Lock-In Again

Ok, so I'm doing this in reverse order so you can see the story first! :) These are more pictures from the Lock-In. Here you see 2 of the major events: the Pew Crawl (not to be confused with a Pub Crawl) and the Grand Shaving. The Pew Crawl was awesome! The way it worked was the "caller" for a team stood at the front and opened a hymnal and read the last digit of the last number on that page. Then the rest of the team had to crawl under that many pews. When the whole team was standing up again, the caller yelled out a new number and they went again. The first team (two raced at a time) to make it to the front and have their whole team stand up won. It was HILARIOUS! Some team members had the "army crawl" form down perfectly (see James in the above right picture) while others struggled a bit more!

The Egg Game was also very popular... this was Josh's idea, and involved cracking an egg into about 8 or 9 feet of plastic tubing. Then you put one person on either side and they both blow into the tube as hard as they can. The loser gets a face (or mouth) full of egg while the winner, well, doesn't! See Josh on the left getting ready to play against Nate... see Josh on the right trying to clean egg out of his mouth while Jason is laughing so hard behind him that he can't even stand up. The big winner was definitely Nate, who took down Josh and "Paul Bunyan" (Brandon) without much trouble. Darn it all, since I was the photographer I never got a chance to play... shucks...

Sheer Determination

I've always been a sucker for a man who knows what he wants and goes after it...

Springfield Weekend

Josh and I headed to Springfield to visit his family this weekend. We headed down Friday night and had MadeRight burgers. I'd never had them before, and I don't really know how to describe them... they were mostly loose-meat sandwiches. But they were awesome! :) Saturday morning we headed to the city and ended up getting there around noon. Silver Dollar City is having the craft festival, which is one of my favorite times to be there (most of the time it is my favorite time to be there... but Christmas really wins, everything else is a tie). Everything is all fall and pretty colors, the trees are changing, and there's tons of fun stuff to look at (paintings, quilts, belts, any kind of craft you can imagine). Everyone was a little cranky and tired by the time we got there, but once we all ate lunch, and the Lootens took a nap before the Riders In The Sky concert (see picture), everyone was much more chipper! As usual, we ate way too much and it was all good! We ate lumberjack chips with cheese, fried fish, hot dogs, kettle corn, a bloomin' onion, and I'm sure there was more but I can't remember! After we left the city, we were going to take Mom Looten to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack on the new Landing in Branson, but we got there around 7:00 and the wait was at least 3 hours. Soooo we decided no way! We explored some shops in the landing, including one very lovely hat shop (see Josh above), and decided that the Landing is a really neat place. It is very similar to The Landing in Jacksonville, too. It has restaraunts, shops, kiosks, and tons of fun stuff. There were even two cowboys there doing tricks with lassos and whips (sorry, Ruth, I tried to give them your number but I couldn't get close enough). It had a very neat atmosphere, and I'm excited to go back next time we get the chance!

Instead of Joe's, we took Mom to a place called The Texas Roadhouse. It was amazing! They are known for their ribs, but they also have great rolls with cinnamon butter (I was definitely vibing on those) and the greatest mashed potatoes I've ever eaten! So we really enjoyed it, just sitting around and talking and laughing and having a good time. All in all it was a great visit! And we're excited to be headed back in a couple of weeks to celebrate Tim's birthday! :) 

Happy Birthday!

Just had to say it, Happy Birthday, Ruth! (Yesterday). It's hard to believe the youngest of us all is 18 already... more on this weekend tomorrow, I'm not feeling very well tonight. But I couldn't neglect my little sister, who was such a good sport when Heather and I wrote on her car! :) Love you!

 

Sines of the thymes

"You're killing me, Smalls!'

New Baby

We wanted to introduce you to our new baby boy. Truman Luther Looten, 10 pounds, 12 ounces. He definitely got Josh's fur!

