Happy Halloween

This weekend was excellent for many reasons.

1) The weather was a bit on the chilly side, but it was refreshing. The sun was still warm and gorgeous.
2) Kelly was in town visiting! We had another epic weekend.
3) Halloween was celebrated

All three of those things makes me happy :) Kelly visited from Thursday to Sunday. We had a great time getting our costumes together for the Halloween Party and enjoying each others company. We played LOTS of games, maily Taboo. Such a fun game. We also went to a Comedy Club. Such good laughs and good times. A group of 5 of us dressed up as Gilligans Island. It was great. Lots of fun.



Our friend Jason as Skipper, Kyle as Gilligan, Me as Mary Ann, Kelly as Ginger and our friend Dan as the Professor.

Kelly and me dressed up as Ginger and Mary Ann!

Kyle and me, a.k.a. Gilligan and Mary Ann

 Another reason I enjoyed the weekend was the weather. On Sunday (after I took Kelly to the airport...BOO) Kyle and I took Tucker for an extra long walk around the neighborhood. It was super sunny and the perfect day. I got to see a lot of the neighbors yards - it's the first year for the holidays in the new house so its fun to see what people do (and what I can start planning for next year!)

Here are some of the best yards I saw:

And of course, Tucker could not be left out, so I borrowed Skippers hat. Here is Captain Bruns on Halloween morning! Now let's hope he doesn't get too wound up with all the kiddos ringing the doorbell tonight trick-or-treating. I can't wait to see all the kids in the neighborhood!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween night! Happy Trick-or-Treating!

Game Night

Some friends got together over the weekend to "chillax." The weather is FINALLY not blistering hot, so we get to enjoy our grill again. We grilled ribs. YUM. And played games. And watched football. It was a fun evening, enjoying each others company and having a good time.

We played Farkle. Kyle swears that I cheat at the game (it's dice. I promise you I don't cheat) and Jason was lost horribly the first time we played (he is just as sore of a loser as Kyle) so I challened the whiners to a game. Guess who won? KYLE. So he can't say I cheat anymore!

We also played Jenga. I have special Jenga, with rules and things to do when a block is pulled. It always gets creative and fun towards the end. Dan lost.

Then we went outside to play cards. P&A to be specifc. Tucker was there too, don't worry. He had to get in on the fun.

And it was a lot of fun. Friends hanging out, playing games and having a good time!

Peanunt Butter.

We all love it, right? I'm not sure I've met anyone that doesn't. Its perfect on toast. Amazingly delicious in cookies and bars. Perfect combincation with apples celery. Whats not to love, right?

I'm sure you know this as well. Dogs love peanut butter just as much as humans do. Tucker included. I have a horrible habbit of sharing a little bit of peanut butter with him when I am in the jar myself (not with the same utensil, of course!)

The other day we finished up a jar. It was mainly empty...minus those pesky sides that you can't get the peanut butter out without getting your hand full? Yup, that was left. So I let Tucker have some fun. As soon as he figured out how to get the jar from not rolling around on the tile, he loved it.

Here is even a picture of him enjoying it.  (I know this might be kind of a lame post, but bear with me. I was kind of bored and looking for something to entertain me when Kyle was gone all month! haha)

Festive Decorations

These past couple weeks Kyle has been a working mad man. Working so many hours we both lost count, and traveling all over the country on top of it. I knew I needed something to do to keep me occupied otherwise I knew I would go insane. I came across this little Halloween Decoration made from 2x4's and decided I was going to do it. I love "projects," but this is the first true "craft project" for the house I have done!

Supplies? An old 2x4 that we had used in our rental house garage. I stole it from Kyle while he was out of town and had my friend Jason help cut it up. I thought I would ask for help on this part so I could walk away with all fingers and toes in tact. I needed 5 pieces of the 2x4. Spray Paint, and a little burlap. Thats it.

After Jason helped me cut the boards, I started by giving each of them a good coat of paint. I gave each board 2 coats, but the white I had to do more of. I had to keep Tucker in the house during this point because he is so curious, pretty sure he would have ended up with a green/orange/black fur coat. Not sure Kyle would have like that!

After I let these dry, I started the detail work. For this I used a pen I got from Hobby Lobby. It's a cross between paint/chalk/crayon. It's the size of a pen, looks like wet chalk, but applies and holds like paint. It's pretty slick!

After this, I had to put another coat of white on the ghost, did frank's hair, and wrapped the mummy!

Now just the mummy to go...

Done! During the 4 hours Kyle was home this weekend, he helped me screw the boards onto the base. It looks great sitting next to my mum in the front yard. The only drawback? I could have made it a little bit bigger. But it was my first one. Next one will be even better!

