It's beginning to look a lot like POPCORN! :)

Jello glazed popcorn is one of my dad's FAVORITE things. In fact, that's what he asked for for Christmas. So yesterday the girls and I got to work. We made 26 batches. We made every flavor we could think of...cranberry, berry blue, tropical fusion, blackberry fusion...the list goes on. We even made cinnamon (using unflavored gelatin and cinnamon oil), which is my personal favorite! We had such a fun time listening to Christmas music, being silly, and working together.

Here's the recipe:

Glazed Popcorn

8 c. popped popcorn (we used 11 c. since the popcorn was especially fluffy)
1/4 c. butter (margarine)
3 T. light corn syrup
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. (small) Jello gelatin, any flavor

Place popcorn in a large bowl. Heat butter and syrup in small saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and gelatin; bring to a boil over med. heat. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for 5 min. Pour syrup immediately over popcorn, tossing to coat well.

Spread popcorn on foil lined cookie sheet, spreading evenly. Bake in preheated 300 degree oven for 10 min. Cool. Remove from pan and break into small pieces.

Tree Hunt 2008

I have to admit...this time of year, I'm really missing Wyoming. I miss the SNOW! Had we been there longer, I might have grown to dislike snow, but I hadn't reached that point yet. On the flip side, when June rolls around and I'm floating in the pool (vs. turning my seat heaters on and scraping snow), I will not be missing Wyoming. You get a little, you leave a little.

One thing I truly love about my family is that, no matter where we are, we find a way to keep our family traditions...such as the annual TREE HUNT. Granted, going to a tree farm in 67 degree weather (with ferocious wind) was slightly different than the quiet forest, traipsing through snow up to our knees and the gentle falling snow. (See Tree Hunt 2007) But still...it was fun.

So here we are...looking for the "perfect" tree.



Is this one it?


Well....maybe not.

But I think Paityn spotted one...


Here it is

and, upon the wisdom I gained from my grandpa, we "put rocks in our pockets" to keep from blowing away. :)

Here's the SAWMASTER, hard at work, cutting down THE TREE.


and taking it to the shaking machine




AND...they wrap it up and tie it onto your car...now THAT'S service you don't get in ANY forest! :)

Paityn...meet Tony

Paityn has been wanting a horse for awhile now. She's spent months trying to work up enough nerve to ask her PaPa to get one. Finally, a few weeks ago, she found the courage and asked me for his cell phone number. It caught him a little off guard...out of nowhere Paityn calling to ask for a horse. Right now, the problem is my parents aren't home enough to give a horse enough attention, and we're too far away to give it the needed attention ourselves. I know he would like to make it happen though.

For now, she got the next best thing. He arranged with my aunt for Paityn to ride her horse on Saturday. I'd say she had a good Thanksgiving. :)


Brushing Tony

Getting ready to ride

Tony the horse

This is the BIG TIME

Paityn, Tony, PaPa, Dusty

saying goodbye

It's that time of year again....

Time to do those family Christmas photos. It's always a good excuse to get out and enjoy the outdoors, and today was a beautiful day. We took a thermos of coffee and made an afternoon of it.

I'll share some from today, but I'll hold off on sharing the Christmas card photo...I'll share that later.

Some fall COLOR

The Famous Meersburger

If you've never had a Meersburger (yes...that's meant to be one word), you're missing out. North of Lawton, OK, nestled in the Wichita Mountains, is a place called Meers. I guess it's a town...I'm not sure. There's really nothing there except Meersburgers. As you can see, the place looks like a shack. The tables sit at a slant, and there's writing all over the walls. It makes you wonder how it could possibly pass any kind of building inspection. Yet, it's been featured on The Food Network, and it was voted one of the top 3 burgers in America in 2007 by Bon Appetit magazine.

We ordered two 1-lb burgers. They come with mustard as "mayo is for sissies" and "ketchup is for yankees". As you can see, the meat was hanging off the 7-inch bun, and it was covered with cheese, jalepenos, pickles, lettuce, bacon, and tomatoes. The girls each finished their 1/2 lb., and Chris and I both finished ours.



If you're ever even CLOSE to Meers, you have to go! But don't go on a Tues....the owner will be spending time with his cows.

crunchy and a little FALLISH

AND she does a little flower arranging

You know my 10-yr-old...the one who sews purses, designs her own doll clothes, etc...yeah...that's the one. I brought home some fall silk flowers and a pretty vase yesterday, and when I'd finished putting away my groceries, I turned around to find that this is what she'd done.

