Weekend in SLC

Mom cleaning out the property this weekend (no... this isn't a relic from the Museum of Clean)

Mom Dad and Nat went down to SLC this weekend to babysit the kids while Ryan and Heather celebrated their 11th anniversary a little early. It was also Uncle Henry's funeral. We made gingerbread houses and had a great time. Luckily Ryan and Heather live close enough to benefit from our services. Just a little incentive for the rest of you. ;)

Nathan

and Marissa and Mallory

driving home on the I-15

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we are thankful for the beautiful 40 degree weather, restaurants who make Thanksgiving food for us, and having no dishes to do afterward!

We woke up early (well... at least Mom and Dad did) and spent the morning working. We have been keeping busy making room for when Ricky and Eden move here in mid December. I'm switching rooms and we are clearing out our "extra" (aka storage) room for Lincoln.

After our morning projects we drove up to Idaho Falls and went to a Thanksgiving buffet. The lobby was decorated up for Christmas, so we took some pictures in front of a tree.

We had a delicious and relaxing lunch/dinner and then drove over to the Idaho Falls Temple. I'd never been there before so it was cool to see it. Its smaller than the LA temple, but a very similar style. We took some pictures...

...and watched "Testament", which was a nice reminder to all of us of what we are most grateful for--the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We missed all of our friends and family, but we were happy to be together and feel the spirit in the temple. We all agreed this should be our new family tradition.

House Update

Its amazing to see the progress on our house in just a week's time! Windows have been installed, the sewer system is being dug out, and a fireplace is in the works in the basement. The most exciting update is the loft we've set up above the kitchen. Its going to be the perfect place for puzzles and bean bag chairs. Many big decisions need to be made in the very near future. Does anyone have ideas or suggestions for the exterior? We are thinking of doing minimal stonework with neutral stucco. Let us know your thoughts!

Nat peeking out of one of the new loft windows.

The fireplace

Mom standing (bravely!) on the second story windows. This is what our view will be from inside the main house living room. :)

Nat doing a move from "The Price is Right" to show off the windows in the guest house.

Shes Alive!

In the spirit of Halloween I thought this Frankenstein quote was fitting. People have been asking why I'm never in any of the blog posts, so here are some pictures to prove I'm alive.

This picture is from Pocatello's "Trunk or Treat". I wanted to have some kind of costume, so I threw on Mom's cowboy hat last minute.... Then I realized that in Idaho thats not really a costume at all. I probably offended the local cowboys. Oh well, it was still dang fun passing out candy to all the kids and seeing their cute costumes. I think I had more fun than the kids did. I ate just as much candy too.

This picture is for Lincoln and Erica, who are always more excited to see Freckles than their Aunt Nat or Grandma and Grandpa Tutu.

Most importantly, we had Papa here visiting this weekend! He stayed for a few days and got to see our progress on the house and took a tour of the "museum of clean". We also showed Papa how to Skype and he thought it was pretty cool. We got to listen to a lot of Fox News, which I found particularly interesting around this time of year. I tried not to let it out, but Dad spilled the beans that I'm a democrat much to Papas disappointment. We still had a great time though, thanks for coming Papa!