Sunday, October 26, 2008

Mountain Trick or Treating

We had the opportunity to go to Island Park to Harriman State Park on Saturday and do some mountain trick or treating. Who knew that all of these years there existed anything like this in Island Park. I believe people who live around there go up and spend time decorating days before. They then give out free candy to anyone who comes. It doesn't cost to get in and besides being a tiny bit chilly it was pretty fun. I think one of the scariest things about this is the lack of light and being up on the mountains. I'm told there is a funny story involving Adam and the bathroom that I didn't really get the whole story, so ask Adam, Kyla or Mom!

When you arrive, you wait in line for the hay ride to the little grouping of houses. This is our tough crew of spooks who went this time. Austin is the pimp daddy in the suit. Adam is the freaky werewolf thing...(nice Bruv!), Kyla is Maid Marion of course, Kaysha was just scared and cold and Peyts dressed up like a cowboy.



This shows us getting onto the hay wagons to be pulled up to the little village of houses. Along the way to the village, there were various spooky scenes from Ghosts throwing ghost poop (marshmellows) to huge spiders in webs, to a vampire getting ready to attack a girl. I didn't take pictures because they squish a lot of people on those wagons and it was kind of cold. When we arrived Pam was there to give us the grand tour. She showed us the nice treat house that we could go to after trick or treating. They had homemade donuts and hot chocolate or hot apple cider. After walking around in the dark up in the mountains at the end of October, that was a nice end. But before we hit the snack shack we went to various houses for the kids to trick or treat. Some people set up scenes outside and on others we just walked into their houses. The witch's house was the scariest and it almost got Peyts a little bit scared and the woman screaming at you from the shower was probably the worst. I was very proud of Peyton for he never screamed or cried and was very brave. I told him he had to protect me. Adam and Kyla couldn't quite make it through. They must be at an age when this is a lot more realistic and a little scary. Kaysha just plain didn't go if it looked too scary. Austin was game and hit most of the attractions. This was really the only scary one. Pam was supposed to be Elvira I think mom said and she was working in one of the bone yards! This is the wicked old woman from Snow White she looked pretty realistic. I was a little disappointed she didn't give out poisoned apples!

There was a house that was full of fun games that kids could play and then when they were finished they could win a prize for each game. Peyton did a fish pond, a bean bag toss, hop scotch, golf, and this ping pong straw blow. It was a fun room.

He tried so hard to play the game right but got sick of blowing so he just used his hands and the straw!

In case you are all wondering who Pam is cuddling up with, this is Ryan. His parents actually run one of the houses up here and that is how we found out about this fun Halloween activity. I was debating not going because I hate giving up my Saturdays and for the last month, I've been gone somewhere. My two sides were arguing about making memories or staying home and being a sludge as I like to call it. I'm glad we went it was a lot of fun. I had a hard time getting them to pose for a picture, but I told them both they better get used to it. I think he is dressed up as a hunter! Aren't they "Spooktacularly" cute together!


I took this shot because this was probably the funniest costume I saw all night. This lady was a table as you can see and her head the main course. The glasses looked like there was wine in them, but it was just jello! How clever.


This lady was also one of my favorites because she was a great witch and she quotes a few lines from Shakespeare's famous witches in the play Macbeth. "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble..." You get the picture. By then we were freezing and we headed back to get some great goodies. The donuts and warm drink topped off the night. We hitched a ride back on the hay wagon and ended our fun night. The funny thing is I later learned that Adam had to make a quick pit stop in North Fremont because he held it that long. He didn't want to use the spooky bathroom. He must have a bladder of steel! Ha!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Happy 90th!

Last Saturday we celebrated Grandma Niederer's 90th birthday. It had been a while since I had even seen her. In fact, I'm sad to say that it has been since she moved to Salt Lake that I've seen her. She looked great for being 90. The party was nice. Everyone went to a lot of work to make sure she had a nice day.
She was able to blow out all of her candles...so as Dad has always says she will live longer than all of us because she is "too dang ornery" to die. A lot of family was there and we had a nice potluck dinner before. Yes there was even some good food to eat. I don't know if it was Pam's idea or Dad's but apparently we all got these roses for Grandma. There were 90 total! Pam told me about it and was going to have us all contribute, but then Dad just bought them. I don't know if Grandma could see them, but they sure looked nice. I also don't know if they could get them back to Utah, but they added to the atmosphere.
I thought this picture of Peyts and Grandma was cute. I'm not sure if Peyton even really knows who this is because he hasn't seen her too often. He definitely knows who "Poppa Sanders" is. He is around him a lot more and plus he has tractors. I did, though, think it was very cute when Peyts said, "I have a lot of Grandmas now!". If he only knew!
I wonder if she is losing more of her sight because she really didn't even know where to look when I took the picture. But as you can see she still looks like Grandma.
This is some of the family that attended. Not everyone made it, but I think Emil wins the award for traveling the farthest. He came from Alaska and it was nice to meet his wife. I was also able to meet a few new family members. There are also some on the way. Tasha is expecting and they are all waiting until Shane gets home to just show up at the airport and there is the baby. I don't think that is very nice, but I'm sure he will think it funny. Merriloy and Lisa did a lot for Grandma's birthday. There was a very nice movie and they had treats for all of the people who were going to come. It was a nice afternoon to visit with family.
As you can see there was only one drawback and that was the fact that it was like a blizzard outside. I told Grandma that Terreton was telling her it had missed her. If you look close at Peyts outside, you can see how badly the snow was coming down. The was a miserable weekend weatherwise. We about froze to death at the football game the night before and then because of the snow, we thought it made it harder for people to come to Grandma's party. But when we left, there had been a fairly steady stream of visitors who came through. I think that it is pretty cool that she had her birthday up here. It was nice to see. Grandpa Sanders also celebrated his birthday this week. He turned 94. How nice it has been to still have grandparents around. I miss the ones who are with us and enjoy the time I get to spend with the ones still here.


