Weekend with the Parentals

This weekend my mom and dad came to visit us. We had a fun time with them! It was the first time that they came and were able to stay for more than one night. Friday morning we were able to take them hunting, and I think they must be good luck! We saw hundreds of birds! We had a great time hunting and being together Saturday morning, my dad and Ryan made the drive back out to the lease for another morning of hunting and they saw even more birds than the day before! While they went hunting for the morning, my mom and I did some shopping. Their visit sure was enjoyable for us. We don't get to see them much. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Ryan picking up decoys.

Mom is such a trooper!

Dad picking up decoys, he's got the hunting bug!

Mom looks so cute in camo hehe.

Dad standing in our ground blind. It was stinky.

Ryan is hardcore.

The four of us decked out in camo.

Dad thought it was so funny that Roxie likes to sit on you.

Roxie loves to give kisses!

A Bit of Holiday Humor

If you can't read it because it is too small, just click on it and it will make it bigger.

A sigh of relief...

Finals are over! Hooray! We can't wait to enjoy this month that we have off from the worries of school...

This past weekend Ryan and I and our friends, Brian and Brandon, all went hunting. It was alot of fun and we really enjoyed it!! It was really cold and started to really rain on us, but the thrill of hunting is so worth it!!! We shot one goose...lol...i know we didn't do that well. o well. Other fun events were...

1. almost getting stuck in the ditch (thanks to me). I was sweating bullets.
2. walking to the truck in the pouring freezing rain. I don't recommend it.
3. watching three grown men freeze their butts off.
4. stalking a flock of geese only for them to fly away just before we were within shooting range. You would think we could outsmart some birds, geez.
5. driving around only to find out the birds were everywhere that we were not.

And for whatever reason...we want to do it again!!! :) This weekend my mom and dad are coming to visit us and go hunting with us. Maybe this cold weather and having my parents there will bring us good luck. Let's hope so.

AND I wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Mom and Dad. My Dad's birthday was on Monday, the 10th, and my Mom's birthday is today, the 12th. My Dad turned 47 and....MY MOM Turned FIFTY!!!!!!!!!!! The big 50!!!!!! How does it feel mom!!!!?? :):):)

I think...

I think mom should get this for Sophie...what do you think???

He's makin' a list! He's checkin' it twice! Gonna find out who's...

OR

We laughed so hard doing this! The humiliation on their faces is priceless:)

Roxie has been learning new skills

She can...give herself pedicures,
she is undefeated at the staring contest,
and she can pick her nose with her tounge!

Thankgiving Break 2007

We had Thanksgiving with the Bassham/Moore family this year. There were seven of us, Bill and Cherie, Me and Ryan, Mamie (Ryan's grandma), and Lance and Angie (Ryan's cousin and his wife). We had a great time with family! Thanksgiving dinner was so yummy, we had all kinds of food from the traditional Turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce to a new twist on pumpkin pie AND I introduced everyone to eyeballs! (Green olives stuffed with pimento, wrapped in cream cheese and rolled in chopped pecans. Cut them in half and they look like eyeballs, hence the name "eyeballs".) They are a Riggs holiday food tradition. After we stuffed ourselves, the boys watched football for a while, we went on a walk and enjoyed the cold weather! Later, Ryan and I spent an hour or so over at the Richmond household to see my parents and grandparents. It was fun to see them for a little bit. Later in the week Bill, Ryan and I went hunting- something that always takes place in their family during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ryan was lucky enough to shoot a doe and an 8 point buck on Saturday morning. This buck is his first since he has been and and is the biggest he has ever shot, so it was pretty awesome. It was the first time that I had been with Ryan when he actually got something. I was so proud and happy for him. To top off the whole Thankgiving Holiday we now have a new addition to the family! Lance and Angie's son was born on Monday November 26th around 2:00pm. His name is Liam Thomas Moore and he is a cutie patootie. Congratulations you two! We love you and are so happy for you:) Well, That was our Thankgiving holiday in a nutshell. It was such a good week and so many things took place that I couldn't talk about everything, but it was a Thanksgiving to remember:)Bill waiting for some yummy turkey!Mamie with her grandsons.Poor Angie about to pop!Lady and Roxie posing for a picture. They are so funny together. Me and Cherie on our walk, it was cold outside!Me, Cherie, Ryan and the dogs- we were trying to walk off the food we just ate!Ryan, Me, Grandma Joyce, and Grandpa Hal.
Dad watching football.Sophie loves it when we come over!!Sophie with mom. What a face!"All this company wears me out!"Me and Ryan with his buck and doe.

Liam Thomas Moore

This Past Weekend

This past weekend was so nice. Ryan's parents came in town for the weekend and we had lost of fun. Unfortunately I left my camera in Bill's truck so no pictures for this post.

