The Tackiest Christmas Decoration Ever!

Many of you have probably seen the email that has been forwarded all over the internet. Well, Nate saw it and was inspired. Last night he was finally hanging our Christmas lights with less than two weeks until Christmas. (He hadn't taken last years down until mid-summer--we should've just left them!!) We were literally the last house on our street to have lights up and the pressure was on. Here's what he did:

You would not believe the traffic we've had today. First thing this morning, our neighbor from across the street ran over to help (she was sick, too). Then we had another call and ask me "Did you know Nate was dangling from the roof?" Several others stopped to help as well. At church everyone was talking about it so we had several more drive bys.

It is pretty funny, but I am going to insist that we take it down in a couple of days. It would get really old after awhile.

Halloween!

Eliza and Skyler were the frog prince and princess for trick or treating.

Help! Emily is being kidnapped by an alien!

At the family party, we had aviator, Mrs. America, alien abduction, kitten, Miss. Piggy and Kermit.

Eliza went to her school party as a butterfly.

Emily and Sarah went to school as a kitten and a clown.

September 2009 Family Pictures

I'm finally posting some of our family pictures that we had done two months ago. Our photographer, Ashley Taylor, is so good! It was hard for me to narrow it down to just a few, so I'm posting alot--sorry!

Family Pictures

We got some fun new family pictures taken by a really talented photographer, Ashley Taylor. Check out a sneak peek of our pictures on her blog by clicking here.

Not even close...

When you see the above picture, you'll probably think that I've been called to be a den mother. But you would be wrong. Instead of den mother, I have been called to be the Cubmaster. That's right, Cubmaster. I didn't even know women could be the Cubmaster, but now I know they can. Cubmaster: you know, the guy who leads pack night. The one who gets up and hands out awards and does all the goofy cheers ("let's give him a watermelon cheer"--slurp, spit or "how about a round of applause"--clap in a circle). And can you just see me in one of the above outfits? Or maybe I should go for this look:

Either way, I have A LOT to learn! I just have to get beyond the being silly in front of a large crowd aspect of it, and then I'm sure I'll have fun.

Here we go again....

I was released from my primary president calling two weeks ago, but the "break" didn't last long. (I wasn't expecting it to). I received a new calling today. I can't say yet what it is since it hasn't been made official, but I must admit I was completely flabbergasted! I told Nate he'd never guess it in a million years. He couldn't figure it out until I gave him a good hint. Any ideas? I doubt any of you will guess it... One thing's for sure, I will need a lot of help!

Crockpot Yogurt!!

Okay, I am so excited about this new recipe that I just have to share it with everyone. Last year I made yogurt several times on the stovetop. It saved money, but it was quite an involved, time consuming process and I didn't keep it up. BUT, I found this blog that told about making it in the crockpot. I've done it several times now. Not only does it save money, but it is SOOO easy!
Here's what you do:

Ingredients:

• half gallon of milk (I use skim)
• 1/2 c. yogurt (use a store bought the first time, but you can use your own homemade yogurt from then on. Oh, and I usually buy vanilla or plain, but I have used peach and it turned out good, too!)
• 1 c. powdered milk (optional)
• 1 c. sugar (optional)

The recipe from the blog didn't have you use the powdered milk, but without it the yogurt turns out pretty runny. With one cup of powdered milk, the yogurt turns out thick and creamy.

1. I whip one cup powdered milk into the 8 cups (1/2 gallon) of liquid milk. I do this by first whipping it into two cups of milk then adding that to the rest of the milk.

2. I also whip one cup of sugar into the milk. I didn't use to sweeten the yogurt, but I found I had to add too much jam to make it taste good afterwards. The sugar is to taste, so you can add more or less, but I like about one cup.

3. Turn the crockpot on low for 2 1/2 hours.

4. After 2 1/2 hours, unplug your crockpot. You are just going to let it cool down for a little while. On the original recipe, it has you let the milk cool down for three hours. I have found that 1 1/2 hours was enough time. Maybe this varies from crockpot to crockpot. Because of my prior yogurt making experience, I know that you want the milk temperature to be between 122 F and 130 F. Definitely not hotter than 135 F. Too hot will kill the yogurt, but between 122 and 130 degrees F is the optimal temp for yogurt making. It will help to have a cooking thermometer (mine is digital) to get the exact temp. You can leave it for three hours like the recipe says, but mine is the right temp at 1 1/2 hours.

5. Anyway, when the temperature is right, or after the 3 hours of cooling, you will whisk the 1/2 cup of yogurt into the warmed milk.

6. Then put the lid back on and cover the crockpot with a heavy towel of two. You will leave the crockpot like this for 8 hours or overnight.

In the morning, viola! you have thick, creamy, delicious yogurt! It is sweetened and tastes good as is, but it also tastes good with some jam to flavor, so we usually mix in a spoonful or so to make it extra yummy! Now you have a half gallon of yogurt for less than $2!