Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving this year was pretty quiet at our house. Brinlee and Kyle were having Thanksgiving at Kyle's families house, so it was just my parents and us. But we still have a lot of fun. We came over Wednesday night to help my mom make all the pies for Thanksgiving. It's something my mom and I do every year. We always make four pumpkin pies, one cherry and one pecan pie. My sister's birthday was also Wednesday night, so before we started making pies my whole family met for dinner at Samurai 21. I got steak and chicken, and Adam ate sushi. Gross. We had a lot of fun, and I hope my sister had a great birthday. When we got back around 9 p.m. we started making pies. It was about midnight when we put the pecan pie in the oven. I was just sitting at the counter mixing the pumpkin pie filling when I noticed that the oven was smoking, a lot. At first I just thought it was normal, but then it started getting worse and the whole kitchen was starting to fill up with smoke. I ran as fast as I could into my mom's room, and told her that there was a fire in her oven. We were both cracking up when we opened the oven, and there really was a little a\ fire inside the oven. The corn syrup was oozing out of the pie, and it caught it on fire. My mom grabbed the tin foil that was on fire, and shook it out. We were both laughing so hard, and we were surprised that the fire alarm didn't go off. We finally finished making pies at 2 o'clock in the morning, and it was time for bed.

                                                            Mixing up the pumpkin pie filling!

My mom and I being goofy in the kitchen

 

I cuddled on the couch with my mom's cute kitty for a while. Adam was playing on his phone, as usual. The next morning we got up early, and helped finish making Thanksgiving dinner. We ate with my family about 1 o'clock, and then quickly drove up to Pine Valley to eat with Adam's family. It's funny how much different our houses are at Thanksgiving. At the Herpel's house there are a lot of people, and it's also a lot of fun. It's so much fun when everyone gets together, and everyone is in such a happy mood. Before we ate dinner at the Herpel's, everyone went around and said what they were thankful for. I was crying like a baby ( I think I got my mom's crying gene. I swear we both cry at everything.) I'm so grateful, and I've been so blessed. We had a lot of fun with our families this Thanksgiving, and we can't wait to do it next year. It was so good to chat with Adam's cousin Tiffani, and her husband Joe.

After hanging out for a while, Adam and I decided to go to Black Friday. First, we went to Best Buy because they had a good deal on a TV, but the line wrapped around the whole building, and they only had like ten TV's. There was no way we were going to get one. So we went over to Wal-mart just to look around. The people at Wal-mart are seriously crazy, and there wasn't even anything we wanted. Next, we went over to Target. The line was all the way down to Lowe's, but we really wanted to get a Kindle for Adam's mom. We got in line at 9 o'clock. They weren't even opening the doors until midnight, and it was freezing outside. We finally got in Target at 12:30, and we hurried and grabbed the Kindle and a TV that we really didn't need. While we were waiting in line, I decided that we didn't need a TV right now, and so we abandoned it in an isle. The line was ridiculous. We started in the pet isles of Target, and we had to weave through every single isle. The fun part, was as we were walking through the isle there was stuff between the Frosted Flakes and Lucky charms, that we kinda wanted. We picked up five movies just walking through the food isle. We finally got out of Target at 2:30! We drove over to the bank to withdraw some money and then we took a two hour nap in the parking lot of Lowe's. At 4:30, we got out of the car and went to stand in line at Lowe's. We really really wanted to buy this fridge, but when the doors opened and we went to find our fridge they were out of stock. Luckily, the guy said we could still buy it, and it would be delivered to us when it came into the store. Finally, at six a.m. it was time to go to bed. We only got about two hours of sleep before it was time to go to work, and work an eight hour shift. Black Friday is so worth it, but at the moment it's so not that fun.

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so grateful for all my friends and family, and we love them very much!

