Lulu in a box..

I was cleaning out my closet for the summer to winter clothes change over by taking my sweaters out of their tupperware storage boxes when Lucifer decided to jump inside...

I ask you... what would you have done?

Pumpkin Soup

I made Pumpkin soup the other day and it was delicious! I've made Pumpkin soup

in the past with good results but this time I tried out a new recipe. Sar-ha's boyfriend's recipe to be exact.

He brought the soup to a family gathering where we all marveled at how delicious it was.

I was excited to try it because it used an actual pumpkin instead of the canned stuff.

I'd never peeled a pumpkin before and if felt a little strange.

Here is the Pumpkin...

Here is the recipe in Nate's own hand...

The odd and yet key ingredient is the ham. It struck me as strange to have this in the soup but when you taste the soup it becomes clear that the depth in flavor is from the ham! I went to the deli and just had them slice a quarter inch slice of ham which I diced and added to the pan.

Here is everything simmering away...

It was weird having this chunky mixture above turn into...

This smooth and silky soup below...

Serve in big warm cups for optimal comfort effect...

Enjoy! Preferably on a cold and rainy day:)

This soup is guaranteed to turn a sick boy...

into a happy boy...

As many of you know Lucifur is a weird cat but, a lesser known fact about the little poo nugget is that he LOVES pumpkin guts! As soon as I began scraping the inside of the pumpkin he came running into the kitchen. Here he is enjoying the pumpkin guts...

Evil down to his little pumpkin core:)

Happy Halloween!!

We celebrated Halloween in a very low key fashion this year. Christian hasn't been feeling too great this past week and I've started to feel a little icky myself. We decided to forego the usually loud parties with friends and hang out at home watching a scary movie instead. I decided to dress up anyway in keeping with the spirit of the holiday. Lucifer was also in a festive mood and practically demanded to be in costume as well.

He's getting ready for Christmas early!

Lulu wanted a costume change to something a little less restrictive.

I guess he's packed on a few pounds since last Christmas.

Look how much he loves me!!

Lucifur was tuckered out with way too much Halloween fun so

we decided to go to Bret's house to watch the Scary movie.

Don't worry we brought the costumes too...

Bret and Butters

And Tommy too!

(Tommy is Desmond's kitty)

Bret tried to scare away the trick-or-treaters but they just kept coming.

We finally watched a scary movie and eventually stopped torturing the kitties.

In all it was a fun and relaxing way to enjoy the candy holiday:)

Happy Halloween!!

Jobin Goes Climbing

This past Tuesday I thought it would be fun to initiate Joseph in some classic Utah fun called climbing. Christian, Bret, Sarah, and I all banded together to show our little fledgling brother Jobin some climbing technique. I'm not sure why but Joseph has always managed to accumulate some pretty awesome nicknames and Jobin seemed to be his name for this particular evening. Jobin has climbed before so he really didn't need much help from his siblings but we had a good time pushing him to climb some fun boulder problems.

Jobin looks nervous and Sarah looks overly excited...

Bret looks... like Bret...

Christian looks like a deer in headlights...

This shoe shot is for you Draddums:)

And thus the climbing commences...

Go Jobin Go...

Christian and I climb together every Tuesday night followed by a ritual Tuesday night dinner at Jimmy Johns. I think Jobin particularly liked the end of evening festivities. Thanks for playin' Jobin!

More Canyon Shots

This a continuation of our last post when we went on our slot canyon adventure. Our friends Matt and Cassie brought their really nice camera to take some shots and I thought I'd show them off cause they turned out really well. Thanks Matt:)

The sandstone lines are so pretty...

I look squinty...

Christian looks happy...

This is the end of the slot canyon where it opens up wider...

and wider...

much wider...

I don't know...

...but he sure is cute!

I'm straddling part of the slot canyon just before it opens up into the valley.

Notice the tree feeding off the water supply near Christian's head.

