More Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving was great, but so was the rest of the weekend. It's always a good sign when you have 4 nights in a row where you don't go to bed before midnight!!!

I can't remember why everyone was laughing so hard here, I think it had something to do with a dream Curtis had about fishing and Shandy waking up with bruises...


My brother Darren has become obsessed with fly fishing and he won't rest until everybody else is as passionate as he is about it. Here he is trying to teach Curtis how to tie a fly.


While Darren and Curtis were fishing on Saturday, we decided to go to the Children's Discovery museum in Salt Lake. It was Susan, Sam, me, and our 5 boys! Here are some nice photos:






Darren finished fishing and met up with us at the museum. Once the boys were done playing there, we decided to head to temple square to see the lights. In the front lobby of the museum, there was a Santa Claus booth where you can get your picture taken with Santa. Carson saw the Santa and screeched at the top of his 6 year old lungs "IS THAT THE REAL SANTA????!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M LOOKING AT SANTA!!!" Holy cow I was so embarassed, he wouldn't stop screeching until I said "that's one of Santa's helpers, now let's GO!"

Here is a picture of the boys at temple square. I think they liked it!


After temple square, Darren and Susan went to visit some friends who live nearby and Sam and I went to Nalani's house. I didn't take any pictures at Nalani's, but we played a mean game of "Skip Bo"! Sharon had promised Carson an orange balloon on Thanksgiving, I never got the full story as to why, but nonetheless...she made good on her promise. Kami needed to run to the store and when she came home, she was toting two orange balloons. They kept the boys entertained for the rest of the evening. Thanks Sharon and Kami! If you look really hard, you will see those balloons in the back of this picture.


We had such a fun holiday weekend, I think it's going to be hard to get back to our normal routine! Sam put the lights on our house and I keep reminding him that the Christmas season has officially begun, but I think he's in denial. So, when you see him, be sure to sing Christmas songs really loud!!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving Day. My parents were in Indiana with Mike and Kim so we decided to do something different.
My Aunt Sharon and Uncle Richard were in town so we had Thanksgiving with them, Nalani and Jed, Kami, Cody and Karena and Karena's family. It was hosted by Karena and Cody. We had tons of yummy food and 7 pies for dessert (see Darren's blog for the "sugar cream pie" saga!).
It was sort of bizarre because my own two brothers, Darren and Curtis (and their families), were having Thanksgiving at Curtis' house at the same time I was at Cody's house...does that seem super backwards to anyone? Well, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks, I thought it was great! After we hung out at Cody's house playing Phase 10 (Oh that phase is the hardest one of them all!) we went to Curtis' house and hung out, so it was the best of both worlds.

Here's some photos

Carson was the photographer here, aren't we cute??


I forgot to take pictures of the actual meal, so here is Sam and Jed feelin' like some stuffed turkeys!


Here is cutie patootie Kami!


Here is Nalani and Sharon cleanin' up. Has anyone noticed that it takes a week to prepare this huge meal and then everyone gobbles (punny) it up in 20 minutes?


7 pies, starting from the back: Chocolate cream, Pecan, Apple, Pumpkin creamcheese, sugar cream, banana cream, and regular pumpkin.


Here is Sharon entertaining Parker and Carson


It was a wonderful day and so fun to hang out with so much family, I can honestly say, I never get tired of hanging out with my immediate and extended family (which is why I never had many friends in High School!). The only thing that would have made it better is if my parents and Mike's family were here!

I Have the Best Husband, Part 2

In case you didn't believe me before, I'm going to say it again: I have the best husband! I spent all evening with my brother Darren, trying to master the art of "sugar cream pie". Darren should be posting this experience on his blog very soon, so keep checking his blog. If he doesn't do an update, kill him with comments until he does because it's a funny story! Anyhow, when I came home tonight, I had this gorgeous bouquet of flowers on my nightstand!
I do love that Sam-I-Am!!

I'm Speechless

Where do I even begin... What a nut!

Sam's Day In Logan

Sam took some fun pictures at a park in Logan so I thought I'd share...





