Phew. Family Pics are over!

Hallelujah! We survived our family pics session! They are always so much work to get everyone's outfits and accessories all coordinated and then just getting everyone ready and happy the day of is a whole other story... But the kids all did GREAT and after a few hours of smiling and coorperating we were all still one big happy family afterwards. HURRAY!

This year we tried out someone new because she came highly recommended by so many friends- plus we were super impressed with the pics she has taken posted on her site. I think she really did a great job and was super patient with the kids. She worked hard to get just the right shots and really listened to any ideas we had invisioned! We just got a sneak peek of a few pics today already and I can't wait to see the rest! If you are in the area and need someone try out Janelle!

We will use these for our Christmas Cards so I'm thrilled that everything went so great and we can cross that off our "To Do" list!

I LOVE Halloween!

Our good friends the Burkinshaws dropped this creepy looking bottle of Spider Venom off a few days ago. BAH! Spider Venom!?! Ok, so it's really root beer but isn't the label cute?!? She found them at the dollar store and they say all sorts of things like "Rat Poisoning" "Vampire Blood" etc all vintage! She just stuck it to a 3 liter bottle of pop and tied the ribbons and tag. Loved it. What a clever idea. The tag is adorable-with the witch on it and their name. She has a cricut and I'm green with envy- she does all sorts of amazingly cool tags, lettering and signs with it. Thanks M girlies!

Here's what we had a few mornings ago- pumpkin pancakes! Yum! I just mixed up the pancake batter, took out a little bit to add green food coloring too and then added orange food coloring to the rest. I used a medicine dropper for the green stem! The kids loved it of course and gobbled them right up. Tomorrow we are making sugar cookies- a tradition for us. We've done it every Halloween for as long as I can remember. What fun Halloween traditions does your family have?

Feeling Like Italian!?!

My good friend Angie (a Diva turned Domestic!) gave me these recipes. I was so excited to try them because they sounded so yummy... and they were! Seriously, they were really good. I ate way too much. But the breadsticks are phenomenal (and as easy as it gets!) and the Capellinni Caprese was so fresh and flavorful and yummy. You all really need to give these recipes a try! Thanks Ang!

Breadsticks
Yields 12 breadsticks

1 TBS yeast
2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour (I used 1/2 wheat 1/2 white so maybe that's why mine look a little darker...)
1/4 cup butter
Garlic salt, parmesan cheese, and Salad Supreme

Dissolve yeast in warm water. (I always let my yeast sit for 5 minutes, but the recipe didn't call for that). Mix together yeast mixture, sugar, salt, and flour. Knead for about 3 minutes. Add flour as needed. Let stand for 10 minutes or longer, covered. Melt butter. Cut dough innto fourth, then thirds. Roll and twist (you have to fold it in half to get the twist!). Roll in butter and place on cookie sheet. Continue until all breadsticks are on cookie sheet. Sprinkle all with salt, parmesan cheese, and Salad Supreme. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Capellinni Caprese

Capellinni (Angel Hair pasta)- 1/2 package
1/2 c. Kraft Tuscan House Italian
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups cherry tomatoes halved, or you can just use larger tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup fresh basil
1 cup shredded mozzerella

Cook noodles in large pot. In a large non-stick pan heated over medium heat add the dressing, onion, and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Add basil and remove from heat. Serve caprese over the Capellinni and sprinkle with Mozzerella. Serve! How easy is that?!?

(The fresh basil in our garden is not quite big enough yet ;-), so I used dried and the recipe still tasted fantastic. This recipe is a keeper for our family!)

Better Homes and Garden's website has some free great ideas and stencils for pumpkin carving!

To see some already made stencils from haunted houses to cats or witches:
http://www.bhg.com/holidays/halloween/pumpkin-carving/printable-pumpkin-stencils/

The funnest though was my girlies and I made our own stencil- picked out our own eyes, nose, mouth, chose our pumpkin shape and voila! Super fun! They were so excited to be able to design their own! It's the pumpkin stencil maker at...

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/halloween/pumpkin-carving/pumpkin-stencil-maker/?psrc=sstag:hol:pumpinstencil

You can also carve a pumpkin online and email it to whomever! That was fun too...

http://carveapumpkin.bhg.com/carveapumpkin/

They have lots of clever and cute ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas too- so check out www.bhg.com if you need some craft ideas!

