Monday, December 12, 2011

November



I got to try a lot of new things in the kitchen this month.  I baked homemade wheat bread from scratch, for the first time!!! I didn't grind the wheat myself or anything, but still...Without an automatic mixer or anything. It was hard work but also very fun. I never thought I would be a person to make bread! I always thought it was way too complicated...but thanks to some lessons from friends, I realized I could do it. It's so cool to see the end result!  I also made a big batch of southern style pinto beans in the crock pot which we've been going through slowly (froze most of it).  




Most of my new kitchen creations came during weekends watching college football.  We watched a lot of games together this year, and of course rooted for the Aggies!  Grant got to sport his cool new jogging suit.






We also got to play outside a lot since it finally started cooling down.  Grant could play outside forever.  He cries whenever we have to go back inside.  It is very cute.

On Thanksgiving weekend we went to my parents' house and got to hang out with the family.  Grant really liked seeing all of his relatives and playing with all the dogs.  He kept following the dogs around everywhere.  He laid on them, petted them, chased them, and stole their toys.  It was funny to watch.



Then he wanted to play with the plants outside.  He was obsessed with these flower plants and started pulling off massive amounts of flowers.  Luckily, Nana didn't mind!





Then we headed to Bastrop.  We hadn't gotten to visit James' parents' property since the huge Texas fires affected the area.  They are very lucky that the center part of their property, where they are building a cabin and where their trailer is, did not get burned.  However, most of the trees and plants were destroyed.  Here is what it looked like.


This was really crazy.  Parts of the fire were so incredibly hot that they actually burned the roots underneath the ground...even the entire length of the branched roots.  Here are the empty holes...crazy!


 Grant was in heaven playing out there.  He loved the wide open spaces, but mostly he was obsessed with this little pebble pit.  He kept shoveling rocks into containers and dumping them out over and over again.  Amazing the things that keep kids entertained.



We also got to help saw some fallen trees.  We cut up a cedar tree into slices to make a path to the cabin.  I think it makes it look super cute.  Also Grandpa sawed another part of the cedar tree into a little chair for Grant.  In the process, Grandpa sliced his leg open but luckily he was okay. :)





 We ended the day by watching Scooby Doo in the cabin.  I love watching Grant and James hang out together.

October

We had a lot of events in October.  I love October because it is the beginning of the big holiday season with Fall Festivals and Halloween.  Too bad it was still VERY hot here (90s)...it makes it hard to believe that the seasons are changing.

We kicked off the month by watching General Conference the first weekend in October.  I love Conference.  For those who don't know what it is, this is an event held twice a year where our Church leaders give us inspired messages that give us guidance pertinent to our lives at that moment in time.  It is a great reminder of truths we already know and helps us focus on the Savior, as well.

The Conference is broadcast worldwide so we could watch it at home.  We got up early and made pancakes.  Grant REALLY liked helping me.  He seemed elated just to stand next to me on a chair watching what I was doing and occasionally dumping something in the bowl.  It's so much fun watching him interact with us more and more.



Here is my favorite quote from Conference:
‎
"This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it."
~President Dieter F. Uchtdorf



One of our friends had a first birthday party so we got to attend that also, at a nearby park.  It was the perfect time to get together with friends and celebrate.  Grant loved the park.




The birthday boy!  Happy Birthday Benson!


A nearby Church held a fall festival like they do every year.  It is free and they invite the community to come and do a hayride, play games, jump in bounce houses, etc.  Grant got scared when we jumped in the bounce house together.  They also had a pumpkin patch which we visited to get our pumpkin for Halloween.




Grant had a BLAST! He enjoyed running around and tried to touch and pick up every pumpkin! Most of them were too heavy but he tried very hard. It was fun to watch. Plus we even found a tiny one for him to take home.






Here we are on the hayride!  Grant really enjoyed it.  


Finally we got to celebrate Halloween, which is one of my favorite holidays!  We had a trunk-or-treat at Church which is when the whole family dressed up in our pirate costumes.  On the evening of Halloween, we also went trick or treating in a friend's neighborhood and just hung out.  Grant had a love-hate relationship with his costume.  He kept pulling the hat off, lol.  It was HILARIOUS trying to draw the mustache on him.  Of course he kept wiggling and trying to run away, which made me laugh, which made it even harder to try to draw the mustache!  Anyway, it was a good time.







 Playing games for prizes

Fishing for prizes
A really fun end to a great month!