He did it!

Sam graduated Friday at the Dee Events Center. After 2 years at Dixie and 2 1/2 years at Weber, he was definitely ready. Sam started out college basically hating it, but knowing it was something that would be good for us. He ended college loving it, doing awesome in every class he took, and wanting to go onto the Masters program.

Sam's dad and sister came up for the day. His mom's flight got canceled due to the weather, she was so sad to miss it.

We had a fun day. We woke up early and met Wayne and Kenzie at Mimi's for breakfast. We LOVE eating breakfast there. Then was graduation, which went a lot quicker than I expected, with only a few short, but great, speeches. We came back to our house with everyone for a late lunch and spent the night at our ward holiday dinner. Congratulations, Sam! Now what?

Thanksgiving Thanks

I am thankful for... family, sunshine, a Heavenly Father and Savior, a husband who makes me happy, Christmas lights, summer, ocean, education, sisters, Breyers ice cream, friends, food blogging, the outdoors, Costco, my job, Friday night pizza and movies, cell phones, cars, laughing, Sam graduating, and so much more. So much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving weekend brought... Brittany! I love having her got to college so close. She had a whole week off so we spent the first couple of days shopping, eating breakfast at Mimi's, watching chic flicks (including New Moon - better than the first one!), and laughing.

Brooke and the boys stopped by and spent the night on their way up to Cody's parents house. Nephews are so much fun. Sam's burnout video game is our only "toy" for the boys. They love it. We had fun staying up late talking, eating, and doing glitter toes.

We spent the last part of the week down in St. George with Matt and Jill and Sam's parents. We met up with Rachel and Richard and had so much fun rock climbing. Sam and I can't get enough of it. We spent the rest of the weekend just relaxing. Thanksgiving day after the big meal me and Britt fell asleep reading, one of my favorite things in this world.

This needs to be documented: Me and Brittany at possibly the dumbest movie ever made... Old Dog. Friday night we went out to dinner and to see Blindside with Matt and Jill and Sam's parents, but unfortunately Blindside was sold out, thus we saw Old Dog. It was painful. Both being broke, it was killing Britt and I that we spent almost 10 bucks on Old Dog.

mr. xavier rudd

Recently we got to see Xavier Rudd in concert with Rachel and Spencer. His music is great on CD, but AMAZING in person. I have never heard anything like it. The instrumentals were crazy. Xavier sings and plays the guitar, the didgeridoos, and a tons of other instruments while two other guys play a ton of instruments as well. Almost as good as the music was the entertainment from the crowd. Xavier tends to draw a hippie crowd, and this concert did not disappoint. Hippies galore. So for the price of being surrounded by BO we got a lot of good laughs. One lady repeatedly came up to Spencer and Sam and said, "I think you are ticklish!" in a freaky voice, and tried to tickle their legs. Another man, who was dressed in tie-dye gauchos and definitely on drugs, ran around, very fast, in little circles right in front of us for about 15 minutes. I could go on and on. I am already excited to see him when he comes back around next year.

What's so great about Fall?

That's what I used to think, having only lived in Arizona and Hawaii where there is no fall. But now I know. The camera can't to it justice- the combination of reds and oranges and greens are breath taking. The air smells like trees, and I feel guilty if I don't spend every second outside enjoying it.

Mugatu, he's so hot right now.

Sam and I are all about the homemade costumes. With a little material and a lot of staples, my husband has fulfilled his Halloween dream. He was Mugatu for a night. When it came time for the costume party, all it took was Sam screaming something about how he invented the piano key necktie and the prize (Helicopter ride for 2) was ours :).

Outdoorsy

Utah is full of outdoor fanatics. I always thought I was "outdoorsy" growing up- we hiked once in a while and spent summers swimming. I had no idea what being outdoorsy meant until we moved here. Almost everyone is an extreme mountain biker, rock climber, skier, snowboarder, kayaker, camper.... the list goes on and on. It has been kind of a hard transition for my klutzy self, but I am trying. Last weekend we went with a bunch of friends down to St. George, where we spent the first day mountain biking and the second day rock climbing. We spent the rest of the time with Matt and Jill and the kids. It was a blast, minus my small panic attack. We'll get to that in a second.I have climbed in a gym before. I figured climbing outside would be the same. I was wrong. Very wrong. So just to get to the start of the climb we hiked up. I don't know how high, but it added to the freakiness. Then you climbed straight up about 80 feet, where you clipped into the mountin on this little 1 foot ledge, to get ready to do the seond part of the climb, and then the third. I was the last one to make the climb, and since I was being buhleyed from above, all I could really see was this measly rope holding me up, and I started to panic. I honestly was sure that if I slipped I would die. So by the time I reached everyone else at the first ledge, I was kind of a wreck. As much as I loved hanging out on a 1 foot ledge, 200 feet above ground, I could not stop shaking and talked them into letting me rapel down while they finished the climb. After this climb we headed over to a NORMAL climb where you actually start on the ground and buhley from below. It was FUN. I loved it. Sam was in heaven. Rock climbing is all he wants to do now. I don't mind.

Funny story: So while everyone else was finishing the first climb, I really really had to go to pee. So I slipped on Sam's flip flops, hiked around the cliff and went, camping style. I have never been good at doing this. There is no control. I accidentally got Sam's sandal. I was hiking back, about to wash his shoe, when I hear this other rock climber saying, "Where are my sandals? I know they were here!" So I ask if the ones I am wearing are his, which they are, and quickly apologize and hand them over. Some things are better left not known. Poor guy. I really feel bad. Still.

good bye, summer. i will miss you.

