Trick-Or-Treat

Last night we went to our annual Mickey's Trick-or-Treat party at Disneyland. Some years we dress up and some we don't. This year, this (the photo below) was the inspiration for our costumes! Woody & Bo Peep, from Toy Story.

The Toy Story rides have always been our favorites and with the movie release in 3D and the new one coming out, it seemed like the perfect costumes for us! Since it is next to impossible to find a woman's costume that is even close to modest, I decided I would dust off my sewing machine and have a go at making our costumes this year! It went SO much better than I was expecting, and it was so much fun to do. Now, I am looking for another project to fill this void now that I am done with these! =)

After we ate dinner, we went over to go on the Toy Story Mania ride and found that they had a Toy Story set up to take photos with the characters. I was SO excited about this!

They were all very much in character and interacting with us as if we were in the movie. It was really cute! A little boy came up to them in a Buzz Lightyear outfit, and the toy soldiers talked with him as if he was their leader. Of course the little boy was so delighted! =)

They had all the creepy characters out!

The Trick-Or-Treat stops

They had these dance areas, where you could party with the characters =)

The decorations are always fun

No Woody costume would be complete without a pull string. Every once in a while I would tug on it and Brody would do one of Woody's sayings! Ha! =) "There's a snake in my boot", "Reach for the sky!", "You're my favorite Deputy" and many more. =) My favorite part of the outfit.

Brody walking over a big pumpkin =)

Tower of Terror. A great Halloween ride!

Spider web over the big bear

Brody dancing---a bit hard to see--but that is what you are seeing =)

Bo Peep Hooking Woody! We had SO much fun, got lots of candy, went on lots of rides (and on CA Screaming my hair did not move even a little bit it was so hair sprayed---I was so happy to wash it all out and feel my hair move again! haha =) and got a TON of really nice comments about our costumes. And by the time we got home it was 46* outside! So cold! It was such a great night!!

Welcome home AD!!

It seems like just yesterday Brody and I went to the MTC to see AD off on her mission to Manchester New Hampshire. It was such a neat experience to be there with her, the Foy's and Grandma Shannon--and go through that process of seeing the video (which I hear they don't do anymore), hearing from people at the MTC, and saying good-bye along with hundreds of other people in this huge room.

It's amazing how fast time goes. In what feels like a flash, we were taking another trip out out to see her, but this time---to welcome her home!!

This was on our way to AZ, and probably one of my favorite photos in awhile, I was laughing for like 30 miles or so. We love road trips!!

Isn't he the cutest hitchhiker you have ever seen? =)

Sadly I didn't get too many photos. But I did get some when us "kids" (Brody, me, AD, Brooks and Nikki) all went out to breakfast at 'Joe's Farm House', the morning we all left for home.

We took family photos here a couple years ago at Thanksgiving, and I thought it would be fun to take a couple at the same place now that she is home. What a cute bunch! =)

...and they like to have fun...

...and the guys love having their sister home!

It was really fun to see them all together again! =)

It's great to have her home, and we had a great time in AZ visiting with her and the family! We are so glad she had such a great mission. We all had the opportunity to listen to her bare her testimony this past Sunday, and you can feel such a strong spirit from her, just listing to her we knew even more what an amazing missionary she was, and through her stories we know she touched many lives for the better and was such a strong tool in the New Hampshire Mission in bringing forth the Lords work. She is such a great example to all, and you know she has such wonderful things ahead of her! We love you AD! =)

"rainy day" fun

We had some rain this week---and Wednesday morning two things came to mind when I woke up, baking (for some reason when it's cold and rainy it makes me want to bake all day long) and Disneyland (the park is usually pretty empty on rainy days...the perfect time to go beat the crowds that have been showing up lately....plus, it's just fun to be out in that weather) =). Since it was the middle of the week we had to work, but we went up right after. By the time we got there the sky's had started to clear up and it was warming up a bit, but the crowds were still away (we got to park on the first level). Perfect, just what we were hoping for!

And it was still all wet from the rain that had just gone by. It was such a pretty day to be there! =)

On Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy again! It was SO much faster this time, my earrings and my hair were flying straight up and all around......we love it! For some reason this ride makes us both laugh so hard during it...and after for a bit =) This is a must ride!

Most of the lines were just 5 to 10mins...and we waited maybe 20 for Space Mountain. It was a really fun night! We have had some great timing for D-land trips lately. *happy sigh* We love rainy days! =)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

When we got home I made these yummy little things. They were so fun and easy to make. And Brody said they tasted just like the ones his Grandma used to make....that made me and my cookies feel pretty darn good, for my first run at making cookies from scratch! It was a lot of fun...so much, I still have a baking itch... =)

They look good too, huh?

and here is the recipe...

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (I added half a can more, for more flavor)
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I also doubled the spices for more flavor...your choice...add to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet (also added an extra 1/2 cup of chips) =)
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Enjoy!

Signs of Fall

(We have these great trees that line the one of the main roads on the way to and from our house, and they actually change colors in the Fall. They have just started to turn, and we love it! This one always catches my eye because of the red stripe down the left of it. =) Soon, they will all be changing!)

Fall is here

and this is how I know...

- My feet are cold

- I had to put a sweatshirt on today IN my apartment (disclaimer: I do get cold easier than most, but my sweatshirts were starting to collect some dust---and we like the windows open at lest a bit, we are fans of fresh air =)

- The Pumpkin patches are all set up

- Tonight I added our knit blanket to our bedding. One of the best things about this time of year is being all cozyed up in blankets

- If you know where to look you can start seeing some leaves change, and they will just get better =)

- The days are getting shorter

- When we walked outside this evening I was hit with the unmistakable cold, crisp breeze that fall brings, and I LOVED it. (and I am pretty sure it has a cool crisp smell that goes with it)

- I have the urge to make warm comfort foods, carve pumpkins, roast the pumpkins seeds, drink hot coco, wear scarves (light ones...it is CA after all), get out my UGG's, throw around the football & look forward to all the fun Holidays ahead! =)

- and so much more! It's a wonderful time of year!!

(more NEW pots below)

"I feel the need, the need for speed"

Our first Air Show (in MANY years) was last year, and we were hooked. It was so much fun to be back again--I just LOVE watching those planes, we could watch them all day! It is amazing what they can do, and how fast they can go ( I love anything that can break the sound barrier), I can't take my eyes off of them. =)

We had a blast watching the different planes showing off what they can do, climbing around the planes that were on display and learning what role each plane plays in helping defend our country! This year was SO crowed (must have been a successful weekend for them =), we couldn't even get a seat in the grandstands and there were tons of people all over the planes, made it sort of hard to get a lot of photos like last year, but boy did we have fun---how could you not at an Air Show!? =)

Here are some photos of day

My favorite moment of the Blue Angels, was when one of them went from left to right breaking the sound barrier, THEN very unexpectedly one came from behind the stands breaking the sound barrier right over us! It freaked me out, but I loved it!!

We liked this little motto below... =)

It was such a fun day! Can't wait till next year!! =)