The Children Were Nestled…

After last night’s Goff Family Christmas Extravaganza, from the bottom of our cozy little hearts:

We wish you a very Snuggy Christmas!!

Trees a Trimming, Birthday Girl a Grinning…

 

This week started out so nice—the cute Young Women of our ward have been working on a tree for the “Festival of Trees” all year, and Monday was set-up day.  (People decorate the trees to be auctioned off with all of the proceeds going to benefit Primary Children’s Hospital.)  A couple of us lucky moms were needed to transport these tree-trimming girlies and so we just had to check out all of the festively fantastic sights and sounds!   Such lovely, creative, clever, sweet, gorgeous, gingerbready, piney, touch your heart,  Christmasy things to experience—I highly recommend it…

And then this little lady had to go and turn 13!!  Morgan has been highly anticipating the usage of the new bedding that was specially selected just for her, by her!  It is peppy and fun, just like my December birthday beauty, Miss Morgan!!

And what could be better than getting some face time with Kris Kringle??  Cael had been talking about this meet and greet for a good week, but then got a little bashful when it was time for the real deal—I do believe he managed to put in his request for a Haunted Mansion scooter and a Splash Mountain t-shirt.  Santa may have his work cut out for him, I’m not entirely certain that those North Pole elves do a lot of work on Haunted Mansion scooters—I’m not so sure the demand is super high…

And if you are me, and it just so happens that I am indeed me (so deep) things are looking up because the Christmas story books for the sweet Relief Society sisters of my ward are all d-o-n-e,  DONE!!  I do love Christmas stories, I love reading sweet Christmas stories, hearing sweet Christmas stories, Christmas is such a lovely time of year.  Andy Williams thinks it’s the most wonderful time of the year, and I for one think he’s definitely onto something-- I will joyfully be on that bandwagon/toboggan/flexible flyer…

Thoughts on Turkey…

Because this time of year is so grand—I ADORE the Fall transitioning into Christmas season—and because just the sound of the lovely word “Thanksgiving”  is so pleasant, I mean “thanks” plus “giving”, what could be better??  Because good memories are hopefully bounteous during this cozy and turkey-infused time, I thought I would share some of my favorite turkey time tidbits from days gone by…

** The year that my wonderful Grampa Len began the Thanksgiving dinner blessing on the splendid meal (cute Grampa was such a wonderful example of good cheer, graciousness, gratitude, and was not known for brief prayers) and I realized mid-prayer that I should of used the restroom pre-prayer.  In my 7-year-old brain, I thought that if I was really, really quiet and very, very soft on my feet, I could simply slip away from the table and make it back in time for “amen”—didn’t quite work out as seamlessly as I thought it could…

**My freshman year in college when it had been nearly 3 long months since I had been home—and I was very ready to go home –I was greeted at the ginormous Tri-Cities International Airport by my whole fam and my super friend, Emily, with happy faces and a big “welcome home” poster!  Aww, so sweet and so fun!!  My room at home was still my room and it was even decorated extra-special for my arrival—good times…

**My junior year in college when two of my dear cousins and I drove from Logan to Seattle, where about 20 miles from my parents’ house, my cousin got pulled over, and somehow managed to not only avoid a speeding ticket but to get us a police escort to make sure we were on the right route  to the smaller highway because it can be tricky to get around in the dark!  (On a more personal note, the very few officers I have encountered upon being pulled over have not been nearly so friendly or helpful.)  The next morning, my cousin, who shall be nameless, accompanied me to the local Safeway for me to pick up a few things for my mom, and for him to pick up some black hair dye for himself in an attempt to counteract the orange hair that he was sporting (it was supposed to be subtle blonde).  I got my items and he, of course, had made his deliberate selection.  We got to the check-out counter and he gave me some money and asked me to just get his special item with my goods.  I thought this would be no skin off my nose (that actually sounds mildly disturbing) until he started in with the cashier about “you know girls and all their hair products”—wait a sec, was he speaking of me and his ebony hair tonic??  Wow, I could have made more than one snide remark about authentic and natural tones and highlights, but I took the high road, the one it seems I’ve veered off of here…

Good times, great company, terrific turkey, sweet memories, and always so much to be thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Tis the Season to be Smu-ug…

So the fella in the shorts is feeling pleasantly smug because he made the good call of getting the Christmas lights strung on the house last Saturday…

And the little corduroy jacket-clad fella is also feeling seriously smug because this Saturday brought to him a winter wonderland!!

