Turkey Week

This year was my family's turn for Thanksgiving and luckily everybody was able to come home! And also, lucky for me...I got the whole week off from work and Jarad was able to take some time off too.

We had a blast spending time with Jordan & Audrey- the only niece/nephew and grandchildren on my side thus far.


Jordan LOVED Sadie and always wanted to pet her, play chase and give her treats.

Sadie also LOVED Jordan! She would sit/lay by him whenever he ate and I'm sure he snuck her some tasty stuff when we weren't looking!

Jordan even learned how to get Sadie to sit. We love that Sadie is so good with kids!

Kevin had his 27th birthday and it was fun to celebrate it with everyone!

We took a night out with the siblings to celebrate Kev's birthday too. We went to Itz's- and played lots of games and had a blast!


David is ready to shoot some serious hoops!

On your mark....get set...shoot water! Lori was a pro!

Ride 'em cowgirl!

A fun night with the sibs! Love you guys!

As tradition dictates, we had family pictures taken too. They turned out really well. We got a great family shot, some of just us, and some of the kids too.


Here is the best shot of everybody...

And a good one of us...

I kind of feel like we should be on a real estate sign or something but we both look good, so we'll take it!

We did some shopping, played games, ate a TON of food and one day, while the boys did "man" stuff, the girls crafted. We all did different things but had fun watching chick-flicks and chatting!

Audrey even got in on the action and did some crafts to make from Nana.

Mel's completed craftiness!

Ready for Halloween next year already! :) Nice work Lori!

Living in Tennessee, Linds had to have something that says Y'all!

On Thanksgiving, Lori's family has a big potluck at the church and has always invited our family.

Jordan & Audrey got to sit at the kiddie table and even got a special kiddie dessert.

SO EXCITED FOR TURKEY!

My fam- Lori & Kev, Mel & David, Linds, Jar & I and Dad & Mom- HAPPY THANKSGIVING! So amazing to spend time with family- they truly are such a blessing!

My Mom & Dad are a geneology masters! Mom made an appointment at the temple months ago and worked and got 160+ names ready and submitted to the temple to do the baptisms and confirmations. It was really special to be able to be baptized for our relatives. I will always remember this trip to the temple because my brother David (who's middle name is our grandpa's name) got to be baptized for our Grandfather who passed away about two years ago. To do it together as a family was very neat as well.

The family after doing baptisms for the dead at the Denver Temple. (Jarad had to work :( and we missed him!)

Lori, Mom & I drove Linds to the airport-

See you soon Sis! Linds headed back to school to finish out her first semester of grad school (and to see her boyfriend-smooch!).

After we got back from the airport, we had to watch the big game- the DUEL!! Utah Utes vs. BYU...GO UTES!!!
(Thanks to Mom & Dad for upgrading your cable package so we could watch the game!)

Kev & Lori have no ties to either school- so they just chilled and caught a few Zzzz's.

David & Mel both went to BYU- and as you can see- David was very excited for most of the game as BYU was ahead. Mel slept through the middle (also excited about the game but sleepy- that happens when you are growing niece/nephew #3!)

Although very into the game (it was getting stressful!), we had to speak in church the next day, so Jarad was multi-tasking!

GO UTES! WE WON! (barely!) That was a miraculous block!

Jordan has quite the personality- when I tried to take his picture, he said, "You can't take my picture." Then he gave me this cute little face!

Audrey is so petite and adorable! Such a cutie!!

Us with the little ones- so sad to say goodbye! We wish they lived closer and LOVED spending the week with them! Sad to end a spectacular week of family and fun!

Weekend in Reno

We jetset for a very quick weekend in Reno. We went to visit Jarad's sister and her girls specifically because Aleah was getting baptized.


JAMBA! We got a yummy drink at the airport to tide us over until we got to Reno.

We were lucky to meet up with our friends, who also used to live in Salt Lake, for breakfast. They just had a little baby girl and she is stinkin' cute!

Me & Baby Reese- she is so small and SOOO adorable!

Alec, Tiffany, Reese, Me & Jarad

Thanks for taking time out of your weekend to hang out for a bit and catch up. Great to see you guys!!

Since all of Jarad's family was together, we decided that it would be good to update our family pictures.
FAMILY PICS TO COME
Here is one of us
And one of the whole family- Steve, Lin, Ambar, Jarad & I, Deahna & Sienna, Janna, Aleah & Mya, and Kayla

After family pictures, we all went to the Grand Seirra Casino to enjoy the buffet! YUM!

Sienna & Mya- so photogenic...don't ya think?!


Aleah & I hanging out

With full bellies, we changed and got ready for Aleah's baptism.


Janna, Mya & Aleah before the baptism started- love the girls in Reno!


Me & Papa (Steve) who baptized Aleah wanted in on the self-portrait action.


Aleah, Jarad & I after the baptism- Jarad got to confirm Aleah which was a really cool experience.


Beautiful Aleah- we are so proud of you and so glad that we were able to be there for your special day!

Aleah also had a piano recital that evening, so we all went to support her.

BRAVO! Nicely done Aleah.

It was a short and fast weekend but we are glad we went and we had a fabulous time!

Visitors From Crimson Country

Our dear friends came from Crimson country (UTAH!) to visit us for the weekend. And coincidentally, the Utes had a game here- so OF COURSE we had to go!

First, we needed some food- so we decided to try out a local place- the Western Omelette, which is known for the hottest green chili.


Here's us! We enjoyed the chili- the mild was hot enough for even me! (and I love spicy stuff)


Maura, Cole & Crew- ready for some grub and some game! Cole braved the hot chili- one tiny taste was enough for me.


Jarad and little Crew-man! So cute!

Bellies are full and after dropping Crew off with my sister-in-law, we were on to cheer on our UTES!


We are ready in RED! GO UTES! (Funny moment- Maura and I grabbed these signs and the boys almost had our heads- "You can't have Air Force signs!" Not to worry- it was only for the pic- then they went in the trash.)


Since the game was at Falcon Stadium- they did a fly-by, had jumpers and a zillion cadets on the field to start the game.


We love going to Ute games! (even though it was getting real chilly!)


All of us after the WIN!


We had to have a late night snack- yummy Buffalo Wild Wings-to go! We ate so many wings!

Sunday morning breakfast- strawberry stuffed french toast! yum!

After church, we decided to go see the Garden of the Gods. It was a nice afternoon walk and we saw alot of deer and some crazy rock-climbers too.

Cole, Maura & Crew- such a good pals and such a cute fam!

Our family- Sadie LOVES being outdoors too.

Monday- we were going to do another hike, but because of the cold, yucky weather, we decided to head up to Denver for some adventure.

First we went to see the temple. We walked around the grounds and took some cute pics and enjoyed the fall leaves and trees.

I am loving fall- the trees at the temple were gorgeous!


Crew is just so adorable!

After the temple, we went to the Denver Aquarium- which is the best aquarium I've ever been to! Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Jarad is going in! Seriously- he would love to dive with sharks.


I LOVE sea turtles- I could sit and watch them glide around all day!


I found it very entertaining that there were pumpkins in some of the tanks!


Here we are- enjoying the fishes.


Jarad loved the HUGE sharks.


I've never seen a tiger in an Aquarium before! But it was neat because he was very active.


And the end of the Aquarium- they have a large pool of sting-rays that we got to touch.

After we finished up at the Aquarium- we needed some food before we sent our friends off to the airport.


We went to Beau Jo's Pizza- a Colorado place- infamous for delicious crust (and they lived up to their reputation!)

We had such a great weekend with AMAZING friends! Thanks for coming to visit! We love you guys!!