Reno Thanksgiving 2011

We had a really fun Thanksgiving weekend! It was a much needed break to celebrate the holiday. All my family [minus 2 sisters] met at my aunt's house in Reno, NV. We stayed at a hotel casino in downtown and then went over to my aunt's house to lounge around, eat, and watch football! You know, typical Thanksgiving celebrations!! I did not take a single picture. I copied all these pictures from my lovely family members who actually pulled out their camera.
Yummy feast...
Lounging around with the family...
We went bowling one night...
We played a few Foosball games throughout the weekend...
Black Friday shopping (my brother Craig loaded up on gear for his mission to super cold Japan)...
We all loved gathering around and playing the Deal or No Deal game at the hotel arcade...
and Thanksgiving is not complete without the Wii (I had to include the action shot)...
We didn't want this weekend to end. It was so much fun! We are so grateful for our family and our countless blessings in life!

I love fall!

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love all seasons for different reasons, but there is something extra special about the fall. The leaves, cool crisp air, pumpkins, October, the fall smells, and on and on. I went on a run over the Bonneville Shoreline trail the other day with a good friend of mine. The scenery was superb. It felt so good to be outside and to enjoy the beauty of the Earth during this season. I cannot wait to do this run again and see even more of the changing leaves!

Baja California Cruise

We went on another cruise as our end of summer trip. This time we went for the cheap cruise to Baja, California. Honestly, I would never recommend this cruise. You definitely get what you pay for. Perhaps we were spoiled and had high expectations from our amazing cruise last summer to the Caribbean, but Baja, Mexico, and Carnival cruise lines do not make great combinations. All in all, we still had some fun. We went with 3 other couples so the company was great.

We really liked Catalina Island! We rented golf carts and drove all over the city enjoying the views and nice weather. We also went snorkeling and saw a lot of fish.
Ensenada, Mexico is home of the famous "blow hole". We spent a couple hours hanging around there on the coast and watching that blow hole. It can get pretty high so that was fun. We also ate some extremely delicious tacos. Yum!
Cruises are known for food and all you can eat 24/7! We ate our little hearts out. Here we are at one of our formal meals. You can see that Brandon ordered Lobster!
The cruise was a nice way to end our summer. Hopefully Brandon can get his thesis finished this semester. It will be nice to completely be done with school before the winter, but we will see!

uPdate

I suddenly felt like coming back to the blog (it's all for you, Liz :)). We have had a very busy summer. Brandon has been stuck in the Clyde Building working on his thesis. I have never known him to be one of those engineers who spends long hours into the night on campus, but he has turned into one. I guess that is the nature of a thesis. My, or rather his camera, is full of pictures like these...
what the hay even is that, hehe! Stuff for his thesis anyways!

I have been busy with my 2 large callings at church and my new NP job! Earlier this summer, we went on Trek with our stake and then I had a month to scramble for everything for Girls' Camp. In the middle of all my church busy--ness I got an NP job that I LOVE! I now work in Family Practice! I am getting the hang of things there and I can't believe I work as a real NP now. I waited around for the right job to come along and I am so glad I did. It was worth it. So Liz, my advice to you is to be patient with the job scene. Make sure you find the job you really want. By the way, family practice is a great place to be!

Happy Valentine's Day

Brandon beats me BIG time in the creativity department. I decided to make my own creation [a variation from 'Hello Cupcake'] of Valentine cupcakes. They turned out somewhat cute...
I worked hard all morning to get these done so I could surprise him for when he got home from work. He was surprised and of course he liked them!

Then, I went to work. By the way, I have a job at a local urgent care working part-time in the afternoon/evenings. I still work part-time at my RN hospital job too. When I got home I found my trifle bowl filled with this lovely piece of edible art...
I was most definitely surprised! It looks so much cuter than anything I could ever even imagine to make. I married a truly gifted and wonderful mister! I love you Brandon!!!

Sunny St. George

What better way to start off the year than with a half marathon! It was nice to get some good, warm sun too. The weather was beautiful and the course through St. George was gorgeous. Running in 30-40 degree weather is SO much better than running in single digits with ice all over your head!

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