Holiday Happenings

We have been so busy with all of our different holiday celebrations going on.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we went to Corner Canyon High School and saw their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  As we were walking into the school, we met one of the members of the cast.  He was gracious enough to pause for a picture.  It was a wonderful show and Owen and Beck have been singing, "Go, Go, Go Joseph" ever since.

Jon and Heather came in to town for Thanksgiving and we celebrated by going to see Santa.  We had to take our customary picture with Tripp being mad near Santa. 

He improved when he was able to get off Santa's lap.  Oaklee, on the other hand, was not so happy.

Grandma paid for everyone to take a ride on the carousel.

Oaklee and Dustin bonded while the other kids rode.

Caron and Heather taking a break.

The weather was so beautiful that we had to stop at the park.  I wish it would just snow already!

Thanksgiving was fun.  We also celebrated Dave's 40th birthday.  How in the world do I have a brother who is 40?!?!?!  I guess it's because I'm almost 37.  *sigh*

The boys and I went to the Festival of Trees.

Their favorite trees were all of the many superhero trees.

Gingerbread houses!

Looking good Beck!

Even Mal joined the fun!

We're getting excited for Christmas! 

Catching Up

I need to go back and catch up on lots of pics over the past few months.

Beck got hurt in PE and had to go to the InstaCare.  We were worried his wrist was broken but it turned out to just be a sprain.  He had to wear that cool brace for the whole weekend!

Beck was involved in a fun project called Creative Pursuits where he worked with a team to create a brand new board game.  They made their game all about gems and minerals.  They had to create a commercial selling the game, and this was Beck's costume for the skit.

We went up the canyon to see the leaves; however, we found snow.  The leaves were still beautiful!

We went up early to a party at Dustin's house and went on a hike.

Dustin's cute family.

Of course the boys found sticks and a river.

We went down to Moab over UEA to see Jon, Heather, and Tripp.  Owen fell in love with their cats.  I may have to bite the bullet and buy one eventually....

We found Owen on the toilet playing Tripp's LeapPad.  He had been in there for 25 minutes!

Owen and Tripp riding in Tripp's 4-wheeler.  Tripp looks a little nervous at Owen's crazy driving...

Beck loves Manny.

Cute cousins playing baseball.

Jon giving Owen a shower.

Nerd day at school.  

How grateful I am for these nerds!

You may have noticed that Scott is not in any of these pictures.  Just a quick update: In September, he left me for a woman that he works with.  He has moved in with her and we are all peacefully working towards a new definition of family.  Carry on!

Oh! And there are only 21 days until Christmas!!!!

Halloween

The boys had a great Halloween.  

We went and saw the witches at Gardner Village.

This is definitely one of our favorite Halloween traditions.  Last year, we had to wear our heavy coats, gloves, and hats and still had to warm up with hot chocolate.  This year, we were in shorts and T-shirts and were still a little sweaty, 

Beck was Pikachu.

Owen was Leonardo (a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle)

We went over to Grandma's house for soup pre-trick-or-treating.

All the crazy costumes.

Then we went trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.  There were so many kids, the boys had so much fun, and we are so excited for all the new kids we still have to meet. 

Beck Has Hit Double Digits!

Beck is finally 10!

We started the celebration last week with a family picnic at the park where we also celebrated Caron's birthday.

For Beck's birthday, we started out the morning with crepes and presents.  He got a new DS

and a new bow and arrow set.

We took the boys to see Maleficent in the afternoon.

And we finished off the day with dinner at Tsunami with the Hansons.

Beck and Scott shared a huge plate of nigiri

Owen and I shared some gyoza

Owen shared some snuggles with Grandma Wendy.

It was a great birthday.  Beck is officially a decade old.

Here's to the next decade.....May it be great!

A Quick Update

Lots of changes going on right now in my life:

Change #1:  We moved into the new house.  We love it!  I am almost completely unpacked and now I am trying to organize everything so it operates at the highest level of efficiency.  We love the big yard and have some big plans for some big projects in the spring that will create some usable outdoor space  and we also love the quiet street (but it's really dark at night - I'm used to my streetlight nightlight).  We have some really nice neighbors and we can definitely see ourselves being here for a good long time.

Change #2:  My job status - I attempted to work in an office.....I didn't make it past lunch on the first day.  I could tell immediately that it was not a good fit (I felt like this was a job that would slowly crush my soul) and I decided not to waste their time any more than I already had.  

The good news is that a week later, out of the blue, I was offered a job that was tailor made for me.  I am now a music teacher in an elementary school in Murray.  I teach all grades K-6.  I have complete autonomy and I get to create my own curriculum.  I have a creative outlet, freedom from micromanaging, and I only work 16 hours a week.  I love it!  It's a challenge but it's also really fun.

So, despite my original assertions, change can be good.

Vegas Baby!

With the start of school and the stress of summer ending, we decided we all needed to relax on a Girls Trip to Vegas.  What's the first thing a bunch of moms are going to do on a weekend to themselves?  Read in the pool of course!

Floating in the lazy river.

Just relaxing and soaking up the sun.

Getting all dolled up for a night on the strip.

At the House of Blues.

Have mercy!

So fun!

We found Carlos Bakery.  I ordered a brownie with walnuts that was heavenly!

Our last night there, we went to Capo's which is a 1920's themed speakeasy.  We had to give the secret password and go through a secret door in order to get in.

Heather being serenaded by the lounge singer.

Our very own magic show.

All in all, it was a perfect weekend and now I'm ready to face reality again.