{Gram & Papa's Punkin' Patch}

Every year, my mom and dad plant a section of pumpkins in the their garden for the grand kids. We all get together for a Family Home Evening and everyone gets to take home the pumpkin of their choice.

The Pumpkin Patch

and from another angle. I love it when the weather is nice, the kids can play and we can all just enjoy being together! This year my cute cousin Cami was spending the afternoon with my mom, so she got to be included in the fun too. Doesn't Kaleb make the best scarecrow?

All the kids take turns drawing a number to decide who gets to pick there pumpkin first. Cami may look confused.... Her number is one, but she is holding up two fingers??? She was just really digging the peace sign that night!

The Dearden Clan-aka, my kiddos!

Brock decided to go Elk hunting with his dad and miss out on the pumpkin fun. So, I picked him out a pumpkin and took a picture of it, all by it's lonely self!

The Teeples's Peoples-aka, Lisa's kiddos!

and last but not least, The Beckstrand Bunch- aka, Shad's girls and Cami!

What a great bunch of kids, all with their pumpkins!

and of course the silly picture (that's more realistic anyhow)!

After the pumpkin fun we all roasted hot dog and cooked tin foil dinners in the fire pit. I feel so lucky that both my brothers, my sister and our parents are all so close. I love that the kids are growing up together and I'm thankful for the the time we get to spend together! I also love that my parents do this and we don't have to go buy pumpkins!

{Catch Up #6- Annual Friends Camping Trip at the Lake}

Evey year (OK in all honesty we just started this last year, but I really hope we do this every year, because I love it) we plan a camp out at Yuba Lake with a group of friends. The guys (Brandon, Brett, Derrick and James) have been buddies forever, but luckily all the wives and kiddos get a long great too!

Carlie is my little water baby. She loves being at the lake....she was sure we needed to celebrate her birthday at Lake Powell.

Mr. Brock.... quit growing up so fast, would ya?
(Love the crazy boat hair)
Isn't she just cute?
Baby Callie, with Uncle Brett....ummm, yummo SAND!

Carlie, Kady and Paige

Derrick and Brock just chillaxin!

SO, Brandon and Christie brought Kami's brothers water weenie (call it a banana if you will, but to me it will always be a water weenie). Are you impressed I got on it? Yea, well Christie and Ronni basically gave me no choice. Yes, I was terrified. Yes, I may have said a few not nice words. Yes, I did have fun!

All the kiddo's lined up (minus Callie).... Brock, Carlie, Damon, Tyce, Kaleb, Kady, Kyle, Paige and Colby. Yep-we have 10 kids all together, how did that happen?

Most of the kids took a turn!
While we chilled in the boat.
Kaleb of course had to surf on the weenie!
Then the Cummings Clan took a turn!

and Derrick wasn't the nicest driver, in fact he may be fired!

Sorry, Christie I had to add this one.... it cracks me up every time I see it!

Good times! I can't wait till next year, and hopefully James and Kami won't have to go home early!

{Lake Powell}

A few weeks ago, actually it was on the Fourth, as we were watching the parade, Derrick's cousin Shelli put her arm around me and told me, " Not this Wed., but the next, we're going on a little trip. You probably want to bring some food, and a swimsuit would be nice, I bet Derrick will hook up the boat and you may want a tent. Nod your head and say yes." I didn't say yes, but I didn't say no either. I did mention that he needed to talk to his boss (his dad) and see about getting work off, but she so sweetly reminded me, that his boss at his "real" job (who may just happen to be her husband) would really like it if we came along. Derrick and I talked about it, but it really wasn't the best time.....there were a lot of cons, we had some things planned not to long after we got back, money, the kids weren't sure, actually one flat out refused to go and the other said he'd go, but not get in the water AT ALL, honestly the timing just wasn't the best. We'd pretty much decided not to go until the Monday before they left when Derrick just announced that we really needed to just do something as a family. It was settled we were going. Well, then he came home for lunch and the car died in front of the house. When he got looking at it, there was antifreeze in the oil.... apparently that's not a good thing. I'll be honest, my stress level went up a bit, but we were still going!

