Pumpkin Carving and The Haunted Mill

For FHE this Monday we decided to get into the Halloween spirit and carve some pumpkins. Trevor is way better at carving than I am. He told me that it was only because he had 9 years and 3 months of more practice ;) Now, no one laugh at my pumpkin. It didn't turn out like I wanted. 

This is going to make a yummy snack!

 Our finished work

Trevor carved this in the back of his pumpkin. Isn't he wonderful?!



About two weeks ago, we went with Mike and Shannon's family to the Haunted Mill for FHE. It was really fun. Lincoln and Shannon didn't go through unfortunately. It wasn't too bad, but there were definitely some really scary parts. We had to go in two groups so it was Trevor, Laura, and I in our group. I was the only one that was screaming my head off. Luckily, there was no camel there to sneeze in my ear :) After the mill we went to G's Dairy and got some delicious ice cream.

Aren't we a great looking bunch :)

Homemade Lasagna/ Straw Maze

On Friday, Trevor and I had a double date with our neighbors, Camille and Zach. Camille is on one of Education classes and Trevor helps them out in Primary. Camille and I both love Italian food so we thought it would be fun to have an Italian Dinner Date. I made homemade lasagna and she made her amazing homemade breadsticks. I had tried making lasagna before, but I didn't put enough sauce in it and it turned out dry. This time though, it turned out SO GOOD! I was worried the whole time it was cooking until I took a bite.

Me, just about to put the lasagna in the oven. 

The final product! Don' t you wish you could have some?



After dinner, we decided to play some game, Bananagrams and the Dice Game, as we waited for it to get dark so that we could go to the Straw Maze. Once it was dark enough, we headed to the maze. When we got there, there was a giant camel there! It was so random. Trevor wanted to get a picture with it, so we went over there. I stood next to the camel, who kept sniffing my hair and face and on the other side of me was a creepy masked guy whispering things like, "Remember to smile big". "Don't forget to smile". Just as Zach was about to take the picture, the camel sneezed in my ear!!! It was so gross! Trevor was laughing his head off. There was snort all over my hear and inside my ear. The place didn't have any napkins, so the creepy guy lent me his sleeve to wipe it off. It was very nice of him. After all that, went went inside the maze and had a great time. It took us a little over a hour and a half to get through. We didn't know it was going to be a haunted maze, but it made it a lot of fun. The chainsaw man was the scariest part. It was a super fun night!

A creepy clown that stood at the entrance of the maze.

Our Kids

Trevor has a 50 gallon fish tank that he got a while go. We have 8 beautiful fish, 2 funny crabs, and 1 cool lobster. We call them all our kids. Whenever we head off to school we say, "Good-bye kids, be good. Or when we get home we say, "Hello kids. How was your guys day?" :)
We thought everyone would like to see what our kids look like.

Trevor and his beloved fish tank :)

                                                           

This is Martha, one of our crabs. The other one is names Maximus.

This is Emmy, one of our sucker fish. The other one is named Dave.

   

This is Rockie, our lobster.

                                                       

                                       

The light blue one is Blue, the yellow one is Small Fry, the pink/red one is Jewels, the orange one is Chloe, the black and yellow striped one is Spike, and the dark blue and black one is Wendy.

First Day of School/Work

Monday, Sept. 12th, was the first day for school. A couple weekends before, we went to Idaho Falls and got Trevor some new dress shirts. He got a dark purple, black, dark red, and a pretty orange one. He was so excited to wear them all. Everyone took pictures of their kids on their first day of school so we though we would take pictures of us since our kids (our fish) don't go to school.

         Trevor looking like the hunk he is.

                                                          

                                 

                                                                           Me, looking awkward.

 

 Me and my handsome man, who I just love so much!

The classes that I am taking this semester are: World Foundations, Humanities, Education Technology, Child Development (not taught by Trevor), History and Philosophy of Education, and a Infant and Toddler class. I am looking forward to all of my class. Like I said, I love to learn. One of my teachers said this, and I really love it. He said, "There are no uninteresting subjects, lectures, or teachers-just uninteresting people." I totally agree with that. I love learning about anything. Oh, I hope to tutor a 6th grader boy, who needs help with reading and comprehension. I hope I get the opportunity, but then I am scared to death if I do. Another random comment, I am thinking about once I get my degree to teach and I get a few years of experience, I want to go back to school and get my degree to become a principal. We will just have to see what the future holds. My Child Development teacher is Trevor's head chair person for his department. Trevor actually took the same class from him when he went here. I have decided that I don't like it when my teachers find out that I am married to a professor here. I don't like being put on the spot or having the teacher make a comment about it throughout the semester. Unfortunately, they usually find out because they see me at banquets or work parties.

