Thanksgiving Wishes

Just a few more stops to go and I will finally have all I need to get our Thanksgiving going.  The groceries have been bought.  The table has begun to be set.  And tonight the pies will begin to be made.  I am so extremely nervous though.  It is my first time to cook a turkey.  We decided on the traditional route this year and with a 22lb. turkey in our immediate future, I am nervous that things just won't turn out quite right.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Chris and I have been blessed beyond measure.  We have food in our cabinets, a roof over our heads, a thriving business, love of family and friends, and most importantly we have each other.  Don't get me wrong, things are often stressful and chaotic.  But even with all the mess around us at times, we love our crazy life and all the things it holds and will continue to unfold.

So for this Thanksgiving day we are wishing all of you, family and friends, safe travels, full tummies, and oodles to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving.  xoxox

Oh October

It's great to see that every one's Halloween was so fun.  And ours was no exception.  Even though we kept our celebrations a little more low key than others we still had one heck of a spooky time.

Through the month of October I could be found curled up in front of the television watching scary movie after scary movie. I just love them so much. But now because I watched so many, I jump at every little squeak or creek that I may hear.  It's awful.

As for Halloween crafts and treats, I only made a few.  Nothing spooktacular or anything but they were delicious.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  And my window decoration turned out pretty good.  We live in the country though so really only a couple of neighbors and us got to enjoy it... and Mya.  She seemed to appreciate the effort.  

Chris and I opted out of pumpkin carving this year.  Honestly, we just weren't in the mood.  Maybe next year we will be back in the swing of things.

We did end up going to the "House of Shock" in New Orleans.  It is a really popular haunted house that we had seen on the Travel Channels top haunted houses a few years back.  We were a little worried at first because it seemed pretty extreme, they are allowed to scream at you, touch/ push you, and they even warn you you may be slimed.  But between the long wait (and when I say long I mean 2 hours and we were the 7th people in line), the high ticket prices, and the fact that it just wasn't really scary, we were pretty let down.  Way to hype it up Travel Channel... way to hype it up.  And just so you know, I was pushed, shoved into a corner and yelled at, but I was not slimed.  That was a plus.

As for the actual day of Halloween, we decided to stay in.  So between handing out candy (Chris bought them full sized bars) to our very few trick-or-treaters, we ate pizza, watched tv (some scary, some not), and got a visit from the cutest little trick-or-treater this side of the Mississippi River.  Mya as Merida from Brave and she was loving every bit of it.

So all-in-all October/ Halloween was pretty mellow, but nonetheless fun.  Even though I'm sad to see it go it's nice knowing we still have two Holidays to look forward to.

Happy {belated} Halloween!

Pirate's Island

As the nights here are finally cooling down and making it possible to go outdoors and enjoy it, we made the decision that we wanted a mini golf night.  So we all jumped in the car and headed to Pirate's Island.

The course was entertaining and the game was intense.  Okay, not really intense.  I'm starting to think Casey is a professional golfer on the side and him along with the other boys and Ashley stayed pretty close in score.  As for Kari and I, well, we were pretty close in score also.  On the losing side of things.

This picture of Mya kills me.  Her face is telling me that mini golf was not awesome while the thumb is saying the night was totally awesome.  Way to confuse people Mya.  I promise the night was awesome and this little girl did indeed have fun.  

Chris insisted on this picture in front of the restrooms.  Nothing like a picture in front of a "Wenches" sign.

Bad news is I didn't come in first, but good news is I also didn't come in last.  That honor went to Kari. But with how much fun we all had, I'd say we all went home winners that night.  

Tis' the Season

No not that season... Football Season.  The Season Chris has been looking forward to since last February.  Poor guy has had a long wait, but his patience has paid off.  Football Season is back and in full swing.  Unfortunately, for me, it means that my television is now occupied 3 nights out of the week.  Boo.  And even more sad is the fact that Chris' team is, let's see... how do I put this nicely... not very good this year.  But even with their lack of a good performance it still didn't stop us from buying Saints gear.  Yep, even me.  I know... shocking.  

And then at the beginning of October we had the opportunity to go to the Sunday Night televised game of the Saints vs. the Chargers.   Or as it was to us, Our Team vs. My Brother's Team.  It was so much fun going with Vince, Ashley, and Jake.  It was Vince and Ashely's first NFL game and we all had such a good time.  We all splurged on good seats and managed to get 4th row on the 20 yard line.  Not too shabby.  The view was great, the crowd was insane, the game was a nail biter, and victory was sweet.  It was a very memorable evening.  

