Pumpkin Carving Pics

Pumpkin Carving!!

Every year in the past Brandon, the boys, and I have carved pumpkins at home as a family. This year my family decided to get together and carve them. We made an evening of it. My dad took all the grandkids for a harley ride before dinner. Then my Step-mom Lynne made sloppy joes for everyone, which were fantastic like always, I made hot cider and we had chips and salads. After dinner we all went down to the garage/my dads shop to carve pumpkins.My dad laid out drop clothes on the ground and had garbage cans set up and we all went to town. My dad got out his jigsaw to crave pumpkins and we also had the little tiny tools that you get with your pumpkin patterns. We all had so much fun carving our pumpkins, my dad even started a pumpkin fight in his shop. I think that was the biggest mess his shop has ever seen. After all 20 of the pumpkins were carved we cleaned things up and lit up our pumpkins!!! It was soooo much fun maybe this will be a new tradition.

Pumpkin Patch

On Oct. 21st we took the boys to pick their very own pumpkins. We went to Rojas Pumpkin Patch. It was fun, but extremely cold. The kids were able to pick the perfect pumpkin that they wanted.

Day Of Fun !!

After we went to Riley's field trip, I decided to do something fun with the boys since we have been hanging at home for 2 weeks straight. We took our small pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch and turned them into BATS!!! We also made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies together. It was all so much fun, the boys had a blast and said the only thing that would have made the day better was if their daddy could have been with us.

Riley's Field Trip To The Pumpkin Patch

On Oct. 16th I went to Riley's Preschool field trip with his class. It was so cute to see how excited the kids all were to go. Logan was off track from school at the time so he was able to go with us. The kids all got to walk through the pumpkin patch,listened to halloween stories on a blanket,played games, hunted pumpkins with their names on them, and ate pumpkin cookies.

TWILIGHT!!!

Well I finally did it, I broke down and decided to read the Twilight books. I started them on Thursday, Oct. 9th and finished all four of them Monday, Oct. 13th. I couldn't put the books down they were amazing I absolutely LOVED them!!! I think book two was the hardest to get through but by the middle I was enjoying it. I guess I am now a Twilight fan forever.

Step Out To Fight Diabetes Pics

Step Out To Fight Diabetes!!

It was that time of year again. We did the annual Step Out To Fight Diabetes Walk on September 27th. The walk took place at This Is The Place Heritage Park and Utah's Hogle Zoo. I was in charge once again of the opening program and closing program. I was so busy all morning and afternoon I felt like a chicken with my head cut off. All in all it was a really great day and everything went awesome. Brandon, the boys and myself walked the entire 5 miles along with the entire Neilson Family and two of our friends, Jacy and Kipp ran most of the 5 miles, props to them. I swear in the end I think I really walked more like 10 or 15 miles with everything I did that day. It was all worth it and we had a ton of fun. For part of the morning program I had to write something about Logan and his life with Diabetes. Here is what they read about him at the program:

This is Logan Gunn, your Utah Youth Ambassador. He is 7 years old and he has Diabetes. Logan was 5 years old when he was diagnosed with diabetes. When he was diagnosed at the hospital his blood sugar was 1260. To him, checking his blood sugar level and injecting insulin is as common as getting dressed in the morning or doing his homework. He knows how to listen to his body and how to manage the disease every day. He's in the second grade and loves recess and going to baseball games. He didn't do anything to get Diabetes, but he's doing everything right to make sure diabetes doesn't get him. Logan Gunn is a Diabetes Fighter.

The picture of Logan on Todd Wente's shoulders is when he was reading that little thing about Logan.

Salsa Baby!!

Well after two long days of making salsa and an extremely messy kitchen I finally have salsa. I did it all by myself on day one and on day two my friend Tressa came and helped. I don't think she knew what she was getting into. We had four kids who were very bored I'm sure but in the end they were troopers. I really did feel like my Kitchen threw up tomatos!!!! It was worth it all in the end and I couldn't have done it without Tressa and of course our taste tester Amy.

Salsa

12lbs Tomatos

1/2 a can Tomato paste (12oz)

1/4 bunch of Cilantro

8 Jalopenos

1 Head of Garlic

3 lg Green Peppers

3 lg Onions

1/2 cup White Vinegar

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup + 2 TBLS Corn Starch

1/2 cup Water

1/4 cup + 1 tsp. Salt

Core and peel tomatos. Chop as much as desired, tomatos will get smaller as they cook. Boil tomatos and tomato paste for 1 hour stir occasionally. While the tomatos boil chop all your remaining ingredients. Next add remaining ingredients minus corn starch and water. Cook for 15 mins. Mix your corn starch and water together then add rue to the pot and cook until desired thickness. Then fill your jars and can them (boil) for 45 mins for quarts and 35 mins for pints or smaller. ENJOY!!!

Orem Owlz !!!

Well once again this year the Orem Owlz sponsored an American Diabetes Association Night. This year we made it there in plenty of time for Logan to throw the opening pitch out. He was so excited to go down on a real baseball field and throw out a pitch. Riley even joined in on the excitement and asked every player he could to sign his baseball. It was such a fun night for everyone. My grandparents (my moms parents) who are both in their eighties came to the game. While we were there we all found out that it was their very first real baseball game ever!!! I couldn't believe they had never been to any kind of baseball game other then mine and my kids little league games. They really enjoyed it and I was so glad we were all able to share the experience and fun together.

First Day Of Preschool !!

Riley started his first day of preschool on Tuesday September 2nd. He was so excited to finally be going to school. He is going to Miss Nora's Preschool, on Tuesdays and Thursdays every week for 2 and a half hours. After we picked him up from his first day he couldn't stop talking about how much he loved school and all his new friends. Thank goodness for Mrs. Nora!!!!

Hard Day At The Ball Park

Lately Riley has loved getting up early on Sat. mornings to go with his daddie to his dad's baseball practices. They get up grab breakfast on the way to the ball park and practice for about two hours. However this one particular Sat. Riley got a little bored at his dads practice. Riley then preceeded to entertain himself by filling his hat with dirt from the field and dumping it over his head. Needless to say he was a mess by the time they left the ball park. I was shocked Brandon even let him in his car. All in all I guess a little dirt never hurt anyone right?