Soup-er Share

I am 'challenging' (is it is tag?) my favorite people to post a favorite soup recipe to share. I love soup season. I am sharing one of my favorite recipes.
Mushroom Barley Soup
1 1/2 lbs. cubed beef (I use a cheap roast)
1 TB oil
2 c. finely chopped onions
1 c. diced carrots
1/2 c sliced celery
1 lb. fresh mushrooms- sliced
2 gloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 can beef broth
1 can chicken broth
2 c. Water (I usually add more)
1/2 c medium pearl barley
1 tsp salt (opt.)
1/2 tsp. pepper
In soup pot, brown meat. Remove with slotted soup and set aside.
Cook onions, celery and carrots in drippings over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms, thyme and garlic. Cook and stir 3 minutes. Add the broths, water, barley salt and pepper. Return meat to pan. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until meat and barley are tender.

I love this on a chilly afternoon. It is even better with Dilly Rolls, but that's another posting.

This is Halloween, Everybody Make a Scene

I love that Halloween song. "everybody's waiting for the next surprise". We had a great Halloween. A big pot of chicken soup with homemade noodles simmered on the stove. It was delicious with the dead breads. We trick or treated and haunted and made homemade root beer. How delectable!

Ethan changed from a cat to a vampire. He was so cute.
We had dancing and partied until we were pooped.


Alaina discovered the joys of Grandma's at Halloween, here she shared a dance with Grandpa.
Morgan and Kenny were here...Colton was a pumpkin. We missed Cory and Isabelle, but hope they got lots of candy and are throwing a sugar fit or two.
Now my Halloween decor is settled in the attic and Thanksgiving has settled peacefully on our home.

Half As Old As My Grandmother

Last week I turned half as old as my grandmother....try and figure that one out. What a great birthday I had. When I got to school, Bonnie my friend and the school's secretary (one and the same) had decorated my room. I loved it. There were streamers and confetti all over and a coffin full of candy. The confetti was all over my chair and stuck to my bottom....there was a trail of glitter through the school all day! Three of my gorgeous daughters surprised me with lunch and I just enjoyed every minute of it! I got a very short visit with my bff Lesley. And a romantic dinner with my honey buns. I am loaded with gorgeous flowers and gifts and I feel loved.....I don't feel any older than I was last week!

Trunk or Treat- Smell My Feet

So I went to the ward Trunk or Treat which I hate. But it turned out great because all my goblins were with me. I was accompanied by Cory the Dragon (But his parents kept thinking he was a devil!), Alaina the Pirate, Isabelle the Spider and Ethan the Black Cat. They were terrific. Even Colton was there with his parents. (Next year, we will dress him up cute!) I am so blessed!

Two, Two ,Two Tags in One

I have been tagged a lot and I admit that I don't always 'play'. These looked kind of fun. I am combining them and 'tag' anyone that thinks they look fun. Do them separately if you wish. The first is to go to your pictures files. Choose the fourth file, choose the fourth picture.
My files are a mess so I hope I chose the right one. But it is fun for me. We had taken the kids living at home to the top of Bountiful Peak for an evening of star watching. This was in August, during the Perseid Meteor shower. We were right on top and ate our dinner on the cooler and off our laps. Then we settled in for a night of shooting stars....It ended up shooting lightning. We had quite a fireworks show. We saw a few shooters after the storm, but the 'wow' of the night was really the storm. This is a picture of my sweetheart-Superman. He takes us pretty fun places.

The second tag is to name 6 quirky things about yourself. My whole life is quirky and I don't know how brave I am or exactly what quirks I will share, but here goes.
1. I can't pay full price for anything (other than groceries). The way I shop for clothes especially, is to look at the clearance tag and if the price is low enough, look at the article of clothing and see if I can live with it.
2. We have Marinda's cat living with us. She is mentally ill. I feed her, take care of her litter box etc. She doesn't like me and I don't particularly like her, but if she disappears for a day or two....I cry.
3. I have to have my pillows a certain way to sleep. The firm stuffed pillow is on the edge of the bed vertically, my regular pillow is fluffed up with a few more feathers toward the end of the bed for my neck to be supported and then I grab 'squishy' pillow. If I am having a hard time falling asleep, I grab the big pillow and hug it also. I also LOVE cold pillows. So I am enjoying the 'open window' weather we are having right now.
4. Chick flicks aren't my favorite movies...they are low on the list, but I really enjoy watching movies with my daughters and friends. (My daughters are my friends also). I like to watch comedy and mystery mostly.
5. Christmas isn't my favorite holiday. It isn't even second or third. Here is why. I love celebrating the Savior's birth. Especially through music. I love being with family and friends. I even love the decorations at my house and the fresh tree.....I hate what 'the world' has done with the holiday that they call Christmas. Obligated to give gifts to every person you have ever met. It doesn't matter what it is, it is never. good enough. Trying to get a gift that shows what your loved ones mean to you, but the object is money. Watch the news, that's all they talk about from November on (even sooner sometimes) The poor retailers. People aren't spending enough. I love Easter. Everything is waking up and living. I can remember the gift given to us all at a price we could never afford. I can offer myself to my family and friends because I want to not because it is expected of me.
6. I love jewelry, but I don't like wearing it. I love to play with it in my jewelry box, but I don't often wear it. I love sparkly things. If someone is wearing something glittery I feel like I am being hypnotized and I have to look at it. I will even stop talking to stare. But I don't wear glittery. What is wrong with me!

A Patch of Pumpkins

Although it is now called Fall Break..it will always be UEA to me. I spent part of UEA on a pumpkin farm with Ethan and Marinda and Superman. He was super. He hauled pumpkins all over for us. Ethan loved the pumpkin patch and made sure every pumpkin he touched received a lot of pats. The hay maze was great as he discovered he could run away from Mom. We saw some friendly specters and sat with some scarecrows. The only thing that could have made it better would to have had some cousins with us.

Up Up and Away

... and boy was it a beautiful balloon! Meadaowbrook Elementary was blessed to have a hot air balloon visit today. There is a BalloonStampede this weekend at Antelope Island and they came to tell us about the event. They showed the students the math and science needed to pilot a balloon. It was fascinating to see how the balloon was inflated, how they hold it down, how to load passengers and then deflate and pack the balloon. When they asked if I wanted to go up. I said, "Noooooo." But I loved being close and taking pictures. I am glad there are fun moments like this in my job. If you take the Clipper, look for some of the faculty in the balloon!