Happy Halloween

From our family to yours,
Happy Halloween.
We hope it was safe and fun.
I assure you, there's more pictures to come!

An Experiment Gone Awry

Andrew has been sick. He missed two days of school. Not a lot happens when you have a sick child.

Friday he was able to go back to school just in time for all the Halloween festivities. My morning was spent getting last minute things together for Emma's class party, getting a costume for Paul and doing everything else I hadn't been able to do since I was playing nursemaid.

I knew that when I was done with my errands it would be time to eat (lunch was going to be my first meal of the day so it wasn't optional) and then I would have to get myself transformed into Maleficent. There wasn't going to be a minute to spare. I needed something easy and yummy for dinner.

I had come across this super cute idea in one of the blogs I follow. Click Here Let's see. I could throw everything into a crockpot and have dinner preparing while I was at the school. I had almost all the ingredients plus it was healthy and it was festive. Score!

While picking up my cookie kits at Macey's I got some split peas, barley and pumpkin bowls.

I also got some ground pork because my mom's split pea soup always had pork balls in it. (That sounds wrong doesn't it?)

I got it all put together and told the kids we were eating witches brew for dinner. I also told them I added green dye to make it spooky ookey looking.

They were willing participants in this experiment. No surprise here, Andrew didn't like it. Neither did Paul. There was a spice he didn't enjoy, which is weird because there are all normal spices I use all the time. Now are you sitting down? Guess who didn't mind it? Emma! She didn't love the barley but otherwise enjoyed it. Just when I think I know my kids. I thought it was okay but then again I have never been a fan of split pea soup.

It was cute but it was a total waste. I am sad that Witches Brew served in pumpkin bowls will not be a family tradition.

Here is the recipe if anyone wants to try it.

Witches’ Brew (Split Pea and Barley Soup)

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dried split peas
1/2 cup barley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
9 cups water or chicken broth
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 potatoes, diced (I don’t peel them!)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 T. dried
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Place all ingredients in a large slow cooker and stir until well combined. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Add more water if soup is too thick. Serve in bread bowls.

The Dunbar Wedding

Yesterday my cousin Chris was sealed for time and all eternity to Melanie in the Salt Lake Temple.

I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it to the ceremony. It was later in the afternoon and I wouldn’t be home when the kids got out of school. Emma was having celebrations for not missing any homework assignments so there was no way I could check them out early. Paul was worried about getting them ready for the reception on his own. It didn’t leave me too many options.

It wasn’t until 12:30 that I decided I was going to make it work. My thoughts were this. I would never regret going, but I might regret not going. I got dressed and ready and hit the road for Salt Lake at 1:30. Yes I cut it really close.

I had gotten everything laid out for the kids. New shoes, socks, suit, dress, knee-highs. I had everything ready. My house was a disaster. I had even made an appointment with our neighbor to get Emma’s hair done. I knew Paul could handle it. Well he couldn’t get home in time so he sent his parents over to watch the kids for a while after school. Imagine my horror when I found out they were going to see my messy messy house. Oh well. It was still worth it. I am so happy that I went.

It was so fun to see my cousins. I still tend to think of my cousins as little kids but they aren’t. They are all grown up and so beautiful and talented. Joanie’s kids are adorable. It was fun to hear stories of them doing the same things I did when I was growing up. (Can anyone tell me why none of us would just wear shoes on the way to grandma’s house?)

I want to quote Emma. She said, “Wow they all made me feel so special. I hate to leave.” This was at the end of the reception after spending time with so many family members that we don’t get to see often enough. I agreed with her 100%. They did all make us feel special. It gave me a taste of what the eternities might be like.

There were cousins, second cousins, great aunts and uncles, great grandma and so many other special people. It was truly wonderful.

I am so happy for Chris and Melanie. They are adorable together. They sang a song together, (Paul leaned over and asked, “Why didn’t we sing together?” Ha Ha Ha. I said, “because everyone would have run out screaming.”) they danced together, they shared how they met, it was all adorable.

The sealing ceremony was wonderful too. They received some great advice. It is always nice to listen to the council that is given in the temple. Once again, I am so glad I went.

Grandma and I waiting for the bride and groom

Me, grandma and my mom

Landon wanted to get married in the temple. He agreed to marry me so we walked up the steps and knocked on the door to see if they would let us in to get married. He was so cute!

Grandma Louise and Aunt Ruth

Mom, Grandma and Ruth

Brother and Sister Rollins are serving a mission in Salt Lake. It was so fun to see her. She was one of my young women leaders.

The bride and groom!

Parent's of the groom (Ruth and John)

Joanie putting the corsage on Ruthie at the reception

At the reception they were putting all the cupcakes on the stands. Landon watched the cupcakes very carefully. We were sure he would dive into the box at any minute. LOL!

