Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We all had a good time together and still managed to play some as well. Only downside was that Caleb had been a little sick before we got there, and many of us walked away with colds. I suppose that's to be expected when everyone gets together. Someone has to be sick when there are so many of us...

Cedar Breaks

Our First Saturday that we were home and had nothing planned, we decided to take a trip up to Cedar Breaks. Unfortunately, this was the weekend that it decided to get BUTT cold. If you don't know what that is...I'm not going to tell you, but it is horribly cold.

We got out of the car at the first lookout, and I thought I was going to die. I hadn't remembered my beanie nor my scarf. Lucky me, I had another sweater in the car, so I pulled it out and tied it around my head and face, and it made it more bearable, but still HORRIBLY cold.

Once we decided we'd had all we could handle of the cold, we headed out and came across this strange structure that is called a Yurt. It was interesting to see, but I couldn't imagine living in one. I would think it would be too stinking cold, but that could just be Arizona talking :)

THANKSGIVING...or better...BLACK FRIDAY :)

Okay, Steph said she was SO going to get this posted sooner than I would get to it....wasn't she wrong...so what if it's still a month after the fact...it's well worth reporting :)

The morning started off with a bang. At 4:30 AM, we each began filing out of our bedrooms, first me, then mom, then Steph, and finally Mel. We all met on the landing as we put on clothes. The discussion had been had the previous evening that I was going to drive as my car was the most empty (since everyone had helped unload it when we arrived). Sadly, I had had the thought to find my keys the night before, but as soon as I had it, I forgot it...so at 4:30, we're stumbling around looking for keys. I asked Morty where they were, and he said Greg had them last when he moved our car (as we were not allowed to park on the street overnight). Mom says, "don't worry, I have my keys, so I'll just drive". She goes out and attempts to start her car, only to learn that the car is having none of it and thinks it was MUCH to cold to cooperate...so back to square one...Finally, someone pipes up that Curt had said we could take his car, but we felt really bad waking him at 4:30 so we could go shopping, so we dug around, and thankfully found his keys in his jacket pocket...and we were off... 1st photo is mom trying unsuccessfully to start her car. the 3rd is of our sad lot of cars that were utterly useless to us that morning. Mine w/ missing keys, which was blocking Nate and Steph's car in, Mom's that wouldn't start, that was blocking Mel's car in the garage...

Steph and I opened up the back seat, and his car was PACKED with stuff...he was leaving on Friday for a dirt bike ride on Saturday. We managed to push things just enough that we could wedge ourselves between the seat and seat back (as it was laid flat).

We laid out the plan, and ran our separate ways as soon as we got there. We got some SERIOUS loot!! We were proud of ourselves, and then we started to work our way out to the car with our THREE SHOPPPING CARTS WORTH OF STUFF...

Please take note of how full the car was BEFORE we started to load anything...see below

We were afraid we were going to have to send someone home for another car for us in order to get everything home. Thankfully, we made it work. I laughed pretty good at they guy in the car next to us because he was trying to load a 50" television BY HIMSELF into his little Honda Civic and had gotten it stuck. I went over and helped him get it out and let him contemplate for himself what he was going to do about it, and then determined that Steph and I were going to have to get in and they would have to load it in around us.

We were laughing SO HARD!! but we got it all loaded, and made it home just dandily. Notice the frames that are pushed through the hatch back andsitting on our heads...NICE... We had wanted to run to Target as well, but determined that we'd have to leave someone behind in order to get our stuff home, so opted to head home for a few minutes first.

We hit Best Buy, Famous Footwear, Target, and Shopko(I think...remember, it was early, and we hadn't gone to bed until after midnight)...it was at one of our last stops that Morty texted me and said that he had the keys in his pocket and I should have checked there before we left....sometimes he kills me :)

In the end, I LOVE LOVE LOVE black friday shopping and all that it represents...if nothing else, for the stories we walk away with. I can't remember the last time we laughed so hard and it wasn't AT anyone in particular....if you've never done it....DO IT!! It's so worth it!!! :)

Jubilee of Trees/ Geriatrics Party

My favorite was the Cactus thing on the right. It really was beautiful. I must have turned full fledged Arizonian to think so...right :) If we had excess money at our disposal, we would have considered bidding on that one because it was so cool and unique :)

We also enjoyed the upside down tree as a Santa Chimney.

For those who SUPER LOVE Twilight/ New Moon...it had its own tree...

Note our Panoramic shots...it was HILARIOUS!!!

The true draw of the evening was the Bar J Wranglers. They were a HOOT. We really did have SUCH a good time. We love being the youngest peeps around!!

HALLOWEEN!

Matt and Tina ended up coming down with their kids for Halloween. It was pretty fun. We decided to steal a few traditions from our friends the Bishops (thanks guys :))

First, on Friday night we carved pumpkins. It was fun, and Curtis and Dad were great help with Eira and the twins in getting them gutted. The funniest part was when Eira started eating her pumpkin. Apparently she's a big fan of squash. We couldn't stop laughing!

