I realize it is 2011, but I also realized I really have not shared any news since Septemberish…so I thought I would do a quick review of our fall/early winter.
September
We were so lucky, Jared was able to take a four day weekend at the end of September. We spent one day organizing and cleaning our home, but that Friday we left for Nauvoo, IL. We had the most wonderful time and stayed at a great historic inn just across from the temple. This is an example of the room we stayed in at the Woodruff Hotel/Zions Mercantile Hotel.
We didn’t take too many pictures that weekend because we were too busy dashing in the rain from one place to another, but here are a couple. Sorry the one is blurry.
October
In October we were so blessed to be able to take a week and go visit my family in Utah. My brother and his family were able to take the same week of vacation and they came up from Arizona as well. It was so fun to have us all together! We were so busy playing and enjoying each other we didn’t take any pictures at all. Sad huh? But some highlights from our visit include:
· General Conference and Music and the Spoken Word at the Conference Center
· My sister Amanda got engaged to Tyler!!
· A quiet night with just Jared up at my grandparents’ cabin
· Going to the Salt Lake Temple with my parents and Steven and Whitney
· Playing with my niece and nephews
· And some major cooking and baking going on that week….so delicious!!
(I think we all gained a couple of pounds but it was totally worth it )
· Peach hunting up in Willard (so Whitney could make the most delicious pie)
· Seeing my youngest sister Natalie in her Shakespeare Acts (which she ended up placing in the top ten for her monologue at the Shakespeare Festival in southern Utah-yay to go Sisterhead!)
·Celebrating both my sisters’ birthdays early
· Learning how to make my grandma’s amazing dinner rolls by the master herself J
We are also totally newlyweds and enjoyed celebrating our 6 month anniversary. (Cheesy I know, but hey we’re in love J ) We made a delicious candlelit dinner.
Herb Crusted Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Steamed Green Beans
(and Lime Slushies....a favorite at our house)
In November Jared took his Step 3 Boards (a big and important test for his career) and passed. I am so incredibly proud of him!!!
We were also able to enjoy an awesome Thanksgiving. We invited a few friends over and made a feast! I think we still have cranberry sauce in our fridge J But we did the works, because what would Thanksgiving be without everything?! So we made our first turkey (an adventure for sure but it worked out splendidly), mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing (my absolute favorite part of the meal), gravy, cranberry sauce, salad, rolls, pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie. It was so yummy and we had such a great time hanging out with friends.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving we also went hunting for our first Christmas tree. We had no idea what we were doing or what kind of tree to get but thanks to a local grower, Grandpa Vern’s, we were able to get a fabulous tree!
Looking for a tree
Found our tree!
Jared putting on lights
Decorating the tree
I know there are two pictures here but I think one is better of us and one is better of the tree :) Our star was made by our nephew Ethan. So awesome!
We loved our tree! We had a small collection of ornaments and found some great deals at Big Lots and JoAnn’s to round everything off. We had so many incredible experiences these past couple months and have been so blessed.
If you made it to the end of this, congratulations! Sorry it was so long, this is what happens when I procrastinate. Hopefully another update soon J
Megan, I loved looking at all the pictures!! You guys look so happy together. Hope all is going well.
ReplyDeleteThis is a delightful post!! I know I spent almost 2 hours on the phone with you today, but thanks for the double dose of delight. :)
ReplyDeleteI think Amanda inspired us both.