Tucker doesn't like being left out. He had to get in the picture as well.

Our front yard....don't mind the dead grass and the overgrown bushes (they are getting an overhaul this winter!) A couple pumpkins, a mum, and now my 2x4s! I might be adding more to the yard this week...some of my neighbors are going all out for Halloween!

Until next time...hope you all are enjoying fall!

Granby, CO

This last weekend Kyle and I had the opportunity to meet up with some college friends in Granby, CO. Have you ever heard of it? Granby is a small town, basically built to support the skiing season and ski-fanatics in the Rockies. It is located about 2 hours west of Denver, up high into the Rockies. We were at about 9,000 feet above sea level...so we were WAY up there. We arrived late Friday night, and the temperature at our condo read 27º! It was quite a change from our 80º in San Antonio, but the condo was already heated up and the gas fireplace was going so it was nice and cozy.


Our friend Stephanie was given this condo to her for a week through her work. So we took full advantage and had 3 couples from college meet out in CO. There was one other couple besides Kyle and me that only stayed for the weekend, and Luke and Steph were lucky enough to stay for the entire week. Even though it was a short trip, it was well worth it. There were lots of laughs, games, SNOW, and talking through the weekend. On Saturday we woke up to snow, and in total snowed about 4 inches! It was a nice, slow, peaceful snow...not like how it used to snow in Fargo! Sunday we took advantage of the nice weather and went out and did some hiking. The snow provided such a pretty landscape it was breathtaking. Now I have had my snow fix for the winter ;)

Enjoy the pictures...it was hard to fully capture the beauty of it all!

Kyle, Me, Amanda, Jake, Luke, and Steph (Kyle, Jake, and Luke were college roommates)

Kyle and I at Adams Falls, one of the hikes we took

I think it's safe to say that CO is one of the most beautiful states I've been to!

Weekend at Home: Part 2

The OTHER reason for going home this past weekend (besides watching my lil sis play vball) was for my parents. My dad has had a life-long dream of building a shop. A shop for tinkering, more or less. This shop is not an average one, it is huge. It has a built-in office, lunch area, storage space, a wall of peg boards above work benches, and a bunch of other tool-type setups that I have no idea what they are used for. It is very well insulated, and basically, it is his dream coming true.

To honor that, my parents through a party! It turned out to be a 35th Wedding Anniversary Part along with a shed warming party. So we took full advantage of being home and seeing friends and family. It was nice to see everyone, some I handn't seen since my High School graduation! It's times like that that I miss being home. Thankfully Kyle and I were able to make it work. Here are a few snaps from the party!

35 Years!

The family...all together for the first time since Christmas!



Seriously, how cute are these two?!

Sisters <3


















Lauren had such a good time with my sisters and me!




It was a great party, and like I said, great to see everyone. (Looking at the pics, I still feel like the mailmans child with my dark hair...not sure where that came from!)

Until Christmas...

Homecoming Queen

Just have to keep bragging about my little sister...

She was crowned BLH Homecoming Queen last night! I was so happy/proud/excited....

Sad I couldn't be there to share the night with her, but still so happy. Here are a couple pics from last night with King Taylor Broderius (again, good pick. He was always so smiley and friendly at the pool when I was a lifeguard!) and getting crowned.

Congrats, Ashley!

 

Weekend at Home: Part 1

I have been quiet for a few days, but this last weekend Kyle and I made the journey home. It is the first time we had been home since Christmas! (I have no idea where the year has gone). One of the main reasons why we went home was for my little sister, Ashley. She is a senior in High School and a stud at volleyball, and we have never really seen her play.

She had a tournament on Saturday in Willmar, so we drove in bright and early to watch her play. Turns out, her team is pretty good, but they need that extra little shove when the game gets close. If there is a record for the amount of games lost within 2-3 points every match, BLH Mustangs would win. Every game, every match, they would be within 2-3 points of winning. It was frustrating to watch that, but amazing to watch my little sister dominate on the court. (I like to say that I helped train her ;) It was fun to watch Kyle get so worked up...I thought he might get a hernia at one point!

The coach that coached my older sister and me is still coaching, so that was fun to see as well. We had a chance to catch up  and chat, and of course, take a picture. Same old Ms. A :)

I can't wait to see where Ashley will go, who she will end up playing volleyball for in college. She has over 1,000 set assists, is consistently in the top 2 for kills, blocks, and ace serves. That all makes one proud older sister :) Way to go, #6!

The family watching Ashley play! Kyle, Mom, Roshelle, Ashley, me, Trevor

                                       







  

                                        The sisters!                                                                 Ms. A...she coached all 3 of us at BLH!                         

Wish I could be home today to be at coronation. Ashley is on court, I can't wait to hear the results!