Cornbelly's (on the cheap!)

#19 Go to an outdoor haunted venue

Andrew found not one but TWO coupons online for Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point.  So we got to do everything we wanted and then some (zipline, free pumpkin, etc.) for under $14 a person.  Sweet!

We checked this out last year with the Silvas, Colette Hinchcliff, and Danny Allen but didn't do any of the Insanity Point haunted attractions.  This year we decided to get our haunt on, too.  It was a blast!  We really liked the haunted corn maze a lot.  Everything else was kind of whatever ESPECIALLY "Insane Reaction" which was a rave-themed maze.  I think the actor at that one got mad at us because we kept dancing up on him everytime he tried to scare us.  Which was hilarious by the way.

 We went with Katie & Dustin Locke from our ward.  Who happen to be the exact personality twins of my brother, Curt, and his wife, Vanessa.  Seriously.  We love when we get to hang out with them.  They are so much fun!  And we got to take home pumpkins.  More pumpkins!  Of course I had to choose the absolute biggest one--so big that Katie had to carry it to the car for me.  What muscles!!!

Oh, by the by, as far as the corn maze goes.  The corn was sparse and about shoulder heighth probably due to the drought.  We found our way in and out of there pretty quickly.  Ha ha!

Zombie Apocalypse

#18 Go to an indoor haunted venue
Okay that is not a very eloquent to put it, but essentially, we wanted to go to an indoor haunted venue and an outdoor haunted venue this year. 

Thursday, October 25, we met Scott & Morgan Allen in Lehi to go to the Zombie Apocalypse.  It's a new haunted house this year.

This zombie girl had a major crush on Morgan and just followed her around everywhere.  It was hilarious.   And super creepy.  Caramel hot cocoa afterwards at IHOP and some fun conversation was a great way to end the night!

Sugar Cookies (To Sweeten the Last Presidential Debate)

For our Family Home Evening on October 22, we had the Silvas over to watch the final presidential debate and decorate sugar cookies for Halloween.

#17 Decorate sugar cookies

So it all started out rather scary.  I used Sarah's sugar cookie recipe that is tried, tested and true but let's just say IT DID NOT WORK OUT for me.  At all.  Yikes.  When I pulled the first batch out of the oven and they looked like this:..

...I knew we were in trouble.  I'm sorry.  Did you want to decorate sugar pancakes?!  And what's more mortifying is that Chris & Amy were there to decorate with us.  Witnesses.  I had witnesses to this mess!  I may have had a minor (ahem MAJOR) meltdown after they left about how I can't cook blah, blah, blah but Andrew was sweet and said, "They're sugar cookies.  No one likes to eat them anyway.  They are just fun to decorate" and that made me feel all better.  Really.  It did.  But now looking at that, it's kind of a funny comment.

Amy suggested that it was probably the high altitude.  I'm sure she's right.  I can't believe that after living (and baking) in Utah for three and a half years, I didn't remember that you have to adjust recipes for high altitude.  I was wondering why all of my bread and baked goods seemed to need twice as much flour these days.  Duh.

Ah well.

Andrew is truly an artist!

Afterwards, we had pumpkin milkshakes for dessert (as if cookies weren't enough!)  I got the recipe from Vanessa and it is yummy!

PUMPKIN MILKSHAKE

Here’s a recipe from Vanessa that she and Curt love (especially in the Fall).  When I think of Curt, I think of pumpkin-anything!

2 c. vanilla ice cream                                                     ¼ c. milk

2 T. canned pumpkin                                                    Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Whipped topping                                                          Cinnamon

Blend ice cream, milk, pumpkin and nutmeg together until smooth for 1 large milkshake or two medium milkshakes.  Garnish with whipped topping and sprinkle with cinnamon before serving.

 

Foos-ball & Chili Dinner

I love that Andrew did the last post.  He did a terrific job and it was fun for me to see what the highlights were for him.  For those keeping track that was:

#13 Pick pumpkins at a pumpkin patch

#14 Watch "The Karate Kid"
I don't know why but that movie has become a Halloween tradition for me somewhere along the way.

On Saturday, October 20, we had some friends and family over for the BYU vs. Notre Dame football game. I made a big pot of chili and watched some good foos-ball.  I thought it was a great game and I was really glad that BYU hung in there with the #5 team in the nation as well as they did but Andrew said he couldn't write this blog post because he would get upset all over again.  Poor guy!

Again, I didn't take a single picture (duh!) but I promise that we had a great time.  And in case you were wondering:

#15 Host a BYU football party

#16 Have a chili dinner with friends

Getting Our Pumpkin On!

So for FHE last Monday (10/15) we headed down to Jaker's pumpkin patch in Springville.  Hay rides...check,   corn pit...check,  petting zoo...check,  pumkins that are way bigger than we need...check.  Good times and everything is Free! (well, obviously we had to purchase the pumpkins)

 Decisions...

They looked so much smaller on the ground

Question: What would be more fitting than capping the night off with the perfect Halloween movie, The Karate Kid?

Answer:  Absolutely nothing!

"Johnny, leave him alone man he's had enough"

"I'll decide when he's had enough"

"Couldn't leave well enough alone, could you twirp

Well now you're gonna pay"

   "Driver Punch"

Awesome.