So we loaded up the boat, the Tahoe, the kids and made a quick stop in Richfield for groceries and off we went. I wasn't sure what to expect, and have I mentioned that while I do love the boat, I'm not especially fond of the water? We finally made it to the campground at 10 or so and proceeded to set up out tent in the dark. Did I mention that it was HOT, even at ten pm? Yep, it was!

Derrick caught a pretty big lizard on the bathroom wall, and Kaleb was in heaven..... He officially loved Lake Powell now!
The next morning (Thursday) we unloaded the boats and headed out.

I think this may have been one of the only times all my kids were in our boat at one time, the Richardson family boat became the place to be...... I guess it's more fun to go with someone else, especially the older cousins. Carlie was Shelli Catherine's little shadow, and if she couldn't find her, then she latched on to Andrew or Easton. They were all so good to my kids!

The scenery was BEAUTIFUL! Derrick kept saying that whoever thought to make a lake there was brilliant! It really was amazing!

I have to admit I almost had a heart attack when Derrick pointed out that the depth gauge said 381 feet! A few minutes after I took that picture it said 438!?! Did I mention that I really don't like deep water? I just had to make myself not think about it. One thing I did love.... can you see that the water temperature was 81 fantastically wonderfully warm degrees? Yep, loved that!

That afternoon we hiked up to Rainbow Bridge. It was definitely worth the hike in the heat!

Aren't those some pretty cute kiddos? From there were headed over to Dangling Rope marina. It's a floating marina in the middle of nowhere. There is a little gift shop there, a gas station and a little eatery. We got some more ice for the coolers, and some ice cream! (and I forgot to take a picture).

Friday we went to Forgotten Canyon to check out the Indian Ruins that are built into the cliffs there. ~The Dearden Clan~

We tied up the boats (ours is the one on the upper right hand side,it looks pretty tiny) and then had to swim up the channel you can see, then hike up the mountain a ways. It was definitely worth it. Not only were there ruins impressive, but the view was fantastic!

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing and exploring. Kaleb decided that he'd much rather surf on the tube than ride it the regular way?!? At one point we had a boat full of college age kids following us to watch him and cheering him on. I was cracking up when we heard them yell "GO little dude!"

We also spent some time playing on the cliffs and everyone took at least one turn jumping. Ok, I took one turn (I can say I did it, but it isn't on my list of things I must do again) and everyone else took many, many turns. I was amazed, on our trip to Sand Hollow a month ago, none of the kids even wanted to get in the water, let alone tube, or jump! I don't know what magically changed, but I was proud of them!

All the kids.... Back- Kaleb, Andrew, Brock. Front- Easton, Carlie and Shelli Catherine

I'm not sure why we didn't take a picture of the whole group? Friday night Derrick's cousins Randy and Doug, and his girlfriend Amanda showed up. Joyce and Errol cooked us all dinner and we sat around and visited. George and Shelli brought their snow cone machine and both nights we devoured snow cone after snow cone. I think I would have been happy just to have snow cones for dinner it was so hot!

Saturday we went back out on that lake for just a little bit, and the we finally got Brock on the tube. This picture cracks me up..... how different are my boys? One blonde, one dark, one with the most terrified look on his face, the other loving it?!?!

But we finally got him to smile, and I think he actually was enjoying himself! And of course Kaleb just couldn't ride along, he had to stand up..... silly boy!

Kaleb even decided to kneeboard that afternoon. He had done it a few times last year, but had always started from a sandy beach with help. Well, there weren't any sandy beached around, so he decided to try starting on his stomach and pulling himself up with the boat going, and HE DID IT! I was so proud of him!

That afternoon we loaded up and headed on the long drive home!

SO, 40 gallons of gas for the boat, 48 bottles of water, 12 bags of ice, 2 bottles of sunscreen, lots of hours in the car, and a few minor sunburns (not too bad considering) later........ I can honestly say-

I ♥ Lake Powell!!!

and I can guarantee that won't be our last trip!

{A Winner, Family Fun & Yummy Food}

And the winner of the Be Mine banner is........ KRISTEN, my cute cousin, who said, "Ok....so you are forcing me to comment when I usually don't. ;) So can it count that I love you???? Cause I really do!!!!" Awww, how sweet you are Kris! See commenting pays off!

