Harvest Festival 2019!

Today was the annual Harvest Festival in my fine city and of course I went, its the third year running. I loaded up both the fellas and the ladies (my nieces) and of course, parents came along. It was so fun.

 We met Lil' Sebastian, of course, what a guy.

The petting zoo was a hit, the animals were all so soft. 

 Face painting among the gang was their favorite part.

The ladies rode the ponies while the fellas refused to get on ahha.

We had such a fun evening! Everyone was in high spirits, the city really knows how to throw a party.

Too too tired

I went on a walk with Darth the other day, and he randomly just kept stopping and laying down on the ground.

I'm not sure why he kept doing it, but it made me laugh every time.

Goodbye, Hibiscus

This year, we planted a hibiscus flower in our backyard. I was nervous it wouldn't thrive, but it has! I wish I had a picture of it blooming and glorious, but I didn't catch a pic of the good times. 

This week, we ordered a new internet service, and they came to install the cables for it. The next day after they had done this, I went to the backyard to tend to my garden, and I found this. 

My beautiful hibiscus. Trampled. Killed. Dead. 

I'm devastated! 

What a garbage bunch of people for trampling all over my plants with no respect for what is growing there. 

Too Cool for Me

Enough said.

Birds, Birds, Everywhere

GUYS. Tonight for our YW activity, we had a bird expert that lives in our ward and is a bird rescue operation, come and bring some birds and talk to us about them. It was probably the greatest activity I have ever been to.

These are amazing, majestic birds, and it was so great to see them in real life .

All Epifanio, All the Time

Just time to enjoy more pics of tiny Epifanio, he's killing it as a baby.

 It is my new favorite thing to set him up on the couch like a real human.

 Look at this snuggly guy.

Casually touching his junk, as one does.

Peely Peely

As I mentioned in my book club retreat post, we were gifted a foot wrap-type thing for a present. This is something - you're supposed to put it on your feet for 60-90 minutes, and then watch as your feet peel 3-5 days later. I wasn't sure this would work, I was so skeptical. But PJ had done it, so I trusted it and put it on. (I forgot to get a pic of that, alas)
Then about 5 days later, it started to peel!

Its hard to see in the pic, but there it is! I can't wait for it all to peel off and leave me with soft soft skin (as is promised on the package)
I'll keep you updated!

A Service Morning

This morning, a lad in my ward held a service project. He's working on his Eagle Scout, and this morning was his project. He was doing hygiene bags for people in Honduras maybe? Ah I can't remember exactly. So this morning, he asked the ward to help him put them together. Nobody was sure how many people would show up, and there were so many that showed up! We had set aside a couple of hours, and we completely finished in 23 minutes, with a 5 or so minute break in the middle, to get more bags after we had run out. We celebrated with pics at the end.

An Ice Cream Evening

There is, in my neighborhood, a tiny library. Its one of those "take a book, leave a book" places, and its just adorable and cute. Tonight, they had a storytime there, a man in my neighborhood told some stories of himself as a child and it was hysterical and so fun! After the storytime, we went and got some ice cream at Brooker's Founding Father's Ice Cream, newly opened near the movie theater in Vineyard. They have a stock-type thing in the store, so of course we had to get some pics there.

I totally recommend this ice cream place, it is so good!

A Little Light Goes a Long Way

As I mentioned before, I got a toilet light at my book club retreat. I installed it, and then the fellas came over to investigate. They love it.

I might have to get a couple of these and put them in each bathroom in the house!

Epifanio to Enjoy

I know I've skewed towards Epifanio lately, but with the older kids now in school, this is the kid that I see more often! He's just too cute, guys. I can't take it.

 THIS FACE KILLS ME

 We're starting young to get a Ute fan.

Look at this happy smiling guy - I got this pic by having his brother tickle his feet, which he loves so much now.

If it fits...

Since we've gotten her, Cookie loves sitting on anything of Husband's. His clothes, his side of the bed, everything. (see her on his pillow)

Lately, she's come to enjoy sitting in his laptop bag.

 What an amazing dog.

Cards, Cards, Cards

Well, it's that time again, time to make some cards. I don't really like either of these cards, but hey, they can't all be winners. 

Book Club Retreat!

As I've said recently, I've joined a book club. The book club turned 2 years old this month, and to celebrate, we did a retreat overnighter-type thing in Park City this weekend. Looks like I joined just in time haha. We headed up to Park City Friday night and after eating a dinner (split between either cafe rio or a Mediterranean restaurant here) we passed out gifts to each other, we had to bring a $5 gift for everyone, something that. you love. I handed out pink eye shadow, since I've become obsessed with it after watching the Beyonce: Homecoming documentary (Cannot recommend enough, everyone should watch). The gifts were all great - a turban towel to dry your hair, a toilet light to light up the toilet in the dark, socks, foot peel and face masks, chapstick, pictures, etc. We watched a movie that was based on one of the books we read, and of course only got about 4 hours of sleep that night. It was such a fun night, so here are some fun pics to enjoy. 

Just Nice to Enjoy

With summer coming to a close, my morning runs are no longer sunny. It's usually dark, and the sun comes out by the time I'm reaching the end. This morning as I ran, I noticed the sunrise was just absolutely beautiful, stopped for a second and snapped a pic.

Sometimes, you just gotta stop and look around you.

Continued Epifanio

It's so easy to set Epifanio up for anything - he just stays however you put him, even if he looks like a tiny goober or rap artist.

He also looks a little bit like the green aliens in Captain Marvel, but you can judge that for yourself. 

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day everyone! Today was truly a family day - from going to a 2.5 hour lunch with Husband's family (honestly, I DO NOT recommend the restaurant Ahi Muse) to spending the evening with my sis and her family. First, we went to Target to get some ingredients for dinner. While there, Darth was trying to find a friend of ours that works there, to tell him that there were too many carts outside.

 Alas, he wasn't working that day, so the carts remained outside.
Then, we came back to make dinner. We made parmesan topped asparagus, and as my sister was shaking the parmesan (yes, we just used the parmesan cheese in the green can), we learned the lid wasn't quite on, notice the parmesan all over the floor and oven.

 And then to top off our delicious dinner, a Snickers poke cake. It's just so easy to make -
Chocolate cake in a 9x13 cake pan
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup caramel sauce (I just used Smuckers)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
Snickers bars, chopped up

Make a basic chocolate cake, easy enough.
When it comes out of the oven, poke holes in it. I used a regular wooden spoon, using the handle. I do a hole every inch or so of the cake, really give it ways to spread. Then, combine the caramel sauce and sweetened condensed milk, and pour that over the cake.
Let the cake cool! I just left it on the counter, but if you're in a rush you can also refrigerate it.
Then, put the whipping cream, powdered sugar, peanut butter and vanilla into a bowl, and whip it on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Spread the whipped cream on top of the cake, add some chopped up Snickers bars, and then drizzle some caramel and chocolate sauce on there.

Guys this cake is so good! I want to eat the whole thing!
And that was it for our day! After dinner, Darth suggested a walk for everyone to "get his wiggles out" which just made me laugh. Hope everyone had a great holiday!