The sunset was amazing. This is the best shot I could get.

Finally my family arrived

Emma and Landon got along so well. They were adorable together.

He told her how he wanted to get married in the temple. They sat and looked out the window for a long time.

They danced together.

Andrew and I got to dance together too.

He cut in on the bride. He was borderline stalker creepy with Melanie.

Aren't the adorable!?!

My cousins Ben and Joanie

Grandma and her younger brother Harold

Me and the handsome groom. I remember when he was born. How can he be married?

Emma and daddy sharing a dance

Four generations

Ward Halloween Carnival

We just got back from the ward Halloween carnival. The youth and their leaders put in a bunch of work and it turned out really well. I love seeing all the different costumes. Some are so unique and creative. It always blows my mind.

We weren't planning on going since Emma stayed home from school today. I spoke to her teacher this morning and she didn't want to take any chances and asked me to keep her home to see if she got worse or ran a fever. She has a sore throat but never got feverish so I think it is just a cold. She will probably be going back tomorrow. Anyway since I stayed home with her all day I never got ready and I didn't feel like getting dressed or doing my hair and make-up so I threw on some footie PJ's and went as a "baby".

This is Hansel, Gretel and the witch. AKA my friend Beth and her two youngest. Aren't they so cute?!?

Oh to be young and thin again.

Here is Jocelyn (Did I spell that right?) and her adorable little ones Zane, Noah and Bella

This is Rees being about as witchy as I think she can get.

Andrew after winning some fangs.

I can't believe Halloween is almost here. I am so excited. I have a list of things I need before next weekend. I guess I better get on that!

Portland

Paul and I had talked about going to Portland for years. It finally happened and I got to add another state to my list of states I've been to. We got in late Wednesday night. Thursday we decided to spend time in the city. We loved the public transportation for the most part. We got a little messed up at one point and we ended up doing a walking tour of downtown. We made it to the water front where we watched joggers, seagulls and Canadian Geese.

We were both just stunned at how amazingly bright the colors on the trees were. I love autumn so this was a real treat.

We hit Powell's which is rumored to be one of the largest book stores in the world. It took up a whole block. It was awesome!


After Paul took me to Thai food. It was so good and spicy. This is only the second time in our marriage that he has gone to Thai with me.
Friday we drove out to Tillamook. It was a blast. Their cheese has always been a favorite of mine.
We got to see them processing some of it. They were working on colby jack, my all time fav, so it was even more exciting.

Look at me and all the cheese!
We got lunch in their cafe and then sampled their ice cream. Oh my gosh where have you been all my life? Their ice cream was sooo sooo good.
I had to get a cup with three flavors because I couldn't narrow it down any more than that. They have 38 flavors to choose from. I got chocolate and peanut butter, Tillamook Mudslide and mocha fudge. Yummo!
I wanted to press a penny and handed Paul the camera and discovered that he did this with it.
This is a full scale replica of the boat that they used in 1855.
It was a misty, foggy day in Tillamook especially on the bay.
That didn't stop us from going to Cape Meares to see the lighthouse. It was little itty bitty.
But oh so cute.
On Saturday we drove to Multnomah Falls. To say it was raining is an understatement. It was POURING!!! We got out and walked up to see it. I rolled my pants and wore my flip flops. People looked at me like I was nuts. It was in the mid 60's though so it wasn't too bad.

Take the picture quick!!! I'm getting wet here.


Paul got really wet.
We found out his coat isn't very waterproof and neither were his shoes.
Later that day it cleared up and we drove by the temple.

I wanted a skyline picture but had no idea where to go so this is about as good as it got.
We went by the rose test garden but it was getting dark so we didn't spend much time there.
Sunday was the day we were coming home. I was determined to get pictures, lots and lots of pictures. This is the view that we had each morning while eating breakfast at the hotel. Could the trees be any prettier?
I snapped this while stopped at a red light. We were heading back into the city for another trip to Powell's.
Some huge boats had come in during the night. I love big boats.
We headed up to Pittock Mansion for some amazing views of the city.
THe mansion wasn't bad either. We didn't take the tour but the grounds were very impressive.
Yeah, I could live like this.

We had a couple of hours to spare before we needed to get to the airport. I persuaded Paul to take me to the Japanese Tea Garden. It was so gorgeous. This was a great time of year to be there.

I never get tired of koi.




We decided that we needed to kiss on the bridge.

This is about the only time we saw Mt. Hood, from the plane.
This was our dinner Sunday night.
We had a great trip. I really liked Oregon. I like that they pump your gas, I like the beautiful trees and I loved the tax free shopping. I could totally get used to that. We will definitely want to go back.