I love having family traditions. The most recent one that happened was Christmas tea. We love to go every year! I find traditions connect me with different feelings during different times of the year. I look forward to not only the events, but the feelings I know come with them. It's also fun to talk about things that happened at the last event, a whole year ago! What traditions do you have?


It's never too late to start a tradition, and I'm excited for all the traditions of 2015!

So I kind of dropped the blog-ball the end of 2014, and I want to pick it back up with a few pictures from our trip to California for Thanksgiving! Forever ago, I know. But still fun pictures!











We had a great time having fun with family! It was the pups first car trip, which was for sure an adventure. I'm not too sure how they liked the road trip, but they loved California. It's always so relaxing at my grandparents' house...we can't wait for our next trip out there!

I simply love October. It always seems extra full of family, fun activities, and great memories. To celebrate this October, we started the first weekend off with raspberry picking with Josh and my mom, Red Barn shopping (which included apple cider slushies and doughnuts—yum!), and then a fun evening at Gardner Village with some of my favorite people! 

Here are a few pictures of the weekend.




I can't wait for what the rest of October has in store...

Oh, and this is what happens when you say to Jess: "Hey! Stop and pose for a picture in that mask!"



I still laugh when I see these pictures; it was a great time. And please don't hate me for posting these Jess—I think you look beautiful even when you're candid. ;)

I love America.

It is a country of endless possibilities and dreams. I'm so excited to celebrate our independence with my family tomorrow, and hope everyone has a happy, safe, and patriotic 4th of July!

I love Valentine’s Day.

The season of twinkling lights, Christmas music, never-ending treats, family time, and hot chocolate is here! Can I just say that I'm super excited? Because I am! 

To kick off the first day of the Christmas season, this morning I made some hot chocolate. But I jazzed it up with something special--and my gosh it was so good. Like, I gave some to Mitch (he came up to visit) and didn't tell him, and he turned to me and asked why the hot chocolate was so delicious...how had I made it?

Well...I will share my secret, because everyone deserves amazing hot chocolate. 




It was seriously so good. Even if you don't like eggnog, give it a try. You wouldn't know it was in there; you'll just fall in love with it's amazing creamy chocolatey goodness.

Mmm I just love the holidays.

Here are some highlights from Halloween and this weekend. There were quite a few pictures, so I figured photo grid-ing them would be the best way to show pictures without this post being a mile long. 

First we hosted Halloween at our house, and it was a blast. We had delicious treats, awesome costumes, Kinect dancing, and classic Halloween movies. Here are pictures of everyone’s costumes—Zorro & a pretty Gypsy, Genie Jenny, Batman & Two-Face, Rednecks, a Centurion, Robin Hood & Maid Marian, a bejeweled Pirate, and a Doll & EMT. There were also two little firefighters there…but they were too busy dancing to bother with a picture. 


 The festivities didn’t stop with Halloween! The next day was Mike’s birthday, and then Saturday was Julie’s. We went shooting on Saturday, followed by some Texas Roadhouse delicious-ness to celebrate the birthdays—complete with saddle ride! My phone died just when we got to Texas Roadhouse, so here are a couple collages of our beautiful day of shooting. 


 Jessica was wonderful and sent Jeff a Batman costume. We put it on him and he looked so debonair, and then we decided to make Olive a bat-dog too and gave her the cape. She wasn’t quite sure what to think… 


 Sunday was a chill day. We visited with my mom, and Jeff protected the frog toy he found while he slept. 


 It was a weekend full of fun and good times—a happy Halloween, happy Birthdays, and happy memories.

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. I just love all the festivities, fun decorations, pumpkin carving, costumes, and the sweets at parties with friends and family.

This year Josh and I are going as Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and having the family over for Halloween fun. And what is Halloween without Halloween-themed treats? After looking around for a fun dessert to make, I have decided to make some little edible witch hats. 

Witch hat cookies are just my kind of Halloween treat—festive but not scary or gross. If you are like me in that department, here is how to make these fun cookie hats! 

I’m very excited for these little witch hats for our party! And if you’re looking for a last-minute dessert for All Hallows' Eve, these easy and festive cookies are perfect! 




Witch Hat Cookies 

 You’ll need Hershey’s Kisses, orange frosting, and chocolate cookies to put the hats together. Here is a recipe for the cookies, and one for the frosting as well. 

For the cookies: 

Ingredients 
1 package of chocolate cake mix 
1 stick of butter, softened 
1 egg 

Directions 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients at low speed until dry ingredients are moistened and dough is thoroughly mixed. 

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. 

Bake 8-10 minutes—start watching them at 8 minutes; they should look firm but still moist. Cool two minutes on cookie sheets, then move to cool on wire racks. 

For the orange frosting: 

Ingredients 
1 stick butter, softened 
1 cups confectioners’ sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
2ish tablespoons milk
A few drops of orange food coloring (and red & blue coloring for later)

Directions 
In a small bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Add enough milk to achieve frosting consistency. Drop in orange food coloring and stir until completely blended. 

To put together:

Take your cookie, add a small dab of frosting to the middle, and press a Hershey’s Kiss in the middle of the frosting to form a witch hat! Take leftover frosting and add blue and red to the mix to form a grey/purple color for the belt buckle on the front of the hat. It’s as simple as that!

A few nights ago we went and carved some pumpkins with our good friends. Josh and I had never carved pumpkins together before (trust me, we were just as shocked when we realized it too!), so we decided we’re going to make sure it happens a few times this year. 

First round of pumpkin carving: a creepy tiki man and a curious owl. 


 Also, cute story. On our way home from Dan and Kelley’s, some bunnies ran out into the road in front of our car. Instead of just driving and hoping they got out of the way, Josh slammed on the breaks, got out of the car, and chased the bunnies off the road to safety. I seriously love that man.

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the scarves, sweaters, hot chocolate, pumpkins, and just everything! Also, one of my favorite holidays is during this wonderful season.

Halloween!

Josh and I spent some time this weekend decorating, and I love how things turned out.


We even got a giant ghost to spook guests from our front door! Hopefully he doesn’t decide to go haunt the neighbor’s house…