Halloween, Baby!

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday...yes, more than Christmas. Sue me. This year we bought me a Snow White costume! I got home, put it on, and found that it was made for a much shorter girl. A MUCH shorter girl. I pinned a bunch of yellow tulle to the bottom to make it family friendly ;) D wanted to be a Disney character too, so I made him an Aladdin costume. I didn't make him "Prince Charming" from Snow White cause who even knows who that is?! He doesn't even have a name! Anways, we threw a little party for our families and ate and played games. That night we ate JCWs and caught up on our Vampire Diaries episodes. I was mad that we didn't get many trick-or-treaters (stupid trunk or treats), but it was still a fantastic day!

Amanda as Elphaba and Carol as Mrs Clause

Aaron the Punk rocker bobbing for apples, Ellie loved that he stuck his whole head in :)

Dan, Kanessa, and Hunter as Barney, Betty, and BamBAm

I'm not sure what happened here. Something awful it looks like

Aubree and Ellie the hula girls

Strawberry Cobbler Cake

Since we are getting our engagements taken in 3 weeks, D and I are on diets. However, last night I had a momentary lapse in judgement and made Strawberry Cobbler Cake. Then proceeded to eat half of it (in my defense, it was only in an 8x8" pan). For those of you who are NOT getting engagements taken in 3 weeks, you should definitely try it. It's heaven on earth. As for me, I will be eating lettuce and water for the next 3 days to make up for it. Haha jk....but seriously :)
1 1/4 c butter, divided
1 c sugar, divided
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c flour, divided
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c milk
3 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
Preaheat oven to 350. Soften 3/4 c butter and beat on medium. Add 3/4 sugar and mix well. Add egg and vanilla and mix again.
Combine 1 1/4 c flour with the baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, alternating with milk. Start and end with flour mixture.
Pour into an 8in pan and top with strawberries, cut side down.
For the topping, combine 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c sugar in a bowl. Cut in 1/4 c chilled butter. Sprinkle over the cobbler. Bake for about 45 minutes

I got this recipe off Pioneer Woman's tasty kitchen. It was submitted by Mindeola. Thanks Mindeola!

The Weaver

This is one of my favorite poems and today I needed to read it again :)

The Weaver

by BM Franklin

My Life is but a weaving,

between the Lord and me.

I cannot choose the colors,

he worketh steadily.

Oft times he weaveth sorrow,

and I, in foolish pride,

forget he seeth the upper,

and I the underside.

Not til the loom is silent,

and the shuttles cease to fly

shall God unroll the canvas

and explain the reason why

The dark threads are as needful

in The Weaver's skillful hand

as the threads of gold and silver

in the pattern he has planned

3 Things

#1 -Daryl and Pam went to the temple last week so I got to be Zac's very first babysitter! We watched The Hills. Well...I watched it while he slept. Okay okay I mostly watched him sleep. And tried to repeat in my head all the reasons why I should finish school before we have a baby. I wasn't very convincing.

#2- I made stuffed mushrooms for the first time over conference weekend. They were DIVINE. I'm too lazy to post the recipe right now, but let me know if anyone wants it. If it will make you feel better I will tell you they are low fat.

#3- I painted Daryl's old DI chest of drawers for my pirate room, it's striped now :) I love it.

Conference Weekend

Wasn't conference so great? I know that's weird to say because I don't ever remember conference being BAD but somehow every year I hear just what I need to hear. How is it possible that ALL of the members of the church hear JUST what they need to in conference? That seems like alot of ground to cover for the speakers :)
Anyway, it was so nice just to sit in the new condo with babe and relax and listen and cook. I made belgium waffles with fruit (D got me a new waffle maker for our anniversary, the kind in hotels that you turn to cook), chopped veggies with cottage cheese dip, stuffed mushrooms, and fruit pizza. On Saturday night while the menfolk were at Priesthood meeting, all the Austin (and Woffinden) women went to dinner. It was so fun to spend time with JUST girls again and I LOVE this new branch of my family!
Also, Brittain is done cheerleading for the year (unless she does the competition team) and she chose to miss her last game to go to the temple with her YW group. They are trying to go to all of the temples in Utah. I thought it was so cool that she would put the temple above cheerleading :) She is a great little sis and such a good example to her OLDER siblings. Love you BeeBee

Heh heh

Daryl Fielding Austin

Look at this guy......I hope our kids get those baby blues. And that smile.

and I hope, for their sake, that our daughters don't get an average of both of our heights :/ They'll be homeschooled probably.

Our "all moved in" dinner

For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge fan of The Pioneer Woman. I love trying all her recipes and found one the other day that I know Daryl would love, he absolutely did :) Its Ribeye steak with an onion-bleu cheese sauce (I added sauteed mushrooms also cause D loves them) Try it...

2 ribeye steaks

Salt

Pepper

4 tablespoons butter

1 very large yellow onion

3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
Salt and pepper both sides of the steaks. Grill until medium rare (or longer if you're a fool).
Saute onions in 4 tablespoons butter over high heat. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until dark and caramelized. Reduce heat to simmer and pour in cream. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in blue cheese until melted. Serve steaks on generous portion of sauce.

Moving...ugh

I get tired just thinking about this last weekend. It was a toughie. I moved in to Larry's old condo and can I just say there is nothing I hate more than moving. It's done now though and I can bury the memory in the back of my mind and focus on how much more space this new place gives me (I have a studio! We have a movie room!). Also, let me just say that every couple should MOVE together before they take the plunge. It is an obstacle. One that we hurtled. Go team.

Painting the movie room

Uhhh...this is some ugly stuff Daryl refused to throw away. I think it's from his Cowboy/Pimp days. I wasn't part of that time in his life thank goodness.

D loves to vacuum more than is normal. He hurt his back moving furniture, but somehow found a way to vacuum lying down

Cooking our first real meal in the new place

Larry's Wedding/Peterson Reunion/Park City

Labor Day weekend was a big one for us. First of all Daryl's dad, Larry, married Paula. We love her. Here are some pics

Next was the annual Peterson Reunion (Daryl's mom's side of the family). The Wertz's were kind enough to let us use their cabin again this year. It was a beautiful setting, up near Strawberry Reservoir and we had lots of good food and fun games.

Monday and Tuesday we did the traditional reunion at the Marriott in Park City with Daryl's siblings and Larry. It was Larry's 60th birthday and we all had alot of fun giving him 60 gifts that represented him.

In other news, how cute is this little house and barn? I am obsessed with it every time we go to Park City...