November 2011

This month has been pretty stressful, but we've done some fun stuff along the way. The first weekend of Novemeber my sister came to sleepover, and then the next morning she drove us to Vegas to stay with her. We met my parents at Sam's club, and we spent two hours in there walking around. When we finally got and were checking out my dad came over with a tequllia shot gun! It was huge, and full of tequilla! We didn't get it, and I still don't. I feel bad for my mom, I'm sure it will end up as some kind of home decor. We all laughed a lot, though. After that we stopped at Wal-mart for some baking supplies. When we got back to my sister's house I started making oreo truffles, and the biggest batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies you'll ever see! There was so many! It was fun to bake with my mom and sister, though. Around 6 p.m. we finally agreed on somewhere to eat and we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. We met Devon and Vanessa and Robyn there and we had fun. After dinner we went to the comedy club across the street from the Bellagio and watched some comedies. They were pretty funny, and we all laughed when one of them made fun of Devon. After that we went bowling at one of the hotels. Devon beat everyone by like one-hundred points! I was so tired after that, so we went home and went to bed. The next morning my parents were going to the races, so we all got up early and ate breakfast at The Cracked Egg. It's my most favorite. After breakfast we took a nap, and then got ready for church. We just went to my sister's sacrament. At home we took the longest nap ever! I think we were all so tired. In the afternoon, we packed up our stuff and my sister drove us back home! It was way fun. I'm happy that I got to spend some time with my sister.

On November 19, my mom picked me up from work, and we drove over to Adam's sisters baby shower. Sarah's having a little baby boy, and I'm so excited for her. It could be any day now! Her shower was really fun, and it was good to spend time with the girls in his family. We played games and ate cake and veggie pizza! We all laughed when we played the game about NOT saying the word cute. It was so hard for all of us NOT to say cute while she was opening up gifts with little tiny baby shoes, and cute clothes. After the shower my mom and I met Adam at the movie theatre. He bought my mom and I tickets to Breaking Dawn, and he even agreed to see it with us! I was so excited, and I have the best husband ever. The movie was good, and it was fun to see it with my mom. Thursday is Thanksgiving already! I can't believe how fast time is going by. I wish it would just slow down a little bit.

We are still trying to close on our house, but I think it will happen in the next few weeks. It's been a huge headache, and we can't wait until it's over. I'll write down all the details when it's over, and we move into our new house!

October 2011

October went by so fast! We were busy like EVERDAY! First, we celebrated my mom's birthday on the 9th! I made her some orange cookies for her birthday, and we just spent the day at my parents house relaxing and celebrating. I hope my mom knows how much I love her, and how awesome she is. The next weekend my sister, Kimber, my mom and me went to Kneader's for dinner and then went to see Little Mermaid at Tuachan. It was so cute. My sister bought us tickets, and we had so much fun! Thanks, Brin! On that Monday I went to see Little Mermaid, again. Adam and I, and some of his co-workers this time. It was way fun to see it with my husband, but I'm all mermaided out for a while. Also, in October I dropped out of Geology, because I just don't understand rocks. I didn't know they were so complicated. So I'll give geography a shot next semester. On October 31st I started counting down the days until I see my best friend, Sista Krista! I've been writing her every week since April. I miss her so much, but only less than a year now! Also, it was Halloween. Eh. I kinda hate Halloween. I'm a scaredy cat, way bad. But, after work my sister and my mom came over to my house and we all got our costumes on! Kimber was the cutest little kitty cat. And my sister looked way hot in her purple wig, and pink make up! And Adam and I dressed from the 50's. We went to see Thriller on Halloween at Tuachan. I'm a Thriller freak, I've been like five years in a row now. But I just love it, and it's the only scary I can take. We went with Adam's coworkers and we all had a lot of fun! I'm just glad October is over! YAY. I can watch normal tv again.

September 2011

In September, Adam and I took our last camping trip for the year. We went up to our usual spot on Cedar Mountain on Saturday afternoon over Labor Day weekend. My parents were already up there, so while my dad cooked dinner we set up our tent. We had a really good time, and the weather was so nice the whole weekend.  We went on long four-wheelers ride with my parents, played cards, and walked The Hangover in our tent every night before bed. I love camping so much! And I kinda can't wait until Memorial Day when we get to do it again! I didn't take any pictures, and I'm really mad at myself for not. I'm trying to get better at this.

