Blast from the Past: Thanksgiving 2011 Part 2

Here are some other happenings from Thanksgiving Break 2011:

We took LL1 and LL2 to see the Jolly Old Elf the day after Thanksgiving. Although LL1 met him last year, he had time to reconsider how scary all that jolliness can be. He had no trouble letting Santa know how he felt.

He quickly recovered when Santa gave him a bag that was chucked full of candy.  He enjoyed the trip to the old fire truck much better.

He found red suited the truck much better.

LL2 had never met him before so she breezed through her visit.

Mom and I went to Salt Lake one evening for a birthday celebration and made a quick stop at Temple Square.

I snapped a few pics of Loo's family for her (don't worry, I am not tempted to go into the family portrait business):

FarmerDad and FarmerBoy worked on the combine with help from LL1, LL2 and Loo:

After the train ride, LL1 figured out Gramps had connections to
all the big, fun toys.  He decided Gramps his best buddy.

LL1 may have spent some of the time more interested
in finding and examining ears of corn.

Loo and LL2 watched from a little ways back.

LL1 loved raking and playing with the leaves so everyone got to spend some time with him doing that.

Also, over the course of the visit, Loo made this dress for LL2:

Even at 4 months LL2 seems to care about fashion.
Good luck with that, Loo. 

Blast from the Past: Thanksgiving 2011 Part 1a

In the first post I had problems uploading a video of the train pulling into town.  I thought the nieces and nephews might like to watch it so I kept trying.  I hope this works. . . 

Blast from the Past: Thanksgiving 2011 Part 1 a.k.a. I Choo Choo Choose You

The day before Thanksgiving and old steam engine stopped in town so we all went to see it.  It was the last steam engine (and, possibly passenger train) that Union Pacific made.  It was taking a round-about way back to Omaha after being in Arizona and New Mexico for their state centennials.  Of course, we had to take pictures:

 

Then, we found out they were letting people ride it.  However, the next stop would be 70 miles away and anyone who rode it would need to have someone pick them up at that stop.  We decided we could make that work (Thanks Mom!).  LL1, who had been ignoring 'Gramps' for most of the visit thus far, found a good reason to spend some quality time with grandpa.

FarmerDad, FarmerBoy, LL1, AuntC, and I boarded the train for the adventure.  We thought UncleD would want to join us too but, he was nowhere to be found.  Before we left, Moo jumped on to give us a bag filled with snacks and activities to keep LL1 entertained only to be told by the conductor that they had closed the doors, were leaving the station, and she had now had to take the trip.  She took the news quite well.

As we left town we located Uncle D heading back to the cars from way down the road.  

That's UncleD

There was nothing we could do but enjoy our ride at that point so we did.

Everyone had fun.  LL1 loved the train and most of the ride we did not need the bag other than for snacks.  He divided his time between all of us (although, FarmerDad thinks that the way I took pictures shows that LL1 spent way more time with him than he actually did.  Oh, well.  History is written by the vict. . . er. . . those who record it).

Pointing out Gran' and Gramps' home and farm.

Sitting w/ Gramps gave him a better view of the passing train.

Here's proof LL1 spent time with others of us too:

Here he is with Aunt Moo

And again, this time waving to people along the way.

He loved my hat

We also were able to see places from views we normally do not get to:

We only get to see the graffiti that faces the road.

We saw gorgeous views too.

October

Duh expressed interest in posts about recent events so here is a rundown of most of our October adventures:

Just after my birthday we went for a drive through Snoqualmie Pass and over to Thorp.  We wandered around a barn there.  The bottom sells fruit and other local produce, like pumpkins.  The top two levels house an antiques mall.  I thought about getting mom another metal plunger (you know, that thing she claims was used to help wash laundry back in the day) but decided she already gets enough flack for the one she owns.

It was a beautiful drive and on the way back Greg snapped a few pictures while I drove (on the way there he drove and I dozed.  What a surprise, right?).  Taking photos from a moving vehicle does not do the scenery justice but here is a glimpse at what we saw:

*****

One week for FHE we decided to make candy corn, which was funny since we had both admitted that we did not like the stuff.  However, we had watched an old episode of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" where he stated that people who think candy corn is gross probably think that because they have only ever had the kind that is mass produced and sold in stores.  We were curious so we set out on our first candy making adventure.

