We are thankful for....

We've decided to do a gratitude countdown until Thanksgiving. We are going to post one thing we are grateful for each day on our blog until we are eating our Thanksgiving turkey. We are getting started a little late so you get to read about three things that we are grateful for during this post.

November 1--We are thankful for our family. We love each member in our family and are grateful that we can be a forever family. Each child has their own personality that they bring to the dynamic of our family unit. We feel a loss when one of our family members is not with us. We don't like empty chairs at our dinner table. November 2- We are grateful for a job. With the tough economy and financial problems in the world, we are especially thankful that Stephen has a job that provides us with our physical needs. We have been blessed.

November 3- We show gratitude for food. We really are thankful that we have food to eat. We have sufficient for our needs and never struggle with knowing where our next meal will come from. Our hearts go out to the hungry people in the world who suffer. As a mother I cannot even imagine not being able to feed my children.

Carved Creations

Three pumpkins were purchased this year for carving. I always have good intentions, but in the end can never seem to find the time to get them carved. Easton bugged me until we finally got it done Halloween night before heading out for trick-or-treating. With no older kids to help me I was the designated "carver". Easton designed his face on paper and was really good about cleaning out the guts in his pumpkin. His pumpkin is shown on the left. He helped for awhile getting Landon's pumpkin done, but in the end it was me left in the kitchen doing the deed. mmmm......Well, here is the end result of my hours of carving by myself. The third pumpkin is now an official Thanksgiving table decoration as it will go uncarved.

Trick or Treat

It was a a pretty nice evening for our Trick or Treating in Georgia. We wore our coats, but it really wasn't cold. Easton had a blast dressed as Ironman. He was our only trick-or-treater this year in the family. Talk about weird. Stephen and I walked around with one little boy. We're either getting old or our kids are. Landon had an overnight honor chorus thing in Athens, GA and Dallin is just too old, of course. Dallin was the official candy person of the evening. We always park our car at the end of the driveway so the little kiddies don't have to hike up our long driveway. We usually decorate the back of the car with pumpkin lights and stuff, but I just wasn't in the mood this year. You can see Dallin icing his foot to get ready for his cross country race the following morning. Look at all the candy one little boy brought home. Ugh! He ate it for breakfast the next morning. I finally had to gather and put it away Sunday night so he will have some teeth left in his mouth.

Bad Luck

Is it bad luck for a black cat to cross your path on Halloween night? We thought it was great luck when a stray black cat paid us a visit on the spooky night. A black cat had been hanging out in the yard all day--a scruffy looking thing. As we were getting ready to head out for the evening it was just sitting on our back porch. It looked hungry and gobbled up the scraps of ham we gave it and lapped up a bowl of milk. Dallin and Easton loved petting it and wanted it to be our cat. I've seen it a few times in the backyard over the weekend. Maybe we have a new outside pet.

Be Free

It was a life-altering day for Landon's turtle, Burt. He's been our pet for a few years after we brought him home from the beach in Florida. You'll recall that we lost Easton's turtle, Dash early in the Spring. That was a trauma! Well, Landon has been talking about releasing Burt into the great outdoors for quite some time. Burt is not the exciting pet that had been hoped for. He doesn't interact or do anything but sit in the water, poop, and eat. The newness has definitely worn off and he is now just a chore that has to be done. The boys decided that Burt would do great living in the creek that runs through our front yard. He was released last Sunday--Freedom! It was a cool morning. Burt was placed on the grass and sat and sat and sat, never once poking his head out of his shell. I'm sure he wondered why it was so cold. Landon and Easton then picked him up and took him to the creek. He promptly poked his head out, swam in the water, and hid under a rock. Three cheers for Burt. Life is good.

Landon bids farewell to his little shelled friend. Oh the memories!

Fall Tradition

Oh, the chili dinner! We had our famous annual chili dinner Sunday with Momma and Papa Carroll. Mmmmm.....it was delicious. It's such a great event but how did this all get started?

As a child a steaming hot bowl of chili was always served on the night of Halloween. Mom would start making it the day before because the dry kidney beans had to soak in water for 24 hours (something like that). Now we have canned beans that we use. The traditional recipe has gradually evolved into what it is today. There was always a bay leaf floating in the chili that we had to fish out when I was younger. I know we don't do that now. We would be in our costumes and try to quickly gobble up our hot chili so that we could get on down the road to do our trick-or-treating. There was always cornbread with honey and butter, little cheese cubes, carrot sticks and black olives. I can remember the cornbread being served on little small individual-sized bread boards. Where did those go? We also had cute little pokers that had black cats on the end of them to serve the olives. I don't really remember a dessert being served, probably because we were going to eat a ton of candy in an hour or so.

