Happy 2015

This New Years was the first that Josh and I spent at home. Up until this year we had always been out of town visiting family so we had a much more low key holiday. We missed being with other relatives but look forward to our next trips out to see everyone!

The highlight was going to see the Lemurs movie at the planetarium. We had been talking about going since I think October and we finally did it! We have thought lemurs are pretty cool ever since "meeting" a bunch of lemurs several years ago at an exhibit at the State Fair. We definitely have a penchant for exotic animals :)

Last year when we were down South for the holiday we got to enjoy the traditional New Years dinners of various relatives so I had fun trying to recreate one of the main dishes we had. I had to make some black-eyed peas for good luck too :) It was so yummy and I'm kinda craving it again as I type this. Hmmm.

Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas season and enjoyed the opportunity it gave us to spend time with family. We stayed overnight at the parents so we spent Christmas Eve and morning with them and then we all gathered at my brother's to enjoy the rest of Christmas day. We had a lot of delicious food and excess amounts of dessert :) and reveled in hugs and fun! And after having absolutely no snow it turned out to be a beautiful white Christmas - a rare event for Josh!

My Dad has always been a really good gift giver and this year was no exception. He got us the complete set of Beatrix Potter books and he looked for a set that was as close to her original versions (size, etc.) as possible. It was an awesome surprise! And coincidentally we also got a set of homemade bookends from our siblings so it was the perfect match!

Earlier in the month we went to Josh's work party and enjoyed walking through all of the festive displays at the Grand America Hotel. I had no idea it was so decked out inside for Christmas. We really need to remember that for next Christmas!

 

Every year all of us girls go to the Nutcracker ballet while the boys do something manly together. The little girls always get a new Christmas dress to wear for the occasion and Grandma really outdid herself this year - they were gorgeous.  



Also earlier in the month I took a day off of work so that Mom and I could do some holiday baking. We made 7 batches of cookies/desserts and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Some of the things we made were recipes of my great grandmother's so that is always a nostalgic experience. I literally didn't have enough Tupperware to store it all in so we had to be creative in order for Mom to transport her share home :)

Thanksgiving

November was a big month for us as we finally completed a major goal, and right before the holiday. So we were very thankful this holiday because we had finally made it through the adoption approval process! Hooray! A big goal that had taken a lot of effort to come to fruition!

We had a different sort of Thanksgiving this year and it was fabulous! Because the poor newlyweds were having trauma over how to celebrate with both of their families we ended up having one gigantic Thanksgiving dinner with all of us and their in-laws! Jimmy's family hosted and we had TONS of food and a really really great time.

And Josh needed a St. George fix so the next day we headed south and spent a few days in one of our favorite places :) We went to the St. George LDS Temple and got some serious exercise in Snow Canyon.

 

I love going to Snow Canyon - it is easy to get to and is beautiful and we have really enjoyed the time we have spent there the last couple trips down.

Randomness

The logical side of my brain would like this blog to be in chronological order but I'm trying my best to ignore that side and just focus on the fact that considering how hard it has been to get in some sort of "habit" of blogging I should just be happy for whatever actually gets put on this site and call it good! So....here is a bit of randomness from this fall....

I realized I never documented our last birthday date of the year. Probably because it was a photo fail unfortunately. I need to be better at snapping a few pics! But we had the girls over for the weekend and the highlights were getting to see the new American Girl movie Isabelle and Sophia Grace and Rosie's Royal Adventure. We had never heard of S G & R before so it was a new experience. I think it was the only time in his life that Josh was glad he had finals to study for and could use it as an excuse to get out of watching! I got to experience both of the movies multiple times during the weekend though. And our ward did a clothing swap that weekend so I took the girls to see what we could find and I scored some amazing things for them! They went home with a huge bag of clothes and were all decked out in new jewelry so all in all it was another successful birthday date! I did snap one pic at the clothing swap so I guess one is better than none!

I left work early one day after one of my deadlines that required some long hours and we went out and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. We went to a little museum, got some dinner, and went for a walk to feed the ducks. The weather was perfect and it was a good way to wind down from the stress.

Another week we went to the Zoo and again the weather was awesome!

Josh doesn't like snakes....

And we had a double-date with the newlyweds :)

Not a ton of randomness I guess. Maybe my brain can handle it after all :)

Mr. Beaver and company

We are within walking distance to a fantastic trail and we walk there as often as we can, time and weather permitting. This spring we spotted a beaver living along the river and we have been spotting him off and on ever since. We got our first picture of him in May.

 

We also saw a raccoon that same day (jackpot!). This fall we discovered there are actually two raccoons living there. They were in the bushes on one side of the path and luckily we saw them in time to stop. They checked us out for a while and then figured they were safe and went sauntering across the trail to the other side and slowly up a hill. It was awesome to watch them! They are so cute even if they are mischievous! Every walk we go on we try to spot Mr. Beaver and a lot of the times we don't see him but the times that we do are exciting. Josh got a shot of Mr. Beaver in the water in September.

Then in October we got the coolest surprise when we discovered Mr. Beaver was starting to prepare for the winter.

We have been documenting his progress ever since. It has been so much fun and we have even braved the recent frigid weather to go check out his progress because we just gotta know how he is getting along!

We have gotten so much enjoyment out of watching Mr. Beaver this summer and especially watching his work the last couple months. What an amazing thing to watch unfold, in the midst of the big city we live in! The simple pleasures of life are awesome - going on walks together and seeing what we can discover in our own "backyard"!

Sail Away

We love having new adventures together and so for Josh's birthday I booked a two-hour sailing excursion. It was a brilliant idea and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! I've always wondered exactly how you could maneuver in different directions using only the wind and so it was an extremely fascinating learning experience. I think we are kind of hooked on sailing actually! We've been looking at boats in the classifieds ever since so I think we have a new goal to add to our someday life list!

 

Opa!

The same day that we went sailing we also had gone to the Greek Fest so it had been a really fun day. I love going to the Greek Fest! I love eating Greek food! ;) I think Josh is even starting to get used to the food I make him try there ha ha! We got to enjoy the outing with the parents and with our good friend. Opa!