Then, on Saturday, Grandpa started the day taking the twins and a friend down to the car dealerships for some activities that were going on down there. We had a Tinkerbell, a mad scientist, and a vampire. They turned out great!! For a minute our Tinkerbell was afraid she was being left behind...she got a little frantic, but never fear...she was going...

That afternoon, we decided to fry up some Potato Doughnuts (Bishop tradition #1) Mom and I really got into it, but used old paper bags for sugaring and powder sugaring our doughnuts....sadly...the bottoms fell out. We were laughing so hard! Overall, the doughnuts were a hit. Next time, we'll probably only do one or two doughnuts and then do the rest as doughnut holes. They seemed to be more popular, and less messy.

While the doughnuts were cooking, we decided to make some Pumpkin Stew (tradition #2 from Bishops) - (aka: Hamburger Casserole w/ water chestnuts....cooked inside of a pumpkin). We cooked according to the recipe specifications, and then cooked it for almost an hour longer because the pumpkin was NOT cooking. We pulled it out at that point and ate, but the pumpkin was still hard as a rock. Curtis said it tasted alright, but smelled like garbage. It was true, it did not SMELL fantastic...mostly, I think that was the pumpkin. That was a tradition that was NOT a hit with the fam, but the idea of it was fun anyway :)

I walked in and saw Talia and Eira playing at the piano and thought it was really cute. I took about 5 pictures trying to "catch them" in complete spontaniety, but Eira was not about to let that happen. She turned around EXACTLY when I snapped the shot every time...little turkey.

It was a great weekend and a good time was had by all :) Thanks for coming down guys!!

How does your garden grow?

I was so proud of Mom and Dad this summer. They built some grow boxes thanks to my brother(s?) and planted themselves a garden in the backyard.

They planted green beans, squash, cantelope, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelons...okay, I think that's all.

They had such a great harvest....Our first weekend after I moved in, we went out and cleared out the grow boxes. They had TONS of red potatoes. They had gone through and planted potatoes anywhere there was a somewhat open spot....and they ended up with close to 30 lbs. We made some boiled new potatoes, and some garlic & basil potatoes. They had some teeny weeny baby ones, and some GREAT big ones!

We also made fried green tomatoes, as you can see, they ended up with quite a load of tomatoes as well. I love nothing more than garden fresh tomatoes with a little salt. I think they are GREAT!!

Good job Mom and Dad!! Way to work on self-sufficiency. It's so fun to work and see the fruits of your labors :)

First Trip to Price

I received a notice on Facebook....LOVE LOVE LOVE Facebook, but my best friend during my younger year's mother had been diagnosed with cancer and wasn't given long to live. I have not seen them in close to 10 years, and determined then and there that I was going to make the trip up the 2nd week after I moved back to Utah. I went up on a Wednesday. It was clear that Jill had a lot on her plate, and I didn't want to burden her anymore than necessary, so made arrangements to go and stay with Nate and Steph. They were about an hour and forty-five minutes away versus 3.5 hours back home. It was a short, but sweet visit with her parents. I was so glad I went. It was clear that she was not in good shape, but she was still the same "mom" I remembered. Just exhausted. We didn't stay long, and I planned to hit the road. Jill convinced me to stay for dinner and then convinced me to stay the night. We had such a great time reminiscing, and just talking life through. I think it is so wonderful when you are such good friends with someone that you can meet up 10 years later and still be able to talk like old friends and like no time has passed. I am going to make it a point to keep in touch and visit whenever I am able.

On my way from Price to Sandy, I encountered windmills. I had no idea they existed, but I came around a bend, and this is what I saw. Just kind of cool anyway... :)

Thursday, I hung out with Steph, Carter and Abby (since Nate had just worked a graveyard). At one point, I found I had several coins in my purse, and since the move, I had not COMPLETELY emptied my car, so I had my coin bottles out there and thought that might be a good time for Abby. I brought those in, and we had a great time plunking the silver ones in, and then the copper ones.

Then, Mel had called and was just chatting with me. Her hubby had guard that weekend in SLC, but she wasn't sure whether she was going to come or not. We convinced her to come stay with us and we would just have one big party. We called Tina on Saturday and invited her to the party as well, but she wasn't feeling great. We didn't do anything super exciting, but it was fun to just lounge around and hang out together. Caleb had his first bath WITHOUT the sponge under him and had a BLAST! It was pretty darn cute. He just laid there and kicked and kicked and kicked

On Saturday, Abby and I decided to go on a bear hunt in the backyard. She showed me how to tip toe so the bears don't hear you coming.

Then we made some cookies. Overall, it was a fun weekend :)

Thanks for having us Steph (and Nate) It's always fun to party!!