New Favorite

Ok, well, it's not really my favorite, but Josh liked it a lot, and it was pretty good... I tried a new recipe tonight; Onion Chicken. I know, I know, doesn't really sound like a likely recipe for an onion hater like me, but it was French's Fried Onions, and those I love! So, basically, just take chicken breasts, dip them in egg, dip them in crushed onions, slap them on a cookie sheet, and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. I highly recommend spraying the cookie sheet beforehand. And broiling them for the last few minutes for some extra crispiness. Though be careful, because it's a thin line between extra crispiness and smoking (came close to that line tonight). Anyway, it was good, thought I would share! :)

Just to Be Fair

Truman let me know that he was very disappointed that he didn't make the blog after all of his hard work this weekend. So here are pictures of how he helped out. First, he helped with the laundry. Then, he helped hold the new rug in the garage down. This is just so you don't think I forgot what a hard worker Truman is around the house! :) 

Rockbridge Pictures

Just more pictures from Rockbridge... I really love the orange one with the sycamore trunk showing through... there are sycamore trees lining this creek, which is another reason I love this trail! :) The first one was cool, too, because this tree was just barely starting to change... the leaves were half green, half red, and really beautiful.

(Not So) Lazy Saturday

So last Saturday we did nothing... we made up for it this Saturday! We spent the morning cleaning and doing 6 loads of laundry... I didn't know I HAD that many clothes! Anyway,I cleaned the kitchen and the downstairs; Josh cleaned the back porch and yard. Then we both worked on cleaning out the garage which was A MESS! Ever since I brought home stuff from Summer School, our garage has just been ridiculous. It was just packed with stuff, and then we got this rug from Dad to put out there for when we work out (or something). Anyway, it couldn't be unrolled, so it was laying in the only clear spot on the floor, which was where we needed to walk, so we had to walk over it every time we came in the garage. It was actually to the point where it was making me crazy... and those of you who have lived with me know.. THAT TAKES A LOT! And those of you who have lived with Josh know, if it was making me crazy, he was ready for the looney bin! Anyway, it looks lovely and neat now, and the rug is even rolled out.

So after that we decided to take our neglected, abused, and persecuted dog to Rockbridge State Park for a hike. We decided to go to Shooting Star trailhead because the Devil's Ice Box Trailhead has those wooden walkways, which are lovely for people, but small enclosed walkways, lots of people, and a dog that's kind of excitable... not so good! So we went with the more deserted Shooting Star, which is actually my favorite trail. I love it because once you come out of the woods the trail goes up to the edge of this cliff, and the view is phenomenal. Especially in the fall, when the leaves have started to turn. I always try to take pictures of it, and they never do it justice... someday I want a good camera. Anyway, after you walk away from the cliff (which usually takes awhile, just for the enjoyment of the view) you curve around through the woods, down the cliff where it's lower, and down to the creek at the bottom. Then you sort of follow the creek back. Anyway, it's a beautiful hike, and there usually aren't many people there because it's pretty far out... I say usually, because that was not the case this weekend! Well, I guess it wasn't so much the people, it was the horses! Apparently there was a trailride there Saturday! And, of course, the lovely Isabella hadn't ever met a horse before, and she was not quite sure how to react to those very large dogs that were carrying people around. She just went totally still and frozen and just stared. Then as soon as they had passed she was off, sniffing their trail. The best part was when we were playing in the creek, and there was a rather fresh pile of horse droppings... Isabella learned the hard way that horse poop is not for eating. I don't know if she minded the taste so much as she minded Josh dunking her underwater to get it off of her face (see lovely picture above)! Everybody say it with me now, in your best "Dr. Evil" voice..."No, no, we don't gnaw on..." well, I'm sure you can think of a word that rhymes with kitty! Needless to say Josh and I stayed pretty far away from her face after THAT! We did have a lot of fun, and saw the rarest of sights on the way back... Isabelle actually LAID DOWN in the back seat... so, that made the day a success... we wore out the dog!