Anyway.

On September 30, I turned 23! I seriously don't feel like this is possible. I still feel like I should be 17. I'm still trying to get used to saying, I'm 23. I always laughed at people who said, " I still feel like I'm 26, instead of 34." But I totally get it now. So, I had the best birthday ever. They just keep getting better. I love birthdays so much. The morning I woke up on my birthday, Adam had to go to work for a while. I just did some laundry and got to watch my favorite show. (Except Raegan was leaving Good Things Utah, on my birthday, so I was kinda sad.) After that, I went and got a peach cobbler cupcake for breakfast, and met my mom at the nail salon and we got pedicures. It was so nice. Then I finished getting ready at home. When Adam got home we met everyone at Kneader's! It's my new favorite place to eat. I crave it ALL THE TIME. We had a lot of fun, and Adam got me a cute card and made me wear a Princess crown. I'm glad the Herpel's came and celebrated my birthday, along with my parents. I have the best family. EVER.

 My dad and I at Kneader's. He even liked it. Me and my dad are both born on the very last days of our months. I think that's kinda cool. And my dad is the awesomest. I love him way much.

                                                                         The Herpel's

 After leaving Kneader's we drove down to Las Vegas! We picked up my sister, Kimber and Kyle and went to Cheesecake Factory for cake! But before we left I got to see my sister's new house! It's so cute, and she has decorated so cute! I love it! Blowin' out my candles on my keylime cheesecake birthday cake! Woo

Devon and Vanessa came with us and we all had lots of fun! We watched the fishes in Caesar's Palace and Kimber was so amazed. I just love her. Then we walked over to the Bellagio to watch the water show! The next day we went SHOPPING! My most favorite hobby. We went to Town Square and ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Then went to GAP and Banana Republic. It's amazing how much money I can spend just in those two stores. I got a lot of good stuff. We went home and my dad was watching some creepy movie, so me and my mom just played on Pinterest, and ate some Taco Bell. We almost peed our pants laughing. The next morning we got up and went to the mall, again. We went to Dillards, and GAP, again. I can't go somewhere that has a GAP and no go inside. We ate some corn dogs, and went home. That night my Uncle Darrin came over, and my mom, me and my sister all made a yummy dinner. It was so much fun! Then we had to go home. It was so much fun to have all the girls in the kitchen, and I'm glad my sister let us come play at her house! We hope we can do it again soon!

And I just need to say that I have such an awesome husband. He treats me like a princess, and I love him so very much. He makes my birthday so much fun. And he even puts me up with ALL month long when I use the excuse, "But it's my birthday month." Anytime I want something. He's the best, and I am spoiled.

The end of Summer

Summer is ending, and school is starting. Since we only have a swamp cooler, and it's extremely hot in our house, I thought I was excited for fall and winter to get here. But, yesterday I saw a tv commercial about summer. Everyone was playing in the water, hanging out on the beach around a camp fire, it was hot, and everyone just looked so free. It kinda made me sad that summer is already over, and we have to go back to school. Then I thought of all the fun things that were coming up in fall and winter, and I felt better.

This summer has been so good though, we've got to do so many fun things, and we have had so many fun adventures.

• We got to go on a cruise. First one for both of us. It was so relaxing, and the perfect vacation. We can't wait to go on another one.
• Celebrated our first anniversary.
• We went on several camping trips to escape the heat.
• We went swimming a few times.
• Celebrated Adam's 25th birthday.
• Had a slumber party with Adam's little brothers.
• Said goodbye to Spencer and Mckay for a whole two years while they serve their missions in Mexico.
• We have sent so many letters to the MTC and to Brazil.
• Went to the Washington County Fair.
• Adam has gotten some tomatoes off his tomato plants.
• And we started school.

