Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving! We were able to spend the day with some friends who also stayed in town. This seems to be our "tradition" since we've not been able to go "home" for Thanksgiving for the past 3 years. Each year (and we've been with different friends and different bases each year!) we've spent the day with some great friends!

Our meal was delicious and we had enough leftovers that we all got together again on Friday to do it again! :)

Then we went to Walmart at midnight for some crazy Black Friday shopping! I was also able to drag Grant into Boise on Friday for a few other things, even though I did most of my shopping online! It's great because many of the deals were available on Thanksgiving day and I didn't have to leave my house in the wee hours of the morning!! Wanna know my best Black Friday deal?!?....

So excited for delivery!!!

Happy Halloween!

We celebrated Halloween with some friends in Boise. We got all dressed up, headed to dinner, and then went to the Old Idaho Penitentiary. We thought it was going to be more of a haunted house, but we were WRONG. They had some "actors" roaming around pretending to be old prisoners, but basically it was just a museum at dark. Lame. So we left after about 20 minutes...big waste of money. Plus, we were walking around outside and it was freezing!

Hanging chamber above...and then the bodies dropped down into the room in the picture below.

We headed downtown to the bars after that. I was DD, so it's always a good time being the sober one in a group of drunk-o's. The things I do for my husband.... ;) Enjoy the pics! Happy Halloween!!

Illegal? Maybe. ;)

Don't ask...if you know Grant, this is normal.

Co-cheese (Beastie Boys) & Dorothy (Wizard of Oz)...last minute costumes!

We passed out candy on Sunday evening...Wizzo dressed up as a Tiger!!

I love fall decorations!

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas, Grant and I were able to make it back to Ohio for about a week and a half. We both took time off from work and left North Carolina on Wednesday, the 23rd, after Grant was done with work. Since we left late, we only drove half way and stopped in Virginia for the night. We finished driving the next morning and made it home in time to finish up some Christmas shopping, have dinner at Grant's parents house, and go to 10:00pm Christmas Eve church service with my mom and grandma. Here are some photos after we got back that night. Don't you love Wizzo's elf outfit?!

This morning we woke up and celebrated our own little Christmas. We exchanged gifts and then let Wizzo open up one of his gifts. He needed a little help getting the paper started, but he did a good job getting the rest off!

We had lunch with the Saum Family and opened gifts with everyone who could make it to the house. It's always an entertaining time at the Saum house! :) Later, we headed over to my dad's and Sheryl's house to visit with them. My step-sisters and step-brother were there with some of their kids. It's always funny to see if they remember me or not. I'm always amazed at how big they are getting, since I remember them as babies! Anyway, we had some food over there too, and opened up our gifts. Wizzo also went along, but we had to put him in his crate for a bit. Some of the kids were a little nervous around him, but I think he was nervous too! He hasn't been around too many kids. I guess I didn't take any pictures while we were there either. :(

This evening, we headed over to my mom's house and had dinner. Rick and my grandma also came over. Wizzo got his second gift and did a much better job opening this time! He also destroyed the toy in about 2 minutes. Good thing it was free!!

Overall, we had a nice Christmas. We've got plans to meet up with some friends in the next few days and try to fit in as much as we can in such a short amount of time while we're here. We have to head back to North Carolina on Saturday January 2nd. Hope you all have/had a wonderful holiday season! :)

Oh and I almost forgot! Here are some pictures of cut-out cookies I made for the Cookie Drive on base. The first picture is of the cookies that I finished and gave to the Airmen. I didn't actually decorate those in the second picture for the drive because I ran out of time, so I finished them a little later that week. I loved them! And they were yummy!

Squadron Christmas Party

It's that time of year again...the Christmas season is here! Last night was our Squadron Christmas Party for the 333d Lancers. It was at the Walnut Creek Country Club, and we had a pretty good time. It was kind of fun to get a little dressed up and spend some more time with friends. Here are a few photos from our night. Merry Christmas!!

B-course Spouses!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since we couldn't get back to Ohio for Thanksgiving, we decided to get together with some friends who were also staying in town and have our own little Thanksgiving dinner. It was very delicious and we had so much food!! I made some "turkey cupcakes" as well. They were kind of time consuming, but oh so cute! :)

Fall Adventures

The Saum Family came to visit and we stayed at Atlantic Beach for the weekend!

We visited Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia on one of the coldest days of the year, yet! We had a good time, but it's got nothing on Cedar Point. ;)

I decorated for Halloween/Fall.

Grant's B-course class volunteered at the Merci Center to help pack up clothing and food for people in need in Afghanistan.