As the years went by the dinner kind of turned into what it is now. With the addition of grandkids and spouses it was difficult to get everyone together for a Halloween dinner, plus it was getting hard to go trick or treating and then head off to Grandma and Grandpa's so they could see the cute grandkiddies in costume. So we decided to not do the dinner on Halloween but turned it into an event that is usually on a Sunday. The cousins always come in their costumes. I'm grateful for the stressful early costume "check" because it makes the actual Halloween day easier. The kids love seeing everyone in costume and it gives them another chance to wear their treasured costumes. We've always had fun getting together, eating chili, and taking lots of cute pictures. A great tradition. My children look forward to it as well as other friends and family members who have gobbled down a bowl of hot chili with us through the years.Look at these little costume-clad cousins in 1996! Who's the one with the big mouth?! mmmmmm... Madeleine, Landon, Dallin, and Ashton (the one with the big mouth!)
This is 1999 with the Carroll Clan in Georgia. Oh they have grown so much! Top row: Landon, Dallin, Jenna, Ashton, Jacob. Bottom: Collin, Spencer.

For the year 2002 we were living in Utah for a short little while and were able to consume our chili at Grandma and Grandpa's. Fun with the Homer cousins! The Carroll cousins continue to grow and new ones have been added in 2004. I'm making three batches of chili to feed this crowd now--between the growing numbers and the growing boys, they can down a lot of chili!

This chili season we were small in numbers due to schedules and the fact that life is crazy for us right now as we prepare to move. We missed Ashton this year. But not to worry-- she had chili dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and cousins out in Utah!

Stephen looks satisfied after downing his chili.Gene and Sandra (Stephen's parents) love to join us. Glad to have them this year.And the only cousin in costume this year......EASTON! He is so excited to be Ironman for Halloween. He's looking forward to the big day this Friday.

For those of you interested I am posting the chili recipe. It kind of really isn't a recipe, it's one of those just throw it in and taste it recipes. But here's what I usually do.

2 large cans dark kidney beans (with liquid)

1 large can stewed tomatoes

1 1/2 pounds hamburger, cooked

1 bottle tomato juice

1 can tomato paste

1 1/2 tsp onion powder
3 TBSP chili powder (It is pretty mild, if you want a little kick go ahead and add more)

salt and pepper to taste

Cook all day in crock pot on low or in a large pot on stove. It's actually better the second day! Serve with fritos (we loved the chili flavored ones this year), sour cream, and cheese.

P.S. As I've looked through the pictures over the years I've noticed a trend--I have never been to a chili dinner. I cannot find myself in one picture. I know I was at each one. Wow, that's sad. My goal: Be in a picture for the 2009 Chili dinner! It will happen even if I have to take it of myself.

Four Is Not Enough

As he was setting the table for dinner on Thursday night Easton asked how many he should set the table for.

Mom: Four.
Easton: Our family keeps getting smaller! We need our family back.

That was pretty profound for an almost eight year old. With Ashton in college and Stephen being gone during the week the dinner table crowd is pretty small at our super-sized table. We look forward to Christmas when every chair will have a family member in it.

Another Classic Dessert

Sunday dessert was another family classic recipe, Amazing Coconut Pie. I remember making this a lot as a youth. We would get home from church and mother would tell me to hurry and make the coconut pie. It was easy because you put all the ingredients in a blender for 3 minutes, poured it in a pie tin and cooked it. That's it! It was yummy when it was still warm. Sometimes mom would put raspberries or other fruits on top or drizzle a yummy sauce over it. It's like a warm custard pie with coconut on top. The boys (including the old boy, Stephen) liked it and want it again. Here's the recipe:

2 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C Bisquik
4 eggs
1/2 C butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend ingredients in blender on low for 3 minutes. Pour into greased 9 inch pie pan. Let stand for 5 minutes. Then sprinkle with 1 C. coconut. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

Football!

A little Father-Son bonding as Stephen, Landon, and Easton toss around the pigskin for a while! This awesome fall weather just makes you want to hang outside and breathe the crisp air.

Taste of Suwanee

Dallin's choir group performed this weekend at our Suwanee Town Center park for the Taste of Suwanee event. This was a cool little event for all the restaurants in Suwanee. They all had booths set up and with tickets purchased you could get a little taste of the various foods. Fun. The entertainment was provided by the high school as well as other local talents. They had blowup jumpy things for the kids. It's always fun to get outside on a nice day and just enjoy some family time.
Dallin and his friends, Michelle and Conner from church. Conner was selling his cotton candy to help support his high school basketball team. We love these kids!

Breakfast Conversation

Easton and I have the best morning conversations while he is eating breakfast. It's just me and him against the world spending quiet time together.

Easton: Mom, I need a belt.
Mom: Why?
Easton: Because my pants keep falling down when I run at recess. (Who knew?)
Mom: Oh--well I didn't know that. Get one out of your belt bucket.
Easton: OK.

Later...
Mom: When you get A's in school you can go to college at BYU like Ashton.
Easton: Is it a college?
Mom: No, it's actually a university, it's a big college.
Easton: Oh, BYU....Brigham Young Anniversary!

