Well the last few months have been so busy they've just flown by. So here I find myself at the beginning of 2015 and realize that I haven't posted a blog since September. What a whirlwind end of year. I've decided to give a few highlights of the last few months, hopefully it won't get to long:
October:
At the beginning of October my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Ken came for a short visit. They took in some of the sights and we had a fun visit with them.
After their visit we took a road trip up to Utah to go to General Conference. My cousin Kaytie let us crash at her place. Doug and her got to jam on the piano together. That was fun to see.
We went up on Wednesday night, so on Thursday and Friday we took a couple of tours around the area. On Thursday we visited the Asea factory in Lindon, UT. Dad insisted.
And that evening, we met up with Mom in Ogden where she was working, and she showed us where her mother went to nursing school. It's just a park now but it was the same location.
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| Then dinner at Kneaders |
On Friday we spent the day in Provo. We visited BYU's natural history museum and got a tour of BYU Broadcast Studios (Even saw about 4 cast members of Studio C) and a golf cart tour of campus.
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| Creamery Ice Cream....yum |
It was a pretty eventful day, we even drove around to see some of Mom and Dad's first homes. And the new Prove Temple going up in downtown.
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| Provo Temple |
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| Tin Shack by the railroad tracks...mom and dad's first home |
Then we went out to eat with Kaytie and her husband Jared after picking up Mom in Ogden.
On Saturday we had tickets to Conference up in Salt Lake. It was quite the adventure getting there and getting a parking spot. We found ourselves running the streets of Salt Lake passing mobs of conference goers, just to get to our seats on time. It was such an amazing experience. I am so happy I got to go.
On Sunday we relaxed a bit and watched the morning session of conference at Kaytie's. And then headed back home to Vegas.
The middle of October is a blur but it ended with Halloween. Not my favorite holiday because I think it's only fun if you have a kid but I did get to enjoy some fun photos of the kiddos (my nephews and niece) all dressed up. And I even helped out Dad with his trunk-o-treat activity.
Dad made the kids touch the pumpkin before they got candy, when they did he would scare them...so mean.
November:
I honestly don't remember much of the beginning of November. The trees finally started to change color. They were really late this year. We even got some fog one day...a rare thing for Vegas.
But our Thanksgiving was pretty huge. Mom was in town, so that took the weight off of me. My cousin Holli came from Oregon with her two sons to surprise my grandma. And my other cousin John and his family, who live in the Los Angeles area, came over as well. It was fun to have such a big crowd. Dad smoked the turkey on his smoker and it turned out great. Here are a few pictures of the day:
December:
I think December was the craziest busiest month of all. At the beginning of November the house next door to my parents came up for rent. It was a one story, three bedroom, two bathroom home. And as my parents looked at it and compared the cost of my Grandmother's assisted living bill, they decided to try and rent it and move grandma in. The one hiccup in the plan was, she couldn't live alone....they turned to me. They said if I moved in with her, she would cover the rent cost and I would pay for all the utilities. I would be finally saving money. I agreed...the hard part was breaking my lease to my apartment. That took some effort but it worked out. And the first week of December, grandma and I moved into the house.
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| Packing up the old apartment |
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| Found a cheep new couch for my new living room |
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| My Uncles brought down a few of my grandma's things, including her Organ |
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| And we decided to use the third bedroom for an art room |
When we first moved in the water and gas had been shut off...so after getting everything sorted. This new place is turning out great...although at times I think grandma is getting a little spoiled. :)
Then came Christmas. I had to miss the annual Christmas work dinner this year. I was sad but it was on the day of the big move so couldn't help it. But we did hang stockings at our desks and have a white elephant gift exchange. Here is the stuff I got from work:
Then our big adventure was flying to Seattle for Christmas to be with my older brother's family. We had so much fun. Making candy trains, playing with toys, having a gift exchange with my cousin Ben and his family, clocking Santa's travels around the globe, seeing the kiddos so excited about all the fun things they got. The only downer was we all got the stomach flu at some point during the trip. But we still had fun. I even got to visit with my best bud Jen down in Tacoma one day. Here are some pictures of Christmas:
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| Building trains |
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| The Nativity |
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| Last minute wrapping |
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| Breakfast |
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| Stocking stuffers |
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| Mom made these amazing quilts for each of the boys |
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| My goodies |
The littlest were the cutest, they stayed in their PJs all day. Little Jason loved the truck I gave him, he would just lay on the floor and push it's buttons over and over again.
Mom ended the festivities by making a real old fashion cranberry bread pudding. It was yummy.
It was a quick trip and before we knew it. We were flying home again. New Years Eve was quiet. I just spent it at home with grandma....but she went to bed at 9:00pm. So come midnight it was just me and my glass of ginger al.
Here is to a great 2014 year and to an even more awesome 2015!!
