Thanksgiving Break Festivities

Thanksgiving break this year was pretty eventful for us, mostly because the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving were mine and Travis' birthdays. The festivities started with a night out to dinner and a movie with the Smiths', Richins', and Tim. We went to Claim Jumper since we had a gift card, compliments of one of Travis' classmates, Nora, given to Travis for changing her breaks. Dinner was delicious and it was so nice sitting down and chatting at a nice place with yummy food. Then we headed over to GVR movie theater to see "4 Christmases" with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vahn. It was hilarious!! I haven't laughed a movie so much in so long!

Next came Thanksgiving Day. We enjoyed sleeping in and then while Travis was studying, I baked 4 pies-2 Pecan, Apple, and Banana Cream- and made a new side dish to try-Sweet Potato Pie. All were delicious and they took up my whole day until it was time to head over to Travis' parents for Thanksgiving. Although I was cooking most of the day, I didn't mind too much because I got to be at home all day! I also was Travis' practice patient, so in between pies I had my ears and eyes examined many times. I won't get into the details about the ear exam, but let's just say we found some pretty nasty stuff!

Turkey dinner was spent with Travis' parents, the Culvers', and the missionaries. We had all the traditional yummy dishes with even a fresh Turkey! The 3 dogs and cat were great entertainment and we just enjoyed one an others' company. The Elders also shared a great message about being thankful. Travis, Lily, and I ended up falling asleep on the couch and finally headed home around 1am.

For the first time that I can remember I went Christmas shopping on Black Friday. Usually we're on vacation somewhere or have some sort of activity planned for Friday (hunting) and don't end up going. But ya know what, it wasn't that bad! And actually the sales really were worth it. I got my shopping done for just about everyone I had left, and bought a thing or two for myself. :) The rest of the day I spent at home decorating the house with all of our Christmas decor. Can I just say, I LOVE decorating for the holidays! Lily found a new toy, our Christmas Mickey Mouse, and definitely had fun getting into things as I was putting everything out.


Saturday was my birthday-the big 27. It was a wonderful day-we had brunch at our house with Travis' parents. Travis made the omelets, and Linda brought orange juilus' and scones. They all were so generous in their gift giving so I just had to take a picture of my collection. Travis got me the jacket, crocs, and I bought myself the running shoes the day before so that counted too. I absolutely love the wall art from Sportsmans Warehouse! My mom got me a gift card to Kohls and mom#2 got me one to Aeropostale. The rest of the day was filled with more Christmas decorating, this time on the outside, and chit chatting with family and friends. Then Travis and I went to Aeropostale were I got 2 pants, 2 shirts, 1 sweater, and he got 2 shirts as well. They were having an awesome sale and I just had a blast trying everything on and having my own little shopping spree. Afterwards we had dinner at Elephant Bar, which was a nice break for the both of us from Travis having to study so much. Overall, it was a very nice, relaxing birthday.


Sunday was Travis' birthday. He wasn't too excited about celebrating his birthday this year, and I don't blame him. I'm not going to be all that thrilled to turn 30 either! So we slept in and went to a later ward. Afterwards, he couldn't stand it and just had to open his gift from me. He's so adorable when it comes to getting excited about this presents. :) I gave him some thermals, a fleece jacket, and new ski pants. I think he loved them all. Before heading over to Travis' parents, I made him Carrie Lou's delicious Ganache Cake which we were all almost too stuffed to eat later that night. For dinner, Travis requested Prime Rib from his mom, which of course was delicious! It definitely has been the weekend of yummy yummy food. We chit chatted a bit about family history, updated my records, and now have my work cut out for me going through a family history book from the Hicks side of the family. Then came the presents for Travis. He got a couple of ATV tires, which he's really been wanting, a jack stand, a new sonicare, another Hooters plate and sauce (just an inside joke in the family). He too had a good birthday and we left feelings a few pounds heavier after all the festivities.

Mtn Biking at Cottonwood

This weekend we went mountain biking at Cottonwood outside Red Rock. A couple of Travis' friends from school wanted to go so I jumped on the idea of going since I've been wanting to ride for awhile now. We also invite Cory & Stephen, so I was out numbered 5 guys to 1 girl. We rode the same trail Travis and I did the first time we met. Oh, the memories..! The weather was perfect and the ride just right-long and hard, but not too hard. It was a great break from the Christmas shopping and studying. Hopefully I'll get a few more females in the mix next time. (Sarah...Amber...) :)

Turkey Shoot

We have the coolest Ward! The Elders Quorum planned a "Turkey Shoot" this weekend. No, we didn't shoot turkeys, although Travis and I have gone Turkey hunting before, instead they cooked up some turkeys for dinner and then had a skeet shooting competition on Saturday. We decided not to do the camping part, since Travis had to study, but instead went up for the half the day on Saturday and had some fun shooting. Travis of course kicked butt on the skeet shooting. Isn't he so hot with a gun? :)

Lily-Our little Puppy

We just got our first little puppy! She's 9 weeks old, less then 5 lbs, an all black miniature schnauzer. We named her Lily, because someone Travis knew on his mission had a schnauzer named Lily and we liked the name. She is so adorable and so smart! I've had so much fun getting to know her and it seems as though the rest of my world has been put on hold to take care of and play with Lily. :) We bought her from a couple that lives on a farm in Bluebell, Utah, which was 2 hours away from Provo. Her parents are both pure-breads, a black dad and a salt&pepper mom. The lady who we bought Lily from was a very good breeder-she already had started potty training her! Lily knows not to go in her kennel and as soon as she gets to grass (or in our case, turf) she goes. We praise her for it, of course, getting all sorts of kisses and nibbles from her. Although we've had a few "oops", and she wakes us up at the crack of dawn, she's still the cutest thing ever! We love how she goes, goes, goes for about 30 minutes and then curls up and falls right asleep; she still is just a baby. She is a great traveler and did so well on my lap and in her kennel. We made a ramp up to the front seats from the back so she could go back and forth from her kennel to us. She's taken to us very well and doesn't seem to miss her mommy or siblings. I can't believe we waited so long to get our little miniature schnauzer. She is ADORABLE!