Ok...not really. But I did get a message on Facebook from my friend Felix that he saw me in USA Today on Thursday. As you can imagine, I was quite confused. Luckily my dad gets USA Today and we were able to see "me" on the cover!


ha ha! I don't look like her as much in the other picture, but that one on the cover sure is similar!

We showed it to my nephew Tai (who is 2) and asked him who it was. Sure enough, he said, "Aunt Heather." :)

I'm not an ice skater, but I am going rollerblading tonight. I don't think they have that in the Olympics yet. Oh well...I have enjoyed my 15 seconds of fame.

My friend Emily had a fun party at her house tonight! We carved pumpkins and her sister Wendy painted the kids faces and we made caramel apples and just had a fun time!

I haven't carved a pumpkin in a long time, and this was the most fun I've ever had doing it, thanks to Cody...he is so good at these kind of things!

I am so happy Fall is finally here! Now if the weather would just cooperate...high 80's today! What the heck?

I think I'm a smidge biased, but I think my husband is so dreamy!

There were some awesome pumpkins

Here's ours!

Two of our hosts...Emily & Wendy

Eating my caramel apple with our pumpkin

My two pumpkins! :)

I just LOVE anything with pumpkin flavor...cheesecake, ice cream, muffins, bread, cookies, etc... This is my favorite time of year because there are pumpkin flavored goodies EVERYWHERE! There is a grocery store in Utah, Macey's, that makes my favorite pumpkin chocolate cookies...I have to stop there anytime I'm close and get some. I know I could just bake some, but I hate baking! So when I saw this recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with just THREE ingredients, I knew this was the recipe for me!

Spice Cake mix, pumpkin, and chocolate chips! That's it!

At first I did not think that just the pumpkin was wet enough for the mix, but yes, it is...just keep going! :)

Ready to bake

Cooling

The last batch (It made 2 dozen large-ish cookies)

They are really yummy and sooooo easy! The only thing is that mine looked weird, like they weren't baked, on the outside. My dad even asked me if they were no bakes or something. The inside was perfectly baked though, not doughy at all. They are super soft and cake-like, and they are not as good as my Macey's cookies, but they are still delicious! I saw in the comments of where the recipe was posted that if you just add an egg you can make them muffins...I'll try that next. Yay for me kinda-sorta baking and yay for pumpkin!

A few weeks ago the engine on our car died. We had taken it to the mechanic to replace the starter a few weeks before that, and when we asked him about the rattle the car was making, he told us it was the "Death Rattle", meaning that something in the engine was loose and would eventually kill it (aka throw a rod or piston or something). There's really nothing you can do except get a new engine, so we decided just to wait until it died. We were nervous and tried not to drive the car any great distances, but Cody had to drive to The San Gabriel Valley for school stuff. While he was there, he met up with our friend Eric's step-dad to get Eric's car, a '95 Talon, that we were to baby-sit while they live in Texas. Well, the day after Cody got the Talon, the engine died in my Honda...thank goodness for loving and generous friends, because Cody was able to get home in the Talon and use that to get to school and back. We debated for a few weeks on what to do with the Honda...give up on it? Get a new (used) engine? We just didn't know what would be cheapest and best for us. I told my mom what had happened, and she talked to a guy at her work who knew how to get a used engine for CHEAP and could install it for us...he had just done the same thing for his car, also a Honda. I guess in Japan it's the law to replace your engine after 30,000 miles, so there is a warehouse in North Hollywood full of engines from Japan with only 30,000 miles on them! So we hired Andrew to fix our car. He did it within a week (during his spare time, as he works full time), gave us a very reasonable price, and we just got it back Sunday...he even delivered it to us because we were with the kids. What a great guy!
I am so happy to have my car back! She's old, but she's gotten me through the last 6 years, and is a pretty dependable ride. There's quite a few things wrong with her (minor things, like the windshield wipers are touchy), but that's just because she's 13 years old! Now with an engine that only has 32,000 miles on it, she is good to go for a few more years...I hope!
I'm so thankful to have friends, family and their connections when we get in little binds like these. Thank you to Eric for letting us take care of the Talon and use it, thank you to my dad & Jill for them letting me borrow their Ford to get around whenever I needed it (which was a lot!), thank you to my mom for her great connections to mechanics at her work, and thanks to Andrew for saving our car! I just don't know how I'd get through life without such kind and generous people!

A few days ago Cody and I had the opportunity to baby-sit for our friends Jeff & Jennie while they went on a get-away for Jennie's birthday. It was a fun experience going from zero kids to five! Luckily Cody & I make a great team when it comes to kids - I make sure we are organized and plan everything from activities to meals, and he keeps it fun and plays with them. We had a jam-packed time - school, soccer games, movies, church, playing games...we had so much fun!

