Christmas 2022

Last year Christmas was a blur.  My sisters and I had just lost our father and we were the sole caregivers for our mother who was deteriorating rapidly from dementia.  We opened the few presents we were able to buy and ordered dinner from Olive Garden for the sake of Sean and Tashena but our hearts were not in it.

This year things were much different!  We miss our parents but we know that they would be so happy that we have spent so much time together this holiday season.  Christmas Eve we played cards and ate way too many treats and then we had a lot of fun opening presents Christmas morning.  I got a few movies, another Colorado Avalanche jersey, and some new snowshoes (I am very excited about this because I wore my old pair out and have missed my excursions).

We had a wonderful dinner consisting of Trent's famous spare ribs, potato casserole, stuffing, asparagus, rolls, vegetables and dip, pomegranate salad, and pie for dessert.  In the evening we played Shanghai rummy and it descended into madness (but was so much fun).  I have really enjoyed this holiday season and I am looking forward to spending more time relaxing with my family this week!

Thanksgiving 2022

My family was able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday.  This was our first Thanksgiving without our parents so it was really bittersweet but I know that they would both be so happy to see us all together and enjoying ourselves.  We had the traditional dinner with turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pomegranate salad (a family tradition), vegetables and dip, and rolls.  We had pie for dessert and lots of treats when we played Shanghai rummy later that night.  We ended up laughing all night and that felt really nice after the year we have all had!

I hope you were all able to spend Thanksgiving with the people you love!

Fall Camping Trip 2022

For the past four days I have been on a fall camping trip with my family up at the property and it has been so much fun!  My brother-in-law Trent and I went up Thursday and decided to take the scenic route through Big Cottonwood Canyon over Guardsman Pass into Midway in order to see the fall foliage.  The views were amazing!

Once we got to the property in Tabiona, we took the side by side on a few trails.  I'm getting better at driving it!

There are so many trails to explore!  I always have to make a stop at my favorite rock formation!

Kristine, Tashena, Trent's sister, his two nieces, and his niece's three kids (who were adorable) came up Friday afternoon.  We drove to a little town called Bluebell (in the middle of nowhere) for a really great corn maze with lots of other fall activities (I loved the pumpkin launching).  We got dinner there and I had my first caramel apple of the season!

On Saturday Trent made one of his famous breakfasts on the griddle and then we had a lot of fun playing games and sitting around the fire.  The kids made s'mores and we roasted brats over the fire for dinner.  It was wonderful.

I slept each night in the trailer and, as always, I really loved it.  I am so grateful that Trent and Kristine let me stay in it whenever I want!

By Sunday afternoon I was tired, dirty, sunburned, and everything I brought up smelled like smoke.  In other words, it was a really great trip!  It was really hard to come back home!

Memorial Day Weekend 2022

My whole family (Marilyn, Kristine, Trent, Tashena, Sean, and I) went up to the property over the long Memorial Day weekend and we had so much fun together.  Friday was Marilyn's birthday so we celebrated with cake and yesterday Sean convinced me to go with him into town to get ice cream and then we went off-roading a little bit but the temperatures were a lot cooler than expected (we even had hail at one point) so we spent a lot of time around the fire pit making s'mores and in the trailer playing games and watching movies.  It was so nice to be able to relax!  The dogs were in heaven!

I hope to spend a lot more time at the property this summer!