(I know we are late on the band wagon to carve pumpkins... but it's still mid-90's here so our pumpkins only survive a few days! We have to do it the week of Halloween so they still look great on Halloween night. Last year we didn't know this.. our pumpkins were melted- literally in a puddle- within days... weeks before Halloween... and molded to the ground!)

My Little Window Washers!

Colby and JJ randomly decided to clean my windows the other day- the windows were dirty anyways, so I thought what the heck! I gave them a wipe package that was half full- it had been left open and was a little dried out... What a shock when I turned around 2 minutes later (ok, maybe more like 5) and the whole package had been "used!" They were nicely piled on a chair outside- bottom left pic. Colby and JJ were scrubbing the concrete outside and cleaning the windows like they were getting paid. I had to get the camera out. They are too cute.

But it made me think that I really need to let them help with cleaning more often, but I'm just so picky! What cleaning ideas do you have for your kiddos!?! I think it empowers them to have responsibilities and they do help do things like take out the garbage, empty the dishwasher, and use the shark to vacuum the kitchen floor... but help me out with some motivations/cleaning ideas! Thanks!

Texas Tortilla Soup!

When we lived in TX there was a fabulous store called Central Market. It specialize in fresh, healthy, and organic food and had lots of amazingly tasty and unique foods.... They have a fantastic bulk section of everything from sour gummies to dried mangos and kosher salt. It even had a yummilicious cafe and fresh gelato stand that was to die for. They also have a section of prepless food kits- all kinds of veggies and ingredients chopped up to make fresh spaghetti, kabobs, soups, etc.... and our FAVORITE was Tortilla Soup- either from the prepless section or bought freshly made. The best we've ever had... and trust me, we have tried it at LOTS of restuarants. So when we moved I was so sad to not have the recipe. After craving it for a few months, I finally called them desperate. They were nice. I've got the recipe. The real deal. It's oh so fabulous. We had it for dinner last night. And I should have taken a pic but we gobbled it all up too fast. So the one above is just a random one off flickr. Here it is! Enjoy!





Tortilla Soup

Makes 8 8-ounce servings


2 TBS Chili powder
1 TBS Cumin
1 Bay Leaf
Salt
1 cup diced onions (1 large onion)
1 tbs minced garlic
1 serrano pepper, seeds removed and diced
1 cup green bell pepper, diced (1 bell pepper)
1 cup fresh diced tomatoes
2 quarts chicken broth (or 8 cups water with boullion added)
Chicken, cooked and shredded (about 2 cups- I just get the cooked Costco chicken and dice or shred the meat)
1 lime
2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
Tortilla chips
Sour cream
Avocado slices- optional
Shredded Cheese- optional


•Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large stock pot; sauté onion, garlic and peppers until onions are translucent.
•Add the dry spices (chili powder, cumin, bay leaf, and salt) and cook for 1 minute.
•Add tomatoes and continue cooking 3 minutes.
•Add 2 quarts (8 cups) of chicken broth and bring to boil; if adding chicken, add in 2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
•After the 30 minutes is up, add chopped cilantro, lime juice and 3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips. Stir well.
•Serve and garnish with sour cream, avocado slices, additional tortilla chips and cheese if desired. If you want it less spicy, don't add the serrano pepper or add less chili powder... but really, the recipe is perfect as is!

We LOVE Abby and Chris!

Last weekend Chris and Abby were in town- Chris from Provo and Abby from Flag. We had a great time hanging out with them and miss having them around! They are amazingly good with the kids and so fun to talk with... we've got a lot in common with them so it's fun to hang out! We intentionally had Chris work for Ger and George's company over the summer so he could meet a hot AZ girl and end up here. And so far so good... our plan is working as planned so far. ;-) We would love to have some of my family live close! How's that job in Flag looking Jake?!?

