This and That .... {Sept-Nov}

Bailee started the first of many desk shifts as an RA

These started showing up on the counter every morning

Emm's things to remember

We had a new set of wheels for a month ... while our hail damage finally got repaired

Had a few successful pumpkin and veggie sales

 Sold our furniture much faster than we expected and so our house looked like this for a couple of weeks

 Snuck over to Laramie for family weekend and took a nice hike with our girl

The year is looking good on her! 

 Kars got into the spirit with 80's day at school

 Emm had her first Orchestra concert. 

They showed off some of the things they have learned in 6 short weeks.

 I attempted freezer salsa with our final garden harvest ... it turned out pretty good.

 Had a surprise visit with Bay when she and her friends made a trip to Costco and Walmart. We thought a quick hug/hand-off in the parking lot was all we were going to get .....

 They decided to stop by the house after all and have chili with us. These girls are all so cute!

Kelsey, Daphny, Bay, Emm, Kars

 Kars went to Denver with friends for Fright Fest at Elitches. Mark and I were not on the same page with this one. Ultimately, one of the parents went along which was the only reason I agreed to it. It was so so hard for me to let her go. I trust her ... just not everyone else out there:/ 

They had a great time by the way and made it home safe and sound.

Taeson, Lu, Kennedy, Morgan

Our weather went from this one Sunday morning ....

 ... to this by noon that same day!

 We anxiously welcomed Mark home after two long weeks in West Virginia for NCLI. 

 I am trying to get him to write a little about it. ... we'll see.

 Emmrey attended her first MIDDLE. SCHOOL. DANCE ....Yikes!! She had fun, but had to tell a cute little guy that her mom wouldn't let her go to the dance with a boy ... just with friends {sweet, but.. she's only 12}

 She and her friend Jacque volunteered with me at the Eyestone Fall Festival

 When Mark got home we went right to work on building a new kitchen table and bench.

There was another round of cupcake baking & decorating.

Mark and I took a date over to Laramie to be with this girl who was having a rough week and needed some extra love. Even though she insisted she was fine ... I really needed to hug her💗 

We voted ..... all three adults at our house:)

This beauty got finished and immediately became an invitation for puzzles. She was an absolute beast to get inside. Didn't intend to go for too much of a weathered look, but we bumped her up pretty good.

We made someone pretty happy when we delivered our annual newsletter.... just look at that smile:) 

It was close, but I think we are off  the "list" {at least for that;}

:)

Favorite Things and the rest of our Utah visit

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we had our 2nd annual Favorite Things luncheon. 

I forgot to get a picture of all the favorites, but it's fun to see what the girls are loving and even more fun to go home with a handful of new things to try. It was a pretty perfect afternoon for me. Love spending time with my mom and sisters (and niece;). I wish Leslie and Kristin would have been able to make it. 

After a few hours of eating, talking and gift exchanging,  Shana and I took my mom to the Chocolate Covered Wagon while everyone else headed home. It was actually not too bad around Gardner Village. The skies were clear ... cold but clear. Not too crazy with shoppers, considering it was Small Business Saturday. I loved pushing my momma around and wish she wouldn't feel like she is a nuisance or in any ones way.... because she's not. This was our attempt at getting a selfie as we strolled .... funny girls!

While I was enjoying time with the girls, Mark took our girls to do a little shopping and visit his parents for a while. Later that evening, Jami, Kole and Hazen came by to hang out with us.

Shana had also stayed around and we watched/listened to the BYU/UTAH game. It was a heart breaker {for many in that house}.

Sunday morning we headed for home filled with more memories to carry us through until the next time. We got an early start. The interstate had been closed due to a snowstorm, but we had clear roads through Rock Springs. 

 It changed quickly between there and Rawlins.  The roads were pretty bad, but we were a little confused why traffic was so backed up. We were nearly at a standstill for quite some time. 

 Still not sure what exactly happened here, whether it was wind or slick roads, but this was one of 4 we encountered on this stretch of I-80

 It went from bad to worse!  The photos are deceiving. Blowing snow and really slick roads had traffic in both directions moving at 15-20 mph. Scary stuff! We have made hundreds of trips back and forth on this road over the years and aside from the time it closed and we had to stay in Rock Springs, this was the worst. We had some bad luck both coming and going on this visit. 

a little lunch outing

Since we didn't get to see any of the Smith's for Thanksgiving. I thought it would be nice to have lunch with some of them. We made arrangements for Friday afternoon at Blaze Pizza. 

We picked up Mark's parents and met Kevin & Migdalia's family there. Brandon even made it and we were able to meet Amy who seems like a super nice girl.

 The pizza was good but wasn't much to rave about. I've had better wood fired made to order pizza. The company on the other hand ..... love when we can get these girls together!

Park City Thanksgiving 2018

Thanksgiving this year was a rarity. My parents were able to swing getting the condo at Park City and it also happened to be a year we were in Utah for Thanksgiving ... the last time things lined up this way was 2012. Before we left Wednesday my two pie helpers got busy making Reese's and Apple pie.

We decided that since we would be in Park City on Thursday it made more sense to stay overnight there as opposed to driving through Wednesday and going back up the next day. It turned out to be a great decision in so many ways. We were literally stopped on the interstate for 2 hours due to a semi filled with canned food that had caught on fire. We didn't know what was going on until we got close enough to see it. We were stuck! No way to exit or go around. Just sit side by side, bumper to bumper with our fellow holiday travelers. Good thing we had a full tank. When we finally hit Park City I think we were all thrilled it was our stopping point.  None of us felt like going out. We picked up pizza, swam and relaxed at the hotel until morning. 

We headed to the condo early to help my parents before the rest of the family showed up. It turned from rainy to snowy within a few hours. Fortunately everyone made it safely up the canyon. Jill's family had other plans and Sean wasn't in town, but otherwise the whole gang was there. 

I did a terrible job with photos ... sorry Jenn;) 

We were all kinda spread out between two rooms ....

Sometimes it's hard to get a chance to chat with everyone... which is a bummer. 

But I love catching up with those I can.

It's can also be difficult to get decent photos .... not everyone loves to cooperate;)

So again ... sometimes I take what I can get!

Eventually we were spread between two condos. My parents unit had some plumbing issues and so they gave us access to the one across the hall, which they would move into after our gathering.

The second unit turned into game watching territory.

Jami and I showed up in almost identical sweaters ....

And then I noticed some more twinning going on ....

I got a little busy trying to chat with my siblings and failed to get some better pictures outdoors in the snowy scene. I am SO HAPPY these two beauties took it upon themselves to sneak out and get this one💗

Meanwhile, Emm was in the pool for hours. 

It was a lovely way to spend Thanksgiving. So so grateful we had this special time together.