Halloween's A Changin'

We're discovering that Halloween is changing since we only have one trick or treater left. Fortunately we went to the trunk or treat party so that Mariah could get a whole bunch of candy quickly. No more door to door trick or treating when there's just one. Instead we're home watching "The Bridge to Terabithia." Now that is a cute show!

Happy Halloween!

Like always, I got to celebrate Halloween a little early with the preschoolers. I have such great kids this year that it completely amazes me. Preschool is GOOD. Our favorite part of the day is going all around USU and knocking on every door we see and surprising them as we come trick or treating. Here we are in a Family Finance class. Oh, they sure appreciate a break from that boring lecture! HA

Oh yeah, I dressed up as a hippie and the preschoolers had no clue as to what I was. Many of them came and asked me, "What are you dressed up as?" Well, how do you explain what a hippie is to a 4 year old. They were kind enough to listen to my explanation and then simply would give me a compassionate smile and walk away.

Dave was a little disappointed that I only gave him Pixie Stix to pass out but the kids didn't care. Those were the only treats that I knew he wouldn't eat before the kids got there!

Not Fred's Backup Boy Anymore...

Bo has worked long and hard to finally get his chance to be the lead guitar player in the Jazz Band. Last night he finally got his turn. He spent last year "apprenticing" with the lead guitarist and was basically known as "Fred's backup boy." Tonight he mentioned that he was glad that he was NOT Fred's backup boy anymore! Go BO! Eating mush for an entire school year to pay for that guitar is paying off!

If you didn't know better, you would think that playing the guitar was pure torture for Bo. Look at that face. But look at his buddy guitarist. He has the same expression too. I guess it's like putting on your 'game face.' This is the way that you show that you really love this stuff...while still maintaining your COOLNESS.

Mariah's Halloween Recital

I Have a Life

Yesterday Dave asked Cado to help him work outside. Cado has usually been quite cooperative when it comes to working with Dave. He is gradually showing his 'teenage spirit' and becoming less cooperative though. When Dave asked him to work, Cado said, "Dad you have to realize that now I have a life!"

Aunt Lorie's Apple Dip

Here's the latest great recipe find. Lorie brought this to the Law family gathering last week and it was an amazing hit. I just made it for company tonight and they were equally impressed!

Apple Caramel Dip

1 8oz cream cheese
2 c. powdered sugar
1 bottle Mrs. Richardson's caramal. (This is the thick caramel topping that you find by all of the ice cream toppings at the grocery store.)
Crumbled Heath or Butterfinger candybar

Pour half the caramel on a plate.
Mix the powdered sugar and cream cheese and spread it on top of the caramel sauce.
Put the rest of the caramel sauce on top of that.
Spreak the crumbled candybar over it all.
Cut up apples and dip them in! YUMMY!

Bigger Whoops!

Deedle's not in the doghouse. Oh no. The animal shelter has no idea why they were on our caller id and say that they have no dogs that match his description. That's even worse news for Deedle. What this means for him in Roosevelt, is that he has either been:
1. Shot by someone.
2. Adopted by someone.
3. Hit by a car by someone.
4. Or still running!
When we tell Dayton is our dilemna, although I don't think that he will be too surprised. Who knows, maybe he'll end up in Texas!

Whoops, We Think Deedle's In the Doghouse!

No Deedle, and a caller id phone number from the Uintah County Humane Society, are making us think that Dayton's dog, Deedle, is in the doghouse...literally. He's in trouble. But, heck, he's been there before, he should feel right at home. That's how Dayton got him. Now we have to wonder how he ended up in Vernal and what it's going to cost to get him out. Too bad he had that microchip that identified who he belonged to.

Orangeville Apple Days

Every fall we have an apple day in Orangeville. What this means is that we all work together to make grandpa's and grandma's apples into the most delicious apple juice in the world. Everyone has a job and we found that we can get 30 gallons of apple juice done in 2 hours.

Here's Bo on the apple press and Cado has been the official jug filler since he was 8! There are not as many bugs in it as there used to be. Way to go Cado.
It was Shaylie's (middle) mission farewell today. She is the second of the "three cousins in a row" to go. She is heading to Columbus, Ohio.

We're Doing Some More Betting!

I haven't ever blogged about the wonderful group of people that we get to have dinner with once a month. We have been having dinner with this group for 5 years now, but you'd be amazed to know that THEY have been having "once a month" dinners for over 25 years! Isn't that amazing? We don't really know how we we lucky enough to get to be a part of it, but we do feel lucky.

