Snow before Halloween?

We had a snowstorm come through on Oct. 11th. That's pretty early for Utah. I was so shocked to wake up to about 3 to 4 inches of snow. I was pretty cold also. Of course Cabo didn't mind as he loves to run in the snow. I even had to wait to put my pumpkins out so they wouldn't get wet and moldy. Wow, I hope it's not a indication of what winter will be like...

TV SHOW TAG

I'M IT!!! and now I have to name my top 10 TV shows that I love to watch...in no particular order!

1. So You Think You Can Dance
2. Survivor
3. American Idol
4. Heroes
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. ER (die hard 'til the end)
7. The Hills
8. Ellen & Oprah (sorry I cheated)
9. Project Runway
10. CSI (Vegas & Miami)

YOU'RE IT! I tag Lisa H., Jen, Lisa T., Brenda, Melanie, Jill!

Looking for a good read?

As some of you know I am in a book club. This is our 4th year. All of our members LOVE our book club and wait impatiently for each month to meet and talk about our picks. Last month's book was "A Girl With A Pearl Earring," by Tracy Chavelier. It is a fictional story based on a real life painting by Vermeer. It was a great book. Quiet, easy to read, dramatic and sucks you in a bit. Something that I wouldn't have read if not for book club. Thank heaven for book club!!!Apparently there was a movie made based on the book starring Collin Firth and Scarlett Johanson. I'm definitely going to rent that now and compare the two. Anyway, just thought I'd share it so those of you who like to read could give it a try. I don't think you will be dissapointed. Our upcoming book is "The Icing On The Cake," by Elodia Strain. It is supposed to be a light and humorous read. I'm looking forward to some fun fluff. I'll let you know how it is...HAPPY READING!

The way Grandma used to...

My Mom, my cousin Amy and I having been canning up storm! WHEW! And we have the stained fingernails and sore backs to prove it. HA! HA! Amy has a wonderful assortment of fruit trees at her new home, so we thought we would take advantage of the yummy FREE produce. The first to come were the 2 apricots trees. I made several batches of fruit leather and we ate a ton. I love apricots and the stuff you get at the store doesn't even compare. We started with her 3 peach trees. We made cobblers, pies and fruit leather. We also canned over 40 jars of peaches and a couple batches of freezer jam. Next was the tomatoes growing on the farm just across the street from her house. We canned about 25 jars of those. Then came the green beans, also growing across the street. We had some help from my Dad who picked all the tomatoes and Kenley and Cooper who went over and picked all the beans. Jill came over one Monday and the 3 of us made several batches of salsa. Last, but not least was the pears from Amy's trees. They are the best pears ever! Better than anything you'll get in the store. We did about 20 jars or more of those...and there is still some left on the tree that aren't quite ripe. It was a lot of work especially while trying to help Amy still tend to her 4 kids. But, it was so nice to spend so much time together talking. You know how girls are! Amy has 3 apples trees and that will be our next project...applesauce, dried apples and fruit leather. Oh! And did I mention that she also have several chive plants that I have been very happy to cut and use when I'm cooking. Any was just call me Betty Crocker...or better yet Paula Deen!!!

Vamanos, Everybody Let's Go!

September 30th is our friend's Bryan & Jen's daughter Kembrie's 2nd birthday! She is having a Dora the Explorer birthday party. I got to make her cake and wanted everyone to see it...Adios!

So You Think You Can Dance

I LOVE the show SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!! I wait all year for summer to come so I can watch the show. I have always wanted to see them live on their tour and this year I finally got the chance. Utah was one of their stops. They didn't come last year...the closest venue was Reno. I was planning on going to that one, but medical expenses got in the way. NOT THIS YEAR!!! My girlfriend Christy, who is in my Cooking Club mentioned that she loved it to and that started the ball rolling. She got the tickets for us, and a couple of her friends and off we went. The show was at the E Center which is normally for the hockey team, so it was small and most of the seating had great views. It was so amazing to see all of the dances that I watch over and over in person!! (Yes, I have all of the episodes in my DVR and I watch then when I'm bored. Even Danny knows some of them.) Anyway, needless to say I was in heaven and had the best time. Now is I can only be patient enough to wait for next season...

This is the opening dance with the whole crew.


Gev...one of the B-Boys from Utah!


Elaina, Christy and Heather


Me, Brittany (Christy's sister) and Ashley
(yes my hair looks crappy, trying to grow it out some)


Josua Allen...he is a B-Boy and he won this season.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BREAD?

OK...my girlfriends at book club were discussing how annoyed they were with their blogs because it made everyone's life look so perfect and joyous. You know, all of the trips, vacations, parties and gatherings. So, I decide to take heed and post about my horrible chocolate zucchini bread disaster....

