i heart ... living near family

this is why i love living near family.

while i was out driving around

doing some christmas shopping

look who i saw.

these cute girls!

my niece kaitlyn and my cousin summer.

.

i heart ... christmas sprinkles

i went into sprinkles today.

i told myself i could have one cupcake.

one.

so of course

i got two.

eggnog spice & vanilla peppermint

so now do you understand?

it was impossible to choose one and not the other!

.

i heart ... middle-of-nowhere, arizona

while my aunt carol was in town
she asked my dad to take us on a road trip
to visit his property in middle-of-nowhere, arizona.

on our way we stopped to take in this beautiful view

from the mogollon rim.

when i got out of the car

look what i saw!

maybe the only snow i'll see this year!

and now,

middle-of-nowhere, arizona!

we just drove around the property.

there's nothing there.

but it's pretty!

oh wait,

there is something there.

there's this skull tied to a tree.

why do the boys in my family like dead things so much?

while we were driving, carol asked what kinds of animals live in the area.

i said i just hoped there were no mountain lions!

those things are scary!

they will silently stalk you and you don't know they are there until it's too late.

we didn't see any mountain lions (until later),

but we did see some cows (that had trespassed from another ranch)...

... and we also saw javelina

(see him on the other side of the water, running behind the tree?)

there were 5 of them, but my camera wasn't fast enough.

in town, we drove by this beautiful church.

there was a cemetery behind the church

which of course we had to explore.

i thought this was really pretty.

i guess they couldn't afford a proper headstone.

have you ever eaten lunch next to
a kodiak bear and a caribou.
dead ones?
well we did.

at the antler's cafe.

i don't know how i did it.

i should win some kind of award.

the food was actually good!

and what in the heck is this all about?

remember how i said earlier that i didn't want to see a mountain lion?

well, what do you know?
there he is.
sitting above the t.v.
of course!

driving around middle-of-nowhere
we saw some interesting signs.

this is my personal favorite:

umm... why is there a bicycle and a coffee pot on top of this sign?

"go away".

i thought cowboys were supposed to be friendly.



we left middle-of-nowhere, arizona

and drove to small town, arizona

to have a quick visit with my brother and his family.

but first we stopped by

my great-great grandfather's house

which is now a museum.

then we stopped by his statue

(that's him standing in front of the wagon.

his name is jesse n. smith

and in the wagon is ira hinckley

who is gordon b. hinckley's grandfather)

(umm, i don't know if i should tell you this,

but paris hilton is also a descendant of jesse n. smith,

but let's just keep that between you and me.

i'm not sure if he'd want you to know that!)

also there are statues of my great-great-great grandparents

lucy and william jordan flake.

on the right is erastus snow.

after our little diversions

we made it to my brother's house

where i smothered these little munchkins with kisses!!!

and finally,

on our way out of small town, arizona

we drove by the temple

(do you see the moon to the left of the temple?)

.

i heart ... hot spiced cocoa

i tried this new cocoa recipe today.
divine!
(if you love spices, that is... 'cause it's spicy!)

see that?
those are all the spices!

i made the hot cocoa in this cool machine

called the cocoa-latte.

if you are serious about your hot chocolate

get this machine!

it comes with lots of good recipes, too.

hot spiced cocoa

2 rounded tablespoons unsweetened hot chocolate mix

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

serves 2

.

i heart ... thanksgiving

yes.

i'm just now posting about thanksgiving.

i haven't had a chance before now.

my aunt carol came from saudi arabia for thanksgiving

and just left today to go back home.

i've been hanging out with her everyday and having tons of fun

and haven't had time for silly things like blogging.

so without further ado...

thanksgiving!

oh wait,
a little more "ado"
because thanksgiving started before thanksgiving.
it started as soon as stephanie's family got to town.
here's what we did:

we went to fountain hills park

we got in-n-out and took it to the drive-ins.
this is what kaitlyn wore to the drive-ins!

we visited our uncle rusty's sculpture on main street.


we had lunch at mango's.


we went shopping at domestic bliss.

don't you just want to live here???

this time i really mean it...
without further ado,
thanksgiving!

after dinner we played...

... and we digested!

and then it was time for dessert.

these were my contributions:

pumpkin toffee cheesecake
and

pumpkin, marshmallow, and chocolate pocket pies


happily,

we planned a "game day" with our cousins

the day after thanksgiving

otherwise i would have been so depressed when thanksgiving was over.

this way i had something to look forward to.

although,

after "game day"

i was depressed.

thanksgiving really was over.

.