This past week it was at our house and needless to say, someone noticed that we have a sticky ball stuck to the ceiling of our family room. I've actually forgotten it was there. Cayden threw it there a month ago and it still hasn't fallen off. Well that's a betting opportunity just staring us in the face so that's what we did. So the bet is: When will the sticky ball fall? Here are the guesses:
Garners: December 25
Sandra Weight: Thanksgiving
Hullinger's: October 31 (because morticians love that day!)
Timothy's: Memorial Day
Law's: Election Day
John Weight: Pearl Harbor Day

You Look Like Carrie

The other day I was sitting on the recliner and working on my new laptop from Dayton. Cado walked by and said, "Mom, you look just like Carrie!" Hum, that's when I decided that I better practice taking pictures of myself as well. So far, so good! These laptops are quite handy!

Deedle's Living the Good Life

The other day we saw that the dog bed had been brought out of the garage onto the driveway in the warm sun. We soon realized that HE was the one that had dragged the bed out there. That is a dog who is not afraid of luxury.
Here he is in Mariah's room. He likes to sneak in the house and then sneak away to any secluded place and hope that we don't discover him for a very long time.

We Think He Got It In On Time

Dave has been working for about a year on a proposal for a large grant for his work at USU. He is working with 2 other professors that he's known since his BYU days. We've known this deadline was coming but, like most things, one works better...or at least faster...under stress. Dave had been burning the midnight oil for the last few weeks and this past week he has had many 3 a.m. mornings where he is either going to work, or coming home from work.

The proposals had to be in by 5 p.m. today. Dave got a frantic phone call at 4:30 that something was still not finished so he ran back to work and they are all just hoping and praying that when they pushed SEND...it was before the 5 p.m. deadline!!!

Listen To Mom!

We are having such a great time receiving Dayton's missionary letters. He is having a wonderful experience in the MTC. This past letter he gave some wonderful advice. He told Bo to really pay attention in seminary and memorize those scriptures. He told Cado to read the scriptures A LOT! He told Roo that she was already so amazingly smart in the gospel and he told Dave to get the sink done in the bathroom! He also told Dave to "listen to Mom!" (He even included the exclamation mark) I really liked that advice. I think I will frame it! Dayton didn't give me any advice. Guess I don't need any!

Fall Soccer is Finished! WHEW!

Fall soccer finished up yesterday. Good thing, because it sounds like the winter storms are coming. It was a fun season. Dave was Mariah's coach, which ended up as me being Mariah's coach because Dave had to teach. She had a great team so that made the coaching job pretty easy. My task was to try to move the kids around so they wouldn't score so much on the other team!

Dayton coached Bo's team and he was the liveliest coach around. He loved it when his team didn't have enough members because then he could go in and play! Most coaches did not have that much energy!

Cayden had the only "non-family" coach. He held his own just fine, but still would have liked to have Dayton be his coach again.

A Great Recipe for Dayton's Cookies

Dayton isn't around to make his famous chocolate chip cookies anymore so I thought I'd post this recipe so that anyone can make them and send him some. We know that boy does not cook when he is away from home!

Dayton's Cookies

1 pound butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. packed brown sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
5 c. flour
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. soda
chocolate chips

Mix butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour, salt and soda and mix well. Add chocolate chips. Bake on greased cookie sheet. Oven temperature 350. Time 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. These will actually look "not quite done" when you take them out.

A Great Recipe for Scones (Especially for Indian Tacos)

I have learned that in the Basin, we don't call these tacos Navajo tacos. The Ute Tribe lives in this area and I asked a member of the tribe if they call these tacos, Navajo tacos. She told me that they call them "Indian Tacos," thus I have changed the name.

Indian Taco Scones

2 T. yeast
1/2 c. water
Dissolve yeast in water


1 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
Scald these four ingredients together.

6 c. flour
2 eggs

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 c. water. Add the cooled, milk mixture to the yeast. Add 3 cups flour and 2 eggs. Add the rest of the flour and mix. Let rise. Roll out on floured cloth and cut into scones. Let rise again. Cook in hot oil until browned.

For Indian Tacos top with:
Chili, cut lettuce, chopped onions, cheese, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, ranch dressing and salsa

A Great Recipe for French Dip SandwichesT

Thanks to Ginger R. I have discovered the greatest way to make a quick supper that my family loves. This is how simple it is.

