November 10, 2011

Evening In Excellence

I serve as the Young Women's Second Counselor.  Last night we had our Evening In Excellence.  It has been a very busy past three weeks in preparation.  I made the invitations...
the name cards...
and the programs.
I was also in charge of dessert.  These tasty edibles turned out so cute.
White Chocolate {Colored} Dipped Oreos
White Chocolate Drizzled Pretzles
& my favorite - Cake Batter Rice Krispies!
(found here)
It was a fun evening, but I am also relieved it is over!
Spending 2 days in the kitchen with my attention OCUPADO left Mr. Cadbury to his own devices.

Naughty!

November 7, 2011

Earthquake

Have you ever been in an EARTHQUAKE!?!
Me neither...
until Saturday night.
My  has started racing by just thinking about it.
 Not that anything serious happened or anyone was hurt, but you don't know that will be the outcome at that moment, do you.
It was 11 p.m. and Jordan was getting ready to take theSout for a potty break. He disappeared around the corner and I thought 'Gosh, he must be running/playing with Cadbury for the front door.'
Next thought, 'No, that's too loud. The people above us must be making all that ruckus.'
Then I saw Jordan's face

 and I KNEW what was happening.
Knowing the earth is shaking is very unsettling.
It lasted about a minute and we later found out it was a magnitude 5.6 quake.
{Not BIG, but not little.}
Like I said, no harm done.  
I am missing  Arizona and its safety from Mother Nature.
Speaking of Dear Mother Nature, we are supposed to see tornadoes in these parts this evening while we sleep. 
Ahh, how Pleasant.
{P.S. As I wrote this post, I felt an unpleasantly large aftershock...this place is gonna be the death of me!}

Sweet dreams!

November 1, 2011

Cadbury Goes and Goes and Goes

There is a song I cannot get out of my head.
It goes like this...
♪♫♪ Cadbury goes and goes and goes! ♫♪♫
A very silly little boy named Bobby
sang it over & over & over this weekend.
We had the privilege of hanging out with the Shillibeans in Dallas this last weekend!
I NEEDED to see faces that I know & love so dearly!
It cheered me right up! {More on THAT drama in an upcoming post.}
The plan was to celebrate some Halloween with those of us that have moved far from home.  Maybe even carry on the tradition of doughnut making without my mama.  It was so so fun to watch the kids play with Cadbury.
The poor little pup is sorely lacking in playmates & I am afraid gets quite bored with Jordan & I. 
Bobby came up with the 'Cadbury Goes' song while they would chase each other around the house and yard.
 It was great
We went to a small ward Halloween party
with the characters from Phineas and Ferb!
That sister-in-law of mine, Holly, is oh so very clever & creative.
We unfortunately never got around to making the legendary Spudnuts & I am insanely jealous of all the family members who did enjoy them this year without us.
Speaking of those crazy families in Arizona...
we sure missed seeing Mr. and Mrs. Darling, Tinkerbell, Captain James Hook, Smee, Peter Pan, & the Crocodile Clock Tower!
& the other crazies...
Dorothy & Toto, the Good Witch, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man!
I am related to people who really get into the Halloween spirit! Maybe one of these years I will join them.
So I didn't get doughnuts, but we did get fed like Kings! My brother, Tim, is quite the chef & we sure didn't go hungry!  We were sad to go home,
 but I think Cadbury was a little worn out
& happy to hop back in the truck to head for home.
We'll be back though! How could we not be constantly drawn back by these cute faces?!?

October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

May your tricks be few and your treats be many!

October 24, 2011

California Vacation

My sister, Bethany, invited me {Aunt Meme}
to stay at a beach house, in Oceanside, with her family.  
So I packed my bag, hoped flights would be clear, & thankfully landed in San Diego without any problems.
My Dad, Mom, & Ben were also there for the first part of the week!
We had a lot of fun playing at the beach.
 I always have fun with family. ♥ ♥ ♥ 
Nora's fingers were too sandy to feed herself powdered doughnuts, so I stepped in
to help out the poor starving 4 year old.
Beninem left his mark on the beach.
"Pump Up the Volume - Beninem Hip Hop '480' - Ben Shill"
I think Bethany took this picture right before she turned the 'Ben Shill' into 'Bum Shill'...she thinks she is funny.
After spending the day on the beach, we roasted s'mores.
"If it doesn't get all over the place...it doesn't belong in your face."
What is that Uncle Ben is doing in the background???  Hmmm...kind of looks like...well, I'll let you decide.
We did quite a bit besides the beach.
On Sunday we went to the Mormon Battalion.
 It was fun with all of Beth's kids.
  Lucy said, "Um...this is a lot more fun than going to church."  :)
Right across the street from the Mormon Battalion is Heritage Park where there are the most glorious houses.
They are all historical sites & were such a pleasure to stare at. So we killed a few more hours just hanging out on the lawns & enjoying the view.
This tree is in the center of the park, isn't it grand!
One of our beach days was shortened by fog. So we cleaned the sand off our bodies
& headed to the Birch Aquarium.
The interactive play park was the bomb!
I want one of these tables...seriously, I could have spent hours arranging walls to increase water pressure & get my boat down the fastest. They had to kick us out at closing time.
I was sad to see my parents
go home & we parted after a tasty lunch at
El Indio {in downtown San Diego, found out from Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives}.
Jordan flew in the next day, just in time to start the annual "Square Reunion."
{Square = 4 corners, Jordan & His Best Friends = 4, Square Reunion = Everyone getting together & having a good time}
After spending some time at Crystal Cove Beach in Newport with this guy
& saying my goodbyes to the Peterson clan
Jordan & his friends picked me up so the Square festivities could begin.
We unfortunately only got to enjoy half of the festivities because of packed flights & us having to leave a day early in order for us to make it home before Jordan had to be back at work, BUT...
Fortunately, the half we did enjoy was filled with
DISNEYLAND!!!
It was a tight squeeze into the teacup.
I beat Jordan! I beat Jordan!
We had the Once In A Lifetime privilege of eating at Club 33. Nate works for PWC & was able to get us reservations. It is the fanciest lunch I have ever eaten. We paid $80 each to eat lunch, BUT that included free park hopper passes. So we pretty much got a real fancy lunch for free (since we would have paid at least $80 for one-day park hopper passes anyway).
It was my first time having lamb chops. Jordan had a whole assortment of seafood, but I think everyones favorite part of the meal was dessert. The Crème Brûlée was to die for!
We got a birds eye view of New Orleans Square. It was so fun! 
One of our favorite rides, the Tower of Terror did not disappoint!
                                                    {Me,  Jordan,   Nate,       Aaron,     Bryce}
We loved seeing the new 'World of Color'
program at California Adventure that night.  It is amazing the things people come up with.
We were sad to go home, but we woke up bright & early the next morning & caught a flight to Tulsa.
Thanks to everyone who made the fun all possible!