Potato Pancakes and Pumpkins

I grew up in Idaho where we grow a lot of potatoes.  In fact we would have two weeks off during the school year for potato harvest each year- it was awesome.  My Uncle Blaine raised potatoes and he would let us come and glean the potatoes from the field that the crossover  missed. I remember driving our brown station wagon into the field and filling as many potato sacks as we could fit into the back.- Needless to say we ate a lot of potatoes and in lots of different ways- mashed, baked, fried, in  potato salad, french fries... and every once in a while mom would make potato pancakes.  She didn't make them very often as they are a little labor intensive when you are trying to make them for a family of 9, but we loved it when she did

Mom came for a visit this weekend and as we were going through recipes for a family cookbook I am working on we came across the potato pancake recipe.  It has been a really long time since I have had them so I asked mom to make them for us. (I know she comes to my house to visit and I make her cook- what a rotten daughter I am).  They were as good as I remember.

 Olivia thought it was so much fun to help because you get to stir the batter with your hands... grandma's little sous chef.

On Saturday we went to the Red Barn in Santiquin for a hayride, to pick pumpkins and for pumpkin ice cream (Liv's choice).   Liv liked the hayride and driving the old tractor, but was indifferent about picking a pumpkin. Little Nate wasn't sure to think, but was a good sport about the whole adventure. 

Nothing Exciting...

It has been a typical busy week at our house... nothing too exciting, but  here are the highlights.

On Tuesday night I hosted my monthly card making night-it is so much fun.  I spend my work week crunching numbers and  dealing with problem loans so it is really good for me to use the creative side of my brain every once in a while.  It has been so long I have had to shake of the cobwebs so I am  glad for an excuse to be crafty.

Wednesday nights are always crazy for us since Daddy is taking a night class at UVU and Olivia has gymnastics.

Friday night we had some of our neighbors over for dinner and to watch the BYU game.  Thank Heavens the outcome was a much better than last week.

Okay a little excitement... Saturday afternoon Scott and I went and saw Mary Poppins at the Capital in Salt Lake City.  It was so good. I kept thinking how much Liv would have loved the music and the dancing- maybe when she is a little bit older we will have to have a girls night at the theater. 

Since I realized I didn't photographically document any of these events here are some cute pictures of my kiddos.  We took these in August when we had all of the Hillman grand kids together.   These are some of my favorites:

State Fair and Daddy's Birthday

On Friday was Scott's Birthday.  To celebrate we went out for pizza and then came home and had cake and ice cream.  There were lots of candles on that cake... We love you Daddy!

 

On Saturday we met Brittany's family at the Utah State Fair.  I think Olivia had a great time- she got to pet the rabbits, cows, sheep, and pigs.  

Nate was just happy to be there...

Then she got to go on the merry go round with Emma and Daddy. She surprised me and said she wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel with Mommy. I figured we would get to the top and she would be crying to get off, but she loved it.

You can't go to the fair without eating... we ate way to much and then had to grab some cotton candy on the way out....



Its here...

...Football Season. Each year we try to hit an away game for BYU and this year we decided to go to Austin Texas and let the Legacy Club take care of all the details.  As always the trip was fantastic.  We flew out of the Provo airport Thursday morning (my favorite part of the whole trip) and spent the last three days melting and playing in the Texas heat.  We heard we were lucky that it was only 96 degrees as it had been 110 a couple of weeks before.  We left Olivia with Aunt Chelsey and took #2 with us- he was the most popular guy on the trip.  Thursday and Friday we lounged by the pool, did some shopping, found some local eating places (my favorites were Amy's Ice Cream and Thundercloud-a yummy sandwich place).  Saturday morning we  had chalk talk with some of the coaches and then headed to the game that night.  It was a sea of burnt orange, but surprisingly there were about 10,000 Cougar Fans there (out of 100,000).  Despite the noise and the heat little Nate took a nap and was an angel the entire game (and the entire trip for that matter).  Here are some of the highlights from the trip....

Here is Miss Olivia in her new BYU dress striking a pose at the park last week.

And little Nate on the swings... he hasn't decided he likes these yet.   Notice how puffy his hair is in this pictures.... I finally decided he had to get a haircut.  There is an old wife's tale that you are supposed to wait until they are a year old, but decided it couldn't wait another four months.  The poor kid sweats and sweats and I couldn't do anything with it so on Wednesday before we left for Texas he got a haircut.

Before:

After:

What we took off:

Kiddos at 2.5 Years and 7 months

This month Olivia turns 2 and a half- she is growing up way to fast.  Although I am a little sad to see her grow out of her toddler years it is so fun for me to watch her grow and learn.  Here are some things about Olivia right now:

•  She is very smart.  She knows all of her letters by site and what they say.  She also knows all of her shapes, colors, and can count to 30.
• Her favorite movies are Despicable Me and Rio (or and we can't forget Elmo's World).  Last night we made cookies and she told me that she was making cookie robots just like Gru.
• She loves gymnastics.  We took the month of August off from gymnastics and she asks me everyday- "I go to gymnastics?"
• She loves music and loves to sing- current favorites are The Farmer in the Dell, Bingo, Follow the Prophet,  and The Wiseman and the Foolish man.  She is typically the only kid singing in nursery.
• She is having a hard time with nursery.  She was doing pretty well until they split our ward three weeks ago and all of the friends she played with are in the old ward.
• She loves playing outside on the swings and the slides.  She also loves playing at the Splash Park.  Monday morning she woke up  and told me today we go to Rachel's and then we go to the Splash Park- as if she had it all planned out.  So of course we had to go.
• Her favorite friends right now are Hayden, Lalee, Jace, and cousin Emma. 
• She getting to be a picky eater, but loves Mac and cheese, avocados, and steak.
• She acts so grown up sometimes I forget she is only 2 and a half.  There are days however when she reminds me by throwing a full blown tantrum or turns on the tears if she doesn't get her way.  Overall she is a really good kid and we sure love her a lot. 

;

Little Nate is now 7 month old and gets cuter every day. Here are some things about Nate at 7 months:

•  He has two teeth on the bottom and the top two should cut through any day.
• He is crawling (everywhere).  He is much more active than Liv ever was when she started crawling. 
• He is pulling himself on chairs, the couch, really anything he can climb.  Not standing yet, but is really close.
• He is sleeping through the night most nights.
• He continues to babble a lot.  The last couple of days I have noticed that he is saying Da Da Da.  
• He is a mama's boy. 
• He is a very happy baby and really laid back but he lets you know when he is hungry, tired, or wants your attention.  
•  Loves solid food.
• Is putting everything into his mouth he can get his hands on.
• Loves his big sister and laughs and laughs when she plays with him.  
• A perfect fit to our little family and we couldn't love him any more. 

Farm Country

Yesterday the kiddos and I met Brittany, Becky, and their kiddos at Thanksgiving Point to take advantage of $2 Tuesday.  We had a great time- the girls got a pony ride, we fed the ducks, took a wagon ride,  milked a cow, and saw lots of horses, chickens, ducks, cows, and pigs followed by ice cream-  What a great way to spend a Tuesday afternoon.

Just Pics