Welcome to the family

We'd like to introduce you to our new little nephew KEAGAN. My sister was induced yesterday morning and Keagan came a few hours later. She said it was a really fast and easy delivery. In fact she stayed at the hospital last night and was back home sometime today. At first I thought she was insane going home so soon, but she's got lots of family visiting, which means plenty of helping hands. Besides, Elden and Bennett can't get enough of Keagan, and I'm sure they will be more than willing to hold him for mommy.Keagan wasn't the only addition we had to our family yesterday. A few hours after talking to my sister on the phone we got a phone call telling us that Chad's brother and his wife had just had their baby girl. What are the odds??? So, we have a new niece and nephew and all within a 12 hr. period. How lucky are we. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my niece, but I'm sure she's adorable.
If you want to see some more pictures of Keagan and the family you can go to my sister’s blog.

The BIG game

VS.

Does anyone have any predictions or shout outs about the big game tomorrow? My shout out......GO COUGARS!!!!If you can't tell, Chad and I are a little partial as to who we would like to have win.

Super Saturday

Today was our Super Saturday. It was great. We started off with a breakfast and mini visiting teaching conference. They had a question and answer panel, a film on V.T., and a musical number. They did a really good job putting it all together and it was nice to have that added motivation to get out and visit teach. After that we broke out for the crafts. This is what I ended up making.They had a ton of cute things to sign up for, but I really wanted to get some things knocked of my Christmas list. So, I opted for these little hot chocolate jars. I'm planning on giving these away as gifts. (I also went and purchased some little mugs to give away with them.) They were so easy. All you do is pour some hot chocolate mix in them and tie a bow around. I thought I'd share the idea in case any of you do neighborhood gifts for Christmas.

We didn't use a homemade recipe, but I thought I'd post a couple. That way you can add a personal touch to the gift.

2 c. nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. Hershey's cocoa
1/2 c. powdered non-dairy creamer
Mix in large bowl combine all ingredients; blend well. Store tightly in covered container (16 servings). Single serving: Combine 1/4 cup mix to 3/4 cup boiling water.

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered nondairy creamer
1/8 teaspoon salt
1. Measure all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk them until they are evenly blended. 2. Store the mix in a tightly covered container at room temperature until you're ready to package it. Makes about 4 cups of mix.

1½ cups skim milk powder
1½ cups white sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
¾ cup non-dairy creamer
Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir well. For a finer mix, combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix well. Place 2 or 3 tablespoons in a mug and add boiling water.

Variations:
*After processing all other ingredients in the blender or food processor, empty mix into a bowl and stir in 1 cup of mini marshmallows.
*Replace the plain non-dairy creamer with a flavored creamer such as French Vanilla or Hazelnut.
*For spiced hot chocolate, add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to mix, or ½ teaspoon nutmeg and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.
*For raspberry hot chocolate, add one package of raspberry koolaid to the mix and increase the sugar to 2 cups.

RaCinG go CaRtS

Chad and I were lucky enough to both have this Veterans day off. To celebrate we decided to have Kyle (Chad's brother ) come up to stay the night. We couldn't think of a better way to spend our Family Night than by going to race go carts. So we picked up some pizza and soda for dinner, stuffed ourselves, then headed over to the raceway.

Kyle and Chad watching and analyzing racers and their techniques.

The briefing room.

Here you get to watch a really lame video on the rules of the road.

Community helmets. Yuck!

The great thing is they give you these niffty little hoodies (that are yours to keep) to put on . They've come in really handy for four wheeling and snowmobiling in cooler weather. Chad and Kyle looked like a band of bank robbers.

Getting ready to race.

First you have a five lap qualifying round. Who ever has the fastest lap gets to be first off the line for the 15 lap race.

ThE RaCe

THE WINNER!!!!!

Chad smoked everyone. Kyle was able to pull out a second place win on the second to last lap. It was a pretty exciting race and lots of fun to watch.

The two boys going over their racing stats.

After the racing we picked up some ice cream sundays then headed over to the gym. We spent a couple of hours working out and then came home and crashed for the night. The next day we got up, had some pancakes for breakfast, then headed over to the pool to go swimming. After swimming we headed back to the gym and played some basketball. Then it was home again for lunch and a movie. All in all I'd say it was a successful holiday. We had lots of fun and were constantly busy doing something. I was dead tired by the end of it all, but it was worth it.

Flashback

This flashback is a tribute to parents who dress their kids up like weirdos.

First we have my family picture. (I'm on the right. The one with my finger in my nose. Oh, wait!)Now, I shouldn't blame my parents too much for this one. It was crazy dress up day at school, so they can't be held responsible for too much of what we look like. Although, I think my dad may have gone a little overboard on my brother. Notice the different sized shoes he's got on. Now for Chad's family. (Chad is the one in the middle) Talk about your ten gallon hat! I have to laugh every time I see this picture. I think it's hilarious. I can imagine them tyring to ride their stick horses through the house bumping into everything they pass. Seriously, they wouldn't even have been able to turn their heads without knocking each other over. Well, to our parents, we thank you for taking the time to make each of us look like big doofs. Our childhood would have been incomplete without these moments. Besides, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have these great pictures to post for the entire world to see.

Halloween

Every year we decide to dress up at work for Halloween. We try to keep our costumes simple, as we have to work on patients throughout the day. So, we've created a couple of costumes that still allow us to wear our scrubs. This year I went as a black cat. Total cost: $1.00 for the headband that I attached my ears to. (I made the ears from construction paper) Jeni, one of the assistants, came as a mummy. She got the shirt at Target and wore it over a white shirt and white scrub bottoms. Then she tied cheese cloth on her arms and wove it through her hair. Total cost: ??? I don't know how much she spent on the shirt, but I couldn't have been that much!

And then we have the Dr. who decided to go as a nudist on strike this year. You can't really see it, but underneath his "declaration" he wrote....."will end strike for candy." I actually thought this was a pretty funny idea for a costume, although it would have been better had he showed up wearing a bathrobe. Total cost: $0.00
We had a pretty fun day handing out candy and treats to patients. Jeni made some cupcakes and we had plenty of candy which we had scattered all over the front desk. Jeni also made some great little treats for each of us to take home to our families. She is so thoughtful and really talented when it comes to this kind of stuff. I just had to share her cute little creations. First she made these cupcake witches. She said their faces kept wanting to slide off, but I think it makes them look more like a witch.
Then she made these adorable little mummy brownies. She made them like you would cupcakes, then frosted them and put cut up strips of gum for the cloth with M&M eyes. I thought they were so cute.
These are just some decorations I made one year with my brother and sister. I saw them in a magazine and thought they would be fun to make. All you need are some sheets of that spongy foam, scissors, glue, a marker and some silly eyes. They are super easy and make a great craft for your kids. I usually hang these up on my front door the night of Halloween.
Anyway-I hope everyone had a great Halloween. I also hope too many of you aren't sick from the gobs of candy you've eaten!!!