     This summer has been busy, and at times I felt like I was in school with the amount of stress I was dealing with at certain times. I took summer semester off, and by the end of summer I was starting to get bored. That has given me motivation to try really hard this sememester. Also, I only have two more semesters of school. It's about time, right? But I'm way excited. Adam and I are both taking CIS, and I'm taking geology. I think it's going to be a fun semester.

    The Washington County Fair was really fun. My parents invited us to the Demolitian Derby. It was hilarious. My mom and I were screaming, and laughing so hard. We also ate some fair food, and I tasted fried oreos for the first time. They were delicious. We were going to ride some rides, but I didn't  want to wait in line. We also watched a good firework show after the Demolitian Derby. I'm so happy that my parents invited us, we love them.

At the beginning on the summer Adam and I decided that we might want to start looking at houses to buy. It sounded kinda crazy at first, but it turned out to be a good idea. Adam's mom and grandpa have helped us so much. They have given us so much advice, and have come with us whenever we wanted to go look at a house. We looked at a few that were good, but a little bit beat up. Why do people think it's okay to just move and leave the things they don't want anymore just lying in the room. And some people just left and didn't clean anything. It's really gross. My mom mentioned to me that her visiting teacher's house was for sell, but I told her that it was probably way out of our price range. Later that day my mom and I were looking at the MLS, when we noticed her neighbors house on the list, and it was within our price range! I almost peed my pants with excitement. It was at the top of our price range, but we could do it. We looked at the house, and I fell in love. We now have an offer on it, and we are waiting to hear what happens next. I feel like that house is just for us, it's been on the MLS for such a long time, and it's so close to my mom. We're just praying that everything works out.

No Shoes, No shirt, No problems!

 That is one of my favorite Kenny Chesney songs. Everytime I hear it on the radio, the first tropical notes, I turn it up. Really loud. Thanks to my mom, we got to see Kenny live, in real life. I've seen him before, but it was in Canada. And we were up so high I probably could have touched the ceiling. Anyways, it was so much fun, and I love the way Kenny's music makes you feel. His lyrics are really so good.  No matter what he's singing about.

The night before the concert my sister came and stayed with us over night. The next morning we all get up, crammed into the car and started the drive to Salt Lake. I sat up front with my sister while she drove. It was fun to just have a conversation with her. The ride didn't even feel like very long, cause me and my sister were talking so much. I'm so grateful for my sister and Kyle for letting us ride with them. Thanks, guys!

When we got to the hotel we where going to be staying at, we unpacked our things and went up to my mom's room. Adam and I were going to be sharing a room with my mom, dad and Aunt Sharee. It was going to be the party room, for sure. We all hurried and got ready, and went to dinner at Subway across the street. Then we headed to Usana Ampitheatre. I've never been to a concert there, but it was really nice.

My mom had seats on the front row. She got to touch Kenny, and I'm pretty sure she was drooling over him the whole time. Our seats were on the grass back a little further. The weather was kinda nice. It was a little windy, and almost raining. But it wasn't very hot, which was a nice change from the hot/humid weather in St. George. We had fun taking pictures, and eating cotton candy while we waited for the concert to start.

When the concert started Billy Currington opened the show. He is so great. I saw him in St. George in the Sun Bowl when he was just starting out. That concert was fun, and he was just as fun this time around. Oh, that's him, on the far right. I zoomed in so much that everything was blurry, so I just took the picture. And I got him!

 

After Billy Currington, it was Kenny's turn! Kenny somehow makes you feel like we're all friends, here to have a good time. And besides some wannabe, rude cowboys, we had so much fun! We danced, and sang to all of Kenny's best songs. At first I was worried because when Kenny left the stage, he hadn't sung Adam's favorite song, Boys Of Fall. I wanted him to sing it so bad, cause I knew that it was Adam's favorite. Well, Kenny came back out and sang his song. Adam was so happy. Also, somethin' kinda funny. I took this picture of Kenny, and if you look REALLY close you can see some big hair and a orange shirt. Yeah, that's my mom, all the way on the front row.

