Happy Halloween!!

Every year my mommy gathers all of her kids & step-kids and all of their kids at her house for pumpkin carving, chili and donuts to celebrate Halloween. This year JJ had to work, again, so I went alone with a plan in mind for our punkin'... you're gunna love it!


Me & my niece Jackie


My sisters helping out their little ones...


I am NOT a fan of pumpkin guts.... I honestly have to make a conscience effort not to gag while cleaning out a pumpkin! This is usually JJ's job, but since he wasn't around I tried my best. Emily thought my whining sounds were hilarious so she decided to help the process by sharing some of her pumpkin's guts. Rude!! Keep that crap to yourself! :)

All done! Look, I made Pumpkin Pi!!! JJ was so proud of me, he couldn't stop laughing and calling me his 'nerdy wife.' Obviously this shows I love him too!

I went to the grocery store on Saturday night because I don't have little ones to take trick-or-treating and boy am I glad I did! I was stopped in my tracks when I saw this guy walking through the store - he's an employee, works in the meat section - as I was dressed up as Batman (see the belt buckle??) I HAD to have a picture!! He even talked like the Joker! In his raspy voice he said things like: "Hanging out with the enemy... all right" and "hmmph, my legs look better than yours!" :) Big smiles for Candace!!

After JJ got home from work I asked him to take me on a date, he smiled and yelled OK! as he ran down the hall to change. Cute boy! We went to the District and ate hot sandwiches from their deli and watched "RED" with Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, Morgan Freeman, and Brain Cox... with a list like that, it's no wonder the movie was FREAKING AWESOME!!! JJ and I absolutely Loved it! So, if you're in need of a good flick, we highly recommend "Red,"
Enjoy!! :)

Our Weekend

Unfortunately our weekend began with the funeral for JJ's Grandpa, Donal Jaques Anderson. He passed away on Oct 10th at home under the watchful eye of his sweetheart of 65 years. The service was really a wonderful time because I got to hear some of the best stories about him. For example, Grandpa was at an event in Arizona and for some reason was near the Goodyear Blimp. The Mayor and his party were walking across the tarmac towards the blimp, obviously headed for a ride in the thing. Grandpa wanted a ride too... so he caught up with the group and climbed aboard. The employees couldn't figure out why there was one extra person, but Grandpa elected to sit in the co-pilot's seat to help solve the issue :) what a gentleman! About half way into the trip, the pilot turned to him and asked, "So, Mr. Anderson, what is your position in the Mayor's party?" Grandpa turned to him with a smile, "Oh, I'm not with the Mayor's party... I just wanted a ride!" The pilot was so impressed, he didn't rat him out. Yep, that's Grandpa alright!


Here's the flowers JJ and his siblings got, the smiley face vase is perfect!!!




During World War II, Grandpa served in the Army's 714th Railroad Battalion. We were given the great opportunity of having Utah's Honor Guard present at the graveside service. The reverence felt while Taps was played was incredible, the folding and presentation of the flag to Grandma was heart-wrenching, but put the whole day together and it really was quite perfect. The perfect way to honor such an amazing individual.




Grandma and her children: David, Kathy, Carol Anne & Tim.



Me and my sweetheart!

JJ's cute cousins Joanna and Cami. I love these girls!!!

The Rockwell Clan... and Miles, he just Had to be in the picture!! :)

Gardner Village with the Witches!

A week or so ago, I went to Gardner Village with my friends Holly & Chad. We walked around and saw all the fun witches.

Happy Kids!

Saturday I met up with JJ's mom, 2 of his sisters and their kids to eat breakfast with the Witches. I was so super excited, it sounded like it was going to be so much fun! And though I had a really good time hanging out with the family, the breakfast was pretty much a let down...

This is the Witch Queen Tallulah Spellbound, she was the ONLY witch to visit our table. Supposedly all the Witches are to walk around signing autographs and taking pictures. Well, if you got your tickets the day they went on sale, this is most likely the case. However, we were on the table in the very corner, so we were forgotten & ignored. The kids got bored and ended up playing outside 85% of the time. The other percent was spent eating and waiting for the Witches to come....