The season is about half way through and Chris and I are both counting down the days until it is over, for entirely two different reasons of course.  But even I will admit that Fall just wouldn't be Fall without  the game of Football.  

Labor Day Fun

Our Labor Day was spent at the beach with our wonderful family and friends.  It couldn't have been more relaxing.  The summer tourists were gone, so instead of hundreds of people crowding the beach, us, along with maybe fifty others, had the beach to ourselves.

Gulf Shores, AL 2012

Mya enjoying some lunch.

Kari and Nixon

This pelican gave me the biggest laugh of the day.  It was just hanging out on the beach so I decided to walk Mya over to it to get a better look.  We were pretending it was a pterodactyl, because that girl is crazy about dinosaurs.  Well then Casey, Kari, and Nixon walked over to see it too and I guess the pelican didn't appreciate Casey's presence.  It slowly made its way closer and closer to Casey and then it went into attack mode.  Flapping its wings and jumping towards him.  It was hilarious to see Casey take off running.  As I type this I am now thinking it is one of those moments that you have to be there to appreciate.  And boy am I glad that I was there.

This is the only picture I managed to take of the "attack".  I was laughing way too hard to figure out how to work the camera on my phone.

No Labor Day would be complete without a BBQ.  So instead of us putting forth the energy to actually cook we decided to go to our favorite rib shack in Mobile, Shane's Rib Shack to be precise.  With the food being so utterly delicious it helped us to forget about the bad sunburns we were suffering from.  It was a pleasant distraction.  

Labor Day was a blast.  It was relaxing and hassle free.  Just the way it should be.  

Our August in Idaho

I continuously find myself saying, "you will not get behind, you will not get behind", and then lo and behold, I'm behind.  So here I am trying to muster up the motivation and get to posting all the fun that we have been having.

In August Chris and I made the decision to leave Alabama and go home, to Idaho, for about a month.  We left the majority of the operations of the company in the hands of our manager.  It was a test to see how the company would function without Chris being there directly.  That is the ultimate goal after all. Our company and our manager did fantastic.  We couldn't have asked for a better outcome.  The company ran strong and the couple hiccups that we saw were a good thing since it helped us to see were we needed to strengthen and improve on our program.  It was such a relief since it allowed us to fully enjoy our time off.

Our month long getaway went a little something like this:

*  I got to be a part of some festivities leading up to my little sister in law's wedding.

All my sister in laws at Kelsie's bridal shower.

*  Chris traveled to Jack Pot with a group of friends were he came back a big winner.

*  We attended Kelsie and Dallin's wedding.  It was beautiful.  I cried.  Weddings always bring out the baby in me.

The Burrup kids.

Bros.

My family and I at the reception.  

*  After the wedding Chris and a group of his friends left to Mesa Falls for their annual camp trip.  While there they jumped off cliffs, fished, ate like kings, shot guns, and all sorts of other boyish things.

*  Ryan took us boating in Blackfoot.  

*  Had BBQs with my family and played numerous backyard games.  

*  We got to go swimming with our nieces and nephews at a swimming hole by Indian Hills.  

*  Chris and I went to Island Park with two of our most favorite people, Jake and Lisa, for a nice little weekend in their family cabin.  We spent the weekend four wheeling, riding sea doos, eating at yummy restaurants, cooking delicious meals, and watching more episodes of Ninja Warrior then I can count.  The weekend was an absolute blast.  

 We are pretty hardcore when it comes to four wheeling.

Jake and Chris

*  Got to have lunch dates with my Mom.

*  Multiple visits with my Grandparents and his Grandma.

*  Ate out at so many yummy places.

*  My Stepdad, Michael, and Chris spent a day fishing in Mackay.

*  Chris and I went on our own little camping trip to Mesa.  It is one of my favorite memories of our trip.  Just the two of us and nature.  And we fished for our own dinner, caught two rainbow trout, and cooked them on the camp fire.  It was so so good.  

Me saying, "Get me off this rock!"  It was a straight drop on the other side and the rock was slanting.  Kinda scary.

*  Chris' parents joined us at Mesa at the end of our camp trip to see the site and falls.

*  We got to see so many of our friends.  

*  Play pranks on so many people involving over 100 ping pong balls.

*  Help Chris' parents with their yard sale.

* And to put it simply we spent every available moment we had with our family and friends.

* Then, when it was all said and done, we got to drive home through the winds and rain of Hurricane Isaac.  Luckily Chris is like a professional driver so it didn't prove too difficult for him.

We truly made the most of our time in Idaho.  We were able to relax and just appreciate one of the things we haven't been able to enjoy in years; an Idaho Summer.