Thanksgiving 2015

This year, for the first time ever, I hosted Thanksgiving in my new house!  Of course, my sister Marilyn practically walked me through making everything while Kristine brought the rolls (they were from Kneader's bakery and they were delicious) and my parents brought the pies (from Village Inn).

What I was most excited about was using my dining room table!  I have wanted a table like this for a really long time and I loved seeing my whole family sitting around it!  Everything was so delicious and we had such a great day!

Note:  Sean and Tashena were especially happy to be celebrating at my house!

Halloween 2015

I have always really loved Halloween and this year it was so much fun!  The day started early with some pumpkin carving with Sean and Tashena.

Sean's pumpkin "Cyclops."

Tashena's pumpkin "Tinkerbell."

My pumpkin "Mr. Bonehead."

Marilyn's "Old School" pumpkin.

It has been a tradition for as long as I can remember to have chili on Halloween.  This year I made it and everyone came over to my house!

Sean was a mad scientist (although we all thought that his wig made him look like James Brown).

Since I didn't have very many trick-or-treaters, I told him he could have as much candy as he wanted!

Tashena was Tinkerbell.

Tashena and her friends came trick-or-treating to my house and it was an absolute riot!  They kind of took over my house for a little while.  They were all really nice, if exuberant, kids.  A really great day!

Note:  For several years Marilyn and I have had the tradition of going to a late movie on Halloween.  We saw The Martian in IMAX 3D (yes, I've now seen it four times).  It was really late when we drove home and we had to stop at UHP DUI checkpoint.  They asked us if we had been drinking and then simply let us go.  I thought that was hilarious.  However, there were some young teenage girls standing on the sidewalk who looked to be in a bit of trouble...

Labor Day Weekend 2015

Labor Day weekend is generally considered to be the end of summer and I, for one, am glad to see the end of it!  I spent the long weekend with my Mom, Dad, and sister at our favorite KOA in Fillmore and I saw signs of fall all around.  The afternoons had a golden glow, some of the leaves were starting to turn, and the nights were quite cold (observe below)!  

It was absolutely lovely to relax for a few days before my life gets crazy (it is Homecoming next weekend and I am moving the following weekend).  Even though I will be really busy for the next little while, I am really looking forward to fall, my favorite season, for lots of reasons.

Memorial Day Weekend 2015

Over Memorial Day Weekend, my family went camping at Jordanelle State Park, which is one of our very favorite camping spots (see other camping trips here, here, and here).

Marilyn and I stayed at one campsite in her cute little trailer.

My parents were at another nearby campsite in the motor home.

Some views of the reservoir from our campsite.  There weren't many boats on the water this weekend.

I think the reservoir looked incredible after a rainy night. (I loved listening to the rain on the roof of the trailer while we watched movies and ate microwave popcorn).

Even though it rained a few times, we were able to have a fire every night.  I think sitting around a campfire is my favorite part of camping!

This is how we spent a lot of our time:  sitting around the campsite reading and relaxing.

Packing up!  Marilyn's trailer is seriously cool.  It took her about a minute to take it down and then the two of us were able to hitch it to the Jeep by ourselves (if you knew the backstory on this you would be amazed).   It was such a wonderful trip!  Where are we going next?

Christmas 2014

Christmas this year was absolutely wonderful!

On Christmas Eve we have the tradition of opening one present and everyone gets Christmas jammies!  Here is the traditional photo of Sean and Tashena in front of the Christmas tree! I spent the night at my parents' house, much to the delight of Sean who wanted to watch the movie Elf.  He had it set up in the DVD player all day.  He also woke me up early Christmas morning to show me the letter Santa left for him!

Christmas morning!

Santa Claus left us lots of presents!

We draw names for stockings and I drew Tashena.  I got her the coveted Nike basketball socks, an iPod case, some headphones, and a gift card to Claire's.  Ironically, Tashena drew my name and gave me socks, several bags of my favorite candy cane kisses, brushes, some Burt's Bees lip balm (my favorite), and some storage boxes.

Tashena opening her presents.  This year she got a lot of clothes and jewelry!

Her big present was a TV.  She was very excited!

It is so fun to watch Sean open presents because he is so excited!  He got some Wii games, action figures, clothes, and a remote-controlled helicopter (which he played with all day)!

Sean's big present was an iPod (just like the one Tashena got for her birthday but in Hulk green instead of purple).

My favorite present was a pair of Dr. Martens boots.  I got a black pair last year and now I have a brown pair!  I love these boots because they last forever!  I also got some levis and sweaters, some DVDs, some new snow pants (I can't wait to go snowshoeing), and a Colorado Avalanche phone case!

Marilyn made Sean and Tashena rag quilts!  They turned out so cute and they were a big hit!

This is the aftermath!  It was such a good day.  I am so glad that my family is close and that we can spend holidays together.  I am so glad that Sean and Tashena are in our family because they make every holiday so much better.  I hope you had a wonderful day filled with family and friends!

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway for a pair of tickets to see the Utah Symphony New Year's Eve weekend.