After the concert, we crammed back into the car and went back to our hotel. We got home around midnight, and we were starvin'. My mom, me and Aunt Sharee went down to the little store for a treat, but we decided to call for pizza instead. They delivered our pizza at like 2 p.m. almost. It was delicous. And we all stayed up talking and hanging out together. The next morning, my dad woke us up WAY to early and we all got ready. My mom, Aunt Sharee, Adam and I went down to eat breakfast. I love free hotel breakfasts, not because it's free. But because I love the little cereals and bagels, and it's just fun to eat somewhere that your staying. Anyways, after breakfast we got in the car and my dad drove us all over the whole world. That's what it felt like, but we really just went up to Snowbird ski resort. I loved it up there. I wanna go snowboarding there so bad! And I also found my future neighborhood. I also couldn't believe there was still snow up there in July. What the?

 

After coming back from Snowbird, we stopped at In-N-Out for lunch. I was sad because the Sweet Tooth Fairy across the street was closed. We got back in the car, and drove all the way to Neiphi and through Manti/Ephraim. That is like a two hour detour. After that we turned off onto some mystery road, and magically appeared on top of Cedar mountain at my dad's campsite. We dropped him off and picked up my mom's Honda. Adam and I drove home with my mom and Aunt Sharee and they dropped us off at like 9 p.m. We were pretty happy to be home.

But even though it was a very long car ride, we got to see some really pretty scenery, and hang out with my mom and dad and Aunt Sharee. Thank you, mom for letting us tag along on the Annual Sisters and Kenny Tour. We love ya!

Red, White and Blue

I love the 4th of July. It's one of my favorite holidays. Ever since I can remember our family has gone camping on the 4th of July. This year we went camping on Cedar Mountain. We left on Saturday after Adam got off work. The drive up there is one of my favorites. The trees, mountains and fresh air are so great! When we got there around 6 p.m. my parents were still gone on there 9 hour four wheeler ride. My Aunt Kathy and Unc were so nice. They let us eat chicken and delicious dutch oven potatoes with them. Camping food is so good. My parents finally showed up, and me and Adam set up our tent. We hung out with the Raymer's for a while, and then we went in our trailor and made sandwhiches and talked about aliens. Around 10 p.m we went to sleep. Our air mattress is awesome, and we were so warm in our cozy sleeping bags. In the morning my dad made breakfast, and then we all headed out on the four wheelers. It was so much fun. We drove over to Strawberry point, and besides all the dust, and it being a million degrees outside, we had a blast! When we got back my mom and I took a nap on the hammocks, and Unc poured water on my mom's head, and she blamed my dad for it. We all laughed really hard because she amost fell off the hammock. My sister, Kimber and Kyle showed up a little bit later and we all played outside. Kimber is so funny. She was picking up leaves and telling me to eat them. When I put them into my mouth she was say, "Ewww, bug poop." I couldn't stop laughing. She also kept saying, "I love Justin Bieber." She is the cutest thing ever. We ate hamburgers for dinner, and then roasted smores by the fire. Everyone went inside, except my dad and Adam. They talked by the fire for like almost two hours! They were talking about aliens the whole time, of course. In the morning we all got in the truck and drove over the Cascade Falls. We hiked the short hike to the waterfall. It was really beautiful, and a nice hike. At the bottom of Navajo lake there is lava rocks, and the water runs through the lava rocks and down through a tunnel and comes out the side of the mountain. It was really cool to see, and it was such a nice hike. When we came back from the hike, we cooked breakfast, and Adam and my dad went shooting. When they got back we headed home, so that we could make it to the fireworks in St. George. We got a Black Rasberry shake at Iceberg, and went to the park. We sat by Kyle, Brinlee and Kimber. We blew bubbles and chased Kimber around. My mom showed up and brought some KFC, and we enjoyed chicken and mashed potatoes on the grass. We all laid down, and I cuddled with Adam while we watched the fireworks. We had such a good weekend, and we are so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country.