After Bill and Cherie got here Friday afternoon, The four of us went out to eat at Johnny Carino's. So yummy! The next morning we all went duck hunting. Even though we didn't do any good, It was fun to be together and enjoy each other's company. We saw THOUSANDS of geese. It was absolutely incredible. They never came within shooting range, but it was sure fun watching them fly around and listening to them honk. Good times:)

Elder Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles came to our Stake this weekend to change our current Stake Presidency. What an incredible man. He has such a powerful presence. He had ALOT of good things to say. It's not every day we get to hear the word's of an apostle, let alone be in the same room as him, and have everything he said be so directed at us. We felt very fortunate to be able to attend the meetings this weekend.

We are anxious to go back to Plano and Richardson for the Thanksgiving Break this week. We miss being around our families. We are hoping to meet a new little person if he would hurry up and come!! :) Our cousin Lance and his wife Angie are expecting a baby boy, and he is already late! We sure can't wait to see him, whenever he does decided to come. Anyways, we hope everyone enjoys their holiday break. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I am having so much fun thinking of decorating ideas for Christmas. And YES, we have already started Christmas decorating. I guess we are extra excited for this Christmas because it is Ryan's first Christmas home from his mission AND it's our first Christmas together being married. So, it's doubley special. Being newlyweds, we are basically starting from scratch so we are having fun talking about new Christmas traditions we want to have in our family and how we want to decorate. So fun! Anyways, with some gift certificates we received as gifts from our wedding that we still had not used, we purchased these stockings at Pottery Barn. Love them! Because hello???! Santa Claus is coming to town! And we have to have stockings :) We got our names monogramed on them as well. And, of course, Roxie and Smokey each got a stocking of their own since they had matching pet stockings. And thanks to free shipping and the gift certificates, all four stockings cost me $11.78 instead of over $100. Pretty good deal eh?

Green Bean Casserole

I love Thanksgiving food, especially the traditional dishes. I have been trying to think of some ways to revamp the old classics, and then I saw this episode of Food 911 with Tyler Florence on the Food Network Channel. I am definatley making this for my family for Thanksgiving dinner.

Green Bean Casserole
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence
See this recipe on air Friday Nov. 16 at 3:30 PM ET/PT.

3 pounds green beans
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 loaf crusty Italian bread
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds mixed mushrooms (such as button, cremini, shiitake), sliced
2 shallots, sliced
1 cup heavy cream

Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add a big pinch of salt and the green beans. Cook for about 5 minutes, the beans should still be crisp, they will be cooked more in the oven. Drain them and set aside. Butter a baking dish large enough to hold the green beans with 1 tablespoon butter and set aside.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.Tear the bread into 2-inch pieces, put them into a bowl, and add 1 tablespoon chives, 1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon rosemary, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Stir well to coat and spread onto a baking sheet. Bake just until the bread starts to turn golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and shallots, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid, about 10 minutes. Pour in the heavy cream, add the remaining thyme and chives, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the green beans and stir well. Put the green bean mixture into the prepared baking dish, top with the croutons, and sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan. Bake until everything is hot and bubbling, about 20 to 25 minutes.

A camping we shall go!

This past weekend we went hunting and camping with Ryan's family. So fun! Here are a few pictures. Me and Ryan in front of our tent. Brooke and John (Ryan's cousin and her husband)
Bill and Cherie (Ryan's mom and dad) our tent
me cooking with our new camping grill!
Ryan starting our fire.

I've been tagged!

I have been tagged by Jamie Sharp to tell 6 things about myself. But, I am so boring!!! I can't think of 2 things to say about myself much less 6! So, I decided to tell you 6 about both Ryan and I. So, here ya go!



A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


1. I guess the first thing that come to my mind is that we LOVE hunting. Ryan is very passionate about every aspect of it. I mean he is hard core about it. And it doesn't matter what he is hunting. Naturally, he has gotten me excited about hunting too, so we both enjoy hunting, and it's even better when we get to do it together. However, here I must acknowledge my hunting buddy, Brahmer Bill. I can't count how many a time we sat in a deer stand together. He kept my interest in hunting going while Ryan was on his mission. In fact, I shot my first hog with him. We love it all...deer, elk, hogs, bobcat, caribou, buffalo, moose, dove, every duck you can think of...and the list goes on. So fun!

2. We currently are obsessed with the game Nerts. It is a VERY fun card game that can be sooooo fun if you are winning and sooooo frustrating if you are losing. This is one of the few things in life that I am better at than Ryan, and it makes him so mad! :) We started playing it this weekend when we went camping (Separate post about that to come) and seriously...i had to beg him this afternoon to let me take a break. Geez!

