How blessed am I to live in Arizona where November affords such amazing race weather?! This month held 'firsts' for all of us; Casey's first 'Platinum' recognitions in 2 cycling events, the Tour de Safford and the Tour de Tucson, Cade and Phoebe's first 5k, and my first half-marathon.

 

Our Halloween

Since Halloween was on a Sunday, this year, our family decided that keeping the Sabbath day holy meant staying at home and handing out candy. So, Trunk or Treat became our big dress-up day. As always, Alice, the red and white queens, and our resident zombie had a blast cake-walking, cornbread and chili-eating, and trunk-or-treating.

*On a side note, Casey got platinum at the Tour de Safford that morning:)

Treats for a 'Fall" bridal shower

My sister's wedding was beautiful.
Strung lights, burlap table runners, antique vases, jars that glowed with candle lights, and...
fall flowers.
So there was the inspiration for her fun bridal shower/bachelorette party that I hosted at Kona Grill.
But rather than go pretty, like the wedding,
I decided to go completely literal...Halloween and all.
So I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, (Kristi and Lindsey made the cutest toppers for them) and carameled apples with toffee chips, M&M's and chocolate drizzles.
And, just for fun, all of the girls wore masquerade masks.

Lucky me for being able to share these moments with my PERFECT sister. Love ya, Sar.

Goodness, gracious! Where do I start??
Here, I guess...
With my most prized possessions.

Nothing makes me happier than the fruits of the work that goes in to preparing for and sitting for family pictures.

 

Before and After

DON"T TELL HIM I DID THIS!!!

But I just had to say...

Biking- it does a body good. (And makes a wife happy;)

Blueberry Crumb Cake!

Ok...I know that i seem to always be tooting Martha's horn, but this recipe really takes the 'cake'.

I made it for a luncheon with friends a couple of weeks ago and we all loved it, especially the kids.

And it is sooo much better than plain ole' blueberry muffins.(Just ignore how much butter you put in;))

Or better yet, eat all you want and then sign up for my bootcamp!

Summertime in Carlsbad

75 degrees +7 cousins +3 live snails (2 dead) +16 shiny balls on a table +3 hand held game systems +

162 stairs to the sand +5 minutes to Legoland +3 sexy men with biking tans +3 empty bottles of sunscreen +

1 of the biggest pizzas I've ever seen +1 'dirty' board game +12 magazines +10 lbs of sand in swimsuits =

 

See ya next year, Carlsbad.

My Little Fishy

This speedy little girl just swam her last swim meet of the summer and she was awesome.
Last night, Phoebe was chosen to swim in both the freestyle and medley relays in the city-wide rely meet. Her freestyle and backstroke relays had previously taken first place, so we had high hopes for this meet. Her first event was the freestyle relay and she was swimming third. Her teammates started off in high gear and had a big lead when it was Phoebe's turn. And she held the lead. They came in first by a big margin. Yay, Phoebe!!
Next, she was starting off the medley relay with the backstroke and wouldn't you know it, she hit the wall first! It all came down to their last swimmer who just lost the lead by a fraction of a second. They got second place...not too shabby. Again, YAY Phoebe!!
I love watching this sweet girl succeed.

Our small town Fourth

This weekend, we packed up the kids, 4-wheelers, bikes and enough food to feed an army, and headed to the fresh-country-air of Happy Jack, AZ.
I have decided that short vacations are the best vacations. Every time a little voice whined, "I'm tired" or "I'm bored" we would say "Go outside and play some more. We only have two days!" They played pretend in the trees, whizzed around the neighborhood on the little quad, and swung as high as Casey could push them on the rope swing. And when it was time to go, they begged to stay.
Perfect.
Here are the highlights...

QUAD RIDING

COOKIE DECORATING

BLUE RIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT CRAFT FAIR

BECOMING AT-ONE WITH NATURE

4th OF JULY TAILGATING

I did it!

After months of reading, researching excercise trends, trying new machines and workouts, attending workshops, studying flashcards and taking online practice quiz after online practice quiz...
I am, now, a certified personal trainer!
My plan is to spend the next few weeks designing a bootcamp that I will launch in the fall. I want to lead the kind of bootcamp that really hits calorie burn and strength building hard. I want to have the kind of bootcamp that produces results that ALL women want; tighter buns, thighs, abs and arms and greater cardio endurance. My goal is to never have someone leave the last day of my bootcamp feeling the same as when they came in.
This is what will keep me up at night for the remainder of the summer.

See you all when school starts;)

Pecan Pie

There is only one single dessert on the entire planet that I have refused to give even a second thought to.
I have judged it on appearance alone, but for good reason. It looks like ground up
these

But this weekend was my dear mother-in-law's birthday and guess what her favorite pie just happens to be.

I'm always up for a challenge.

So, for the first time in my life, I made one of

these

Pecan pie...where have you been all my life???

Here's the YUMMY recipe for pie and crust-

Cream Cheese Pie Crust and Pecan Pie

(Makes one 9-inch crust)

• 2 teaspoons cold water
• 1 teaspoon cold cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into small pieces

Directions
1. Combine water and vinegar in a small bowl. Combine flour and salt in another bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter and cream cheese into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining.
2. Add water mixture to dough in a slow, steady stream, stirring, until mixture just begins to hold together. (Alternatively, pulse ingredients in a food processor.) Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, and wrap. Press dough into a disk using a rolling pin. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight. (Dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw before using.)
3. Roll dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Trim edge, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Turn overhang under so that edge is flush with rim. Flute edge. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Make filling (see our Pecan Pie recipe).

Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie

• 10 ounces pecan halves (2 3/4 cups), toasted
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Cream Cheese Pie Crust

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set aside 16 pecan halves for garnish; coarsely chop remaining pecans. Stir together eggs, sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Stir in chopped pecans, and pour mixture into prepared piecrust, spreading evenly. Garnish edges with remaining pecan halves.
2. Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake, rotating halfway through, until filling is just set and crust is golden brown, about 90 minutes. (Tent with foil if nuts are getting too dark.) Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. (Pie can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.)