We celebrated Halloween with friends as Mario and Princess Peach! :)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Just wanted to give a little shout-out to all of you Mothers out there, especially our moms, my step-mom, and my grandmas! Have a fantastic day!

Yes...I made another cookie to use up leftover frosting from the IFF cookie I made last week. I wasn't sure what to write on it, so since Mother's Day was coming up, I thought it would be appropriate. We shared it with some friends at a party the other night, and it was again delicious!

Happy Easter!

First, let me say that we miss everyone back at home and wish we could be there with you on this holiday! The Easter Bunny did visit our house, though. On Friday, he dropped off a couple of packages in the mail (Thanks Mom & Wanda!!), which we enjoyed. This morning, he left a basket of goodies for Grant (and maybe a little extra for me, too...) and Wizzo!

On Thursday, I baked some Easter cupcakes for Grant to take in to his squadron on Friday. I used a box carrot cake mix and then used my piping bags to frost them in a fun design. I wanted to put a peep bunny or chick on top, but the commissary was out on Thursday when I was grocery shopping. So instead I just tinted some coconut green (Grant's idea!!) to look like grass and then added some jelly bean eggs on top. I thought they turned out pretty cute! :)

I wanted to watch an Easter church service on tv this morning (a baptist church broadcasts each week), but we were making our pancakes and I forgot. Speaking of the pancakes, I decided today would be a good day to make them. I found this recipe using the BigOven application on my ipod. A while ago, I had some leftover buttermilk that I wanted to use up, so I put in buttermilk as the ingredient and it found several recipes using buttermilk. These pancakes are so yummy...light and fluffy, but thick! We decided to double the recipe today to use all of our buttermilk, and it made about 30 pancakes! I filled freezer bags with 4-6 pancakes, depending on their size, so now we can just take out a bag, toast them, and have pancakes for the next few weeks! I don't have a picture, but here's the recipe:

Buttermilk Pancakes
(Source: BigOven)

Ingredients:
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1 to 2 tablespoons bacon grease, vegetable oil, or nonstick cooking spray

Directions:
In a medium bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Beat in buttermilk, melted butter and (if using) vanilla, until well blended. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to liquid ingredients, and quickly mix just enough to make a creamy batter with some lumps; do not overbeat. (It's normal for the pancake batter to be lumpy after you stir it.)

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet or griddle over high heat. (If using an electric griddle, heat to 375 degrees F.) Test skillet by sprinkling a few drops of water on it.. When water forms beads and dances over skillet surface, it is hot enough. Lightly grease the griddle with bacon grease, vegetable oil, or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Pour about 1/4 cup batter into skillet for each pancake, making sure there is space between them; pancakes will expand slightly during cooking. Cook pancakes until batter is set, bubbles uniformly cover the top and have burst, and bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 1 minutes more. (They usually take about 1/2 the time on the second side. This will depend on how thick you've made your pancakes.) Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil to pan as necessary. Serve immediately or keep warm (* see note) until all the pancakes are cooked.

Serve with butter spread on top and drizzled with warmed maple syrup, fruit compotes, etc.

Makes 12 pancakes; serves 4.

* Note: To keep pancakes warm -- Place a large cooling rack (sprayed with vegetable cooking spray) on a sheet pan. Place the pan and the rack in a 200-degree oven. Place pancakes on the rack in a single layer, uncovered, for up to 20 minutes (any longer--they will start to dry out.) The warm oven keeps the pancakes hot enough to melt a pat of butter, and leaving the pancakes uncovered keeps them from becoming soggy.

Since this post is long enough, I'll leave you with an Easter joke. :)

Three blondes died and are at the pearly gates of heaven. St. Peter tells them that they can enter the gates if they can answer one simple question. St. Peter asks the first blonde, "What is Easter?" The blonde replies, "Oh, that's easy! It's the holiday in November when everyone gets together, eats turkey, and are thankful and stuff..." "Wrong!," replies St. Peter, and proceeds to ask the second blonde the same question, "What is Easter?" The second blonde replies, "Easter is the holiday in December when we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and drink eggnog." St. Peter looks at the second blonde, shakes his head in disgust, tells her she's wrong, and then peers over his glasses at the third blonde and asks, "What is Easter?" The third blonde smiles confidently and looks St. Peter in the eyes, "I know what Easter is." "Oh?" says St. Peter, incredulously. "Easter is the Christian holiday, that coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at the last supper. Then the Romans took him to be crucified and he was stabbed in the side, made to wear a crown of thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands. He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large boulder." St. Peter smiles broadly with delight. Then the third blonde continues, "Every year the boulder is moved aside so that Jesus can come out...and, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter."