Happy Halloween, and, oh look! a Scotland picture

With the trip earlier this month, we haven't done much in the way of preparing for Halloween. We didn't buy any pumpkins, let alone carve them. But that just means that we have really cool pictures from Scotland to share, like this one of Glengarry Castle,

Sorry, it looks like I might end up feeding ya'll Scotland pictures in ones and twos slowly over the next few months. Too much other stuff going on. Hopefully not, though. We'll have to see.

But any way, everyone have a fun and safe All Hallow's Eve!

Wordless Wednesday

The Little Drummer Boy -- Pentatonix style

If you don't know this group, you should.

Wordless Wednesday

Baby blessing and Father's Day

This year, Mr. Perfect had a very full Father's Day. First, we we invited to a blessing for Texas Boy and Not Snow's Biggest Fan's baby boy, Mr. H. He is the most adorable baby, as you can see from the pictures.

After the blessing, we met several family members at Dad M's grave to have a short picnic and bring some flowers. Dad, we love you and miss you, but we know we'll see you again. Then we had dinner at our place with lots of family. Drama Queen and Man in Plays were on hand to wish Mr. Perfect a Happy Father's Day and just hang out for a while. That was especially nice.

So, to the man I love: Happy Father's Day!

Do you understand the Pledge of Allegiance?

From one of America's most brilliant comedians.

Mother's Day

This was the best Mother's Day I've ever had. Saturday, we moved all of the furniture back into the bedroom, so I got to sleep in my own bed instead of on the futon in the basement. It was heavenly. And the room looks amazing, see? (More pictures of this later.)

Mr. Perfect made me breakfast of eggs and sausage (my favorite breakfast meat). I love it when he cooks. Not only does it mean I don't have to, but he's really good at it.

After breakfast, I had a meeting before church. On my way into the building, I got a call from my secretary, who was supposed to teach the Young Women's lesson that day. She wasn't having that great of a Mother's Day. Her daughter had stomach flu and had been throwing up all night. It meant that I had 3-1/2 hours to prepare a lesson in-between meetings, singing in the choir during Sacrament Meeting, and having the Young Women hand out the Mother's Day favors to all of the ladies in the ward. All I have to say is that I love the new youth curriculum the church has put together. I showed a couple of videos and asked them about their favorite scriptures and why. We talked about why it's important to read in the scriptures every day, and also a bit more about their Patriarchal Blessings, the topic covered the week before. The girls all seemed engaged in the subject and the discussion. Score 10 for the Spirit (because it was in no way me).

We invited all of the parents for Mother's Day dinner. We knew it would be a difficult one for Mom M. with Dad passing away in January. Happily, Drama Queen and Game Boy also came for dinner. They had dinner with their mom's family earlier and were able to join us. Mr. Perfect grilled salmon (my request), and we had veggies and a really good salad provided by Mlle Ami. Afterwards, we sat in the updated living room and talked. I snapped these pictures of the kids while they were sitting together.

Oh, they make us laugh.

After everyone went home, we followed Mom & Dad P. to their house for dessert with the P side of the family. Too much good food, but never enough good company.

He Is Risen

The Last Supper

Easter is the last day of March this year, so I will be sharing videos from the last week of Jesus Christ's life from the Bible Videos produced and distributed by the LDS Church. This one is of the Last Supper.

Wordless Wednesday (yes, I know it's Thursday)

12-12-12

My favorite version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Thanks, Straight No Chaser.

The lights on my tree, I wish you could see

Every year, I like to take artistic pictures of the lights on our Christmas tree. This year, we decided it was time to bite the bullet and go with eco-friendly LED lights. It's made for some interesting differences in my yearly tradition.

Signs of Christmas

We put the tree up this weekend, but didn't get any lights or decorations on it. However, there are other signs that Christmas is fast approaching. In today's world of technology and internet shopping, nothing says "Christmas Gifts" more than boxes left on your doorstep with that heart-warming, familiar Amazon.com smile.

See?

What you can do with 12 cellos (Merry Christmas)

Thanksgiving has come and gone...

...and I've been a slacker (at least as far as blogging goes) and didn't write anything on Thanksgiving about how grateful I am for everyone and everything. blah blah blah. Okay, so that's sounds just too snarky. I really am grateful for everyone in my life (or at least trying to be grateful for them) and I am truly grateful for everything Heavenly Father has given me. More than anyone else knows, I know that He blesses me every day, and I'm not sure why. Here are just a few of the things that show me Heavenly Father knows and loves me:

• Mr. Perfect
• Better relationships with the kids
• The rental dishwasher getting fixed without parts and not needing to be replaced
• Leading me to my keys/wallet/Bluetooth/phone/whatever-I've-misplaced-this-time (anyone who has watched me freak out over this stuff knows exactly what I'm talking about here)
• Great extended family on both sides. Huge kudos to the Merrill family, who love me and treat me amazingly. Bigger kudos to the Parker family, who didn't have a choice about me being in their family, but have elected to not kill me anyway.
• The ability to trip and not fall or die. Seriously, I am the world's clumsiest person.
• Near misses almost every time I get on the freeway (you'd think that my car was an invisible color instead of silver)
• Did I mention Mr. Perfect? Oh, I did, didn't I. Sorry, but he's so great that he gets two mentions.