I know nothing of the smugness felt  at this particular residence, and I just can’t quite figure out how this scenerio came to be (we were on our way to our nephew’s championship football game and this sight most certainly caught my eye) –it looks like one those insurance commercials where the devastation happens and then it all rewinds back to normal, unfortunately the memo for the “return to normal” part was not received here.  Did the RV run into the fence and then back through the wall with the fence still attached and decide to call it a day??  Wow, sorry there guys…

And hey—the mom is the smug one here because not only did I get to pick Gretel’s hair, but she even let it stay that way and I bet she’d yodel for me if I asked her—hmm, and now I want a mug of Swiss Miss…

My {Attempted} PW Encounter…

So a little over a month ago, I was perusing one of my fave online destinations,  www.thepioneerwoman.com, when I discovered that not only had she completed her fantastic/delicious/wonderful/pretty cookbook, but that she would be coming to an AREA NEAR ME as part of her semi-cross-country book tour!!  It has been on my calendar  ever since, and when my 2 elementary school girls came home with appointments for parent/teacher nite at the exact same time, I did something I’ve never ever done before—I rescheduled!!

Mr. Goff so graciously consented to accompany me to the PW meet and greet that was scheduled to commence at 7:00 pm.  We arrived in the 6:40 pm ballpark to be among the hordes, yes hordes, of nice great-recipe-loving ladies that all wanted to say hello to Pioneer Woman Ree.   I thought “the event” may be a little nuts, but when Paul dropped me off to secure a place in line and the book store lady said that she was sorry that their 700 tickets to get your book autographed had already been distributed so the best we could do would be to maybe wait until all of those with tickets (apparently people began lining up at 3:00—wow) had been taken care of and if there was still time…  yeah, not looking real good.

They had moved things down to a fancy schmancy art gallery (bummer for the many ladies there with little bubs) with many fancy schmancy/ breakable items.  Paul went over to the bookstore and purchased an already signed (good call)  cookbook and just as he got back, the bookstore lady at the door let 21 more people in to hear the witty Pioneer Woman tell her tales.  People inside were laughing and having the best time—I was #22, so at the door I stayed.  Then it was time for the changing of the guard and new short-hair bookstore girl came to be the guardian of the doorway and could not have been more thoroughly annoyed that SO MANY people came out to see a gal that lives on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma that did a cookbook.   It must be hard to be a literary purist…

After about 6 people had exited the gallery for various reasons, literary girl gave me the nod to go ahead and step in (Paul opted to stay out, there was definitely more breathing room outside)—people were still laughing, all I heard was something about her brother liking being in a room full of women looking at him, and her wearing her spanx when someone hugged her and told her she felt so tight and she said “thank you!!”

Even though the evening did not go quite how I was thinking, it was grand to get to be out and about with my ever-gracious and favorite Paul, who has already benefitted immensely from the purchase of this fantastic cookbook!!  I do highly recommend “The Pioneer Woman Cooks,” and for the record, chocolate sheet cake is always in season…   

This Our Tale of Halloween…

So the last week of October started out with some of this…

We had to get to Target in a hurry for snow boots that fit the ever-growing feet of a certain someone that REALLY digs the white stuff (and is totally ready for the Christmas Tree now because SNOW=CHRISTMAS TREE)…

Gramma Jan came to town for a little stay and play—HOORAY!!  (Said Cael:  “Gramma Jan is nice-we don’t pinch her.”  It warms my heart to know that he has figured this out all on his own--the quality parenting is so paying off…) 

Lucky Gram even got to come to the elementary school costume parade, as did Dad and the “no school today” jr. high crew…

Miss Kendell got to get wrapped up like a mummy during her class partay (all in the name of education)…

Preschoolers+Costumes=Awesome…

Cael has been telling me for at least 2 months:  “Mom, you can be da witch and Dad can be da ghost.”  He actually told Paul he could be either a ghost OR a pumpkin, and then Paul went with “none of the above”—what?? Taking it all in at the fantastic ward trunk-or-treat…

Coach Paul and Offensive Lineman Curtis had their last game of the season this morning—to be completely accurate, this is actually how super tough they looked after last week’s win…

Coach Webb and Coach Paul after today’s game—to be completely accurate, uhh………..wow…………they’ve got spirit (yeah, we’ll stick with spirit), yes they do…

Halloween soup (yum) and breadsticks (also yum) at Aunt Tera’s…

The biggest night of Zorro’s year, getting to join in on the trick-or-treat-orama…

Swashbuckling Morgan and her buds ready for a night of tricks and treats…

**and at the very moment that I type, they are candy counting/trading/wheeling/dealing in the front room, it’s all very intense, very precise, and very exciting...**