French Dip Sandwiches

Crossaint Rolls (Spelling?)
Sliced roast beef (From the deli)
Sliced swiss cheese

Slice the crossaint rolls and lay on a cookie sheet. Put roast beef on each roll. Place a slice of swiss cheese on each. Broil in oven until the cheese melts. Take out. Fold sandwiches together and dip in aus juice. (You can buy aus juice packets or you can simply use beef bouillon.

A Great Recipe for Fresh Salsa

Fresh Salsa

5 large tomatoes
5 medium jalapeno peppers (seeds removed)
2 green bell peppers
2 medium onions
5 cloves garlic

Chop all vegetables very fine. Drain off excess liquid. Add 2 T. sugar and 1 T. salt. Mix and refridgerate.

A Great Recipe for Chicken and Rice Soup

I just thought that I'd post some recipes that people really love. This is my latest find. It goes in as one of my all time favorite soups! Everyone else seems to agree.

Chicken Rice Soup
3-5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 c. chopped celery
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cups uncooked rice (I like to add some wild rice)
1 t. chicken bouillon
2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 1/2 c. water
1 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
6 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine garlic,celery, onions, rice, bouillon, broth and water. Boil. Reduce heat and cook 30 minutes.
2. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Slowly add the flour and stir. Add milk and stir until thickened. Add this and the chicken to the rice mixture and cook on low. Add salt and pepper to taste.

It's a "Good Hard"

Maria called last night and described the culmination of this day in the most perfect way. She said, "It's a good hard." That is exactly what this day was for us. Putting on Dayton's missionary nametag was a gloriously, painful moment.

He sure looks cute with that nametag though!
This was our final family picture before we went down the hall to the chapel. Notice the red eyes.

The MTC

We made it to the MTC at about 12:15. It was such a beautiful day. I like the fact that we aren't doing all of this in the cold winter months.



Dayton looks ready!
We were all teary-eyed and then something funny must have happened. I can't remember what it was, but it lightened the moment!

Heading to the MTC

We were ready to leave for the MTC this morning at 7:00 a.m. Dayton delayed us a bit though because he had to make sure he got one more "fence visit" in with Whitney before he left.

We got to Orem in time to find Dayton a bike. Nothing like leaving things to the last minute. The bike salesman suggested that the next time we have a missionary we come a month or two earlier! Dayton tested out the bikes and chose the one he wanted. He looks pretty good!

They packed up the bike and now I have to mail it. Dayton told me to mail it TODAY! He is always a little nervous that I won't get these errands done.
Our lunch at Olive Garden. Usually the kids tank down the breadsticks and pasta. Today none of us ate that much.

The Last Supper

Fonduing is a family tradition that we have and fortunately the Whitings have caught on to that tradition as well. So, we had our last fondue supper together on Monday. We called it the Last Supper because I knew I would NOT have time to cook anything on Tuesday!
I think that Dayton is still trying to give Whitney "the eye" even when she is not looking.

Will We Have to Change Our Blog Name?

Our big Happy Hogs got loaded up into this trailer on Sunday. Big is an understatement. Our boar weighs about 900 pounds and our sows weigh about 600 pounds. We were amazed that they all fit inside this. It provided great entertainment for all those city folks who came out to Dayton's farewell, as we loaded them up. That trailer was just rocking and Bert (the boar) had the fullest respect from everyone! It was a sad moment for Dave.
DeeAnne and Marion are now the proud owners of those big pigs. I think DeeAnne already feels some of the stress that comes with owning HOGS!
We were just relieved to hear that they made it home safely to Star Valley. They only had one breakdown along the way. Now, those hogs really should be happy in beautiful Bedford and they'll get to eat all the organic produce they want.

A Full House for Dayton's Farewell

We had such a wonderful day for Dayton's farewell.
We had over 100 people come and eat after. I prayed we'd have enough food and we did! We had ribs, cornbread and salads.
One of our friends looked over at Bo and declared that he was a chick magnet!
The Johnson family.

Grandpa Law and Grandpa Call.
Some of the Call Family.
A table full of Dayton's friends.
Lots of Laws!


This was a hungry bunch!
Dayton's friends from Logan. Morgan, Chet, Dayton, Michelle, Stephanie, Sarah, and Lynsie.