Harris and I were able to go with his company to do a 4-wheeling trip in Moab. It was so fun! We drove down Friday night and stayed in a hotel. Then we drove on the 4-wheelers all day! It was so fun because when I was on the back, every time that we hit a bump I would catch some serious air! haha needless to say my body was very sore the next day but it was totally worth it! It was also really cool to spend some time with the great people that Harris works with. Overall, it was a GREAT trip!
We had a fun birthday week for Harris. On his actual birthday we had a small party with just the two of us. We had BBQ ribs for dinner, opened presents, and ate cake and ice cream. It was nice to have a little family birthday.
During the weekend we had some friends go with us to dinner and then back to our apartment for cake and ice cream. It was so fun. We had so many people come and show support for Harris. When we came back to our little apartment, we fit 12 people in and that is the most people that we have ever had in our apartment! It was a very tight squeeze, but we are so glad that everyone came.
Also during the weekend, Harris’s parents made Harris a birthday dinner and it was so delicious! We loved being able to be with more family and who does not love a birthday that lasts 3 days!
We had an awesome Christmas! Christine, Scott, and Zoey stayed with us for a few days before heading up to Idaho to spend Christmas with Scott’s family. It was so fun!! We will never forget how tight the living space was, but it was so stinking fun!
We had a lot of fun also visiting Jill and Craig Gygi(my aunt and Uncle). They just had a brand new baby girl named Estie! She is a beautiful little girl and we were able to see grandma and grandpa McBride, Ivan, Gordan, and my aunt Denee. Later that night we were able to make Christmas cookies and watch a Elf!
After the Butikofer’s left we went to a bunch of family parties for Christmas! They were all fun and we were able to visit with a lot of the family in Utah. Then on Christmas Eve, Harris and I went to see “Despicable Me” at the movie theatre(as per tradition) and then went to the Hardman’s where Santa came to visit and we read the Christmas story in the Bible. It was so nice to be able to focus on the most important part of Christmas, which is Christ! He lead the perfect life and has done and continues to do so much for all of us. What a remarkable blessing that we have to have a brother like Him.
After the Hardman party, we went to Mona to spend the night with the Tasker’s. Harris and I got into bed and read the story that Harry(Harris’s grandpa) wrote about his Chirstmas during WWII when he was a soldier in the war. I loved hearing that new(well, new to me) piece of family history.
On Christmas morning we all opened presents and Harris and I were able to talk to Tyler on the phone!!! He is on his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Uruguay. He sounded so fabulous and already has a little accent. He really brought the perspective of Christmas to me! I am so proud of him! We also go to see our friends, Blaine and Krystal, and helped them assemble some of their Christmas presents. Then we had a family tournament on the Wii and Ali kicked all of our butts!
The Tasker’s were so generous to have us in their home and I really appreciate them making my first Christmas away from my parents, brothers, and sisters a really great one!
We had a wonderful thanksgiving in Colorado! We were able to fly out for a few days and spend some time with my family. We had a ton of fun! We watched movies, played games, and got to play with our only niece on the Atkinson side.
I have to admit that the most thrilling part of the break was watching the BYU vs Utah football game. Both teams played like crap, but it was close almost the whole way through(which was pretty exciting). Harris watched his first real BYU game with my dad and saw the true SOFTIE that he really is
. During half-time I got to pitch with my dad. It was so fun since I have not really thrown since high school. Unfortunately we were all a little distraught since BYU lost, but the game was still fun.
On our way home we got stuck in the airport for hours since there was a huge snowstorm in Salt Lake that delayed our flight. Fortunately, my parents sent us with plenty of food to tide us over until we left. The Butikofer’s flew out around the same time as us, so we got to hang out with them in the airport for a little while. That definitely helped the time go by much faster since Zoey is such a hoot and busy as crap!!
It was a wonderful break and so nice to see Atkinson’s and Butikofer’s!
We had a fun Halloween this year. A week before Halloween we went to Harris’s work party. We got pizza for lunch and some treats while we walked around the Kaizen Fair and got to see the new things that Ussynthetic is doing to lessen the company’s waste. It was nice to get to eat lunch together. Later that night we carved our pumpkins. We decided to go a little simpler then in years before, but we still had fun carving.
On the Saturday before Halloween we went to visit friends and family. We got to go to dinner with Harris’s parents. It was fun to visit with them and eat good food. Then we went to our friends Blain and Krystal’s house, had dessert and watched a scary movie. Then on Sunday Harris and I just watched the movie Monster House and ate popcorn. We also made “mummy hot dogs” for dinner and they were so gross!! I will never make them again, but it was nice to relax!
Ok, So I know that I was lame for never putting up final pictures of the circle box that Harris helped me lathe. So, here it is.
I am pretty proud of this little box because it actually took a really long time to make and I appreciate Harris patiently helping me finish it. I did the whole outside by myself, with the instruction of Harris. But Harris had to really help me out when it came to hollowing out the main part. It was really fun to learn something new and I hope that I will keep learning more.
Well, it is back to the grind for Harris now since school has started. He has begun his big capstone project that will last him until April. He is excited to get working on this project and he was pleasantly surprised to find out that there is some travel involved. So, we will see what happens ;)
For Labor Day weekend Harris’s grandparents let us borrow their time-share for a night. We got to go swimming and ride the tram to the top of the mountains and see some beautiful views. We also got to go to Oktoberfest in Snowbird and see the shops and the men in their little German costumes. It was really nice to get away for a day!
Then on Monday we went to the Payson parade to support Harris’s grandparents. They were the Grand Marshals of the parade which was a huge honor for them. It was fun to see them waving in the back of their car while Jo and Mike drove them. It was so funny because they were right in between 2 fire trucks!! haha we had a loud few minutes while they went by, but they had a loud ride for the whole parade!
After the parade Harris took me to his parents house and he taught me how to lathe. It was a lot harder then I thought that it would be, but it was so much fun! We got covered in wood shavings but it was worth it in the end to have a beautiful new jewelry box.
