I Cooked SHRIMP!!!

I should preface this by saying that I LOVE SHRIMP! It is one of my absolute favorite foods. Whenever we go to a nice restaurant I order shrimp because I love it and I can't cook it. Also, in general, I am not a great cook, but I do try and Dave graciously eats anything that I put in front of him. Although, I can always tell how good it REALLY was by the number of days the leftovers remain untouched in the fridge.
With that said, I was grocery shopping at Smiths today and as I walked by their meat counter, I noticed fresh, raw shrimp were a good price. Feeling inspired by watching the Tepanyaki chef on Saturday, I decided that today, I too, would cook shrimp, or at least try. So I got home and shelled and washed my shrimp, luckily they were deveined. I opened up my recipe book, put some olive oil and garlic cloves in a skillet dumped in my shrimp with a sprinkle of salt and WALLA... They were delicious!!! Who knew it was so simple. I was very pleased, especially because now I can have shrimp whenever I want!!! FABULOUS

Secret Date

We had another Secret Date Society adventure. This time the husbands actually mailed each wife an invitation with the date, time, and dress. They kept all other details secret. It's so fun to watch them sneeking around. I actually caught them sluffing Sunday School a few weeks ago. They were in a classroom planning a secret date. Of course, they made it appear that they were watching our baby, but does it really take three grown men to watch a 1 year old:) Anyway at 4:30 pm and our friend pulled up in his black Ford Excursion and off we went. First, each wife was handed a wrapped gift, mine was a Josh Groban christmas CD (I love it!). Then we had a DELICIOUS dinner at Tepanyaki and finally, we went cosmic bowling/mini golf. It was great fun. Dinner was fabulous and the young crowd at the Fun Park truly made us remember the good ol' highschool days. Great job boys! Thanks for another memorable evening!!!

SICK and COLD

YUCK!!! I hate being sick. Porter started throwing up on Sunday and it has now cycled through me and Caleb. We're all on the uphill slope...Yeah!! What's up with the flu shots anyway...they didn't seem to work for us. I suppose the doctor would say that without them, it would have been worse or the horrible flu that we were vaccinated against is still yet to come. Either way, I hate being sick, but the carpets did get a good cleaning. I missed exercising for 4 days. I know people think I'm crazy, but I love to exercise. It's just something on my daily "To DO" list. It makes me feel good and I seem to get much more accomplished the rest of the day. I just joined a gym for the winter and they have an inexpensive daycare, which is fabulous. Well, back to the laundry. Not much else going on here, except that I played some awesome volleyball last Thursday with my fellow ladies. Nothing like a few hours of volleyball, especially if you win, to start off a good weekend!

Paul's Patch and Hay Maze

When we first moved to Brigham City 3 years ago, I questioned if I would survive with the lack of retail, restaurant and entertainment options. But, living in a small town definitely has it's perks and grows on you. This summer the local high school band marched by the house every morning. Porter would run out on the lawn with his "instruments" and march along. It was like a mini parade every day. In the fall a local farmer sets up a pumpkin patch with this cute little hay maze for the kids. Bales our stacked two or three tall, so you can see all the little heads bobbing around. There are bridges to crawl under and over and a tower in the middle. Since it's just five minutes from our house we actually went there twice this week. Porter could spend hours playing in the maze and Caleb loved crawling around also. Oh, the simple joys of childhood! It also was a fun place to take some pics.

This has been a LONG week. Dave went to Florida to train some people at the air force base on the sensitivity of explosives. This meant that I was flying solo at home. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my boys, but by Day 4, I was on serious 3 year old overload. It was nice taking a break from cooking the whole week (Wendy's, canned soup and Mac & Cheese work for me) and therefore, not many dishes to wash and I only did two loads of laundry, proofing that Dave creates a lot of laundry. But boy did I miss my honey, even his laundry...and well, at the end of a long week, Welcome Home/I Missed You kisses are the BEST!!!

We also went to a fun Halloween Party this week. I just love Halloween. I found this fabulous wig and had to wear it. Porter said, "Mommy, I don't like that." Caleb didn't even recognize me and crawled around the house searching and saying, "Omma, Omma." When I picked him up he looked very confused and cried. It took him a good 30 minutes to get comfortable with my new look. Porter had to be a Ninja because he wanted the sword and so Caleb wore a little China man outfit to match.

October Days

We went to the park and had a friend take some pics. Here are some super cute ones of my handsome boys. I love watching them play together, they can make eachother laugh and laugh. Sometimes it makes me a little sad to see how quickly they are growing and how I want to treasure this time of their childhood.

My grandpa passed away this week. He was 94 years old. I dislike funerals, but his was nice, it was fun to hear stories about him that I had never heard before. Since, my grandma died about 5 months ago, the overall mood at the funeral was joy that they have been reunited. To be married for over 70 years and then to pass that close together, is truly a miracle. What a blessing to be with someone you love for so long. They were such wonderful examples of loving your spouse, serving your family and neighbors, and loving the Savior. If I could choose a song for them, "Love One Another" is one of the first that comes to mind. I love you Grandma and Grandpa and am so happy that you are together.

This week we also had some of our dear friends, Christina and Clayton, from good ole' BYU days come into town from Colorado. They have two adorable kids and it was fun and a little crazy going to dinner with everyone. We all used to play racquetball together, a few days a week, during lunch, in the Richards Building. As, I remember, we girls certainly held our own in doubles. I guess that's what you guys get for marrying two P.E. majors! Love you Curtis's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!!

At the CIRCUS
It's soooo.. hard not to help your brother open his presents

LOOK WHO'S ONE

Sweet Boy!

There is just something about a one year old, in a diaper ripping off wrapping paper that is so adorable:)

The plan was to go to the circus for Caleb's birthday, unfortunately he woke up with the flu that morning. What a rotten birthday, poor little guy:( He literally woke up and I said, "Happy Birthday" and he barfed all over. Porter had been sick a few days before and I tried to keep them apart, but apparently viruses fly. Well, we already had the tickets and we were going with friends, so Dave kindly offered to stay home and clean up after the sick birthday boy and Porter and Mommy went on a date to the circus. Luckily Dave and I escaped the flu bug and we delayed the rest of the birthday festivities for a few days.