Retired

It's official--I've been retired from my calling as Young Women's President. I was released Sunday after being in for over 2 and a half years. Wow! It's been a great ride. I really have enjoyed serving the girls in the Suwanee Ward. Young Womens has been my social life for the past few years. It's made me do things that I wouldn't have normally done and forced me out of my comfort zone on many occasions. We went to three girls' camps and had three youth conferences together. We've planned some great New Beginnings programs and awesome Night of Excellence programs. We had an awesome Roadshow and received the Best All Around Award from the Stake. There have been some really cool Leadership Training evenings with the girls. And of course, lots of Activity nights during the week. I loved taking the girls to the temple for baptisms. It was fun to watch the girls' testimonies grow and see how they matured. The girls that I worked with were just awesome. They are so strong and so amazing. I can't wait to see what they do with their lives after high school. I know they are going to be doing great things. They are great leaders and they are being examples for good. They share the gospel and aren't afraid to speak up when people question their beliefs.

I have had great ladies to work with in my presidency. I couldn't ask for a better group of women to work with--always dedicated, creative, responsible, fun, organized,willing to go the extra mile and so strong. Any one of these ladies could have been president. I loved the "team" that we had and am so grateful that they helped make the ride so fun. I couldn't have done it without them.

I remember when I was set apart that the Bishop blessed me that I would have the energy I needed to do my calling and I wouldn't tire. I can honestly say that blessing was true. There were many times when I just didn't know how I stayed awake driving these girls home or had the energy to do some of the activities. I was like the energizer bunny. I suppose I will just be tired all the time now that I'm done.

This is me at our Night of Excellence program, "On with the Shoe!" I am getting my picture taken after receiving my floppy award. It was quite a memorable evening. I also received my YW medallion that night. The leaders and I have been working on personal progress for quite some time. My counselors and I received our awards in front of the girls that evening, showing them that you are never done with personal progress. You are always making goals and progressing.

My Man Is Missing

I miss him. I mean I really miss him. My husband is now working in Birmingham during the week and then he comes home on the weekends. I'm really not used to him being gone and frankly, I'm tired of it. I don't know how women do this when their husbands travel all the time. This is the third week that he's been doing this. I like being able to talk at night with Stephen when the kids are all in bed. I like making dinner and then having our family eat together when Stephen gets home from work. I like that Stephen tucks in Easton and gives him hugs and kisses. I like that he hugs me when he gets home from work and tells me how much he loves me. I like how he keeps the boys "in line". I like watching him eat his favorite vanilla icecream cone at night. I like watching Dancing with the Stars together. I like his silly jokes. I like having cereal parties with him at night. I like using his tummy to rest my head on when I watch tv. I like that he makes the bed in the morning. I miss him. I really miss him.

Park Hopping

With a day off of school today we had to do something to get out of the house and have some fun. After we finished doing our morning cleaning it was decided that it was a great day for Park Hopping! We made a plan to go to all of the five parks in Suwanee that have playgrounds. We gave ourselves a thirty minute time limit at each park. We started with E.E. Robinson--it's an older park and the boys were done after 13 minutes. Kind of lame and more for the wee ones.







George Pierce Park was next. This used to be the only park in town when we first moved here. Mom will remember this one because Dallin almost died here while riding his big wheel when she was babysitting the kids while Stephen and I were in Germany. This awesome green snake was on the walking path--I almost stepped on it! These little steps bounced as you walked on them. The boys really liked these.This was the favorite thing at this park. They were monkey bar type things that twirled as you grabbed them. You had to carefully move to the next ring without falling off. It was very difficult--I even tried it and it was hard.


There aren't any playgrounds at the Town Center Park so we ate lunch at one of the cool restaurants in the park. We grabbed a 5 Guys burger for lunch and were planning on eating it outside on the patio area, but an outside smoker stopped us in our tracks. Duh!
This park is a large, fun playarea for kids. It's a huge castle that the kids can run in and out of. There are poles to climb, walls to scale, and slides to go down. Great for all ages because they have a little kid side and the big kid side. Landon and Easton loved the tire swing--they were a little woosey when we left this park.




We took a drive-thru stop at Chick-fil-A on the way to our last park for a refreshing icecream cone. It gave us energy for the next adventure.
We love this new park--this is the one that I already posted about. This was Landon's first time. We brought the bikes and explored the trails. I had planned on bringing my sneakers, but left them in kitchen so I was stuck with flip flops, which don't make very good walking shoes. I sat on a bench and enjoyed the beauty of the lake while the boys took one swing around the entire park together. Then we hit the playground. That was just too much fun.
This is the funky teeter totter thing. With the help of Landon's strong legs, the boys were able to keep it going all by themselves.

This was a cool climbing wall. I don't think you're really supposed to climb to the top, but of course that's what the kids did. One girl got stuck up on top and she couldn't get herself down. I watched her think it through for a while until her mother showed up.
Our day of Park Hopping was awesome! We loved every park because they all had some cool things. I'm glad we ventured out of the house and had some serious fun.