Here is a cute picture of Carson and his cousin, Jessica. Check out Carson's fingers. What snack do you think he was eating right before this picture was taken??


Here is Jessica's fiance, Mark, sliding down the slide.


While Sam was in Logan, his brother Rod brought over a bunch of army stuff that he didn't need anymore because the army issued new uniforms for everybody with a different type of camoflauge. So, Sam was trying it all on last night and he looks real good, especially because everything has "Sweet" sewn on it!! Thanks Rod!

I Have The Best Husband...

Seriously, Sam is the greatest husband!

He decided to take the kids to Logan today to see our niece Jessica, and he gave me the whole day, to myself, without any responsibility! It's been a very nice and relaxing day. I went to the temple this morning with my presidency and then to lunch afterwards at the "Training Table". It was really fun and I hope to do it again really soon. As my 1st counselor says, "it's like group therapy and female bonding all at the same time, and it's free!". We even conducted some business--every time a baby is born in our ward, we give them some type of gift. Years past it's been a baby blanket or burp cloth. We decided that next year's gifts will be onesies that we design our own iron-on for! Something like "Choose the Wipes"! So, if you have any funny ideas, pass them my way because this is going to be fun!!!

Since I have all this time on my hands, I thought I'd get caught up on my blog because I've been meaning to post some random "Carson" stuff all week so here goes...

If you want to be a really cool parent, teach your child how to make a pencil look like rubber. You know what I mean...you hold the pencil in the middle loosely and move it up and down real fast and it appears to be rubber. I showed Carson this trick and he was fascinated with it, for like 2 hours solid! I couldn't figure out what he was doing in the bathroom for so long and then I saw he was practicing his technique! He's pretty good at it too!


That same day, Carson excitedly screamed for me to come see his room. He had made both beds AND folded the extra blankets. He was dang proud of himself and wanted me to take his picture. He even pulled the flat sheet up before throwing his comforter over it. As a mother, it was a proud moment because up to now, it was just SLOP! :)


Sam and I have been making calzones lately that are to die for! Just before I put them in the oven, I brush an egg wash over them so the crust gets dark and crispy. Carson asked me what egg tasted like and I jokingly held up the fork with egg slime on it to see what he would do. To my astonishment, he licked the slime off the fork! EwWwWwWw!!! So, of course, I grabbed the camera and he kept doing it. He said it tasted good. Even now it gives me the shudders!



And check out one of the calzones! Doesn't it look good?

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Monday was a very domestic (maybe a "I love Lucy" type of domestic)and busy day. I was hosting a Family Home Evening group at my house with 8 adults and 9 children. I decided to make a pumpkin cheesecake roll. I've never made these before, but I've tasted them and have been a big fan of them. So that was the first adventure.
Can I just say, I hate powdered sugar? No matter how careful I try to be, I make such a mess of it! Just one example: I had a dish towel full of the powdered sugar because that is how you roll up the pumpkin roll. I decided to go outside and shake off the mess. I walked outside, opened up the towel, and it was a disaster. The wind was blowing so it blew the sugar in my face, hair, and clothes, and then right into my kitchen because I left the sliding glass door open! Arghhhh! I hope my neighbors who live behind me weren't watching because it was pretty embarassing.
Anywho, I wanted to get glamour shots of my beautiful pumpkin roll, but forgot, so here is a picture of the leftovers.


After making the pumkin roll, I cleaned up my kitchen and went on to domestic project #2: Toffee.
My ward's Enrichment meeting is on Wednesday and the theme is "Holidays into Holy Days". For dessert, we are having a tasters table of everybody's favorite holiday treats. So, I made toffee because it's REAL good.
I had one trauma here: As I was pouring the friggin' hot toffee into the pan, a bunch of buttery steam hit my face and put a nice buttery coating on my contacts! Seriously, it was like I put vaseline on my eyes! And people wonder why I don't enjoy cooking...


