Visit From the Little Sister

My sister, McKell, came to visit for a few days before she leaves on her mission next month. I am SO glad she got to come. It was so much fun having her and I loved having someone to hang out with and talk to during the days. We kept her busy while she was here. We made apple cider donuts, went to Thistleberry Farm and did three corn mazes (super fun by the way), got hooked on the show 'Up All Night' and watched all the episodes, had a sister's night out to eat Chinese, had a Lion King movie night, and went apple picking. I meant to take more pictures, but when I pulled out my camera the battery was dead. Shoot! I only got pictures at the apple orchard. It was a pretty day- except for the wind. Kell had never been picking before so we showed her how it was done! Is this the cutest picture ever?! I think so.



Bryan thought he was Superman for a minute.

We went picking late in the season, so there weren't a ton of apples left. We had to climb some trees to get the ones up high!
Oh, sister love. My nose is crinkled funny here for some reason.
It seems like Kell was here forever ago, but it hasn't even been a week since she left. The time went too fast, as usual. I know McKell will be an awesome missionary! I wish I could go with her to Italy and see her work. People are going to love her! We love you Kelly and will miss you so much. Thanks for coming to see us. We had a blast. Bennett said today that he wants Kelly at his house! Oh, and Kell if you are reading this, maybe you can send me all your pictures?! Sorry I dropped the ball on that one! :)

Repurposing

This past weekend, Bryan and I were really in the mood to fix up our family room a bit. Everything is brown and boring and just not put together. It has been bugging me soooo bad! So, we headed out to the thrift store and found this beauty. Okay, well not a beauty yet, but just wait. We used paint we had on hand and gave this table a makeover.

Here it is after being sanded down.
And tada! Here is the finished product. We are going to use it as a side table to go with the new couches we just got. I eventually want to paint the walls a light turquoise color and add red and yellow accents. This is just holding me over until Bryan can start moonlighting, then we can splurge some more!
Total cost- $20.00. Total time for project- 3 hours. The next project was this desk that Bryan found on the side of the road- for FREE!! It was in rough shape, but with some sanding, wiping, wood glue, and a paint job it's as good as new!
Here is the after! It would be perfect for a little girls room or college student, I think. Total time for this makeover 4 hours. (Including paint drying time!) Total cost- $0. We used what we had around! I love how it turned out. I'm going to sale it and see if we can actually make money off of it!
I am in the mood to buy a whole bunch of things and fix them up. It really isn't hard and it would be a great job for making a little extra money for my decorating fantasies I have in my head! This probably won't be the last of the makeovers!

Best Caramel Recipe Ever

Last Sunday, the Dr. That Bryan has been working with invited us out to his house for dinner. For dessert they served us apples with caramel and boy, was it to die for!! I made Bryan get the recipe from the nurse that made it for the doctor's family. I made it last night and served it to the missionaries that came for dinner. It was a hit, again! So, I'm posting it here so you can enjoy the deliciousness too!
2 c. Brown sugar
1 c. Butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1c. Corn syrup
Stir over medium heat. Boil 9 minutes, stirring continuously. You can boil it for 12 minutes if you want a harder caramel. Continue to stir until cooled a bit. Add 1/2 c. sour cream when cooled. (this makes it stay soft) Serve with apples, on ice cream or eat it by the spoonful!

October Conference

I always look forward to Conference weekend. It's a time to just stay home, relax, enjoy each other's company and most important, listen to our prophet and apostles speak to us. We were lucky enough to have great weather too. We sat outside with the speakers blaring to listen to one of the sessions of conference. The kids were so happy to be outside in the sunshine!

Chloe caught a butterfly. She is our bug girl. She is not afraid of bugs or creepy things at all! Benny played basketball and would cheer loudly after every basket made. He is so good at sports. He's very coordinated for a two year old!
Bryan and Mabel enjoyed some bonding time. Mabel has a hurt leg and could barely walk for a few days. I finally took her to the vet for some anti-inflammatory drugs. Let's hope they help! B mowed the lawn and after said, "I must be getting old. I'm wearing balck church socks with my running shoes!"

The kids played a game of tackle football. Benny likes to pretend that he gets hurt and makes the girls or Bryan check out his injury. He has seen Bryan fix injuries as the team doctor for a high school football team and also Notre Dame's rugby team. They get the giggles when they play this! Looks like Benny is the doctor now...
We had lots of time to play the Ipad, and lots of time to fight over who's turn it was!
We had a few wrestling matches.
And the kids found some old Valentine's balloons that I never used, so they came up with the idea to blow them up with the bike pump. Pretty inventive!
Notice Chloe plugging her ears in case it pops. Even Mabel enjoyed some R and R this weekend. I love it when she just lays around and doesn't cause trouble! :) We love her.
I feel refreshed and motivated again after listening to conference. I felt like all of the talks were very encouraging. I loved it. I love President Monson. He makes me laugh. I can't wait to read the talks in the Ensign next month!

If you are not a member of our church and would like to hear the talks from conference go hear. You can also read more about our beliefs.