a few birthday pics..... a couple months later

some of my family and friends got together at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. it was yummy!

what happens in vegas....

stays in vegas.

i'm off to vegas tomorrow with the whole ANS crew. i am sure there will be lots to "not" share when i return.

mmmm... quesadillas

my favorite form of tag is not *PC* anymore.....

jen tagged me. i am supposed to write a bunch of stuff that will wow you and cause you to say, "i never knew that about her..." that probably won't happen......

here are the "rules":
a. each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
b. at the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. i am an open book. you want to know something, i will tell you. doesn't matter how disgusting, weird, or off-the-wall it may seem. i will be straight with you.

2. i have to make my bed first thing when i wake up in the morning. it gets my day off to a good start.

3. i wanted to name jared, briggs or brady; and amelia, claire or ellen. isaac was always isaac.

4. i would like to make really good pie crusts. i know it can be done, i just need guidance and practice...

5. when i was in elementary school, i wanted to be a secretary. when i was in jr. high, i wanted to be a doctor. when i was in high school, i wanted to be a fish and game warden. my first few years of college, i wanted to be a wildlife biologist. now.... i don't know.

this is hard.....

6. i'll get back to you.

so now it is my turn to pass on this misery. i tag: kim, hanah g., tiffany g., brindy and that's it.

my latest obsessions

i know... mindless entertainment.... but it numbs the empty feeling left by LOST

it is amazing what you can sell and what people will buy.

along the lines of ebay.... i am buying up all the new releases of kids' shows on ebay. if i can buy them online and pay less than or equal to what i'd get them for at the store... that's what i am about. my latest conquest is ratatouille. this one has been a little elusive, but soon i will add it to my other trophies... (transformers and jungle book).

why?

what is the deal on csi.... they never turn on the lights when investigating a crime scene. they always use their stupid little flashlights. wouldn't it be easier to see stuff with the lights on? has anyone else ever noticed this? it is starting to make me a little crazy.

spoookay

let the halloween festivities begin.....

sunday, the carter clan gathered at mom and dad's house for scary fun. all the kids wore their costumes and decorated cookies.

all the carter cousins, plus jennie who had to sit with cassidy or she wouldn't stay in the picture.

plus skyler and jade who are eric's girlfriend's kids.

hey jared, would you like a little cookie with your frosting and candy?

monday night, the harwood family gathered at nate's mom and dad's house for a little pumpkin carving party.

isaac thought the "guts" of the pumpkin were really fun. his pumpkin was so juicy for some reason and was a bit messy.

the carvings....

from l to r: rick's pumpkin, jared's pumpkin, isaac's pumpkin, and nate and wendy's pumpkin.

things that make you go hmmmm...

i really have nothing exciting to report today other than i needed to update my blog. is it really updating if i type random words that when read, people will say, "that was dumb"?


instead of making some feeble attempt to entertain you myself, i will leave you with the wisdom of jack handy -

most of the time it was probably real bad being stuck down in a dungeon. but some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out your little window and think, "boy, I'm glad I'm not out there."

kids say the.....

last saturday, nathan and i were going to take the kids to our church sponsored fall festival. we had told the kids that there would be fun games and yummy food. it was supposed to be held at an outdoor amphitheater.

we drove to the amphitheater and found that the activity had been moved to to the stake center because of the rain. as we were driving to the church building, jared was a little upset and said that he didn't want to go to the church because all they had to eat was bread and water.

the windy city

i just returned from a work trip to chicago. although we don't really get to see much of the sites, a couple of the girls and i did find a few minutes to check out some good food.

the first place we hit was Giordano's, which served us up a very yummy deep dished pizza. i think i ate over 3 pounds of cheese.

the second night, we went to Twin Anchors which is an out of the way bar. i had filet minon and the other girls had ribs. this place was awesome... great food and the atmosphere was incredible. they filmed the movie "return to me" in this bar.

jessica and jen at Giordano's

jen, me and jessica at twin anchors

i came home quite tired and had a very sick stomach, but it was fun.

tony, me, jen and jessica at a party.

fun kids crafts

i decided it is time to do some crafts with the kids. So, i got on the oriental trading company website and found these fun crafts. i am sure the kids will love to make them and they will serve as nice little family home evening activities as well.

a yucky day

painting by Winston Prakash

it is yucky outside. it didn't start out this way, but now the wind is blowing and it is getting dark. i think it is supposed to snow tomorrow. so, instead of focusing on all the things i don't like about cold weather, here are the things i do like....