You have to love Idaho weather! Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep in mind it is still October 10th! This is way to early for a blizzard.




Saturday, October 18, 2008

Grid Kid Champions

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go watch Austin play for the Grid Kid Championship in the seventh grade division. It was a beautiful day for football. After last Friday when it was freezing, this was like having a nice summer day. Angie had a bag full of noise makers and tons of posters for these kids and Peyts got into the action of cheering.
Austin played mostly on offense and special teams that I saw(except for at the end when Shelley was making a run to catch up....then they left Austin in on defense,too!). They played Shelley and according to Pam it was the not so good team that was playing Austin's team. There were two teams from Shelley and the good team got beaten last week by Austin's team. Well anyways, no offense from last years game, but this years game actually looked like football. The kids did a nice job on both sides. Dad said that Austin was playing linebacker and Pam told me he punts also, but I didn't get to see that yesterday. The final score I believe was 13-6???I think. It was a close game and fun to watch.



This picture reminded me of how many dads are trying live vicariously through their little kids sports career. Even though it was pretty mild yesterday, the speeches at the end of the game reinforced to me that parents should just go an enjoy them playing. The guy isn't even wearing coaching attired!
Well the buzzer sounded and it found Austin's team ahead and they won a trophy similar to a superbowl cup. I was pretty impressed. After being given trophies and this cup, we went back to try and get some pictures of the whole team...after listening to some miserable speeches by the coaches (I don't even think the kids were listening) we got to take team pictures. Pam told me that Angie doesn't take her camera to championship games because it is bad luck. Angie also said that this was the third year in the championship game for these boys and they finally won. I guess third times is a charm. Good job, Austin!



Peyts was excited to tell Austin congratulations, but he didn't want to put on Austin's helmet. He said it was stinky! I'll bet.
This is Austin's whole team. Some of the boys he plays baseball with are on this team, but a lot of his buddies didn't get to play because they got beaten by the team Austin played at this game!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

My Visions and Dreams of a Contest Chef....Idaho Falls Cookoff...


So I had visions and dreams of being "The Next Food Network Star" and I entered a cooking competition. It was a holiday bake-off and you could enter a holiday treat and a holiday dish. My mind immediately went to all of the great candies I make at Christmas time. I also thought of Gram's fudge and how it is the best fudge recipe and best fudge I've ever had. All of the other fudges are sugary and they use yucky dark chocolate. I was very excited about this cooking competition because we actually got to cook in a restaurant kitchen in Idaho Falls...."The Cellar". I was excited about that because it seems like a very ritzy restaurant...even though I've never eaten there. I went with visions and dreams about all of the money (300$ for first prize in each category!) I was going to win especially since I was also entering my clam chowder...which I think is the best clam chowder ever made.