A few weeks after Chris had moved out Colby was talking about all his friends (prends). I said, what about Chris? And he said very matter of factly, "Chris is my brother mom!" He misses eating breakfast with Chris most... or giving him big hugs every time he got back from work... or wrestling him... or playing the guitar and singing Buzz light year songs together... too many things I guess! Mia and Sydney miss being teased by him and giving him hugs before and after work. Every night though Syd, Mia, and Colby pray for Chris-o-rea-riah. They've got lots of love for you bro!

Excited to see you guys again soon!

Homemade Ice Cream... with Dry Ice!

Did anyone catch Martha's episode a few weeks back on how to make homemade ice cream in your kitchen aid, just by adding dry ice?!? I rarely watch but happened to be folding laundry and caught that clip and really want to try! Here's the recipe... let me know if you've heard of this or have tried it!

Dry Ice Ice Cream Ingredients
dry ice
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups half-and-half
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

First you need to crush the dry ice. Do this by placing your dry ice in a paper bag and either smash it with a mallet or hammer or roll over the bag using a rolling pin.
Mix all of the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Shake the dry ice into the ice cream, a little at a time, mixing between additions.
As you add more dry ice, it will start to harden and will get more difficult to mix. Continue adding dry ice until the ice cream has reached the desired consistency.
Feel free to stir in flavorings or candy pieces.
The ice cream may be very cold! Use care when eating it to avoid frostbite. If the ice cream is soft enough to stir or scoop it should be warm enough to eat safely.
You can freeze leftover ice cream to eat later.

Tagged... My little quirks! ;-)

Ok, my sista Heids tagged me a while back to write 5 quirks about myself. I've been thinking and analyzing everything I do since. Ha ha! When I asked Ger what quirks I had, he was like, "That's a loaded question! Do you really want me to answer that?!?" So thanks to his help ;-) here are a few of my quirks!

1. I'm a picker- love picking fingernails and my little kids noses! Nothing is worse than a kiddos snotty nose, right?!?
2. I'm a worrier- if I have a headache for longer than a day, I'm sure I have a brain tumor. If I see a commercial about some disease than I'm worried I may just get it OR may be sufffering from some symptoms already.
3. I'm a multi-tasker to the max. I'll be running around doing 10 different tasks when maybe I should focus on just a few. ;-) (I really worry I have ADD sometimes.. oh dear! ha ha... there comes out the worrier in me!)
4. Ger says a little quirk I have is my "return corner." In the last two homes we have lived in I have picked a corner of the room where I place the items I need to return to the store. Seriuosly, I'm not a big shopper but Ger always makes fun of my "return corner!"
5. I use the word Fabulous and Perfect a little too much. This dates back to at least college days (right Divas?)... But if we say things will be fabulous or perfect... they may just turn out to be, right!I tag Monica and Ashlee- what are your quirks?!?

I'm a Lucky Girl!

Seriously. I am a lucky and blessed girl to have so many wonderful and amazing friends who are so good to me! Even after the huge surprise party, a bunch of us went out to lunch on my birthday at Cheesecake Factory. YUM! So I had to post this pic... (The group was mostly those that had been out of town for Fall break when my surprise party was.) It was so fun. I LOVE girls lunches because with kids and working in the Primary at church I don't get a lot of chit chat time with them- and lunches are always the perfect way to catch up and find out the latest and greatest! I learn so much from these ladies and admire them so much. They are all amazing examples to me of generosity, love, charity, kindness, humility, loyality... etc! They have taught me a lot about how to be a better mom and friend. So thanks girls! It made my day!

(We took this pic after some girlies had already taken off but I was glad I didn't forget to take one altogether! A fabulous birthday memory!)

Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

Well this sure doesn't photograph well! But it is super yummy... and easy! My good friend Debbie made it for me when I had my ankle surgery and we all LOVED it. It's a great meal to take to people because it's kid-friendly and you can make it in a disposable aluminum container. Serve it up with a salad, veggies, and rolls and you've got a meal! Enjoy!

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

4-5 chicken breasts- cooked and cut up (or you can get a Costco chicken!)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c. sour cream
2 T Poppy Seeds
6 T melted butter
2 Tubes Ritz crackers- crushed

Mix chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and poppy seed. Crush crackers and add melted butter. Layer pan with 1/2 of cracker mixture. Add chicken mixture. Top with remaining cracker mixture. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Wahoo for Bounce-U!