Their school had a movie night. Cody was at work, but I took the kids to watch "Monsters vs. Aliens" with the rest of their friends at the school. It was fun eating popcorn and candy and the movie is really funny!

Adam & Herschel eating red vines

Shelby & Brooklyn with their airheads and laffy taffy

Camden

At the soccer fields - Adam is so photogenic!

Brooklyn's team during a huddle - I could only take the one picture because I was asked to ref (just man the sidelines). It was a good game, but they lost 4 - 3.

Cody took lots of pictures of Herschel's game, which was at the same time. They won 2 - 1! they beat the undefeated team!

We met up with my dad & Jill and my nephews to see Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3-D! It was really cool!

Awww Adam!

The boys loved running around in the theater between movies! It tired them out. so we were all for it! They sat great during both movies, but especially the second.

Tai Tai conquering the stairs

The three boys - Adam, Tai & Ethan

Shelby always adds energy & fun to everything!

Cody & I with our cool 3-D glasses! (That's a light behind Cody, not a crown! :)

The group after the movie in their cool glasses. They worked outside the theater too! Everything was in 3-D! heh heh heh :)

We had such a good time...I wish we had gotten more pics, but I hope Jeff & Jennie are happy to see all the fun we had while they had their retreat. Cody and I have decided that we can definitely have 5 kids...we just hope they come one at a time with some years in-between! :)

I would love to be a photographer, but lack of discipline and money has always kept me from pursuing my dream. But every once in a while I see a site like this and I just get so inspired to give it a go...now if I could just be inspired to be disciplined and to save up for the equipment!
This is probably my most favorite engagement shot that I have seen anyone take in the whole wide world...yep, I like it a lot!
Oh how I wish I could take such photographs!!!! The color! The story! The personality! I love this guy's work!

This post isn't very timely, but I have been super busy with my new calling. Over a month ago a humongous fire started in the Angeles National Forest, less than 30 miles from Palmdale. It ended up burning 160,577 acres. It was raining ash here for a few days and not very pleasant, and our hearts went out to those who lost their homes and to the firefighters who fought so diligently, day in and day out, to finally get it mostly contained (I believe it is 98% contained as of right now).

No, that's not a tint on my window...that was smoke & ash! I liked the juxtaposition of the clouds in front of me and clear, blue skies in my rear-view mirror.

West side of Palmdale

From our friend's house, the McFates

Views of the Antelope Valley

After the Adult Session of Stake Conference I came out to our car and it looked like snow!

I'm a huge fan of Pioneer Woman, and when she posted this recipe, I fantasized about it for 3 days! Finally I couldn't handle it anymore and we went and bought the ingredients to make it...it was HEAVEN! It's not for the faint of heart...literally, too much cream & butter! :) But it is simply the most delicious meal that I have EVER eaten! I could add those onions to anything!!!

The finished result

It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G...and I don't even like bleu cheese!

I inhaled mine...Cody ate slow, savoring each bite :)
It was sooo good that we made it AGAIN a week later!
Mmmmm! The rib eye's are expensive, so we tried it yet again another week later with a less expensive cut of meat...so not the same. Plus I did the onions that time and according to Cody didn't let them sweat enough...oops. We'll have to do this again when rib eyes go on sale and Cody can do the onions. :) I can't wait!!!

Anyone who's baby-sat children regularly know they hate being told what to do...after all, you're not their mom! So I try and do positive reinforcement instead of having to be bossy and create a negative environment. I made this chart last year so that if they did their chores and kept up their schedule, they got a sticker and then could cash in those for treats, trinkets, or special trips for ice cream and stuff. I thought I would share it because it worked out really well!

The first chart I made earlier this year. It was all right for my first attempt, but I wanted to change some things and update the picturesFirst, take pictures and arrange in a word document, print and laminate

Then, punch out each face using my trusty circle punchAttach velcro to each circle and a corresponding velcro piece next to each task

Here's the finished result! I like it so much...thank you photoshop for helping me create beautiful things!!!

After our chores are done, play chess! {Aren't they cute?}

...itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie, BLACK polka-dot bikini.

Ok...I probably won't wear it very much, but I bought a cute bikini in order to remind me of my goal for next summer...to look good in a swimsuit! I'm not going all crazy...the suit is a large, not xs or anything, but I just want to be able to know that I could put this on (in the privacy of my own home...I do have standards! :) and not be embarassed.
I think it's cute! It was on clearance, 75% off!

I even hung it on my wall for a few days (yes, just like the commercial!) for inspiration. Then I felt dumb and took it down.

We'll see how it goes...I'll do the big reveal on Oprah next summer...or on my blog, whichever works out. :)