We went on a hunting trip this weekend, but not like many of you, I am sure. Deron isn't much of an "outdoor" kind of guy anymore. He likes to shoot guns and target practice, but as far as going out into the wild and chasing after the big 4 legged creatures, he isn't in to that. So we took a trip to the city and while we were there the guys drug us off to Cabela's. Not that we minded looking at the "museum" 

of stuffed animals and aquatic fish, but they told us that we were going to be there for 2 hours. So we drug our feet into the store and started taking pictures and actually had a really fun time. After browsing around for awhile, we came to realize that just about any animal out there in the wilderness is being stalked by someone, somewhere...to hopefully be a trophy!  I don't think there was an animal that we didn't see. And BIG...I didn't realize that moose and elk could get so large, even the deer. It was a fun family trip and we made it home from our hunting trip without any "wild game meat" to worry about. Hope that you all had just as fun as we did. 

Martha Stewart Wanna Be

 I found this recipe for Apple Fritters and then I put my own twists and changes to it! I made them up and tested them on my unsuspecting family for dessert tonight after they ate dinner... and everyone loved them. So I am renaming them~ 

"Apple Hush Puppies"

2 c. Flour

2/3 c. sugar

2 t. salt

1 t. Cinnamon 

1 T baking powder

2/3 c. milk

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. finely chopped apples, with or without peelings-your preference

For Glaze: 1 c powder sugar, milk

Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the milk and egg, then beat it until its smooth. Fold in the chopped apples. Drop by teaspoon (just a teaspoon) into hot oil, about 1-2 inches deep. You don't want the oil too hot or it will cook the outside well before the inside of the hush puppy. Cook until nicely browned. Make the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with just enough milk to make the glaze runny. Serve warm with glaze or with maple syrup. 

*I had to keep watch on them and turn them several times so that they wouldn't burn. Also it helps to have a fork handy to sort of push the puffy insides down so they will cook. Let me know what you think if you try them out. Happy eating!!

Time for change

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...everywhere I went. 

I was taking my daily walk hoping to get a few good pictures of our little town in the midst of Autumn. But as pretty as I think that Duchesne is in the Spring and Summer...it is ugly in the Fall. All of our leaves turn an ugly brown or yellow. There aren't really any pretty reds and oranges, just yellow and brown, all around us. After a great disappointment with my lack of colorful pictures, I continued on my walk toward the cemetery, up the Indian Canyon Highway. I was just nearing the top of the hill and saw what looked like ice in the cemetery...yep, some city worker used our tax payer money to water an already dying lawn and yet left quite an ice sculpture for me to enjoy on such an ugly day. The contrast of seasons here was quite remarkable. Several people driving down the canyon came to a screeching halt to stop and take pictures as well. It really was kind of pretty. 

I guess the sign I saw coming up the hill should be changed...at least for today, and read

 "From October 1st instead of November 1st...after all, you would have needed snow tires in the cemetery today. 

It's an Antique!!!

We got an antique piano (its over 100 years old) from one of our neighbors who was moving. It took many a tough boys and alot of sweat and pain, but it is officially in our dining

 room now. It had been sitting in the neighbors garage for about 16 years, and hasn't been played for much longer than that. The dust bunnies were thick and the work has seemed endless...and most likely I haven't even touched the surface, but....I worked tirelessly and cleaned the dirt and grime from it only to find that it had been partially sanded and prepared for refinishing. That was alot more than I wanted to take on at the moment so...I continued to clean and then I stained it and made it look a little better than it did when we got it. Some of the strings (wires?) are broken so the keys don't play, some of the ivory is off of the keys and it needs some tuning, but after that has all been repaired, I think we will have a really nice, useable, antique that we can love forever and pass down to our children...most likely Halle since she is the only one in the family that plays. I am really excited to have another antique to add to my collection, however a small collection that it might be, if you know me very well, you know that I love and adore antiques and antique shopping~anyway that is another story all by itself. Halle is super excited to have a real piano to play on (someday in the future as it still has to be fixed) since she has been faithfully practicing and playing on an electric keyboard. She is excited to learn how to use the floor pedals and have a longer set of keys to play. I can't wait to have it tuned and listen to her play her heart out! The first 4 photos are the completed project and the last 3 photos are of when I was staining it, because I forgot to get an actual picture of what it looked like when we brought it into the house...so you just get to see the "work in progress" pictures. 

