'Tis the Season

The end of September brings.....

...Soccer season for Mason. He scored 6 goals yesterday!! Ya, there's no goalie, but he still smoked everyone else. Go Mason #4!!!!

...Halloween Decorations. This spider is the kids' favorite Halloween decoration. It falls down when it senses motion. So if you come in our front door, bEwAre!!!

...and

...Wild Game Dinner. Brandon's co-worker, Rick, hosts a Wild Game dinner every year. Last night was time for it again. This year's menu included: Lobster Macaroni, Moose Meatballs, Elk Chops, Ostrich steaks, Kangaroo Pot Pie, Wild Boar, Greek Turkey, Pheasant Stew, Rocky Mountain Oysters (not seafood), Buffalo, Sweet Breads (not what you think), Halibut, Shrimp Ceviche, Wall Eye, and Mashed Potatoes. I tried the Pheasant, Wild Boar, and Ostrich. Not a fan!

This Land Is Our Land

They say....every American wants to live the "American Dream." We live in a land of freedom. We have the freedom to live where we want, work where we want, and choose how we will succeed in this blessed country. Many years ago (like 6), Brandon and I decided to invest in some good American soil (Henderson dirt). Due to the "American choices" by the previous owners, we were forced to fight (sue) for the right to own our piece of the American dream. After many years of attorney's fees, meetings, court appearances, contracts, agreements and finally settlements, we can officially say "this land is our land!"

Many, many, many thanks to my wonderful husband and business partner, Brandon, for remaining calm and civil amid the conflicting personalities he had to deal with. He has spent countless hours ensuring that we would keep our Henderson dirt. Through it all, he has had no hard feelings to anyone involved. (Well, maybe me, for hounding him all this time.) Ya done good!!!

Now, if the economy would only pick up, maybe we could do something with our American soil.

(Our actual dirt!)

The Best Calling in the World

Everyone should be jealous of me. I have the best calling in the best ward...EVER!!! Today was our Primary Program and, me, being the chorister, worked really hard to get to this point. The primary kids sang their hearts out. They sang louder than in any of our practices!!!. It was definitely one of the best programs I have ever seen or conducted. The songs were great this year and even though I thought I would be sick of "I Am A Child of God" by the end of the year, it still was the highlight of the whole program. The Senior Primary sang the descant part written in the songbook which has an awesome harmony. Then a few kids sang the 4th verse in Spanish and then all of the kids sang the chorus in Spanish. It moved me to tears (and that rarely happens.) What a wonderful day!!!

The Office....I don't get it!!!!

Ok, so many of you have said the "The Office" is one of your favorite TV shows. Brandon and I had never seen it, but have heard alot about it. Flipping through channels last night, we stopped on The Office. We decided to watch for a few minutes to see what all the hype was about. IT WAS SO BORING!!!! IT WASN'T EVEN FUNNY!!! WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL? WE DIDN'T GET IT.

Eight Things about Me

Thanks, Becky for the tag.

8 Favorite TV Shows
*Alias (no longer on)
*Biggest Loser
*Oprah
*Signing Time (PBS)
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8 Favorite Restaurants
*Jason's Deli
*Olive Garden
*Carraba's
*Sweet Tomatoes
*Chevy's
*IHOP
*Marie Callendar's
(I don't have very fine taste)

8 Things that happened yesterday
*went to Boot Camp
*had a PTA meeting
*watched nephews
*ordered food storage online
*tried to take a nap
*made dinner
*took Cody to football practice
*went to Middle school open house

8 Things I love about fall
*cooler weather
*apple cider
*my birthday
*sweaters
*colorful leaves
*wearing fall colors
*sport season for my kids
*start of the holidays

8 Things on my wish list
*my dream house being built
*my family always being healthy
*losing 20 pounds
*my kids to pick up after themselves
*no car payments
*Brandon's dreams of financial wealth to come true
* a camping trailer
*another cruise

That wasn't too bad. I really had to think.

Cruisin'

Well, I think I'm done recovering from our week long cruise vacation. I think I'm caught up on sleep and the ground isn't moving anymore. Laundry is done and I'm ready to blog! Our family, and Grandma and Grandpa Cecil, went on a 4 day Baja Mexico Cruise. Yep, we took the kids out of school for a week. Here's a picture getting on the ship, when the kids still liked being around each other. Mason and Grandpa Cecil celebrated their birthdays on the ship on Tuesday. We got dressed up and ate in the fancy dining room. We realized we need to teach the kids some manners.Our first port of call was Catalina. We rented golf carts and explored the island on our own. FUN!!!! Brandon got a little crazy on his golf cart with the boys, but they enjoyed it. The boys went snorkeling in Descano Bay and we did some shopping. The cruise ship was anchored off shore so we had to take a small boat ashore. It was very interesting how they just opened up a door on the side of the ship and we hopped in a small boat. Our next port of call was Ensenada Mexico. It was as ghetto as I thought it would be. The kids thought it was amazing that they were in another country. They got a Mexican soda and we hopped on a shuttle bus (with an insane driver named Meno) and drove really fast to La Bufadora, a blowhole. The blow hole was pretty cool until I got drenched by it. We bought some crappy souveniers (Nacho Libre mask, luchador wrestling guys, guitars, a bull whip that wasn't allowed back on the ship, and some leather sandals) ate some tacos and headed for the horseback riding tour.

Thursday was spent all day on the ship. We swam, hung out by the pool, had ice cream cones, played mini golf, had ice cream cones, launched water balloons, had ice cream cones, and sent the kids to the Camp Carnival while the grown ups ate in the dining room again. Our waiters all week were Igor from Macedonia and a girl from Serbia that talked in a deep voice and was kind of scary.

We ate "new" foods, saw Vegas-style shows every night, stayed up late (10:00pm), danced in a night club, played the slot machines (Brandon made me do it), and had an amazing week. The 24 hour buffet and all-you-can-eat ice cream was definatly the highlight for the boys. I think Grandma and Grandpa are going to need some time to recover from us, but we are glad they came. I thought it was funny that my dad and I kept ordering the same foods. We are more alike than I thought. I would highly recommend this cruise for your next family vacation. We were all kind of sick of each other on the way home on Friday, but we are better now.

New Styles of Handbags

I've just added a few new styles on my Handbag blog. Check it out! http://handbagsbynatalie.blogspot.com

Spontaneous Adventure

I am not at all a spontaneous person, but when Brandons fishing trip with the boys that was planned for last weekend, fell through, we decided Saturday morning to all go "camping" for the weekend. I say "camping" because its not really "camping" when you have a trailer with full hook ups and the place where you are staying is called a resort. Anyways....it's my kind of camping. We borrowed Jason and Kelly's trailer and went over the hump to Pahrump to Terribles Lakeside RV Resort. It truly is an oasis. A man-made lake for fishing, paddle boats, kayaks, a swimming pool, grass and trees everywhere, nice bathrooms, and it's about 10 degrees cooler. The lake is stocked with bass, but Mason was the only one to catch anything. On Saturday, he caught a 9" bass. And, of course, Brandon had gone to the convienence store for ice cream, I had no camera, and we had to figure out how to "release" the fish. Me, Mason or Cody didn't want to touch the fish to pull the hook out, so a by-stander came and pulled the hook out of the poor, suffocating fish. I'm pretty sure it was still alive by the time we got it back in the water. Mason didn't stop smiling the whole trip.

Sydney and I shared the Barbie fishing pole. It was the best! It never got snagged.
This is pretty much what Brandon does the whole time.
Untangle the boys' lines.

The Angler!!!

This is how I enjoyed myself.