So, after making the toffee, I cleaned my contacts, and then my kitchen and went on to domestic project #3: Nougat.
I can't very well bring my favorite holiday treat to enrichment without including nougat! We have made this every year at Christmastime for as long as I can remember. Plus, I wanted to try out a new candy wrapping method I learned from my friend. I think it makes the nougat look so cute! I put them all in a big tupperware container and it looks like a huge flower blossom! Precious.



Anyone hungry for some sweet treats??

2nd To Last Time

On Tuesday, I raked my leaves for the 2nd to last time! Isn't that precious? Seriously, I got a blister from raking because there were so many leaves. In my backyard I have a 2 foot drop which is where Carson's "treehouse" is. I raked all the leaves over that ledge and made a huge pile. When Carson came home from school I said "I have an amazing surprise for you" and showed him the pile. It was non stop fun after that. He would run and jump off the ledge into the pile of leaves. Parker even tried it once. Carson was so pleased with his surprise that he honestly said "Mom, I love you more than a turkey". Seriously, did I get hosed or was that really a compliment? He sounded really sincere, but I didn't think he even liked turkey...
Anyway, here are some photos of our afternoon fun.

Weekend

This weekend I went up to Rexburg Idaho for the baptism of my nephew, Kevin. He sure has grown up to be quite the handsome guy-you'll just have to take my word for it because the camera stayed in my van the whole weekend! I'm SUCH a slacker!!

But, I did document the trip up to Idaho and back, from the perspective of my van.

Let's take a trip down memory lane, er, I mean I-15!

Here is Carson and Parker watching "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Carson is wiggin' out and Parker is digging for gold. Sam and I strategically placed the boys in the VERY back of the van. Now, if only I had some sound-proof plexi-glass that I could put between the front and the back of the van...


Sam was happy as could be...


And I was just bored. I decided to take a sweet picture of my eye. Gee, do you think I wear contacts?!?


As we drove to the baptism, we decided to drive around in the really nice neighborhoods by the Rexburg temple. I liked this motorcyle sitting atop a weather vane. It made me think of Fern because she is a biker babe!


On the ride home, Parker cried for a LONG time. Sheesh, why can't 2 year olds just tell you what is wrong??


The crying didn't bother Carson, he just tuned it out...as usual.


Today, my parents were kind enough to have us over for dinner. Parker enjoyed an appetizer of peanuts, that he fed to the stuffed animal dog, that looks like Curtis and Shandy's Lola.


Then, he slipped on his chair...


After dinner, he sent his neighbor a text message, telling her she was his BFF


And finally, his grandma read his favorite book to him, and he really enjoyed it!

Happy Halloween

Halloween was a fun day at the Sweet household. Carson got to wear his costume to school and have a parade with all the other Kindergarteners. Lee, who lives across the street from us, was dressed like a leopard. Believe it or not, his DAD did his make-up. Doesn't he look awesome? If you ask Carson "what are you going to be for Halloween?" he will say "Spiderman, with muscles!"


Then Fern came over to my house after the school parade and hung out for a little while. She supplied Parker with M&M's, which are all over his face, and she gave me a hot loaf of homemade bread! Yes, it's true, everybody needs an "Aunt Fern" in their life!!!


While we were home enjoying our holiday, Sam was at work and he was playing the part of Goldilocks while his 3 co-workers were the three bears. Isn't he cute??


As the sun set, I got the kids ready to go trick or treating and of course, took a few pictures:




And here are a few CUTE pictures of my little frog. We have a little "Pumpkin Boy" decoration and Parker likes to hug it. The other picture is just precious!



And finally, this morning I found Sam's Goldilocks wig and I put it on Parker. Now you all know what my daughter will look like...if I ever have one!!! NO, this is NOT an announcement because I know one of you will think that!


We even had our pumpkins stolen at midnight last night, I think I would have been disappointed otherwise. I heard a ruckus and looked out my bedroom window just in time to see a few teenagers running across my yard with pumpkins in their arms. Sam jumped out of bed, got dressed, and got in the van and drove around the neighborhood until he found their get-away truck! He didn't want them to think he was following them, so he hung back aways, and, well, they got away. It's all good, at least I didn't have to throw all my pumpkins away today!