1. the smell just before and after it rains.
2. the smell outside when it has just snowed. it smells so clean.
3. the beautiful fall colors. i know it is so cliche but they really are pretty, especially on the mountains.
4. the way the snow reflects the light. i love to go outside at night when it is snowing and look around. it's dark but not dark. i can't explain it.
5. i'm tired of wearing the same clothes over and over. when you get to bring out the cold weather clothes, it is like a whole new wardrobe has become available to you. all the long lost sweaters and boots get to make a reappearance.

mmm... chicken alfredo

tonight we ate chicken alfredo for dinner. costco sells a few pre-made dishes and this is one of the really good ones. I also really like their chicken pot pies.... yummy. i know, it is evil of me to buy pre-made meals for my family, but i don't really care. it's fast and they taste good.

favorite time wasters....

mike rowe - this guy is not only hilarious, but can entertain me

with the most disgusting things. geoduck anyone? (google it... it's gross)

oh, ben bailey, i hope to find myself in your cab one of these days....

hopefully, i am not as stupid as a lot of people out there and as smart as others.

a funny

me: we need to get your hair cut again.

jared: yeah, and next time we go, can you have them shave a circle on the the top of my head, so i can look like pa.

fondue

thanks to my friend jen, i am now slightly obsessed with fondue. my mom gave me a fondue pot that she was given as a wedding present. the closest picture i could find is this:

i have since learned that this is a very early 70's vintage avocado green fondue pot. the differences between the one pictured and the one i have is that my stand is avocado green and is a little bulkier than the one pictured.

i told nathan that i would like another one for my birthday. something along these lines:

withdrawals

i am suffering from serious withdrawals. i haven't slept in weeks, my body aches, nothing makes me happy anymore, i'm overly anxious and i have insane cravings i can't fulfil.


i need a fix, but february is so far away.

blog stalking

last night, while trying to fall asleep, i wondered how many people actually look at or really care about my blog. so i decided to post a guest book blog where i want the people who have ever frequented my blog to sign in as a comment with your name.

now, if you are one of those people that has never met me and you are afraid to say you have visited, it is okay. i completely believe in blog stalking.

to prove my point, i have a friend on my list "brad and malia call" and under her friends is "erica". now i have never met erica, nor will i probably ever meet her, but at least once a week i read her blog. she is hilarious.

so you know what to do, post a comment with your name and, if you want, your blog address.

as far as i know only 4 people read this blog, so if i only get 4 comments, that is 4 more than i probably deserve.

picnicing up american fork canyon again

time for some more pictures that none of you will really care about because you weren't there, but.... here they are.

ethan, marissa, isaac, kiley, jared, and amelia.

roni and rissa

shane and nathan

ethan, jared and isaac - yes jared is eating a stick

rissa, isaac and kiley throwing rocks in the river

amelia says, "i am a famous model. no pictures please."

on a sadder note, while we were up the canyon, a man drowned in tibble fork lake. we watched the rescuers look for this body for a long time, but they didn't find him that night. they did find him the next morning though.

some random mumbling

a conversation between jared, nathan and i today.
jared: mom, what colors make brown?
me: red, yellow and blue.
nathan: (completely serious) no, it's orange and blue.

i love him!

time to revisit the office linebacker

i just can't seem to get enough of this. even after all this time i still laugh my head off. the second video is my favorite.

isaac's first day of second year preschool

isaac started his second year of preschool yesterday. he was so excited to start school. it was hard for him last week with jared gone every morning to kindergarten; he is so used to having his big brother around. his cousin kiley is in his class.

it is okay for jared to grow up because he is the oldest, but not isaac. he is growing up too fast. the kid can't sit still for a minute, but he is so cute.

shade no more

last night during the HUGE wind and rain storm, our largest tree fell over. although i did not really care for this type of tree, it did provide shade almost all of our front yard in the afternoon. so it looks like we will be planting a new tree in the front yard and waiting about 10 years for it to get big enough to be of any use to us.

first day of kindergarten

jared started kindergarten today. he was so excited to go and insisted on wearing a sweatshirt. i tried to tell him he would get hot, but he didn't care.

isaac was so cute this morning. when he saw what jared was wearing, he went and got his sweatshirt too. he starts preschool next week.