We said buh-bye to summer with one last campfire with our friends. Have I mentioned how much I love our friends here? I think only about a million times. But I do. We had a fun weekend in Huntsville cooking foil dinners and s'mores and singing around the campfire to the one and only guitar hero, Richard. Oh yeah, and the guys shot guns at targets, such as a broken microwave (Hello, white trash). So long, summer. I can feel winter moving in.

britt spit

My little sister came to town! She got a ride from Rexburg on Friday night and we had a blast of a weekend. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such a great sister, let alone 4 of them. Nothing makes me happier than getting to see them. We had fun roasting marshmallows and foil dinners, watching conference, going to Cafe Rio, shopping, eating dessert, begging for tickets and going to conference on Sunday, and eating a picnic on temple square which consisted of sandwiches with no bread (thanks to me forgetting it!).

Ok, so I USED to be from out of state. But Brittany still is so the sign counts. I know the sign is pathetic but it worked like a charm. People came straight for Britt and I, when we were surrounded by about 20 other people holding signs for tickets as well.

Our attempts to get a decent picture usually look something like this...

Finally a normal picture.

women's conference

Living in Utah defintiely has its perks. For the General Relief Society meeting, our stake went down in busses to the conference center and saw the real deal. That building is amazing. It was neat to see the thousands and thousands of women all in one spot. I think my favorite part o fthe night was when they had everyone stand up and sing a hymn together. To hear that many people all singing together gave me goosebumps. There was just such a strong feeling of power in the building.

How do you like that shot of President Monson? I always get the best shots :)

I passed the camera down to Rachael and she helped me out. It is easy for me to forget how blessed we are to have a prophet to lead us today. I love being a member of this church.

the feast.

So last week, Sam was studying all night, every night, and I was trying to think of a way to make our Friday night fun, even though I knew he would be studying the whole time. So I told him I was going to cook a feast for us. Yes, a feast. I was kind of picturing the scene in Harry Potter where the students come back to Hogwarts and have that huge dinner where different dishes magically keep appearing in front of them. So I rushed home from work, and cooked and cooked and cooked for a good 2 hours. We finally ate at 9pm. The problem is, when I took a picture of our "feast" I realized it just looked like a normal dinner. The kind my mom made every single day of the week. Quite the reality check. So it's back to the quesadillas for us, normal dinners are way too much work!

what a great day.

We have the nicest couple in our ward, The Boyers. They have a bunch of land and know how much Sam and Todd love dirtbiking, so they offered to take us up to their property. Sam and Todd rode the bikes, Lacey and I rode AWESOME 4 wheelers, and we had one of the best afternoons ever. It was a blast. We rode the prettiest trail about 2 hours back to a small lake, where we BBQed and laughed about everything. Mostly about mooning people... don't ask. Then we headed back in the dark and talked and hung out looking for shooting stars for awhile.

Lacey and I brought up the rear and ended up with about a pound of dirt on our faces.

My husband is tougher than your husband.

I remind myself of Ben Stiller in Zoolander when he painted himself black.

finally family!

I have been dying for my family to visit ever since we moved here, and over two years later they finally made it! Ok, so it wasn't for me, it was to bring Britt up to BYU Idaho, but they still spent they week at my house and it was a BLAST. Everyone crammed in our little place. We hiked waterfall canyon, long boarded, rode bikes, and spent our nights watching movies and eating pizookies. I thought I loved that dessert, but my family loved it even more. We ate them 3 nights in a row. Monday I went with my family to bring Britt up to BYU Idaho. It was fun to do a family road trip again. I had no idea Idaho was so cold, Brittany is definitely in for a treat. I am so glad I could take Brittany up for her first college weekend! It was great to get to spend so much time with my family, and I am so impressed with how grown up Brittany is. Definitely not the middle school-er I remember her as. For some reason the age everyone was when I moved away for college is the age they stay in my mind. Anyways, I already miss them like crazy and need my Mom back here to take care of me again. It is just wrong to spoil me for a weekend and then leave!

We are easily entertained. We spent a few evenings racing on the long boards and trying to avoid Sam, who loves pretending like he is going to crash into us on his bike and then stopping half an inch before he gets to you. We really missed out, not having a brother (Not!).

Sam was a trooper. He put up with the chic flicks great, although he drew the line when we put in Center Stage. His line of the week was, "Why do we have to WATCH chic flicks when we are LIVING one big chic flick?" I hope we have all girls.

I love being with my mom. I miss her a lot already. She has always and still loves to always be doing something, even if it's just riding bikes around or taking a walk. She was never the type of mom to sit around and watch TV. In fact, I don't EVER remember her watching a show for herself. While she was here, every morning I would wake up and all the dishes would be done and the house would be clean. I don't know how she does it.

I LOVED getting to spend time with Brittany. It is still weird for me to see her all grown up. She is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. Her roommates don't know how good they've got it.

Brittany in her new place. I had no idea it would be so hard to leave her there! It made me remember how homesick I was my first couple months away from home.

Ally is now the only child at home! I miss her witty personality already. I remember my senior year of high school, she was only 5 but she would put all my friends in their place. She could come up with better comebacks than most of the boys. They loved trying to tease her. I'm guessing she is already using the "only child" thing to her advantage.