Indianapolis Zoo

The zoo was totally decked out for Halloween. We even got to go trick or treating at the ZooBoo!

Is your Momma a LLama?




We had the greatest suprise! Grandma Retta came to visit for a few days. Grandma Retta is actually on of my best friends. I have known her since I was 5. She has always been someone I have looked up to. When my Mom died almost 10 years ago, she took me under her wing. She has adopted my kids as her own grandkids. My kids adore her (who doesn't). We did so many fun things. We went to the park, saw Beverly Hills Chiuaua, ate at the Chocolate Moose, went to the zoo in just the first 24 hours.

The Indianapolis Zoo is INCREDIBLE. I have always loved the Hogle Zoo in Utah. Let's just say it's a good thing I went there first. The zoo here is huge. The exhibits are huge and many of them are interactive. We touched sharks, fed giraffes, watched a dolphin show, made eye-contact with a seal, went trick or treating, went on a roller coaster, etc. We barely saw everything and spent the whole day there. I was proud of myself for driving in a brand new big city. Thanks to Grandma Retta, we have a zoo membership if anyone wants to join us.

Ecclectic Post

I saw this idea in Real Simple and I love it. I have had a jumble of necklaces and bracelets for years. Within minutes my problem was solved. Too bad Matt can't stand it banging on the door when it opens.
We decorated our pumpkin today (Thanks Melissa!). It is crazy to think how hot it was today and that it supposedly snowed in Utah!
Our friends invited us over for Canadian Thanksgiving. We had Turducken!!! Eating Turducken has been on my list of things to do! It was yummy. I guess they stick a duck and a chicken inside a turkey. It sounds rather crowded but it was tasty! It is like getting 3 birds with one stone.

Here are 2 of my favorite school projects of the week. I am very impressed with the schools here. My dudes are learning so much and having lots of fun. We got a membership to the Wonderlab which is the Bloomington Childrens Museum. We went 4 times this week! I love to watch my kids explore. The light in their eyes is worth every dollar that we spent on the membership.

Matt!

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? I don't think our TV has been turned on in weeks. If he wasn't in school, ESPN baby! He loves to watch NFL, basketball, golf and educational programs.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Thousand Island, especially if it was on a Training Table Turkey Chef Salad.

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Squash, he is totally into texture.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Gingerale or Sprite.

5. Where did he go to high school? Olympus High School, Salt Lake City Utah.
6. What size shoe does he wear? 9.5?

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Text books!

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? SKS from The Soup Kitchen, at home it would be tuna on wheat with lots of pepper and pickles, oh actually a garden tamatoe sandwich.

9. What would he eat every day if he could? A high fiber cereal!!

10. What is his favorite cereal? Best Friends from Kashi (it contains twigs!)

11. What would he never wear? A speedo?

12. What is his favorite sports team? I don't think he has a favorite team, he just likes to watch a good game. Actually it would be Team Rich!

13. Who will he vote for? Neither of us have figured that out yet.

14. Who is his best friend? Us! His I-Phone is a close 2nd.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Put things away before he is done, pick at things.

16. How many states has he lived in? 2, Utah and Indiana. He has also lived in Brazil.

17. What is his heritage? I guess I best find out!

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? Yellow with chocolate frosting.

19. Did he play sports in high school? He played on the Football team.

20. What could he spend hours doing? Hanging out with us! studying, golfing, running, playing basketball.

21. Does he belong to any men's organizations? He is a member of IBS and the MBAA but those are not exclusively men.

General Conference Cinnamon Rolls

Here you go!

General Conference Cinnamon Rolls
Make dough the day before

1 c water
1 c butter
¾ c sugar
2 t salt
1 c cold water
4 eggs slightly beaten
2 packages yeast or 4 ½ t yeast
½ c warm water
7 1/2 c flour
½ c butter softened
1 c brown sugar
¼ c cinnamon
1 recipe Powdered Sugar Glaze

In a large pot bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add the 1 cup butter, sugar and salt. Remove from heat. Add the 1 cup cold water. When mixture is lukewarm, add beaten eggs. In a separate bow, dissolve yeast in the ½ cup warm water. Allow yeast to rise about 5 minutes, until foamy. Stir into mixture. Add flour and stir together. Cover pan with lid and refrigerate overnight. (A 5-quart ice cream bucket with lid also works well.)
When ready to roll out, divide dough into thirds. Lightly flour surface of bread- board. Roll dough out into a 12x6-inch rectangle about ½ - thick. Spread each rectangle with one-third of the softened butter. In a bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 1/3 of brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over surface of dough.
Roll up jelly roll style and cut into about 12 rounds. Place on greased baking sheet. Follow same procedure with other two portions of dough. Let raise 2-3 hours. Bake one sheet at a time at 375 for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Spread with Powdered Sugar Glaze while still warm. Makes 3 dozen rolls that disappear very quickly!!

Powdered Sugar Glaze
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 T milk
2 t vanilla or 1 t vanilla and 1 t almond extract (my secret ingredient)

Cream above ingredients together. Spread over warm cinnamon rolls.

Conference Cinnamon Rolls

We have a tradition of making cinnamon rolls 2 times a year for General Conference. I got kind of nostalgic thinking of our great SLC neighbors and family that would share rolls with, so we decided to continue the tradition in Bloomington. Several of our friends from the ward came over and we took some to our neighbors. I sent my SLC pals an email with virtual cinnamon rolls.

It is really weird not being able to get Conference on channel 5 at 10 and 2! Luckily it is on the internet, so I watched it on Matt's laptop at 12 and 4. I loved President Monson's talk on finding joy in the journey, NOW! That is totally something I need to work on. I also loved the talk on angels. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by earthly angels. The talk on hope was another one of my favorites.

I called my Dad tonight, and they were having a Peterson dinner. As I heard my family all laughing and having fun together I totally started to cry. It is wierd being on the other end of the phone that gets passed around for everyone to talk to:(.

Hoosiers Outrun Cancer

Today we ran the Hoosiers Outrun Cancer 5K and 1 Mile Family Walk. I got to wear a red race shirt because I am a cancer survivor. I don't think about it very often, but my life is a miracle. There was a little boy there who also had Neuroblastoma. He had several surgeries and numerous rounds of chemo to combat his cancer. Things could have been so much worse for me. I feel so blessed to be alive!! It was hard not to get choked up, that's the last thing you want to do is cry and run.

There were several of my friends from the MBA Partners club and the ward that ran too.

After Matt and I ran the 5k, the four of us did the 1 mile family walk. The kids loved having a race t-shirt and number just like mom and dad. And yes, that is a banana peel on Matt's head!



Between sessions of General Conference, we ran to the Lotus Festival. My little artists really enjoyed themselves.

Cooper's First Field Trip

Cooper had his first field trip to the Bloomington Fire Station. I think his favorite part was riding on a bus without a carseat. He got a big goose egg on his head from smaking it on the window from not being strapped in. He doesn't love having his picture taken, hence the hiding up my shirt picture! I love his preschool. His teachers are darling. I am learning a lot about what other churches believe and having my own testimony strengthened on a daily basis. I went to the monthly chapel time on Friday. There chuch has a little more excitement than mine. We were clapping and sing a song about Jumping for Jesus!