A BIG thanks to all the rest of you for your sweet comments (I love comments) and your compliments.....really you all give me to much credit, I like to craft, but I'm not all that creative and I usually copy others ideas and just tweek them a bit.... plus crafting distracts me from other things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, all the boring things! Derrick's mom and Mike came to visit last weekend and brought the kids their Christmas gifts. Carlie got a darling coat and some cute outfits. The boys, and all the rest of us, were excited with the new game table they got. It's a four in one- air hockey, ping pong, mini pool and a baseball game. Brock was so excited he ran and got his tools and figured he could just whip it right together. Not so much, it took a bit longer than that, and the boys were great helpers. Then the fun began. The boys had to play each other, then they had to play dad, then Grandpa Mike, then Mike and Derrick had to play, mom even played dad, but mostly Carlie, Grandma Jeannie and I just watched. We all stayed up too late, and had a hard time getting up to get ready for Church the next morning. What a fun gift, that will definitely get lots of use!

Now for the yummy food. I've been cooking this morning, since we're having friends over for dinner tonight. It's starting to smell good and I thought I'd share this yummy, not to mention easy recipe that I got from my sis-in-law Katy. I'm also going to attempt guacamole.... no big deal, you say? Not for me! I HATE guacamole, it's green color makes me gag, and the texture, ICK! But Derrick loves it, so I'm going to be a good sport and try.

** Chile Verde **
Shredded Pork Roast (you can either cook one up, or grab one of the pre-cooked ones from Hormel then shred them....today I did one of each, a really small one, plus the precooked. One of my sis-in-laws has even just used some of her left over beef roast from Sunday dinner on Monday).

2 cans chopped chile 2 cans diced tomatoes (I used the Mexican variety)

1 can each of black, pinto and kidney beans, rinsed & drained (if you need it go farther, add 2 of each)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (save a bit for garnish..... I just realized I forgot to add this)
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder

**Dump everything into your crock pot and cook on high for a few hours or low for longer. Everything is precooked, so really it just needs time for the flavors to blend. Serve on top of Fritos, and garnish with cheese, sour cream, cilantro, salsa and a squeeze of lime....you have to have the lime, it's a 100 times better with it!

MMMMM, Yummers!

{SNOW Much Fun Again}

It was another snow fun weekend for the Dearden families! James & Kami (Derrick's cousin)made arrangements for us all to borrow a condo at Mt. Holly above Beaver for the weekend. After hours of packing, (seriously why does it always have to take so long, and why must we take so much) and the back of the truck packed full, we headed out late Friday afternoon. They got there a few hours before us, and had cleaned everything up (it hadn't been used in awhile) and had dinner almost done, or maybe a little too done...... lets just say James may never be allowed to cook steaks again.Saturday morning we all went out sledding for a bit.

There was plenty of snow and a hill that was perfect for both the kids and the grownups too! I have to admit, I only went down two or three times, because the hike back up in that deep powder was rough! But everyone was having a blast, until.....

.....suddenly it was cold, and everyone was tired and ready to go back in!
The kids really all play pretty well together and kept busy watching movies, playing the PlayStation, and Carlie even entertained us with her dancing moves. Derrick and James took advantage of that time to take the snowmobiles out for a bit. The kids and Kami (yep, I wimped out....no really I was listening for Tyce to wake up from his nap) went back out and made a big snow fort complete with seats. Then later that afternoon James and Kami were nice enough to watch all the kids while Derrick and I took the snowmobiles out a little bit. It had been quite a few years since I've ridden and I have to admit, I was thankful for the groomed trails.
The next morning (after much preparation, it seemed) we all went out on the snowmobiles. Again, I was very thankful for the groomed trails, especially since I was riding with two kids. I did kick them off every so often so I could go play in the open areas. We found a great hill, and were glad we'd deflated a couple tubes and threw them on. The kids were in heaven with this hill, the slope was perfect and it probably took two minutes to get from the top to the bottom. I think they each may have climbed back up (or even half way up) once.....and the rest of the time they'd go down and one of us would run down on one of the snowmobiles and bring them back up! What could be better than that?

I have to say it was a great weekend filled with fun, games, not much sleep, good food, not many quiet moments, and especially good memories!