We concluded that homemade candy corn is WAAAAAAAAY better than store bought versions.  Quality control was one of our favorite parts of the process.

Our final product never quite set up (we're not sure if that was due to beginners' mistakes or the humidity where we live) and turned out looking like candy slugs.  We were quite pleased with the results anyway and are considering making this an annual tradition.

I shaped a few to look more like traditional candy corn

*****

We were invited to a chili cook-off.  Wanting to save money, I decided that we would stick mainly with ingredients we had on hand.  I found a recipe online for black bean and sweet potato chili.  It was a vegetarian recipe (meat is pricey so it was even more cost effective) but, I guess subconsciously, I thought it should include some meat.  While chopping the sweet potatoes I ended up cutting off a chunk of my thumb.

I caught what had happened right away and was able to keep the end result vegetarian.  I think if I ever make it again I would add hamburger.

*****

The last Saturday of the month, Greg and I headed out to a pumpkin patch.  We thought about getting only one but then realized that meant we would have to agree on a design when we carved it.

He makes his look light; it wasn't.

I was lucky and got to cut the pumpkin I picked off the vine.  Since it was late in the month, most the pumpkins left in the patch had already been clipped off by previous visitors.

Holding a pumpkin with both hands
because I am not as strong.

*****

We carved our pumpkins on the 30th but I did not end up taking any pictures.  Greg chose a classic jack-o-lantern face and I wished I had.  I was excited to use a scraper tool that came in the kit we bought.  I scraped the top to look like tree branches but when I put my candle in the pumpkin you couldn't see my design.  I scraped deeper and tried again.  Still nothing.  I should have thought my decision through more.  The pumpkin walls were too thick - about 2 inches - so I gave up and carved, "Happy Halloween".  That turned out to be quite a work out (again, thanks to how thick the walls were).  I was sweating by the time I finished the last letter which amused Greg (who had been done carving his pumpkin for over 30 minutes by that time).

*****

Our first Halloween together was spent preparing for and attending the ward party.  I was asked to help with it so, by default, Greg was too.  By the time we left the festivities, we were ready to go home and crash and that is what we did.

Blast from the Past: June 2011 AKA Why was there a 'Sportscaster' at that Event?

My last post on the poker commentary got me thinking (but not very deep - did you read the commentary highlights?), "Why was there a sportscaster at the event?"  Sadly, I realized that this would only be #3 on my 'Why was there a Sportscaster at this event?' list.  So what ones beat it out?

#2  Dodgeball Tournament June 2005*
The 'sportscasters' were going crazy with their electronic pens.  Now, when there is only one ball (as is the case with 98% of ball sports.  Although, that number may be off; I'm not quite sure where to include rhythmic gymnastics) you know the commentators are using their pens to illustrate actual points say, trajectory or showing better passing routes.  When there are several balls being thrown at once, the commentators are only using those pens to see fast they can draw 10 lines.

#1  National Spelling Bee appx 2003
Backstage after one of the kids had been eliminated from the competition he was approached by a sportscaster and asked, "How do you feel knowing that last year you got out on a French-based word and this year, your last year to compete, you were once again defeated by a French-based word?"  Come on - the kid was in middle school.  I hope the 'sportscaster' had to pay for any therapy the kid needed after that.

Can you think of any that should be on this list?

*I only know when it was because I saw it when my mom picked me up from the mission.

Blast from the Past: June 2011 A.K.A. It's Hotter than the Sahara During Heat Wave

So I'm hanging out with a friend right now. He's watching poker on TV while I'm updating my blog. Every now and then I catch some of the commentary. Let me tell you, it is special. I'd hate for you miss out on any of the award winning comments just because you weren't watching. Ready?

He's blowing up like my prostate!

He's hotter than my cousin's gold Rolex!

That's got to hurt like a Brazilian wax!

He's hotter than a cup of coffee at McDonald's.

Give him some butter because he's on a roll.

Comments specifically made about a man whose nickname was 'The Toilet':

'The Toilet' has overflowed!

Once again 'The Toilet' is running smooth.

'The Toilet' has got some fresh Tidy Bowl in his game.

The king has regained his throne!

Later on it got really exciting. It got so exciting that one of the players, as he stated himself, "may have snapped [his] ACL." No joke. He spent the rest of the game icing his knee with his leg propped up.