Another friend of ours took a couple of fun shots, one of which shows the rappel we did down the twisty turny slot. Thanks Morgan:)

You can see the crack where the ropes are coming out of. This is one of the many tight crevasses we squoze our little tushies through.

It was such a pretty Canyon!

Dirty Thirty Birthday

As some of you may know I had a Birthday this past Thursday. I am now an old lady of 30 and I feel absolutely fabulous. Everyone keeps asking me how it feels to be thirty like it's this awful affliction i've somehow succumbed to... I figure as long as there are no tumors it's gotta be better than 29... right?

With the crazy work schedules, school, and birthdays falling on a week day Christian and I took off last weekend to do some canyoneering. I haven't done any canyoneering in the past because:

A) I usually prefer to climb up rocks not rappel down them

and

B) I'm super claustrophobic and there always seems to be tight squeezing and things called the birth canal, or the elevator shaft...

Anyhow I'm slowly creating a bucket list of things I want to do and canyoneering although somewhat ominous and scary sounding is something I had always wanted to try. Christian warned me that it would be very dirty (hence the title) and whatever clothing I wore would be ruined, ripped, and destroyed. I warn you all in advance that my outfit was not cute and my hair was a complete mess but i've never had so much fun in all my life!

We did two canyons that are both in the Escalante area near a tiny little town called Hanksville. The two red sandstone canyons are named Monkey Business and East Leprechaun.

We outfitted ourselves with gloves covered in latex to help stick to the sandstone walls without ripping the skin of our palms. We also wore elbow and knee guards to prevent tearing of flesh in the aforementioned tight squeeze chimneys and elevator shaft. We did several rappels down corkscrew shaped erosions and walked across ravines with both feet straddling the crack and straight sheer cliffs standing parallel on either side. My straddle isn't quite the length of long legs magee Christian but I managed to make it through some pretty cool formations. I think most of the time I was so nervous about falling down the cracks that I forgot about being claustrophobic... that is until we reached... the elevator shaft. We were already squeezing our way through this narrow sandstone corridor when suddenly the corridor ended and dropped about 50 feet down. I started working my way down the shaft when my hips got stuck and I started to hyperventilate. Christian told me to turn sideways and put my palms against one side and bend my knees as much as I could to get some friction against the opposite wall by using my bootie. By doing this I could basically slow my falling speed. I became unstuck and slowly slid down the long shaft dropping into a huge bed of sand. It was rad! We enjoyed some pretty amazing scenic views and saw some awesome looking sandstone formations. We both walked away with minor cuts, abrasions and the biggest smiles on our faces. After our huge workout (it took about 7 hours to get through both canyons) we were rewarded at a place called Rays where we indulged to the most delicious giant cheese burgers.

Peep our Pics:)

Cranky 7am morning face...

Christian working his way up...

me lookin hot in my thirties...

Christian jumping over the pot hole...

awesome outfit...

amazing lighting and cool formations...

getting ready to rappel...

happy face!

In all it was a very happy birthday and time well spent with my sweetie.

Here is a very innovative birds nest we saw along the way using the surrounding pieces of sandstone as its nesting material. Cool huh!

Mom requested that I post a picture of Bret and I found this picture on my cell phone from last winter when we went to shoot my Valentines Day present. Awesome!

Fall Colors

Fall is by far my favorite time of year. I love pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin soup and pretty much anything with pumpkin in it. I also love the shift in weather from sweltering heat to cool breezes and the sudden need for a sweater.

This past Sunday we went for a drive on the alpine loop and stopped at Cascade Springs. Bret had never been there before which I find to be a travesty of the worst kind. I forgot the camera but luckily had my cell phone and was able to capture the beautiful fall colors in some blurry photos.

Christian and Bret enjoying the scenery...

I have no idea what they're doing here...?

Again... no idea?

Me posing by a particularly colorful group of trees.

Bret making a peek-a-boo appearance in my windy path photo.

We were fortunate enough to run into a rather large moose along the trail.

Cutsie Bootsie:)

And here is the random Lulu shot...

He's "baby"sitting our friends bird while they're away on a trip.