have everyone in our home.

Our theme was: Tried and True -- Main Dishes that your family loves.  We now have a collection of great recipes to feed our families.

If you still want to email a recipe in, I am giving everyone a few more days to get something in -- as it will take me a little while to compile everything.

I appliqued a heart on flour sack dish towels for a thank you for everyone who came.  I tucked a little note with one of my favorite quotes in each gift.

“In the eternal scheme of  things, the most crucial and fulfilling thing you will do is to build a holy home and rear a strong family in love.”  Susan W. Tanner - April 6, 2003 General Conference