Kendell and her buds called for Paul to come pick them up so they wouldn’t have to go past a scary yard again on the next street over, Kylie worked it for 143 “treats” in her ruby red slippers, Cael told the kids that came to our door “I like your costume!!  Happy Halloween!!”  Curtis put on a Harry Potter movie for me (we must have ambiance) and then went downstairs to watch some baseball.   Paul removed the bb’s that were glued to his forehead (he completely committed to his duck hunting look—hey, go big or go home), and I ended up with an orange and black apron that I l-o-v-e!!  All in all, I think we’ve had the full All Hallow’s Eve experience…

All a Buzz…

What our peppy pooch lacks in street smarts, book smarts, and pretty much smarts of any other kind, he attempts to compensate for with enthusiasm, friendliness, cheer, and good-sportedness…

Oddly enough, after donning the Zorro’s antennae, Cael  won our family game of “Apples to Apples”—that can’t be right-- and yet it was the  not-yet-super-literate-4-year-old who plopped down the red card “disco” when the green card said “funky!”Maybe these are magic Halloween bumble bee costume antennae…

Pumpkins, Patches, and All About the Brown…

So our crop of garden fresh pumpkins did not yield quite as many as we had hoped for (2 years ago we harvested 18 beauties!!); Kylie was still pleased with this one (of three) mighty, mighty pumpkin…

For some reason, pumpkin patches and pre-schoolers  are such a fabulous fall combination…

Hay bale mazes, corn stalks, pumpkins, and mom (who unwisely opted for capri’s on that CHILLY fall morning, bad call)—it’s so good to be 4 (and warm)…

Cael loves to spend his afternoons concocting various concoctions, and now I know why my special Pampered Chef wisk is just not quite especially right anymore…

The lighting  most certainly leaves something to be desired, but this is the fruit of my labor, not to be confused with loom—this week was our annual Visiting Teaching Conference at Church, and all of our Visiting Teachers got autumnal treats and a little bag of snazzy tacks because they are fanTACKstic!  Yes, they got tacks--that’s what I could come up with and I hope they all have some cork somewhere… 

We went to visit Paul’s cute Gramma Elaine, the #89 birthday girl… 

Much to our dismay, the kids noticed on the way out that Gramma Elaine’s decorative yard porcupines have seen better days!  Christmas is coming, however, and hmm, now where would one find something in the way of replacement decorative/ festive porcupines…

Today was new haircut day for the mother of the bunch!  My cute friend, Krista, is a master with the scissors and of the blowdryer/round-brush combo.  I, however, have zero in the way of round-brushing skills, so my girls have to soak in the smoothness of my hair for this one day,  at least until I do get my hair cut again, and then I will have another “smooth hair” day.  When we arrived at the appointed hour, I asked Cael what kind of haircut he thought I should get—he said “brown.”   Excellent call…

Our Happy Fall Place…

We absolutely have a happy place!!  Fall is a fabulous time to be happy in Disneyland!!  The new fireworks were spectacular, the decor is just fun, and grand photo opportunities abound!!  Just when you think you’ve got all 7 family members looking the same direction in the very same shot, it may not really matter…

Paul’s life-long (at least the last 5 years or so life-long) dream of having all 7 of us in the Splash Mountain picture came true!!  Of course certain family members were promised they did not have to do this again (this time) and of course we did buy the overpriced genuine photo…

The ambiance they have going there at the Happiest Place on Earth is so festively fantastic…

My carved pumpkins NEVER turn out like this…

It wouldn’t be a trip to Disneyland without Morgan getting some sweet headwear—she was gracious enough to let Miss Kylie try them out…

We finally got a shot with Jack and Sally, and Cael not hyperventilating at the sight of characters—MAJOR accomplishment!! 

Oh how we do love to go to Anaheim and we always wonder why we don’t just live there-the weather, the palm trees, the good times, DISNEYLAND, but then we get back in the car and back into the crazy/slow/fast/slow/crazy SoCal traffic and hmm,  Utah is fine, just fine and the fall weather here is just fine, too…

He Did/ She Did…

While Mr. Goff spent a few whirlwind days in our nation’s capitol --most of them in a convention center, some of them seeing the incredible sights and smelling the rather unfortunate smells that come with being in the “close quarters” of the metro, and nearly all of them on his progressively weary feet…

Mrs. Goff got bold and now our piano is RED!!  It goes, of course in the green front room that magically became that way during one of Mr. Goff’s previous business trips, hmm.  Cael may be as big a fan as his mom is…