MAIJA AND MAD HATTERS

Maija's soccer team, the Mad Hatters had a second great soccer season.

 

During the tournament last weekend, Maija scored her first goal EVER! 

We could not had been more excited for her. 

Even though her team lost, in our opinion the game was a great success!

 

While taking a break from a soccer during winter, Maija made the competitive cheerleading team, which will keep her busy for next several months.

 

 

OLD OTTOMAN GETS A MAKEOVER

Our old ottoman was in a need of a facelift.

It was worn and dark.

 

 

I found this lovely fabric from a local home fabric store.  It was only 6.99/yard.

 

I spent just couple of hours making this slip cover for my ottoman.

I love the lighter shade and how it ties together our white book shelves to the rest of the room.

 

Best of all. 

 

I can easily remove it, and throw it into a washer.

 

 

KAI, THE MOST IMPROVED!

We joined Kai to his end of the season high school fall sports banquet!

This was to celebrate and recognize all the students who did Fall sports at Foothill high school.

 

Kai's fall sport was the cross country.  

He had a great season.  He started a little slow, but toward the end he really improved his time, running in the Varsity team, as a Freshman, finishing second fastest of the school, in his last two races.

 

This night he received a plaque recognizing him as the Most Improved Cross Country Runner. 

Go Kai!!!

 

 

JAZZ ON, MARKUS

Markus had Varsity Jazz Band tryouts couple of weeks ago. 

 

He really, really, really wanted to make the Varsity jazz Band.

 

 

He had a day off from school and spent a large portion of the day to preparing for his next day day try out.

 

Few days later he called me from school. Super Excited!  Not only did he make the Varsity Band, but he made the first chair.

 

The lead trumpet!

 

 

 

We are so proud of him.

 

And can't wait for some great jazz concerts!

 

TREE STUMPS MAKE GREAT END TABLES

Wood is very precious here is desert.  You have to pay a top dollar for it.

 

About a year ago I was walking our dog, Scooby in a desert, and I noticed that somebody had dumped several pieces of cut down tree trunks in the middle of nowhere.

 

I called Jason and he came and helped me to haul them over to our yard.

 

I had all kinds of visions what I was going to be making out of them.  My visions did not entirely come true...since most of the stumps ended up being seats around our fire pit.

 

However, I got ambitious one day, and removed lots of bark and sanded these two pieces smooth, and turned them into end tables to our kids' little basement reading nook.  Perfect, if I say so myself :) 

 

 

ROSES ARE RED....

It is the time of year when the weather is wonderful, and roses are blooming. 

 

Once I go outside to do yard work, I have to force myself to get back inside to do chores inside the house. 

After a hot and long summer, an autumn is such a treat here!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

MY GARDEN

I have finally figured out that it works better to garden during the fall than in spring here in desert. 

We finally have own lettuce to eat daily, herbs to our meals, and hopefully still tomatoes and cucumbers to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We recently had a mock emergency drill in our ward (congregation).  Basically, we were asked not to go to store for 5 days, and see how we would 'survive'. This was announced suddenly, so we were not able to go and stock up before hand.  My favorite thing was to be able to go to garden and get fresh lettuce, herbs, and even pomegranates.

We were set!

 

MY TWO FAVORITE TIMES OF DAY

I love the time of day when sun is just coming up.  The light is still gentle.  Its like the sun is starting to fill the canvas with brighter colors.

 

 

My other favorite time of the day is evening, right after the sun goes down. 

The light becomes softer, sot so bright and washed out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAI

Oh, how the time flies.  Kai just turned 15!

It seemed like just yesterday we celebrated his 1st birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

He still has the same smile, and a twinkle in his eye.

 

He is smart, fun, friendly and makes everyday exciting.

He runs xcountry and plays basketball.

He is in the band and plays trombone.

He even managed to squeeze straight As from his first quarter in High School. Not an easy task with his busy schedule.

 

We love Kai, and are so happy he is part of our family!

Happy 15th!!!

 

 

 

WHO'S THE BIG TURKEY?

We had a mother-daughter Activity Day Girls dinner at the church on Tuesday might. During the dinner we were all playing a game. 

We each got two feathers pinned on ourselves.  The goal of the game was to get rid of the feathers.  The loser was the person with most feathers, the Big Turkey.

To get rid of the feathers you had to tell somebody what you were thankful for.

 

Maija ended up being the Big Turkey. 

Not because she was not thankful, but because she wanted all of the feathers.

 

 

MORNING GLORY

Once again I could not help myself but run outside to take photos of a beautiful sunrise.  This was on November 12th, just around 6 am.

Truly makes one appreciate God's creation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I found a perfect pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe.  It is from here:

 

http://outofourmindstoyours.wordpress.com/the-wonderfully-versatile-pumpkin/

 

They may not look like the prettiest cookies, but they are SOOO GOOD!

 

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C Pumpkin Puree

1/2 C shortening

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp pumpkin spice

2 C flour

1 egg

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Cream shortening, pumpkin, sugars, and pumpkin spice together.

2.  Sift flour, salt, and baking soda into a bowl.  Pour flour mixture into creamed mixture and mix together.

3.  Beat in egg.  Add chocolate chips and stir.

4.  Drop dough onto cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 12 to 15 minutes.

 

Enjoy!

HARVEST FESTIVAL

Every year our local elementary school organizes a Harvest Festival. 

It is an evening filled with games, dancing, cake walking, haunted house, ect...

Each class creates a themed basket, which will be raffled out during the Harvest Festival. 

The money earned from the raffle tickets goes back to school.

 

Each year I buy some raffle tickets and put them into various baskets. 

 

This year we got lucky and won the wrapping paper basket. 

Maybe not the most exciting basket to win, but definitely useful and practical. 

 

And of course it is always fun to be a winner!