I was also finally able to make Little Big Sis happy and get my turkey out of her freezer. We had Thanksgiving dinner with Mom & Dad M, and we supplied the bird. Crazy Old Bird stuffed and cooked it (delicious!).

Before filling our bellies, we called Lawyer-in-the-Works who wasn't able to come home for Thanksgiving (ah, the joys of being a first-year law student -- grrrr!). It was wonderful to talk to her, and she'll be home for three weeks for Christmas. Yay!!!

Game Boy was also on hand for dinner. Poor thing. He had two full Thanksgiving meals, but was a real trooper and ate with us like he hadn't just finished one with his mom's family.

After dinner, we went for a walk before dessert. And how cute is Little Artist in her borrowed coat? I know, right?

For dessert, I made an apple pie with Swiss cheese in the crust. It tasted great, but browned a little too much. Next time, must adjust baking time.

And we love this picture of Dad M in his chair. He's proof that rest is for the righteous.

Once the festivities were done, Game Boy, Mr. Perfect, and Most Happy Girl took in Wreck-It Ralph. Great flick. You can tell that Disney and Pixar are really starting to blend their studios. Even though it was released under the Disney label without the Pixar bouncing lamp, half of the production team is from Pixar, and it shows.

It was a very good day.

Thanksgiving thought for the day

Apparently this video is going viral on facebook and YouTube. I have to say that this makes me very glad, and a little less scared for humanity.

Happy Halloween!

While grocery shopping in late September, I found the most perfect pumpkin for Halloween. My only concern with buying it was that it was so early, I didn't want to cut into it the end of October and find that it had spoiled so badly I couldn't use it. After three different trips during the week to this same store, I finally gave in and bought not just the perfect pumpkin, but a second, almost-perfect pumpkin for Mr. Perfect to have as well.

Boy, was I in luck. We kept it in the kitchen at first, then the basement, and finally out with Psycho Wunderhund in the backyard. Apparently, we hit on just the right combination for our pumpkin storage technique, because when we cut into those pumpkins last night to carve them, there was nary a spoiled spot in sight. Hurrah for our side!

I found a really fun face online, but Mr. Perfect went for the gusto. Disneyland was all decorated up for Halloween while we were there, and they had "carved" pumpkins in the town square surrounding Walt Disney's statute. Mr. Perfect took pictures of a couple he was considering for his pumpkin:

Can you guess which one he chose? That's right: Jack Skellington. Here he is, the Grand Artist (said with a French accent), hard at work.

And it turned out amazing. I like it better than the one at Disneyland.

Here's mine, too.

And together.

FHE and pumpkin cake

We had a Merrill Family Home Evening yesterday. (Just in case you're wondering what in the world FHE is, click here.) Soup was provided, and everyone was asked to bring a snack or dessert. I saw this darling pumpkin cake online and thought "Hey, I can do that!" Except I didn't have a bunt pan. But I did have $6.00 to buy a bunt pan! Huzzah! My grand scheme was a-go!

I think my favorite was when of the little, little kids came up and wanted pumpkin, but not so much chocolate. He was more interested in the green leaves and the stem (which was a chocolate cupcake, so I don't know how he felt about it once it was on his plate).

For the recipe and construction details, see Pumpkin Cake on the cooking blog. I have to admit that I cheated a bit and used box mixes for the cakes. But if you're going to do that, the only brand I recommend is Duncan Hines. Their cakes turn out so moist! (Mr. Perfect said it wasn't moist, it was wet!)

Happy Father's Day to Mr. Perfect and to fathers everywhere

Mr. Perfect had a perfect Father's Day. For breakfast, Most Happy Girl made waffles and grape juice (okay, so she made the grape juice last summer, but she opened it and poured on Father's Day). He also got a new leather belt (black) to wear to church. So far, so good.

On Tuesday, we confirmed with Drama Queen and Game Boy that Sunday dinner was doable for them. It wasn't our kids weekend, so it's always best to confirm these things. We asked them to ask Lawyer-in-the-Works if she could come, too. Everything was all set. Everyone could come.

For dinner, Mr. Perfect asked for spaghetti with homemade sauce, fresh peas from the garden, and garlic toast from homemade french bread. For dessert, homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I know what you're thinking. "Wow, that's a lot of cooking to be done." But if you make the pie and sauce the day before, it's not so bad. And the sauce is better if you let it sit a day or two in your fridge to blend. Asparagus rounded out the eating fare, as two veggies are always better than one.

Lest we forget