Colby's big party was at Bounce-U and boy was it a PARTY! We had 100% attendance- 29 kids were invited and all were able to make it! YAHOO! It was seriously the best way to do a party- the kids were all in heaven and I just got to snap pictures and watch- everything was completely taken care of! The big massive slide was definitely a favorite... and they loved the soft "rock wall" on the smaller slides, the boxing ring, big bouncer thinger with the balls and hoops inside, etc! They ALL were grinning from ear to ear the entire time.We have decided that we have the best friends around! They are all so much fun and we are so glad that they all could make it. What a difference great friends make- we feel spoiled!
After bouncing for an hour and 15 minutes (yes the kiddos were worn out AND sweating- kids sweat is so dang cute!) we had lots of water ;-) and cake and ice cream. YUM! Costco cakes are the best! Then Colby opened all his presents and that was a lot of fun- everyone was super generous and he got some really fun and great toys! THANKS EVERYONE FOR MAKING IT SUCH A PARTY!

Our baby is THREE!

Wow. Crazy to believe that Colby is 3! Ever since I had preterm labor with him... and surprised all the Dr's by going full term and beating all odds that predicted otherwise... we knew he was going to be a very special little boy. And he is. He is so sweet, so loving, so mello and happy... So funny and fun to be around. Really, he is our little miracle. We felt so blessed that he was born with such a strong and perfectly healthy body!

Colby is so happy and is always making us laugh and saying funny things... just the other day he was riding on Ger's shoulders and he said, "Daddy why do you have a gumball in your neck?" He loves dressing up... loves action figures... loves playing with JJ and his friends and sisters... loves cookie dough ice cream... loves riding his bike... loves swimming... and loves any action hero from Power Rangers to Batman. He also loves Go Diego, Toy Story... and Wolverine!
Colby has grown up with 3 mothers... Sydney, Mia and Me... but he is totally fine with that! He's always had a very patient temperment and is usually happy go lucky... As long as he has his apple juice that is! His one daily fix is his sippy with apple juice, as soon as he wakes up. From day one Colby has been pretty independent too. He literally potty trained himself right when he turned 2. He wouldn't ever let us help him! He would just sit on the toilet backwards, like he'd seen his cousin JJ do, and get his business done and put his underwear and shorts back on all by himself. It was so great! And for the past year or so, he gets up every morning and gets dressed by himself before he comes out of his room- our girls occassionally do that but are never consistent like he is! He is very picky about what he wears, but other than that it's great that he gets dressed without help!

We are so grateful to have Colby in our family!!! Happy 3rd Birthday! Pics from the ongoing celebrations will be posted soon! ;-)

THANKS!!! And... Caramel Apples!

WOAH! So impressed that Ger made a post all by himself... without any help! Another fabulous surprise!!! Seriously though, that party they threw was a HUGE surprise and TONS of fun. Thanks so much to everyone who helped plan it and decorate for it and for all the fabulous food and gifts! I have the best hubby and friends and feel so greatly blessed. Thank you thank you!

Well as promised, we tackled making caramel apples and had a BLAST! Colby kept saying (as he was eating and sticking M&M's on his Power Ranger Blue apple), "This is so fun Mom. Can we do this again?" And the girls were loving it- they had the creative idea of making a pumpkin apple... and we turned a marshmellow into the stem. They turned out super cute! Here are the simple instructions! (You can follow along, picture by picture!)

1- Take wrappers off carmels from 1 bag of carmels.
2- Wash apples (we chose Gala since they are our fav), dry well, and stick a popsicle stick in each one.
3-Cook in saucepan on medium heat with 2 TBS of water, stirring constantly until melted.
4- Line cookie sheet (or each plate for kiddos) with wax paper and butter it or spray PAM! (KEY STEP! They will stick to the wax paper unless you add a little butter or PAM)
5- Dip apples well in carmel, shake off excess carmel, scrap bottom, and set on wax paper.
6- Refrigerate until carmel hardens.
7- Melt chocolate or chocolate melts. Dip apples and shake off excess.
8- At this point you can add nuts or mini M&M's or whatever topping you want!
9- Place finished apples on wax paper and put in refrigerator to cool.

