These are a few of our favorite things....

The other night, Preston and I went up to Salt Lake to meet up with my parents for dinner. They had some business meetings up there and they invited us to come and have dinner at the Little America Hotel with them and some other people in the Furniture business. 

Just as we finished filling up with gas to head up there, Preston pulls the truck over and says something like "uh, I need to check the truck really quick." I didn't pay much attention and just kept looking through my newspapers in search of some good coupons. Well, a few seconds later he hops back in the truck and hands me this:

A sunflower! They are my absolute favorite. 

I couldn't believe it though! There were sunflowers still in bloom right along the roadside - in NOVEMBER! It's crazy! I think Mother Nature is a little confused on the seasons right now or something. 

Oh well! If nothing else, her confusion made me all sorts of happy! Preston has made it a little bit of a tradition to pull over and pick me a sunflower along the road when he sees them. He's a cutie!

After our AMAZING dinner at the Little America and the fun time we had with my parents, we came upon a Ferrari dealership. Even though they were closed, Preston just HAD to stop. Boys and cars. Its funny to me just how much they love them. And Ferraris are his absolute favorite. 

And here is the ENZO. Apparently they only have these in a select number of dealerships in the whole United States. He just couldn't believe they had one in Salt Lake! Pretty cool!

I promise, he was a lot more excited than he looks in this picture. 

Our night turned out to be a lot more exciting than we had planned. We left feeling fuller than we have in a long time. I guess we weren't used to having so much food around us and we definitely took advantage of the opportunity. Thanks Mom and Dad for inviting us! And thanks to my amazing hubby for always being so sweet!! :D 

Busy Bishoffs!

Once again we had a busy yet fun and exciting weekend. I swear, we cannot sit still! It's impossible! So last weekend all of Preston's brothers and their wives were in town so on Friday night we headed up to the mountains for a camp-out. It was our very first experience using our camper!! And guess who didn't bring her camera along to document it.....ME!! I was so sad. But we had so much fun! We made dutch oven potatoes with bacon, peppers and onions in them and roasted hot dogs. So simple yet so delicious! And of course we had smores! MMMM! Love them. Sleeping in the camper was definitely the way to go. It kept us nice and toasty and was such a fun and cozy little place for us to sleep. I can't wait to take it out again! We'll definitely be getting a lot of use out of that little baby!

The next day, we headed back to Provo for the BYU vs. UNLV football game. My parents, little sister Emily and my home ward came up to the game and we were able to go with them. I love going to football games. I don't even necessarily like football but there is just something about going to a sporting event for your school that makes you feel so proud to be a part of such a great university. I love it. I embarrassed Preston by standing up and singing the fight song at every touchdown and yelling "That's another COUGAR, FIRST DOWN" at every first down. haha It was so much fun. And we won which made it even better! Plus, it was 75 degrees outside and we got a bit of a sunburn. It felt like summer for a day in November. It was sooo nice.

After the game we packed our bags and headed down to Moab for my sister Lindsey's baby girl, Claire's blessing. She was blessed on Sunday, 11.7.10, by my Daddy. It was a beautiful blessing. I loved being able to spend time with my family. I love them so much! After church, Lindsey put on an AMAZING luncheon of tacos and all sorts of Mexican food. It was so tasty. And then later in the day we were able to celebrate my niece London's 5th birthday with her. I still have a hard time believing that she is five. They grow up too fast. (I sound like an old woman saying that haha). 

BYU!!

Enjoying the game! 

Dad & Mom :D

Me & Em. She loves throwing a peace sign in every picture. 

Beautiful Maddy. 

Cute Corgan!! 

Cute little cousins! Corgan & Claire are only 4 months apart! Check out the difference in the size of their heads! Too funny! 

Baby Claire on her blessing day! My Mom made her dress. It was gorgeous! 

Mads, Me, & London Loo. I love these girls! 

London taking right after her aunts and loving to dance. She is so proud of her leg lift and is the only one in her class that can do it! Way to go London Loo!

Singing Happy Birthday to London. That is my Grandpa John aka "Papa John" in the right corner. He is so cute!

And Baby Claire showing us how strong she is! She is the cutest little thing! 

All in all, it was a GREAT weekend. This weekend is a little more laid back for us. I am making Christmas cards! I am so excited!!

Kotopoulo kapama

Or for those of us who don't speak Greek (including myself): 

The TASTIEST CHICKEN STEW EVER!

I made this today and I loved it so much I just had to share it! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during the process but trust me, it is SO TASTY!

THE INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. dry parsley

1/2 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. oregano

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces

4 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

3 cans (14.5 oz.) chopped tomatoes

1 pound thinly shredded cabbage 

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp. sugar

2/3 Cup Arborio White Rice (or short grained rice)

2 cups croutons

1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

1. In a bowl, combine the salt, pepper, cinnamon and lemon juice. Brush this mixture on all sides of the chicken pieces and let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Pat the pieces dry with paper towels and reserve any excess marinade.

3. Heat the butter and oil in a large stock pot and saute the chicken pieces until nicely browned on all sides.

4. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm.

5. Add the tomatoes (if you are using fresh), garlic and onion and saute for 1 minute.

6. Add (tomatoes if you are using canned) any excess marinade, the cabbage, broth, parsley, basil, oregano, and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer vigorously for 7 minutes.

7. Return the chicken to the pan, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes. Add the rice and simmer 20 more minutes, until the rice is tender.

8. Serve with croutons and cheese!

Seriously, don't be afraid to try this. It is THAT good. It's a Greek stew and I was a little apprehensive about it at first because of all of the different flavors and ingredients it uses but I loved it! I hope you do too!!! :D

Happy Halloween!