So I arrive at the competition and it is very hot. I have to plate my fudge for 20 judges and 5 taster plates. As I'm plating, my fudge is melting in the sun. I also have to have a display plate for a photo...thus the pretty one. Now remember in my mind this is supposed to be Christmas/Holiday treats. As I'm looking around I'm seeing really pretty stuff...but none of it looks like holiday treats...So I'm thinking it is in the bag. How can gram's fudge not win. I was concerned that it was getting soft, but it is still great. So after I get my stuff done with the fudge, I get to go into the cellar kitchen and begin plating my soup. I was supposed to cook it at the cellar, but they didn't think they would have enough space for everyone, so I volunteered to make it at home. Then I had to drive it 40 miles and serve it. I managed to actually keep it really warm, but I think it sat too long. I was kind of worried about that. But I got into that restaurant kitchen, and I was very glad that I got to cook at home. I'm going to be honest, going into this "posh" kitchen made me kind of get grossed out. It was not really clean and it was not really functional to me. I was a little sick. It was kind of like when Andy took me to his dairy for the first time. I've known my whole life where milk came from, but to actually go in and see them getting milked with the manure flying and the milk coming out, it kind of makes you think twice before drinking milk. This kitchen made me think twice about all restaurant kitchens. Let's just say, any visions I had of trying to become a chef were slowly leaving. Well I got my soup all dished up and then it sat. It had already sat for about 1 hour...so it continues to sit before it gets served to the judges, but I'm confident it is the best soup ever. I look around the kitchen and see some of the stuff being made and I'm even more confident.
My dish is then taken out to be served and I get to wait. We wait for a couple of hours for the judges to actually get through everything. I would imagine that being a judge sounds fun, but I don't know if it would actually be that fun. That is a lot of food to try and a lot of weird people cooking it. So we are waiting for them to announce the winners and I'm just sure that my recipes are going to win. As they announce the winners and my name is not called for the dish, I think well Gram's fudge is the best...so I guess I just have to win that one. I know they are probably trying to spread out the awards. Me and my big head! Well after they announced all of the winners, I found myself standing there clapping for people who were not me. I hadn't won. It was kind of a blow to my ego because I thought I was such a good cook, but as I looked around, I decided that the judges picked pretty. The two winning recipes were below. I couldn't compete with pretty, but I know my food is good. I'm already planning what to make next time that is a little more pretty and still just as good as the two items I entered. I guess as a consolation, I'm still being published in the Idaho Falls magazine (I think...with my recipes) and also KCLE's holiday cookbook. That will be fun! Just in case you are wondering, I've put in the two photos that beat me out!
This was the winning holiday dish. Now I don't mean to be a sore loser because it was really pretty and it looks really yummy, but if I wanted to make this at Christmas time, can anyone tell me where I can find raspberries that look like that in the winter in Idaho...I don't think so!
This guy was actually cooking in the kitchen when I went in and this was the winning holiday dish. It did look yummy and it was fun to watch him cook. He had already entered a few times in their cooking competitions and won some prizes, so I was up against a repeater and a good cook. I would have loved to try some of the stuff, but they wouldn't let us.
These are some of the other entries. I lost to a cheesecake and I will concede that one.


Monday, October 6, 2008

It is that time of year!

There is a smell in the air around the town of Hamer. It is one that many will know immediately and maybe even catch a hint of as they read. I don't really know how to describe it, but it is an earthy, musty, dirt smell. It is harvest time. Andy made a comment the other day about how this is the one time of year that all of Hamer is lit up at night time. This is the time of year that I don't see my dad very much. This is the time of year of a lot of stress for many farmers. This year (I hope I don't jinx it) is actually been very nice weatherwise so maybe that stress level is a little less. It is a time of year when fields become a tangled mess of vines and sand that will eventually blow in the fall wind. It is a time of long hours, good lunches with lots of treats, dirt, and lots and lots of potatoes.
Peyts and I went out today to see the fields and ride with Pam. I actually ended up spending most of this time at the school which didn't bother me in the least. Even though I have many fond memories of harvest, it is not something that I enjoy doing now. I enjoy the two weeks we get out of school and having some down time to rest from that first rush of school. Peyton loves everything about farming and tractors. Today he got to go and ride with Pop. They went to the fields and checked the cellars. Then he was able to ride with one of the combine operators...known to Peyts as Bo. He is making quite the friends with some of the workers...much to his mother's dismay. His new found friends include Ace, Badg (Badger), Tywell (Tyrell), Mamero (Ramero), and Bo. He is quite the little worker (or so he thinks!).

He is searching for some potatoes left behind by the diggers. It was quite the afternoon for this little guy. I personally like to go out and watch for just a little bit and as my brother says, value the fact that I don't have to do this anymore. When Jake was in college he fondly referred to this time of year as "College Appreciation Days".
These were some of the small ones that actually didn't make it in the trucks. It is funny because if you were to go in Walmart right now, these would be the big potatoes. This has been a pretty good year for big spuds! I hope the potato farmers actually make some money this year!

I Did It!

The first official post is now up for the Scott family in Hamer. It actually wasn't as hard as it appeared to be, but I just needed some time to actually figure it out. I look forward to "blogging" with all of you. I just attended an English conference and it talked about how kids these days are "technology natives" and those of us from older generations who actually remember life without the internet are "technology immigrants". I felt like an immigrant trying to figure this out, but I'm an immigrant who adjusts fairly quickly to new technology. We'll see what we can figure out as we go throughout this blog with regards to all the "cool" things you can do. Also I found the little book selection at the website listed below. I hope you will all make suggestions to it and join. I love books and would love to hear some of your selections.
P.S-for those of you who don't know that picture at the top is an aerial view of our house (the blue one) and my mom's house in Hamer. Hope you enjoy the view!
The technology immigrant signing off on her first post,
Kristie