REALLY?!

It's snowing outside.  And my car slid in the road on the way home from school.  It's freezing.  What happened to last weeks 70's weather?!  It should NEVER snow before Halloween.

Really?!

Oh, and I finished my Hogle Zoo post.  TONS of pics.  It's a marathon post, but there is something in it for you if you finish!

Hogle Zoo with the Kiddos

This Is Halloween, This Is Halloween!

Jessica had the great idea to get a bunch of friends together to go on the Heber Creeper Railroad for some Halloween fun.  We have wanted to do that for awhile, so we made a night of it.  After going to Ogden in the morning for a session in the temple (for our Utah Temple Trips 2010!), we came home and frantically started shopping, cleaning, and cooking.  We went to Walmart and split our shopping list between the two of us so we could get our groceries faster.  We were in and out of there in 20 minutes!  I think it was my fastest Walmart trip ever.  After coming home Jessica started throwing together chili, and I cleaned up around the house.  Between the two of us we managed to get everything done before people came.

Quite a few people showed up beforehand for chili and a scary movie, so we had a full house.  I don't normally like chili, but I will say that Jessica's may have converted me.  It wasn't too spicy, and had a good taste.  We also popped in a classic Disney Halloween movie- Watcher In the Woods.  I had never seen it before, but it was so CREEPY!  There were a lot of people who had seen it before, but loved it.  It was gun to see something a little different for Halloween.  Even if it was a little older, it still was a good movie to watch, and you can bet we turned the lights off for it!  There were some jumpy moments, but no one spilled anything on themselves, thank heaven!

After the movie we headed up the Provo Canyon to Vivian Park.  The train was waiting for us, and there were creepy people running about, scaring unsuspecting people. We got on the train (which was decked out with spider webs and black and blue lights), and started our journey.  There was a narrator over the speaker who was telling of some of the scary things that have happened in the canyon over the last hundred years or so, and out the window we would catch sight of some scary things.  We drove past a cannibal camp, a ghost bride, a zombie girl that had fallen down a well, some electrocuted convicts, and an old lady ghost.  Then . . . the train "stopped" working!  By this time, we had moved from an enclosed car to the caboose, which was an open-air car with benches.  We were able to see things a little better from there. 

The group that went to the caboose

While we were waiting for the train to be "fixed", the creepy people came on the train and ran about scaring the passengers.  We saw some of them coming, but one sneaked up behind me and I almost jumped off the train when he spooked me!  My friend Joe managed to grab me, but I was pretty freaked.  Here is a picture of me with the headless spectre. 

You weren't supposed to see me, but the person taking the picture couldn't get a good angle with the poles on the caboose.

All told, the ride was about thirty minutes, but I had a lot of fun.  We were all joking and laughing, and were a little bit cold when we were done!  Here is a picture of the entire group that went:

Like I said, they are a fun bunch.  We headed back to our place for hot chocolate and chatting.  We were laughing like crazies until 1 a.m.!  I'm getting too old to do that, but it was too fun to pass up.  What a great way to kick off Halloween season.

Utah Temple Tour 2010- Ogden

This morning, Jess and I got up a little early and headed up to the Ogden temple to do a session. They are closing it for renovations for a long time, so we knew we had to get it done quickly. It was built exactly like the Provo temple, so it was nice to know exactly where to go. We had a great session, and as we were leaving, we asked a family to take our picture. As we found out, their son was leaving on a mission soon, and he had received his endowment, but wanted to go to the temple where both his parents had received their endowments, and also gotten married. It was fun listening to their story, but the Dad was definitely glad to see the temple get a face lift- he kept talking about how ugly it was! We laughed together, and then Jess and I stopped by a few historical sights on the temple grounds. After visiting those, we headed back to Provo, stopping at Denny's (our favorite) for lunch. I wanted something quick, but not fast food, and we ended up sitting in the restaurant, waiting for our food for almost 45 minutes. We didn't have much time, so we scarfed our food down, and booked it to Provo.
Another one down, ladies and gents! Just a few more to go in Temple Tour 2010!

It's Just A Bunch Of Hocus Pocus!

Tonight we had our monthly Relief Society meeting, and we had a scary movie and popcorn.  We went to the clubhouse and snuggled up in the comfy chairs to watch Hocus Pocus- it isn't Halloween time until I've watched that movie!  Jessica had never seen it, so it was fun to hear her laugh out loud every so often.  Afterward, I sang along with the closing credits and serenaded everyone with a rousing rendition of "I Put A Spell On You".  Believe me, it was bad.  So, I will just let you see the pro do it.  Happy spooking, everyone!

Jane Austen Night!

I think I gained ten pounds just looking at this yummyness again!

Every Saturday during the Priesthood session of Conference, Jess and I host a Jane Austen and decadent dessert night at our house.  The last few times we have had a hard time deciding which movie to wathc, so Jess and I came up with a survey to help us.  Each girl wrote down their answers to questions like, 'Which Jane Austen movie character has the best/worst hair?", "Which curate is the best?", and "Which proposal was the best?".  Then we discussed and mooned over the answers.  As it turned out, the movie choices came down to Persuasion and Mansfield Park.  Mansfield Park won out and we started the movie.

 Here are some of the ladies discussing their surveys.  We laughed and debated for 15 minutes!

That is when Jess and I pulled out a little game for the ladies- Jane Austen BINGO!  We made bingo boards with spaces made up of cliche Jane Austen moments that are in all her movies.  Things like "Getting caught in the rain", "A musical performance", "going to a ball", and some more creative ones.  The best ones were:
1. Improper behavior (running, yelling, not being married by 16)
2. A close up of a hand
3. Longing glance toward an object of affection
4. Cinematic interlude of walking
5. Meaningful thought or conversation in a carriage,
and the one that created tons of shouts of "BINGO!"-
6.  Someone takes to their death bed

We had a blast, and used peanut butter M&M's for markers.  Oh geez, it was fun.  And I think everyone got a Bingo at least once.  We even had two girls get a blackout (they have every space on their boards marked out).  SO GREAT!

We had a little time left over afterward, and some of the ladies hadn't gotten enough ooey gooey loveyness, so we popped in the Young Victoria.  Another fantastic flick!  It was just a night for period dramas. 

And the whole time we were gorging ourselves on the most amazing desserts!  We had Swiss Cake Roll Cake, Texas sheet cake, cheeseball and crackers (thanks for the amazing recipe, Mom!  The girls LOVED it!), Chocolate Mousse Trifle, among other things.  I made a recipe that I recently found, and is definitely a keeper!  They are Strawberry Napoleans, and they are fantastic!  A pastry layer, then vanilla creme, then strawberries, pastry, creme, strawberries, pastry, chocolate sauce, and topped with a whole strawberry.  Deliciousness, I tell you!

This was a night for the books.  Heaven on earth!