Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin patches in Ohio ROCKED!! I miss them. The ones here in Cali really don't compare. When we have so much money that we don't know what to do with it all- then we will have to fly out to Ohio every October and go to the awesome pumpkin patches there!! On that note... here are some pics from our fun experience at the Cali pumpkin patch!! Enjoy- Happy Fall Y'All

Tarantula's!!

This past weekend we went to our annual "Tarantula Festival". We had been looking for our own tarantula to race, but never found one. The kids and my hubby were so disappointed, but I was a little relieved! HOWEVER, this week we have had multiple tarantulas appearing on our back porch and EVERYWHERE (it seems). But, it was nice to be introduced to tarantula's before we started to have them appear everywhere because now they don't seem quite so scary!

Family Pics

Me and my hubby-
My parents, siblings and me!
The girl who took our pictures did a great job of hiding my belly... the funny part is that she didn't know I was pregnant, she just thought that I had a belly! I love that part of pregnancy, people don't know if you are pregnant or if you just have a belly!!

We went home for a visit with family and took some pictures. This is my parents back yard. I hope that my dad will come and build me a barn that looks just like his- I love their red barn! One more request, dad..... I have an ugly water tower for an eyesore! Think you could make a matching Silo to go around it? Then next year we can have family pictures at my Farm! :)

We love Family Visits

For the past week we have had family here visiting! It has been so much fun. They are leaving today. It will be so sad. My kids have loved every minute that they have been here. I have had some pregnancy health problems while they have been here, so it has been nice to not have to take the kids with me to the doctors, and to relax and sleep while they cook and clean and watch my kids! Of course, it would have been nicer if I had not been sick and I could have treated them like guests!! We did get to visit Yosemite, and also look around town a bit. They got to go up to the ranch- unfortunately, no tarantulas were spotted... and it is tarantula season! The Tarantula festival is this weekend. Too bad they will miss it!
We really do love our family and we had a great visit! We will miss you. Thanks for all of your help!

MVP

Gloria is really loving soccer. She got the game ball last week. It was pretty exciting! She is a great player and a good sport. The whole family loves to watch her play. Next year, we will have 2 players.

Family Hike

Last night we went on a hike as a family. Here are some pictures- we are considering buying this 80 acre ranch. We have enjoyed spending time there and think that we will end up living on this ranch in a few months!

Yummy recipe

So... I thought that I would share my newest favorite recipe! When we lived in Ohio, I was in a great recipe club- we would meet once a month with a food theme given to us (soup, breads, salads, desserts, casseroles, etc) and we would each cook and bring an item from the given theme. We emailed our recipe to the girl who was hosting. Then she would email all the recipes out after the club. It was great! New recipes that you were able to try. Since we have stopped recipe club, I have been feeling a little boring in my meals. But I have tried a few new meals this month. A really yummy one is "Bee Bim Bop"- an asian dish. But today I want to share my ultra simple, pretty healthy and super yummy dish with you all. I call it Vegetable Goulash.

Vegetable Goulash
1 zucchini (your choice) sliced
1 red bell pepper cut and cubed (I have used orange and green also)
1 small onion cut up
1 medium tomato cubed
8-10 ounces un-cooked egg noodles
2 cups pasta sauce
1 lb lean ground turkey

Prepare egg noodles according to directions on bag.
Lightly coat skillet with "pam". Saute onion for 1-2 minutes. Add bell pepper and zucchini. Saute for 3 more minutes. Remove vegetable, set aside.
Add ground turkey to the skillet- saute until no longer pink. return vegetables to skillet. Add tomatoes to skillet. add tomato sauce. cook 5-10 minutes until heated through.
serve sauce over noodles and enjoy!
Even my kids all love this.

this recipe is a variation on "American Turkey Goulash" found in "Eating for Life".

Cleaning Day

I usually do my house cleaning on Mondays and Fridays- however last week I was feeling a bit under the weather and did not get any grocery shopping done. So, by Monday we were out of milk, bread, eggs, rice, noodles, vegetables, fruits... EVERYTHING. Our fridge was bare. So, I went to the store.... which is an all day adventure out here. Needless to say I had to reschedule my cleaning day. Tuesdays I teach and so I changed my cleaning to today.
I had mentioned to a friend that we had rings in out toilet when we moved in, and how I had scrubbed and scrubbed and they were still there. She mentioned that she tried copper screen (found in vacuum stores) and it worked wonders. So... today I took the challenge. The screen plus a little elbow grease and WALA! No ring around the toilet. My 4 year old son came home from preschool today and when he came out of the restroom said "Wow Mom! You cleaned the potty today"! How funny- even my 4 year old appreciates my clean toilet.

Gratitude

Today we watched General Conference. My kids had a super time with their conference packets. BINGO was their favorite. I let them put a treat on the squares when the heard the speaker say whatever the picture was. Then, when they got bingo, they could eat their snacks and start over. They have been so excited for conference all week because I told them about the BINGO last week. So, when they found out today was the actual day we could sit down and watch the prophet. They we super excited and were sitting in front of the TV and hour early asking if it was time to start, yet. It was the best conference that I have got to watch since the kids were born. We are definitely doing it again in 6 months.
I really enjoyed President Monsons talk that he gave in the sunday morning session. Since I have moved to California I feel like I have not been that happy positive thinking person that I normally am. I have been trying to correct that these past few weeks... it has been hard. When I heard President Monson talk about Gratitude, I knew that was the key!! I have not been thankful enough for what I have been given. I am making this my new goal, to be more thankful. To look for things that I can be grateful about. To remember to tell my heavenly father frequently how grateful I am. I am grateful that I was able to listen to conference today and to hear this talk. My kids really liked the part about the "man with the one eye". After the morning session was over, it was all that they could talk about. So, during lunch we talked a little about the "man with the one eye" and gratitude.
In keeping with the conference theme and the one eyed man and gratitude- tomorrow for FHE we are going to talk about gratitude. I am going to blind fold the kids and have them walk through a maze and also try to draw a picture. I am then going to let them do these things without the blind fold and talk about how grateful we are for sight... not only with our eyes but in the eternal perspective. I will incorporate the story of the 10 lepers from the bible. I think that this FHE will be for me as much as it will be for my kids. I am going to have them draw a picture of something that they are grateful for that they can remember to tell Heavenly Father thank you for in their prayers.

Rain Dance

Today, it rained!! Something that I have taken for granted in the past years- rain! It was so nice, I wanted to stay outside all day! We have kept the windows open so we could smell the rain, I keep looking out the window to see if the rain is still there. While we were living in Ohio, it rained constantly. It was not uncommon for it to rain 7 days a week. In California, it has not rained since we moved here. The last rain that I saw was when we left Ohio, on June 2nd. So, it was fun to have rain today.
Today we went to a "Pow Wow" of the Chikchansee Indians. I had to wonder if they were doing some rain dances! It was a really cool experience. In the part of California where we live there are quite a few Indian tribes that live here. We have a lot of friends who are Indian. We have loved learning more about their culture. At the Pow Wow today, they all wore Regalia that they made. Everyone has a uniqe costume- or regalia. There are several different types of dances- "Jingle" "Fancy", and "Shawl" are a few that I can remember the names of. During the Pow Wow they honored the indians who are veterans and those who have served in the military. We ate yummy Indian Fry bread and Indian Tacos. We enjoyed the first cool day that I remember since we left Ohio (I think the high was around 87 today). The Kids loved the pow wow and were sad to leave. We are excited to go to another one.