FALL is in the air

There's a cool crisp feeling in the air, and I'm excited! This is what I woke up to this morning.

one of my FAVORITE things

I'm so glad Mom still has rhubarb growing in her garden! I just made Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins, and I have enough left for at least five pies!

Mmmmmm.........mmmmmm............

The beginning of the new school year has given me a sudden desire to become Martha Stewart. And let me tell ya...my family is NOT complaining.

Last week I found a great recipe for homemade GRANOLA BARS. They were a huge hit for breakfast, backpacks, and briefcases. In fact, it was requested that I make them again this week, which I did.

This week, I've decided to make homemade SANDWICH BREAD (and a few rolls to boot). They've been tested and highly approved, and I was asked to "please make it all the time". So I suppose that's something I'll be doing on a regular basis now. Oh my! The house does smell good while it's baking!

Homemade yogurt is a common occurrence around here too. And I guess it's not really a desire to become Martha. It's not like I even watch her show. (although I happened to today, and they were making Goat Cheese...hmmmmmm) Seriously though...I'm starting to think about all the junk in the stuff we get at the store, and I'm kind of not liking it. Besides...it's kind of nice to get a little praise from the family! :)

It seems like I've got a little catching up to do.

I have been the recipient of the ARTE Y PICO Award! The honor was bestowed upon me by Clara of Mimi Kattini! Thank you Clara, and I'm sorry it took me so long to post this. Where did this award first originate you ask? Well, you can read about it here...however, it is in Spanish. These are the rules:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winner, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) To show these rules.


AND, so now the winners are...

Laurie of Blowin Bubble
Boutique
Jennifer of Sweet Sunshine Boutique
Holly of Peyton's Place
Janae of Eldredge Family Blog
Tracy of Creme de la Gems

I just love these little fellas!

In the midst of our chaos, while everything we owned was loaded on a moving truck that was somewhere between I-80 and I-40, we got to take a little trip to Red River, NM. It sure was nice to catch our breaths!

Goodbye WYO

It's time for another chapter in our lives...time to say "goodbye Wyoming" and "hello again Oklahoma".

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. From the time we went "home" for harvest until now, things have been a little crazy. Crazier than usual even. We've always know we wanted our girls to grow up near family. Even though we're far away, we probably spend more time going "home" than the average family who lives near their family. Oklahoma has always had ahold of us.

Chris was offered a position that, not only is a wonderful career opportunity for him, but also takes us close to family. We've taken the long way around, but we're finally going "home".

As I sit under the tree in the backyard, bootlegging internet from the neighbors (thank you neighbors, whoever you are), watching the movers go back and forth loading everything we own onto a Mayflower truck, there's little for me to do but reflect on the last two years we've spent in Wyoming. Some people refer to us as "gypsies". While it's true we've moved quite a bit, we don't regret any of those moves, and we've always believed we were following where we were led. Each new place has given us opportunities and experiences I wouldn't have missed for the world.

So, as excited as I am to begin this new adventure in our lives, right now I'm thinking of the time we spent here, and the things we will most certainly miss...the memories we will carry with us.

The mountains...they give me a high I can't even put into words. They bring tears to my eyes while making me smile with the excitement of just being near them.



The patiently awaited first blooms of spring (although it's really more like summer since spring doesn't actually exist in Wyoming).



The thrills (just do what I do and pretend this is me):



The snow (in Nov-Feb...not so much in April, May, June...):



The wildlife:





The beautiful fall weather:





And one of my very favorite things...going on our Christmas Tree hunt:



We will miss you, Wyoming, but we'd like to think we made the most of what you had to offer.

Not so random thought for the day...

Don't you just hate it when the crawdads eat all your bait!

Wheat Harvest

They say you can never go home again, but I'm not so sure that's the case. To me, "home" will always be "home". Maybe it's because we've moved so many times and lived in so many different places, but it just always feels like we're going home when we go back to the place where I grew up, and where most of my family still lives...Oklahoma.

Every June we spend about 10 days helping with harvest. Over the last 20 years, my city-boy husband has become quite the farmer. He looks forward to it, and I THINK they actually count on him. It's a family event, and although my girls have been many places, and experienced many different things, I think this might just be the most wholesome wonderful thing out of them all.

Every kid should get to experience country life...at least for a moment.

There's nothing like some good old-fashioned dirt-diggin' kind of fun!

Remember "Parachute Men"? They make for some cheap and great entertainment. :)

I love that my kids can get a small taste of how I grew up. I come from a hard-working family with good strong values, and, although there were times during my teenage years that I didn't want any part of it, I'm very proud that those are my roots. I can only hope that I can be the kind of example to my children that I was shown throughout my life...that of my family.