This Witch ended up by our table just because she was taking a break from being on stage. She did take our tickets at the door and had a fun accent, so she gets a few points for that.

This one wasn't really a witch to me... she looks more like a Gypsy. She didn't ever come to our side of the room, I had to walk around 7 tables to get close enough for a picture. (Can you tell that I was irritated at this point??)

This was the cutest dressed Witch, however, we had to wait in line to meet her and she rushed us all right along like we smelled somethin' awful.

All in all, it was a pretty big letdown. At this point I really don't think I would go again. It was a lot of money (probably not for some people, but for me these days it was) for a not so great experience. So beware all those that want to go, get your tickets the day they come out, don't have too high of expectations for the food, dress up & I wish you luck! :)


This next event took place on Tuesday, I took the afternoon off to attend the wedding of my cute cousin Kelsey & her sweetheart Johnny. They were married in the Bountiful Temple which is absolutely gorgeous!!

The happy couple!

Her bridesmaids...

The boys... love this picture!!!

The bride's family - my cousins! Love you all!

The Groom's family... these people are soooo tall!! Kelsey towers over me, so you have to know Johnny & his dad are giants! :)

This is my amazing sister Amy with the beautiful bride. Kelsey doesn't like cake (I'm with her on this one, my wedding cake was cheesecake instead!) so she asked my sister if she could make a "cake" out of brownies. After a few tries & figuring out the best plan, she did it!! And oooh goodness, they were beyond tasty! She made a 3 layer brownie for the 'wedding cake' then she made 2-bite brownies for the guests to eat first. She made too many so we got to taste testing right away. She made some with cream cheese frosting and others with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. Are you drooling yet? You should be! Honestly, she did a fantastic job and I'm really proud of her!

It was a wonderful day, full of smiles, laughter & love. Thanks Mr & Mrs Rider for including me in your special day!

Quilts Galore!

Once again my sisters and I found ourselves traveling across our great state to rescue my Grandma from the physical demands of making more levi quilts. My cousin is getting married next week, this is the event that brings a precious, pockets of love quilt into exsistence. Also, my Grandma has started a tradition of making each of her great-grandkids their very own quilt. My sister Amy's little boy doesn't have one yet, so this trip was all about getting as much done as we could so that both my cousin and my nephew could have their quilts.

Amy and I drove down on Friday morning with Emily and Kacie hot on our heels. As soon as our bags were on the floor, Amy and I got straight to work...

Sewing the sides first...


Getting the fabric for the back of the quilt all ready...


Ok, so I skipped a few steps here, but I did such a ginormous blog about my quilt that I didn't think anyone needed another play by play :)


Amy is VERY excited that we're almost done!


Tie it up! Emily is the fastest quilt tie-er this side of the Mississippi - so I stood back and busied myself with some small task so she could finish it up without me getting in the way! :)

We finished my cousin's quilt on Saturday (!!!!!!!!) so we were able to start on my nephew's right away! We chopped up some jeans and got down to it...

Here we have Emily modeling what's left of Amy's old pants.... Bringin' Sexy Back!


Here is our barbie, Kacie, showing us how it's done!


They wouldn't let me eat till we were finished... I got a bit hungry... ha! Just teasin'... in the olden days when "Bite Me!" was the cool phrase, my sisters and I got into the habit of shrugging our shoulders, saying, 'ok!' and chompin' down on whomever dished out the tempting phrase. I thought this moment was as good a time as any to bring biting back :) Ah, good times!


Getting all the layers sewed together....


Tie it up again! We finished C's quilt on Sunday afternoon, even Grandma got in there and tied a row, but her hands gave up after that. My grandparents couldn't get over the fact that we finished 2 quilts in one weekend - we were quiltin' fools I tell ya! We even got a little pool time in there as well, gotta love St George in October!


Me & Kacie


Grandma's Girls :) We love you so very much Grandma! I know I speak for all of us when I say we were all so excited to be there and loved that we were able to help you accomplish these amazing quilts. We miss you already!