Trevor has been working hard in preparing for his classes this semester. He really cares about his students. He has been coming up with changes that will make his classes better and I really think that the changes he has made will help his students a lot. So far, he has really enjoyed his classes. He is excited to see what the new semester brings. I am very proud of him. We can't have lunch together anymore, so that really stinks. That just makes date night even more special and important.
                                             

Peach Cobbler

When Trevor and I went to visit his brother, Derek, and his family, in Houston this summer, they made this delicious peach cobbler. They served it with Bell Blue Homemade Vanilla ice cream, which made it ten times better. I got the recipe from Heather, his wife, off of Facebook(thank you Heather). I made it last night to take to the in-laws while we watched the BYU game. It turned out great! We didn't have ice cream, but we did have whipped cream, which was still really good. It's really easy to make and usually have everything to make it. Don't forget to serve it warm!
                                                         Peach Cobbler
          3/4 cup flour
           Less than 1/8 teaspoon salt
           2 teaspoons baking powder
           1 3/4 cups sugar                                           

           3/4 cup milk


           1/2 cup butter


           3 cups sliced fresh peaches

         
     Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Mix with 1 1/2 cups sugar. Slowly stir in milk. Melt butter in 8-by-8-by-2-inch pan (a larger pan makes a thinner crust). Pour batter over butter; do not stir. Lay peaches on batter. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar or less. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serves 6.

Roasted Squash Soup

I found a recipe for Roasted Squash Soup in one of my Rachel Ray magazines, and since we had some squash from our garden that I had no idea what to do with, I decided to give it a try. It turned out great. Trevor loved it! He wants me to make more and freeze it. One of the ingredients is cinnamon and it makes the soup amazing! We dunked our grilled ham and cheese in it and that was even better. Trevor is not a dunker so I know that he must have really like it. So if you have extra squash you don't know what to do with, make this!
      ROASTED SQUASH SOUP
2 onions quartered
1lb squash, cubed
1/2-1 tsp. crushed red peppers (optional)
1/4 cup EVOO
salt and pepper
1 qt. chicken broth
2 tbs. brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 heavy cream
On a baking sheet, toss onions, squash, crushed red peppers, EVOO, salt and pepper; roast at 450 for 20 minutes. Warm broth in a saucepan over medium heat; add veggies, brown sugar, and cinnamon; puree. Stir in cream. This makes 6 cups.
*I added some garlic powder and a tad bit more cream.

Trevor's 30th Birthday/Park City

August 27 was Trevor's 30th birthday. We were going to Park City, Utah Thursday-Saturday so I wouldn't have time to make a cake. So I decided to make a homemade chocolate cake with chocolate cheesecake frosting and celebrate on Wednesday night. The cake was very good except that I should have added more cocoa powder to the actual cake. He loved it so that's all that matters :) I got him a remote controlled helicopter. He loves it! He has been wanting one for a long time now. Him and his dad, who also has one, had a landing competition. Of course, Trevor won.
Park City wasn't as fun as we hoped it would be, but we still had a good time. We both love that place a lot. If you ever go there go to the restaurant Squatters. It is SO good. They have the best artichoke cheese dip. We haven't had a lot of there items, but everything looks amazing and everything that we have had is delicious.

Primary Experience

Today at church, I got asked to teach one of the junior primary classes because the teachers hadn't shown up. I was a little nervous since I didn't even know what I was going to teach about. But it turned out to be a great spiritual experience for me and the kids. We learned about the betrayal, arrest, and trial of Christ. None of the kids had heard about it, so they listened intently. They started asking about baptisms for the dead, if Christ and God were married, why satan wasn't ugly with horns (made me laugh that they thought this), it was a lesson lead by the Spirit. Then, in singing time, I had a great personal experience. I have been teaching the Sunbeams and 3 year olds for awhile now and I can't handle it sometimes. It really bothered me since I want to be an Elementary teacher, but I kept thinking,"How can I be a teacher when I can't handle teaching kids?" But today when teaching those older kids (8-10), it was a wonderful time. We had so much fun joking while learning. I realized that I was making the right choice by going into teaching for 4-6 graders. It was a great blessing that I am very grateful for. I am glad that my Savior listens and answers the pleadings in my heart and prayers.

Yummy Brownies

Trevor and I were going over to his parent's house for dinner and I wanted to make some brownies. I got this recipe off of my favorite food website, Food.com, and they are always super yummy! Here is the recipe so you can impress your in-laws (or anybody else :) ).
             
Best Brownies in the World
1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt butter and mix with the cocoa until the cocoa has dissolved.

Then mix everything else together in the same bowl.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, but it could be more or less depending on your oven.

Don't over bake! They will turn out dry.

 *For a 9x13 pan, double the recipe.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/whatever-floats-your-boat-brownies-32204#ixzz1VcJkH400

My First Post!

This is my very first post on my very first blog. So exciting! I can't wait to really get this thing going!