Fall Family Photo Session

#12 Take family photos
What a beautiful time of year to take family photos for Christmas cards! 

Sherry Ward from SW Portratits took our photos for us at The Castle Ampitheatre in Provo on a rainy Friday morning (October 12) before we headed out of town.  You can find a link to Sherry's blog here: http://swportraits.com/  We have loved working with her and this is our third booking with her!

Stay tuned for an update with some of our favorite photos.

Thanksgiving Point

#11 Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point (...or not)

A few years ago, Lisa and I went with Kyle & Ashley's little family to check out the Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point.  It was so much fun and a great, inexpensive activity for younger kids.  They have pony and wagon rides, face painting, boo bowling, spider toss, hairy horseshoes, boo-tacular obstacle course and more plus you get to see all of the animals at Farm County.  It's a terrific deal!

Well, this year I wanted to go with Andrew's family.  We decided on a Wednesday since that is Andrew's day off and went October 10.  His mom, Laurie, was in town and Caleb & Kelani brought Lily and Devin & Katherine brought Clara.  We bought our tickets only to find out that the Barnyard Boo wasn't opening until the next day.  Bummer!  But Katherine will back me up on this: we checked the dates online meticulously before scheduling.  I don't know what happened but we goofed!

Wah-wah.



My advice?  Double and triple check the dates and call ahead the day before you go because you don't want to miss it by one silly day!  There was still plenty to do around Farm Country and we had a great time.  What a fun afternoon1

Ghost Pancakes & The Alpine Loop

On October 7, we were able to a few fun Fall things before and after sessions of General Conference.

#10 Make Ghost Pancakes

Okay, I think we have all seen the pin for these on Pinterest.  Such a cute idea!

All you do is make up your pancake batter like normal but use the chocolate chips to make eyes and a mouth.  The shaping proved a little tricky for me as well since that guy on the lower left looks a little more like a squid-shaped pancake but oh well.  Great for a morning before General Conference!

#11 Drive through the canyon to see the changing leaves
After General Conference was all over for the year, we took a nice drive around the Alpine Loop.  Word from the wise: everyone had the same idea that afternoon.  It was a pretty crowded drive but beautiful nonetheless.  Pictures taken on my phone and as we drove around the curvy road just simply could not do it justice!  You'll have to check out everyone else's blogs for great photos (ha ha!)

Slow Cooker Cider

We have been rocking and rolling on our Fall Bucket List for this year!  Hopefully, I can get several updates out before we do even more things and I get even more behind about telling you all about them!

#9 Make Slow Cooker Cider

Who doesn't love the warm, yummy smell of hot cider?  This makes the whole house smell like Fall.  Sorry the photo is not the best but I took it quickly on my phone.  If I'm going to stick with this blogging thing than I better remember to get prettier pictures.

Here's the recipe:

SLOW COOKER CIDER

A holiday favorite that makes the house smell SO good.  This recipe is a combination of three different Food Network recipes, perfected by Sarah.  We have always found very sweet cider to use for this recipe, but if your cider is not quite sweet enough on its own, you can add about ¼ c. brown sugar.

2 cinnamon sticks                                                        1 t. whole cloves
1 t. whole allspice                                                       2 quarts apple cider                            

1 orange, sliced

Place cinnamon sticks, cloves and allspice in cheesecloth, and tie with string to form spice bag.  Pour cider in a slow cooker; add spice bag.  Place orange slices on top.  Cover and cook on low 2-5 hours. 

The perfect occasion for above-mentioned treat?  Priesthood Session Girls' Night Out--a tradition that dates back to my days in Illinois (Do you remember this Whitney Luke Kay? Elizabeth Morris? Jen Stubben Hatch? Tina Laughlin?)  We always watch a chick flick or two and eat delectable treats.  My sister, Lisa, has been AWESOME about carrying this tradition on with me and we have successfully hosted at Canyon Meadows SEVEN TIMES. 

Here's some fo the fun from this year:

I seriously love these girls and this tradition so much!  I'll let Lisa's blog fill in the rest...
October 6, 2012



Haunted Gingerbread House

#8 Decorate a haunted gingerbread house for Halloween

This is a tradition that I have been doing for several years now.  I was able to dig up some photos of JC and Trinity making houses with me back in 2008.  I know that we did it in 2007 as well but I just don't have photos.

 Quite spectacular, huh?  In those days it was all about eating the icing and loading up your house with as much candy as it could hold.  I think Trinity won this year.

This is Andrew & my MASTERPIECE from last year (Halloween 2011)



So it was with supreme confidence that we tackled this Fall Bucket List item.  Our first Monday in October seemed like a good time to do it--we could assemble it for our Family Home Evening activity.

I had to drive around a bit to find a kit.  I couldn't find one I really liked, so I just ended up buying this one at Michael's.  I had a 40% off coupon for it so it was really cheap.  Can I just say how much I love stores that put their coupons on a mobile app?  Both Jo-Ann's & Michaels do this and I love it.

By the way, DON'T buy this kit.  It doesn't come with very many extras to decorate the house.  I had some candy leftover from popcornpalooza that we used so that was lucky.  Also, we had a really hard time getting the house assembled.  It kept collapsing!

 We gave up after doing half of the roof and decided to call it a night.  Here's a side-by-side with the box:

 Nailed it!