Our Drive~

Halle and I took a drive over to Evanston Wyoming on Friday with Deron, who had to do some things over there. I have only been to Evanston three times in my life, once when I was about 10-11, once on a drill team trip, and once with my dad and stepmom on our way to yellowstone. Needless to say its not a place I care to visit, its ugly and there is nothing to do there. 

We drove around "historical main street" which took about 2 minutes, there was nothing there, I guess that's what makes it historical. We finally found a river walk and got out and stretched our legs. It was a really nice sidewalk path that ran along side a river and also a small lake right in town. It must have gone down through a good part of town, which we did not walk, but what we saw was really pretty. There were several joggers, and walkers on the path, so I am sure its well used. There were signs every once in awhile that talked about different animals or birds that you might be able to see while on the trail, we didn't see any, but I am sure in the spring and possibly the summer, that it would be fun to walk along and see the beavers and woodpeckers and baby ducks that live there. We did see a magpie, but we get to hear and see those daily as they perch on our fence and squawk. It was a nice little trip just spending time with each other.

We saw all the leaves that had changed up over the top of Daniels Summit and through Strawberry, which were beautiful. I took pictures to share, but they don't do it justice, because they were so much prettier in person. 

Here are a few if my favorite things...

Do you have a favorite smell? I get those fun emails once in awhile that have those fun questions on it that you answer and send to your friends and they answer and send them back. They give you insight into each others lives?! You know the ones that I am talking about. One of the questions is: "What is your favorite smell?" After pondering and really thinking about it, I thought to myself, "I have a lot of favorite smells and the reason they are favorite's is because they remind me of something good in my life or they make me happy." So here are a few of my favorite smells:

1. The smell of the earth right after a thunderstorm

2. The smell of fresh cut grass on a brisk evening

3. The smell of fresh baked apple pie

4. The smell of a baby all lathered up with lotion and ready for bed

5. The smell of lilacs

6. The smell of roast cooking in the oven when I get home from church

7. The smell of clean sheets that have dried on the clothesline

8. The smell of new carpet and freshly painted walls...yep you've got it...a new house smell

9. The smell of a clean house

10. The smell of fresh baked bread

11. The smell of money (bills, not coins)

12. The smell of diesel exhaust

13. The smell of cookies baking in the oven

14. The smell of a christmas tree in my house

15. The smell of spring

That is just to name a few, and today I thought I would freshen my house up with one of my favorite smells...homemade bread. 

It's over

So our garden has probably seen its last veggies and fruit for the season. The weather is supposed to turn off cold in the next few days and everything is going to freeze. Our tomato's didn't do very well this year. I was able to can several things, spaghetti sauce and enchilada sauce, but I could have done a lot more if more tomato's would have grown. Our raspberries have just now started coming on great, so I am not ready for them to freeze yet. I would love to have them last clear through the winter (wow, wouldn't that be nice)...but not here, that's not going to happen. I have wondered why it is that I am so excited all summer to get the produce from my garden and then when it really starts to come on, I am going crazy and want it to stop, and then when its going to stop, I want it to grow some more. Do you do the same thing? I think that I get so overwhelmed with all of the produce and the canning and trying to do it all, on top of what I already have to do...you know that day to day stuff, like laundry, dishes, cleaning, yard work (mowing, weeding..etc..) and the running here and there with the kids, appointments and all of that...its just crazy. But I hate to let any of our bounteous blessing go to waste, so I wear myself ragged trying to do it all. But hey, isn't that what mom's are supposed to do?