A St. George Thanksgiving

It was my first Thanksgiving 100% away from my Mom & Dad. We had a Stephenson family reunion & celebrated 60 Years of Marriage for Grandma & Grandpa in

St. George, Utah.I LOVE Jordan's Grandparents. They are amazing people.

What I've enjoyed most about them is that I can have normal everyday conversations with them (they 100% have their wits about them, which I'm sadly not used to with grandparents).

We enjoyed watching a slideshow movie of pictures that went through Grandma &
Grandpa's lives that reminded me of the way things used to be in the 'Good Ole Days'.

Jordan's Aunt Cindy took us on a GREAT hike to work off all that Turkey. I guess I love hiking because I really enjoyed myself. Others did not seem as enthusiastic as me. St. George is absolutely beautiful with all the red rock - which turns into red sand that is not totally hiker friendly, which is where most of the non-enthusiasm came from, I think.

We had a nice time seeing family. I missed my parents on Thanksgiving Day, but believe it or not they were still there when we got home.

Thank you Joe & Natalie for letting us use your spare bed, sit in your spot on the couch, & eat your cereal. You were an excellent host & hostess.

We "Likey" Movies

Jordan & I both LOVE movies.

We see a lot of movies (good & bad, some really, really bad - ahem...'Where the Wild Things Are'). Jordan has A LOT more of an opinion on movies than I do. Although it is an educated opinion because he is a very devoted follower of rottentomatoes.com (checking daily for the newest reviews). He can give a very detailed review of every movie he sees,

I either "likey" it or I don't "likey" it.

***Sidenote***

I "likey" this girl and the way she always says "likey."

Okay, back to the topic of discussion...movies. Here are some movies we like & if you have not enjoyed viewing them, you should definitely do so.
My Favorite: Cupid helps boy & girl fall in love.

Jordan's Favorite:

Boy meets time machine. One of Our Favorite movies of 2009:
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't. (and yes, it's still really good!)
Go rent yourself a good movie...call Jordan for reviews.

My Kitchen Smells Good & So Should Yours

Who does not absolute LOVE the Holidays? Well, I am a fan. And with this GRAND time of year comes lots of baked goods.

I made these scumptious, melt-in-your-mouth, Ricotta Sugar Cookies for the Rogers one Sunday.And today I made these Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

infused with Cream Cheese

& topped with Whipped Cream laced with Nutmeg.

Mighty tasty - & totally calorie free. Try some for yourself:

Pumpkin Spice n'Cream Cupcakes:

1 box spice cake mix (made as directed on the box)

Add 1 cup canned pumpkin pie filling and 1 small package of instant vanilla pudding (nuts are optional).

Place batter in paper lined muffin tins.

Beat 1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened. Add 1 egg and 1/4 cup of sugar.

Drop by small spoonfuls in spice/pumpkin cake batter and swirl with toothpick.

Bake 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

Frost cooled cupcakes with whipped cream or cool whip with 1/4 teaspoon of Nutmeg mixed in.

Tradition

Every Halloween I look forward to our families tradition of making
Homemade SpudNuts.
Well, Elyce went too many years missing out on nieces & nephews costumes, these special doughnuts & the 700 trick-or-treaters that bombard my parents neighborhood, so this year she flew down for the festivities (& took the long way via Tucson- long story involving lots of snow in Denver). We started out October 31 and saw the movie Amelia and then came home & made SpudNuts.

Here are some pictures of the people that ate said doughnuts...
Harry Potter & Lola

When Tim walked in the house in my head I KNEW it was Tim, but Tim did NOT look like Tim. Tim looked like a TOTAL stranger - he did a great job on his costume.

Minnie Mouse Say Cheeese!!!

Hannah Montana
(Way cuter than Hannah Montana - the original)

Spiderman - Aka Sugarman

He may be small, but do not underestimate his ability to eat LOTS of sugar. Mom the Baker & who used to be Mickey Mouse,

but is now ready for bed.

The cast of STAR WARS

Poor R2D2...
she must not have gotten a doughnut!!!

Snow White & the 7 Dwarves

Aren't they Darling!!!

A super freaky Grim Reaper named Oscar.

These guys made a special stop by the Shill Home because they knew what was cookin'.

What a cute couple!

Very enthusiastic bunch here. Must be worn out from all the festivities.

We finished off Elyce's stay with an awesome Hay Ride. It was another successful Halloween!! Thanks everybody!

The Simpson's

One of Jordan's & my favorite things is watching

The Simpson's

at 10:00 every week night on Channel 6
before turning in for the night.

Have you watched this fabulous show recently?

It's been going strong for 21 years!!!

Every episode is hilarious & I recommend it to all. P.S. I know one of the reasons I think it's so funny is because Jordan makes watching anything that is even slightly funny 100% better. He's definitly got the gift of laughter & anyone who has watched a comedy with him knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Halloween Costume That Will Knock Your Socks Off

I invite you to take some time...and please, give this photograph

the attention it deserves.

I cried many tears of laughter because of this Halloween costume.

Meet Smokey the Bear Senior. He just escaped from the senior center, velcro shoes & all. He's got a lot of hard & labor intensive years under his belt, so let's cut him some slack.We found this beauty on awkwardfamilyphotos.com. Check it out.

P.S. Jordan thinks that maybe only I think this picture is hilarious. Please let me know if you disagree so I can very nicely let him know he's wrong.

Let's Have A Ball

Meet C. He loves balls!!! Obviously.So for his Birthday it only made sense to give him lots of cupcakes & lots of balls. Happy #2 C! Thanks for the fun excuse to hang out with your sweet mom & bake
some fun goodies. Love you C,
Aunt Mea Mea