spudnuts.

It's 2:37 am.  Blake woke up about an hour ago (poor kid has a terrible cough). I should be sleeping, but I have a lot on my mind and so here I am writing. Writing is my outlet. And while there is much to write about, I don't feel like sharing everything quite yet. So instead, I'll talk about spudnuts. 351 to be exact.

Last night, we hosted our 6th Annual Sunday Spudnut party. We usually do it on a Sunday, but this year our days before baby's due date filled up really quick. And so Monday it was. We weren't quite sure what kind of a turnout would be (either thinking that everyone would come or no one would.) So we decided to go all out and make 3 batches of Spudnuts--more than we have ever made before. Just in case. And probably because this will be the last year we are in this ward.

I guess it's a minor miracle that we pulled it off. Brandon got up at 5 am to get one batch all rolled out before work. It saved us! A dear friend came over and helped me fry some up during the day so we would have a batch ready when the party started. And Brandon's parents were nice enough to come help fry them up while the party was going. Blake was a champ. It really took all day and he was such a trooper. I've always wondered when this party will have to scale back as our family grows, but I guess we'll just have to see where we are at each year.

^^^my man is hot when he is making spudnuts. i kept telling him i should retire because he does a much better job than i do. look at those perfect spudnuts!^^^

^^^we're so glad that Halle and Saywer came!^^^

But spudnuts make us happy. Creating a gathering place for 105 people is our favorite.
We love seeing how excited each person gets as a new plate of hot spudnuts comes out.
We love seeing the mothers reluctantly shake their heads as their children ask for one more.
We love hearing about a little girl who was so excited that she pulled the invitation every day asking her mom if it was Monday yet.
We love seeing YW and YM come and bring their friends because somehow our party is maybe cool?
We love seeing all the kids running around in the backyard, leaving spudnut and dirt trails behind.
We love that this has become one of our favorite Fall traditions, and it all started back in my grandma's kitchen.

And at the end of the night, after the last guest has gone, we sit down and let out a long sigh of relief. While eating just one more spudnut. Grateful that it's just once a year.  But so grateful for the awesome friends and family we have in our life to share spudnuts with.

^^^ our traditional family spudnut photo^^^