Branson Landings and Joe's CrabShack

Ok, don't laugh. Luke saw abs...I see a face...do you see it too???




We went to Branson Landings with Mom and Dad. I love that place. The shops are really neat and so is the water show. We ended up eating dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. We had never eaten at one before...and it was good! I got the Shrimp Platter....which must have had like 4 dozen shrimp on it. Dad had the Crab Cakes that tasted good too and Mom had the crab stuffed shrimp. Luke had the Parmesan Shrimp Pasta....it looked good, but I'm not a pasta and shrimp kinda girl. After we ate we walked around the Landings and enjoyed the scenery. We had a wonderful trip. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

A tribute to Jason and Alicen

So I've been hearing from Alicen how great Cakes and Creams is in Branson...."Their Chocolate Cream Pie is AMAZING"....she would say. Well, after our 4 mile hike, I was ready for some nourishment....if you could call cream pie nourishment. We drove down 76 and pulled into Cakes and Creams. It was TOO good. The piece of pie was huge! Luke really doesn't like whipped cream...so I had to eat it off myself....man I hated that! Alicen and Jason were totally right...it was too good! Thanks for sharing your Branson secret with us!!!

Hiking with Luke Trip Part 2

Luke and I decided to do another hike. We bundled up and hit the trail. Luke brought his camera gear and I was prepared with a book. I was able to read a few chapters while he was photographizing. We really wanted to do the whole hike but didn't have the energy for it. I think we caculated that we actually did a 4 mile hike! There is no way I could have done that last year...but with 20 lbs. gone it wasn't tough at all! There is no way I would do this hike in the summer....too many snakes, but with the 40 degree weather it was perfect!

The Grand Village and Craft Palace

Did we hear the word SALE????

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree!

That rocking chair is HUGE!

This is the place to be!

This is a dog with its leg hiked up to pee on something....WOW!

Two styling babes for sure!

Luke spotted this great find. He calls it a rabid guinea pig!

And, of course everyone needs to have a blue tiger rug in their house!

And I saved the best for last...yes that's right...Night Crawler underwear! Priceless.


Mom and I went to the Grand Village to look around. We love their Christmas shops. Of course, I took my camera and we snapped a few pics. After that we went to the Craft Palace. Now thats a great shop if you are looking for cheap entertainment. The signs said you couldn't take your camera in, but we did anyway! Enjoy the pictures....needless to say we were laughing all the way through this place!

Hiking with Luke...trip number 1

Luke and I found a few trails on the way to Silver Dollar City that we wanted to check out. The first trip was EASY...this hike was paved! There was a look out tower at the end of this hike which Luke climbed. Branson is my most favorite place in the world!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. There was a ton of food as usual. Chris even helped out this year too...he made a wonderful pork chop thing that was great! Ma was busy this year passing down her traditions. Ashley and I ended up making the Turkey Cookies. Chris got the chance to help Uncle JR carve the turkey....that was pretty funny. Aunt JJ let me fill the turkey with 2 sticks of butter and I even did the ham too! Mom and I were able to learn a valuable lesson...never use OLD flour to make gravy. It just doesn't work.

We were able to visit with Uncle George and Aunt Linda. They are such a hoot to be around and are two of the most amazing people I know. Aunt Linda even gave me a punch bowl and a gorgeous decorative bowl....that was an honor for sure! I even played a game of Canasta...and some of you know I don't really like card games...thanks Aunt JJ :) Faye McDonald just cracks me up. She really gets into her card games!!!

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Roaring River Eagle Spotting

Me and Dad FREEZING!!!

Isn't it pretty?

There's fish in that cave.

What a family picture!

Do you see the white dot just above that building?? Yep, it's an Eagle...trust me!

On our way to Branson, Dad drove us through the Roaring River State Park. We viewed the fish hatchery...where we say TONS of fish. The scenery was really pretty. Dad told me that when he was a kid it was their goal to camp in every Missouri state park. They almost did it until the state added like another 10 parks.....I think after that, they gave up! While we are at this park, I spotted a Bald Eagle. I almost didn't get the words out fast enough. I think Dad got better pictures than I did, but enjoy these anyway!

Thanks Jill!

Just wanted to throw a shout out to my friend Jill. She gave me the instructions to decorate my background! Thanks again Jill for letting me kick my blog up another notch!

A Busy Week Ahead

I might not get a chance to blog much in the next week or so...it's gonna be BUSY!!!! Monday, Luke is off work. Tuesday I have to make 3 batches of sugar cookie mix (from scratch for the Turkey Cookies) and clean house, Wednesday Mom and I are baking, Thursday is Luke's birthday party here at the house. We are doing Breakfast Casseroles, Fruit, Muffins, and the Homemade Cinnamon Rolls for his cake! Friday we leave to go out of town for Neosho, MO for Thanksgiving. We spend Friday-Tuesday there then head to Branson on Wednesday. So, if I don't get a chance to blog have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Cinnamon Rolls are Done!

And they taste great. I didn't have any cream cheese to do that kind of icing so I just settled for powdered sugar icing. They taste really good. I can't wait to make these again next week!

Cinnamon Rolls

I decided to pull off my own Pioneer Woman blog. If you don't know what that is, check out the http://www.pioneerwomancooks.com/ it's a woman who makes recipes and photographizes them! I am trying out a recipe of Aunt Debbi's today for Luke's party on the 15th. I didn't want to do a new recipe without trying it out first. These Cinnamon Rolls are supposed to be like Grandy's so enjoy the pics! I'll post later on how delicious they are!!!





The dough after you knead it for 5 minutes.



Aunt Debbi's recipe



It's doubled in size



Roll it out into a rectangle

Spread dough with butter and cinnamon and sugar and pecans.

Roll the dough into a log and use floss to cut it into rounds. Let rise again and then bake!

Christmas is finally here!!!

The trees on our kitchen table!

Thanks mom for these reindeers!

The tree in our bedroom. I knitted some of these!

Outside decor. It's prettier at night and we even have a blow-up reindeer.

Christmas is here!

Even the dogs need a tree! George loves to climb this one!

This is in Ginger's room. Don't know what to call the room anymore since she's not here, but I like this tree too!

This is the living room tree. Looks like ornaments threw up all over it but that's ok. It's our gingerbread/travel tree.

My glass Gingerbread stuff

The rest of it!! See what I mean??? They are even behind the loveseat!

Here are some pictures of the Christmas we have spread all over the house! Luke is so sweet to deal with it everywhere....but I think he enjoys it as much as I do! My Gingerbread men have been mulitplying in the attic because I don't remember having THAT much last year. Oh well! There's always room for more! My pictures aren't that great but at least you get the idea!