Halloween may have not been exactly what we hoped it would have been this year, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. We had BIG plans of dressing up. But in the end, we had no excuse to dress up and we both agreed we would feel pretty lame staying at home wearing our costumes. haha But there is always next year!! :D 

We began our Halloween festivities by carving pumpkins with Preston's brother John and his wife Christine. They had bought those pumpkin carving kits that you can make really complicated designs with. You know what I am talking about? Well I had never used them before so I was super excited about it! 

 I realized that while growing up, I NEVER carved my own pumpkin. I always drew my design on and then my Dad would do it for me. So this year, I had to be a grown up and do it myself. It started out a little rough but ended up pretty successful in the end, if I do say so myself. :D 

I cut my hole a tad bit too small. But don't you fret! It all worked out in the end! 

The super small hole.

Preston refused to use the pumpkin carving kits and did his free-hand. But between you and me, he didn't come up with the design on his own. He'll try and convince you that he did but he copied it out of the book! Little stinker! 

My goofy skeleton pumpking

John being so meticulous with the carving. 

Christine cleaning it out

Christine's pumpkin.

It looked like the abominable snowman from monster's inc to me! 

John's creepy werewolf pumpkin.

Preston's pumpkin looking like it literally was on fire.

And my pumpkin. Turns out mine only had a difficulty level of 1 (being the lowest). Can you tell?? haha 

The day before Halloween, Preston and I headed up Hobble Creek Canyon to this quaint little fishing hole. He had been there the day before and told me about the MONSTER fish that he missed out on catching. He had it all planned out how he was going to catch this guy. To me, it sounded like a sneak attack and I didn't know that you could even do that with fish. But apparently you can! And I saw the big ol' fish in the water myself! He was a big one! But unfortunately, Preston still couldn't hook him. It looks like we'll be headed up there again sometime! He did catch some other guys that seemed to be pretty good size to me. But what do I know? I'm just a girl....that's why I sat on the bank with my nook and indulged in reading the Hunger Games. 

Workin hard to catch a little fishy! 

One of his many catches.
He is wearing fishing waders, by the way. I laughed when I saw him put them on. They looked like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum pants to me! 

Oops! He got his line stuck in the tree! I may or may not have been entertained watching him trying to get it out! 

Another catch! :D

Absolutely beautiful place!

And here I sat. On a log. Reading the Hunger Games. It was the perfect setting to read that book! And I finished it. It is SOOOO GOOD! So hurry up and go read it yourself! You will get caught up in it I promise! 

On our way back home, we came across this campground that looked like a fun place to take our camper. And all of a sudden this old man starts shooting towards our truck. It startled us and then we realized that he was shooting at a badger! Apparently these little guys are mean and are really harmful to people. Well Preston, being the avid hunter that he is, offers to help the guy kill him. This old man gladly agrees so Preston jumps out of the car, with his beebee gun (the only gun he had with him) in hand and chases this little guy up and over a mountain side. I stayed back in the truck and he was gone for almost an hour! He ended up being victorious and killing him, only with a beebee gun and big rocks. He was so proud of himself and I couldn't help but be either! He is such courageous man! hehe I love you babe! 

Then, after a dinner of Pumpkin Waffles, we made Halloween sugar cookies and watched Hocus Pocus. 

Goodbye Halloween! Maybe we will be more enthusiastic and actually dress up next year! 

Company!

Preston and I LOVE when we have company come and stay with us! It is so much fun! We have had lots of company already and we love it! 

A couple of weeks ago, my sister and her husband and their 3 cute kids came to stay with us! I always love when I get to see my nieces and nephews since I don't live right by them anymore. 

So on this particular visit, they happened to get their at 10ish at night and I thought for sure their kids would be out for the night. But boy was I wrong! They had slept the 3 hour drive to our house and they were full of energy once they got there! I was so happy! They are so much fun to be around! They wanted to watch a movie and since we don't have too many kid movies we ended up watching Transformers. London loved it! Maddy on the other hand had better things to do! 

Her Mom said she was a total girly-girl and I completely agree! All she wanted me to do was take her picture while she posed for me. Isn't she cute?? I just love her! 

 One of the many poses Maddy showed me that night. She was striking poses like crazy! I think she was trying to be like Megan Fox in the background.

London was stuck on TRANSFORMERS! She couldn't even peel her eyes away for me to take a picture! She looked so cute and snuggly all wrapped up in that blanket! 

And P.S., this little cutie turned 5 this last week! I can't even believe it! I wish they stayed small forever! 

The next morning while their parents ran some errands, Mads and London stayed home and hung out with Preston and I. I eventually had to leave them with Preston because I had class. They did not want me to do that! London looked at me with her little puppy dog eyes and says, "Can't you call your teacher and tell them that your little girls are in town and you need to play with them??" I wanted to so bad! They just say the cutest things! I can't wait until they come and visit again! :D 

We also got our first snow fall a couple of weeks ago. I thought it meant that we were stuck with winter for the next four or five months. But not so! It has been as warm as 75 degrees here and its NOVEMBER! It's insane but we love it!

Preston Highly Recommends....

This Series: 

He is hooked on them! I haven't read them yet but I guess I'll have to one of these days! Does anyone know about these or have anything to say about them? I would love to know! 

I highly recommend...

This series: 

They are SO GOOD! I will admit, the story is a bit bizarre, but I love it! I promise that if you start reading them, you will be hooked and won't be able to put them down! 

I bet some of you out there know what I'm talking about! So stop reading my blog and go read these books and let me know what you think! You will be so glad you did!