Decking the Halls!

Last year, John and I didn't get to decorate for Christmas because we were in the middle of a move. So the second Thanksgiving was over this year, that was the first thing we did. It is SO nice to have a tree up again! Here are a few pics of our decorated house.

Our Christmas Village. I got all these pieces from my grandma in Wyoming.
The best part is there is even a news office and newspaper delivery truck in the scene!

John  putting the star on our tree!

The finished product!



This is the ornament we got last year, when we got our new
house. My grandparents in Wyoming sent it to us.

This ornament my grandma in Wyoming made for me.
It's an ornament for my dad. I love it. One side has a picture of me and him,
and the other side has a picture of just him.

Our living room for the holidays. It's nice and cozy!

Our stocking shelf. This is the best we can do since we don't
 have a fireplace, but I think it looks pretty cute.

And this picture just makes me laugh....John and I both didn't get
 ready at all the day we decorated, and you can really tell. Haha.

Thanksgiving and a New Arrival

Thanksgiving this year was hosted at our house. I am not going to lie, I was VERY nervous. I have never cooked a giant meal for a whole bunch of people before, but it actually turned out really well, thanks to a lot of support from my Grandma (thanks!). I think I called her about a dozen times. Anyway, if you want to read more about what I went through in the weeks and days leading up to Thanksgiving, check out my column for the paper here. Besides that, here are some photos from the dinner at our house!

John reading the paper and watching football before the chaos ensued :)

The main table

The "kid" tables

Everyone hanging out watching football before dinner

Evon, Loghan, Tremayne, Alexander, Olivia and Breiton playing Hedbanz!

Grandpa was in charge of the mashed potatoes.

I took a break from cooking to let the guys do the work!

Our first turkey!

John carving his first turkey!

The lineup of food

Haha...my grandma fell asleep at the table after dinner.
She is going to kill me for putting it up!

Our HUGE selection of pies. We had pumpkin, pecan, buttermilk,
coconut cream, banana cream and blueberry-cherry

All the kids goofing off at dinner.

Tremayne, me and Evon Black Friday shopping. We found these animal hats and
just had to try them on. It was like 1 a.m. so we were a little delirious!

Now for the new arrival part....John and I have a new nephew! His brother and wife had their baby on Nov. 20. They named him Jeremiah Joseph, or JJ for short. He is so cute and looks just like his big brother. We're so excited to have a new addition to the family!

Fall Fun

I had a few photos that I never put up from some fun stuff we did this fall...here you go!

Becky, me and Ashley at the Crazy Corn Maze. And of course
John being creepy in the background!

Here we are again!

Me and John...my eyes look crazier than the corn maze, though.

Butternut squash soup. We've been doing a lot of cooking with
fall ingredients like squash. I think the best time for
food is fall. I mean, squash, pumpkin, Thanksgiving food?! Yum!

My grandpa raked up all the leaves in his backyard
for the grandkids to play in. I think he meant it for the little kids to
play in, but John and Tremayne had more fun than the kids I think...

Zander and Loghan!

John and Zander in the leaves!

Tremayne buried in leaves!

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pics from our Halloween this year! We had lots of fun carving the pumpkin we grew in our garden, and we even cooked the seeds. We had over 100 trick or treaters on Halloween, and it was so much fun!!

John taking the "guts" out of our pumpkin.

Putting the finishing touches...

...and here he is! We named him Eugene. I thought he turned
out pretty cute, even if he is a little dopey looking, haha.

Laying the seeds out to bake them. Don't mind me...
we hadn't gotten around to getting dressed that day yet. Haha.

The finished seeds! They were so yummy. We got the recipe from my grandma.
All we did was toss them with some melted butter, cayenne pepper,
season salt, garlic salt and cajun seasoning, then baked for 45 minutes! Yum!

John with his co-workers at work. They dressed as the
Men in Black! Love John in this picture. He's asking everyone
to look at the "mind eraser" thingy. Haha.

Here's a picture of John's MIB office. They went all out and won
the office Halloween contest for best costume/decorations.
Looks like so much fun!

Here's Eugene on Halloween night. :)