We wrapped ours up in cellophane and tied it with tulle and delivered them to family and friends! I used 2 bags of carmels and it made about 13 apples... 1 bag of chocolate covers about 5 apples... Now I know why they are so expensive- between the carmel and chocolate they are covered in yumminess that adds up! The KIDS loved every step of the process- unwrapping the carmels, dipping, being creative in how they wanted to decorate it! I loved being creative too- you can melt the colored chocolate melt in a baggie and cut a SMALL (tiny!) corner to drizzle the colored chocolate on which makes them look fancy.

The ghost was a fun idea we saw at a chocolate store at the mall- you dip it in carmel, dip the bottom in mini marshmellows, allow to cool, then dip in white chocolate. YUMMY! You can also make a rocky road one like this if you dip the whole thing in marshmellows and then chocolate and then nuts. AND the skeloten was Ger's idea- he did that one all on his own and I thought it turned out super cute. So many things you can do with them!

Super fun! Will definitely become a tradition!
Posts coming soon on Colby's birthday... Chris and Abby :-)... etc!

Believe It Or Not, We Pulled It Off.........

SURPRISE!

Kimmy Turns 30

Posted By Ger

Kim is pretty much impossible to surprise, she is very nosy and she can see right through me. But Susie called me a few weeks ago and hinted that she wanted to throw a surprise party for Kim so we decided to give it a shot. The stage was set by telling Kim that George and Sue wanted to take us out to dinner on Friday. When, in reality we were going to go over to their house on Friday night for the big surprise. I was feeling pretty confident up until a few days before the party when Kim picked up Paige Breinholt to take her to dance with the girls. Kim asked Paige if she was excited to go up to the Cabin this weekend with her family. She responded, "Ya, but we might not go."

"Why Not?" Kim Asked.

"Because my Mom doesn't want to miss your birthday party." Paige replied.

So when I arrived home Kim said, "What are you planning?" I casually responded to her the same way I do when she asks where I hid some odd piece of cookware the last time I unloaded the diswasher. I said, "What are you talking about?" She then related the experience she had with Paige and I quickly sluffed it off by telling her that I had invited the Breinholts to go to Kim's birthday dinner with us on Friday and that they felt horrible about missing it. Bullet dodged.

There were a couple of other "close calls" during the week that I won't go into details on. Suffice it to say I'm very grateful that Kim and I have an open and honest relationship because living a lie is a lot of work. In an effort to pull this party off I think I lied to Kim more in the last two weeks then I have in the last eight and a half years of our marriage.

The party was a blast. Thanks to everyone that came and made it so special. Lots of decorations, gifts, food, great company etc. It started as a party and ended up as a giant scorpion hunt, but that is a different story. I'm particularly grateful to Susie and George for conceiving the idea and hosting the party. Kim had fun and I plan to make this a tradition. We'll do a surprise party for her every 30 years - next one is scheduled for October 20th 2038, you're all invited!

October 18th- Colby's Birthday Celebrations!

When asked how old he is Colby shows them the "cool" way! I don't know where he got this but it's pretty cute. He also can do the regular 3 middle finger way, but this way is our favorite since he did it on his own before the other way!

It was a busy day and started early- we had to leave at 7:45 to get to Mia's soccer game! Luckily Colby got up early and opened a few presents and was ready to go by the time we had to run out the door... Mia played great and just grins out there the whole time- she cracks me up. Then between games we had an hour and got smoothies... And Colby's game was SO fun- he had a breakout game and didn't get frustrated once when someone took the ball away!!! Whew. He scored 5 goals (though one didn't really count!) and had a blast- we had the best time watching him have such a great time and play so amazingly well.We hung out in the afternoon- JJ and Colby played together with Colby's new action figures and new Wolverine Costume that Syd and Mia gave him. For dinner we headed out to the Rainforest Cafe! It is a really fun place- big life-sized real-looking animals all over and you are really in this jungle with a huge waterfall and animal sounds and everything. The kids LOVED it. (We had coupons for free meals from the Summer Reading Program so it was a great deal too!)Brescia came along too and you can see the girlies had a fabulous time- they really are so silly together!