3. We are trying to learn how to two step. Um, we aren't very good. But it is fun trying! I got some really cute cowboy boots from my parents for my birthday so my feet are all ready to go. We are still scared to go to the dance hall but one of these days we'll graduate from our living room.

4. I just noticed this the other day...I tend to finish Ryan's sentences for him. It's funny because 99.9% of the time I know exactly what he is about to say, and when he can't get the words to come out I, without really meaning to, finish his sentence. When I noticed I was doing it I said, "Oh, sorry does that bug you when I do that?" and Ryan said, "No, I kind of like it." haha. I guess that comes from knowing each other so well and having been together for almost 8 years.

5. We both LOVE sushi. It is probably one our favorite indulgences. Mmmm, my mouth waters just thinking of it. We are very adventurous when it comes to food so we love to try new things. Sushi is one of those things that we tried, and ended up just LOVING. Try it, it's really good! And don't get the California Roll...it's good but come on guys...there is not any fish in there....

6. We love the TV show The Office. It is SOOO FUNNY! Dwight is probably by far our favorite guy. The awkward humor will seriously have you rolling on the floor laughing. We proudly own all three seasons and every Thursday night we watch the current season on TV. If you don't already watch it, Start! Get yourself a bowl of popcorn and sit and watch it. If you don't, you are missing out.

I tag Mandy Miller, Julia Conger, Jenna Ratcliffe, Shanna Graff, Paris McCuistion, and Jennika Simmons.

Happy Halloween Everybody!

Happy Halloween from Roxie the Witch

Catch Up

My birthday was a week ago, i just haven't had the chance to post anything about it. It was a good birthday. Ryan surprised me with flowers the night before. The morning of my birthday Ryan got up early and decorated the house with birthday decor and cooked breakfast for me. For whatever reason I didn't think to take any pictures! O well. He had my presents waiting for me as soon as I woke up. It was a special birthday for me because it was the first birthday in two years that we were able to be together. Later in the day we went to "U Paint It", a store where you paint your own pottery. I had been wanting to go there ever since we moved to College Station. Since we both love ice cream so much we made each other ice cream bowls. We soon found out that it was A LOT harder than it looked. But, it was really fun and it was something different to do! These are the finished products. Ryan painted my bowl (the one with the "M") and I painted Ryan's bowl (The one with the "R"). That night Ryan took me to Fish Daddy's. It was soo yummy! I didn't think to get my camera out until we were done eating and walking to the car so this next picture is us standing in front of the restaurant, you just can't tell.

This past weekend we were in Utah. My cousin Adam and his fiance, Stephanie, were married on the 26th in the Timpanogos Utah Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony and was a fun reminder of our wedding day. Adam and Stephanie RiggsLater in the weekend we were able to visit some of Ryan's mission buddies. It is always an unpredictable event, you never know what they will do when they all get together, but it is always fun! We also got to visit with my cousin Eddy and friend Brian Stock. Those guys are crazy as ever. We miss having our family and friends around so much! We also went to Park City and Salt Lake for our birthday dinners with the family. It was a jam packed weekend. Fun, but glad to be home! Now it's back to school....

Cute little Critter

We found this little caterpillar guy on the sidewalk on the Houston Temple grounds. He is so cute! He is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. He looks big in the picture but he was actually less than an inch long. I wanted to pick him up so bad but Ryan wouldn't let me. :(

Fun filled weekend :)

This weekend we stayed here in College Station. Although we like visiting family back home, it was nice to not have to drive for 4 hours there and back. Friday morning Ryan and I went to the Houston Temple. It is a beautiful building. We found some nice ladys to take our picture.When we got back from Houston, Ryan and I got to meet Texas country singer Randy Rogers and his band. They were at Cavender's Boot City for a few hours signing autographs and giving away free stuff. They seemed like really cool people, really friendly and down to Earth. I was star struck! :)
Our friend Danni came to visit us Saturday and Sunday. We had a fun time with her. She and I went shopping for my birthday (which was much needed for me! i honestly have not been shopping since i got married!) Danni gave Ryan the 3rd season of The Office for his birthday so we had an Office marathon and just bummed around.
Danni and I found these oh so scary hats when we were shopping. We decided it was worth a picture.
A relaxing weekend. We don't get very many!

A couple of updates

My cat hates our dog so much....but Roxie thinks the cat is the greatest thing on the planet. Roxie doesn't want to hurt her, she just wants to play, but the cat doesn't know that. I happened to have my camera at the right time so here are a few pictures of Roxie trying to be friends with the cat....haha. On October 14, 2007 my cousin Paris and her husband Jake were blessed with a handsome little boy, Jaxen Jacob McCuistion. They are going to be great parents. We are so excited to see them and the rest of the family next week!!!!