On a lovely Friday morning I decided to make a few loaves of Chocolate Zucchini Bread. I found what seemed like a great recipe on line and was excited to try it out. I put it all together, filled up my loaf pans and popped them into the oven. As I am checking email and surfing the net I noticed the bread smelled like it was burning so I went over to check the oven. There inside was an OVERFLOWING LAVA TYPE GOO making the BIGGEST mess onto the bottom of my oven! As the oven was extremely hot all I could do was try to scoop some of it up with a spatula and hope the loaves would still be salvageable. I put tin foil down to catch any other "goo." It took the loaves FOREVER to cook and when they were done one was completely destroyed and had to be thrown out, one was completely sunken in at the middle and the other was semi-decent. Well, obviously I had filled the loaf pans up too much, but this recipe was to make 3 loaf pans worth. Now that I know how much it will rise I can clearly get 5 loaf pans out of the recipe.

Well, I decided that I now needed to clean the oven. I scraped out as much as I could and turned on the self cleaning option. Just a couple minutes into the cleaning my fire alarms went off...not just the one in the kitchen, but EVERY SINGLE FIRE ALARM in the house. I immediately let the dog out as he is ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of the fire alarm. the cats were running around the house trying to find a quiet place to hide...as if that was possible. I ran to the oven and turned it off. Unfortunately the oven goes into an automatic "cool down" mode and does not shut off completely. I had every window and door open and all the fans in my home going. The alarms continued to ring for about 2 or 3 minutes without exaggeration. I sat in the backyard with the dog and 1 cat (the other one took refuge under my bed) and wanted to cry. I was just about to call the firehouse to see if they could make a suggestion when the alarms stopped. (I know you are all thinking, "just take the batteries out," easier said than done. First of all we have like 7 alarms and some of them are on the vaulted ceiling.)

So, long story short, when the recipe calls for 1 1/2 teaspoons each of baking soda and baking powder only fill the pans half way! Let me finish by saying that the recipe is fabulous and tastes great. Danny and I are munching on the mangled loaf.

See, my life isn't perfect pretty pictures. HA! More true life stories to come...

ALOHA!

ALOHA! We can't believe it, but we actually made it to Maui, Hawaii. We always wanted to go, but never thought it would happen. It was HEAVEN! I can't believe how peaceful it was. What an amazing place that God has created. We are so lucky to have been able to experience Hawaii. We stayed on the island of Maui. On the west side of the island called Kaanapali. The hotel we stayed in (Marriot, Maui Beach Resort) was right on the beach. We visited several places on the island, Kapalua, Lahaina, Wailea and Kehei. And others that I can't remember the names of. It was 8 glorious days of warmth, moisture and relaxation. We snorkled, body-boarded, hung out by the pool, ate and shopped. Wow, you can really do some serious eating and shopping there! HA! One of my favorite restaurants was called Aloha Mixed Plate. Whalers Village was a shopping paradise. We met Ray (Danny's brother), Shiryn (his wife), McKennah (our niece) and Nathaniel (Shiryn's nephew). That was the added bonus, getting to spend the time with them. We've been home for about 2 weeks now and I still haven't gotten my time clock back on schedule. That 4 hours is a killer adjustment! I've included some of our 245 pictures. HA!! I hope you enjoy them.

Colorado Family in Utah

My Aunt Lynette and Uncle Steve from Colorado stopped in Utah on their way to Montana. It was such a nice visit...although way too short. We took them to one my favorite local spots called The Oaks. It's a small restaurant that sits on the river. Then we took them through the scenic drive through the mountains past the lake that we visit during the summer. We stopped up at Snow Basin Ski Resort where my Dad used to work and took a quick tour of the beautiful lodge and gift shop. We had dinner at my parents the first night and then my house the last night. It sure was nice spending time with my Dad's side of the family!

Babysitting Davis

Michele was babysitting our cousin's baby Davis and I couldn't resist the moment to get some new pictures of him. He's so dang cute! We can't get enough of him.

4th of July in Idaho!

Cassidy had a soccer tournament in Boise, Idaho over the 4th of July weekend. Danny wasn't able to get the time off, so I went with my Mom and Dad. My Dad pulled up his trailer so we could save money by not staying in a hotel. It was a nice little trailer park in Meridian, which is just north of Boise. That's where the actual tournment fields were. La Roca did pretty good. They tied 2 games and lost 1. One of the games they tied was with the Idaho State Champ team, so that was pretty nice.

Michele, Eric and Cass stayed with the team at a hotel right on the Snake River.

It was really nice and they had a great pool area and snack bar.

I think we all had a great time. Cassie's good friend that she played with on her old team "Flash" is now on this team with her. Katie P.! She and Cass hung around with her brother Joe.

We ate at the Cheesecake Factory twice which was awesome because I hadn't been to one yet. It was beyond yummy!!!

The Boise area was very nice and the weather was hot. I look forward to visiting the area again to visit friends that live there. Hopefully we'll get back soon!