We got the Chocolate Lava Cake and they sang to him and we chowed down on it. Yum. It was a super yummy treat! Then we walked the mall and headed home for the night- whew! I was exhausted and so were the kiddos. What a day!

Love... true love...

I came across these pics from earlier this year and had to laugh. Those Breinholt girls are nothing but trouble! ;-) Regan's putting her flirt on in the first pic (don't say a 2 year old can't flirt!), Colby falls for it and shares his popsicle with her in the 2nd, then was happy he shared in the 3rd, and puts on his own moves in the 4th. So funny. They are super cute friends!

But speaking of the Breinholt girls being trouble... One day after gymnastics Ger asked Mia how it went. She said, "Great Dad! I'm popular in my class." I sat there shocked and surprised but also wanting to laugh because I had no idea that Mia at age 4 knew what popular meant. Ger said, "I'm glad your class went well. Do you know what popular means?" And Sydney piped up, "I do. It means you have a lot of friends and a lot of money." GASP. Not a bad definition coming from a 5 year old. Ger replied, "Who told you that?" Sydney said, "Paige." Since then, our girls have not gotten together to play. Ha ha! We love Paige! And even though it was a little frightening they were already discussing popularity at such a young age, we thought it was pretty funny too- it was a good opportunity to talk about how it's nice to feel popular but more important to be nice to everyone. They do pretty good at that so far, so hopefully we can keep that up. Having good friends and treating everyone with kindness and respect is oh so important no matter how old you are!

Ode to Bakerella!

Ok, so like I said in a previous blog my sis Lissy has inspired me to be more of a Domestic Diva. And for almost a year now I have been stalking an amazing website where I have learned all sorts of tricks and tips on baking and cooking all sorts of goodies... ODE TO BAKERELLA! Ive learned how to bake better cupcakes, do chocolate transfers, what frosting tips are the best, where to buy cute cupcake papers, and how to make her cupcake pops! She's even been on Martha Stewart with the cupcake pops which are super fun and messy to make... My girlies are begging for me to make them again. Yum. She's having a give away on her website so go and sign yourself up!

And while you are there, check out how to make her Spooky Sweets!

Family: Center of our Lives and Top of our Priorities!

In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Families lie at the center of Heavenly Father's plan. -L. Tom Perry
Indeed nothing is more critically connected to happiness- both our own and that of our children- than how well we love and support one another within the family... What matters most is what lasts longest and our families are for eternity. -M. Russell Ballard

SEDONA!

This weekend we took a family trip with the Stums to Sedona. Woah- it really is one of the most beautiful places on earth! We took our Rangers and rode and hiked 5 or 6 different trails in the 2 1/2 days we were there. It was the funnest trip and everything was just a blast- the kiddos LOVED it and had a great time. Our kiddos get along great with the Stum kids- they're pretty much like family since we lived in Texas with them and went to school at the Y with them before that. So it was great to get away with them since we don't get to see them enough!

Literally by the end of each ride we were covered in dirt and dust- my hair even started looking strawberry blonde by the end of the trip! You can see why we all wore goggles. The kids loved digging in the dirt though, making rock piles, collecting rocks, and running on the trails- it was so great to be in such a beautiful place together!

We had picnics on the red rocks... hot tubbed late at night (we were surprised we didn't turn the water red since we were so dirty!)... sang songs... played silly games... ate some yummy grub... took a few spills (poor Mia's nose!)... laughed and laughed... and got to hang out with Abby!

She's Chris' girlfriend and we've known her for a few years- the kiddos love her and she is always so much fun to hang out with. She's going to school in Flagstaff so made the 45 minute trip down to play with us Friday afternoon and evening. Super fun. (Though we did miss having Chris around too!) We took her on the Broken Arrow trail which has some scary steep parts including "the staircase" which is a steep rocky descent on the way out. Bah! But it is our favorite trail in Sedona- gorgeous red rocks at every turn. So beautiful. I think it's some kind of addiction to take so many pictures... I just can't help myself! ;-)

Good times... great friends... amazing views...

happy kids... dirty bums... ;-)

But all good things must come to an end! We loaded the Rangers up Saturday afternoon and headed back home. We're excited to be heading back around Thanksgiving though with Abby and Chris and my parents... look forward to some FUN!