Popular

This month Afton had her first public perfomance of the song "Popular" from the musical Wicked at the city talent show. We had a bit of a problem getting the music going, but she did such a great job of just smiling while we were taking care of it. She was a bit nervous but did a great job.Afton has been taking music lessons since around August. She is so excited for each lesson. Her music teacher has told me that Afton is a natural performer. She loves being on the stage and does such a great job of playing it up. This song was a bit difficult for her age, but her teacher really wants her to get it ready for the state fair next year. It's perfect for her. She is such a pretty girl with such a pretty voice. It's so great to see her progress. Love my girl!

Fall Break

We took our fall break a little later this year. We went to sunny St. George. We had fun staying in a hotel with a pool and great breakfasts. The kids had fun playing with the cousins and I even got some Christmas shopping done. It was beautiful down there especially since we had snow waiting for us when we got home.

Thursday we spent the better part of the morning at Sand Hollow Res. Isaac really wanted to do some fishing so he and Dennis took their fishing gear along. The rest of us had a lot of fun playing on the beach. It was a beautiful morning with very little wind but not too warm. Just perfect!

Dennis spend the rest of the afternoon playing golf with his brother who live there. The kids and I spend the time in the pool at our hotel. That night we had dinner with Travis and his family. The kids really enjoyed their time with the cousins.

That night Afton got sick so we thought that our vacation was pretty much over. A good nights sleep did her well though and the next morning she was feeling better. We packed up and checked out and headed out to a park for a picnic lunch. We planned some time that the dad's could take the kids to "The Crack", a neat looking place in the rocks while Ronna and I did some shopping. It was the first Christmas shopping of the season for me so now I'm so excited for the Holidays!! We drove home to snow and cold temps, but it was so nice for all of us.

Halloween

This year the kids all had fun carving their pumpkins. I think they turned out very cute! Khora wanted a cute little mouse so Dennis worked his magic and it turned out pretty cute. Afton created a scary Halloween cat, Isaac had the most work and detail incorporated into his tiger master piece and Jacob's irregular shaped pumpkin turned into the cutest kupa guy you've ever seen. (You know the little brown creatures you squish on Mario Bros.) Very creative!! And they all looked great lit up on our porch Halloween night.

For Halloween all the little monsters went trick-or-treating with their friends. Dennis and Scott walked around with them while Crystal and I got dinner ready. They all had a lot of fun playing and watching Halloween movies. It was a fun night playing together.

Vegetable Report: Fennel

My new favorite veggie. . . herb . . both. You should check it out. It looks like dill, smells like licorice and tastes a little like celery. From top to bottom it has many many uses. I used the bulb today like you would an onion in chicken noodle soup. It flavors black licorice, improves milk supply of nursing mothers, helps with colic (ingredient in "gripe water") and tea helps with bloating. Ancient Romans considered it the herb of sight.Folk medicine has long used fennel, specifically the seeds, to relieve indigestion, as a natural diuretic, and even as a breath freshener. You might know it as the spice anise, but it's mislabeled in North America. Fennel belongs in the same family as parsley, dill, carrots and coriander. It is a cross between celery and leeks.

I'm planning to add this to my home garden next year. I was very pleased and excited about this very versatile plant. Here is a site I found from UC Davis if you want more info.

http://www.goodlifegarden.ucdavis.edu/crops/id/29

Good Bye Teddy

Today has been a very emotional day at our house. We have had to say good bye to our sweet Teddy. He's going to another home. A few weeks ago Afton fell on him in the house and he bit her on her arm. It was enough to get stitches. She healed and it's all but forgotten now except that we have a baby in our house who is always falling over and the fear is still there that he will bite her or a friend or someone else. It's been an extremely hard choice. We all love him so much! He loved playing with the children in the back yard and playing fetch with all sorts of toys. The boys loved sleeping with him in their bed at times and he was always so excited to go for a ride in the van. He's taken a piece of us with him. So we'll miss you and remember you Teddy as our sweet puppy with the large overbite and big brown eyes.

Up to. . . Up to?

What have I been up to? I started my class in Provo the beginning of October. It's the master gardener class through the USU Extension, and I love it!!! I'm having so much fun!! It's great getting out 2 days a week, but I tell you I'm falling behind in all my house work.

I have finished up the written part of my vegetable report on Rhubarb. Now I just have to get the PowerPoint wrapped up.

I have also been scanning in all my pictures. It's good to have all that done and know that it's all been backed up.

Apple Butter

This year we picked almost 1 bushel of apples from our little tree. The poor thing was all tipped over from the weight of the apples that Dennis had to tie a stake to the tree to keep it supported upright.

I have been looking up apple recipes and found some really good ones that I'm excited to try out. The first thing we made with them were caramel apples which mostly ended up a flop or a glop. . . of caramel at the bottom of the apples. We did have a couple that looked pretty good, but I need to work on my application technique because they weren't pretty. They sure were tasty though. Let me assure you that they didn't go to waste.

Our second product was apple butter. I've never made apple butter before but this recipe was so simple and easy and used a lot of apples that I had to give it a try. It's also a crock pot version so double bonus. After two batches my hands are pretty tired from all the pealing and chopping, so I think we'll take a break and move on to number 3. I have a 1/2 bushel of peaches to use still so maybe we'll have to make it peach pie filling and come back to the apples.

APPLE BUTTER

from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Place apples in a slow cooker. Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt; pour over apples and mix well. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently as it thickens to prevent sticking). Uncover and cook on low 1 hour longer. If desired, stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Cover and refrigerate or freeze. I actually processed mine for 10 minutes in a water bath.