Family Pictures

We Have started a new tradition in our own family now! This is one that I feel is EXTREMELY important to me. Over the years I have seen families get very wraped up in the hustle and bustle that life brings and I sometimes feel the same way! I have made a promise as Joe and I's family grows to document each year with at least one professional family picture!
This year we decided to get our pictures taken in the beautiful fall leaves that some of Utah's canyons offer!
Our photographer this year was Kari Sikorski and she did such a beautiful job! She was so amazing and even got Maddux to look at the camera without even letting Joe's smile fall off his face in the middle of the rain it was awesome! I just am so happy with every picture she took and am so excited to add them to our yearly family montage!
Thanks you Kari for being so amazing to work with and so nice to us in all our interactions!

If you are interested to book with Kari please contact her at:
Kari Sikorski Photography
Based in Salt Lake City
801 244 6869
or Email her at: kari@Karisikorskiphpotagraphy.com
or visit her website at:
http://www.karisikorskiphotography.com/#splashpage-f4b45

Thanksgiving

For this thanksgiving Joe and I spent it in San Diego with my family (since Joes family lives in Utah now). We had a ton of fun! we made it down to San Diego in the nice of time before the so called "blizzard" came through Utah.
Right after we got there we were able to spend some good time with my friend Aubrey and her boyfriend Nam! It was so good to see them and eat dinner! We always love anytime we can spend with Aubrey because it is always filled with such love and good laughs!
The next day we went to Disneyland where we used our free passes we earned through the Disney give-a-day get-a-day program back in February. It was so so nice to not have to pay $76.00x2 to get into Disneyland this time and instead we got in FREE!!!! I know right... it was awesome! Anyway Disneyland was way fun but we have discovered (since BOTH of us have been there a million times before) We just don't enjoy it as much when it is just us too... Maybe it is the waiting in line and not enough to talk about to occupy us or something or maybe its because Joe and I both are just such social beans we hate to be alone hahah anyway it was still fun over all. Later that day though we got to meet up with my good friend Lauren Brown who works for Disney and spend the evening with her riding some rides and watching the firework show( my favorite part). Seeing Lauren was so awesome since the last time I got to see her was by chance running into her in the airport while she was on her way to Denmark for her mission and we were going to Las Vegas for a vacation like 3 years ago!! Anyway Lauren is a really good friend of mine form my childhood and it just was so awesome to be able to spend some time with this wonderful lady! :)

After that day...

Was Thanksgiving day!!!!! Since my grandma and grandpa died about 9 or 10 years ago my mom has been holding thanksgiving dinner at our house as also a family reunion for all my family on my moms side (The reeves)! Anyway this year was no different I believe we counted a good 66 people in all that came to thanksgiving this year so ya as you can imagine it was pretty crowded but AWESOME! I loved being able to see all my aunts and uncles and cousins and their own families now it was great!
(pics to come STILL)
After that....

Was BLACK FRIDAY!!!! Yay its like another Christmas for me and also a good reason to go shopping!! hahah since i pretty much only show in the months of November and December I might as well soak it up i guess! Anyway my mom and I hit up Khols and the mall that day and boy was it an adventure There were so many people there but i gotta say the deals made it worth it :)!

After that...
We drove home... It was bitter sweet but it sure was a long ride and I am so proud of Maddux for making it the whole way with out one little peep! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

FHE...What?????

FHE… what??

OK so lets face it…my family was never really the FHE (family home evening) Type. Maybe my parents did their best when us kids were really young to keep the FHE tradition alive, but as we got older it just got too hard. I was too busy with dance, Ashley with cheer and Jason with water polo!Sorry mom and dad! Anyway to my dismay... our friends have started a FHE night together with a bunch of married couples once a month. Surprisingly it has been quite a bit of fun!! October was our FHE kick off and we made homemade pizza and carved pumpkins with a spiritual thought at John and Annas house!!

In November we had ice cream and played minute to win it games with a spiritual thought at another couples house! (no pictures of this one sorry)
AND...
IN December we are going to hold it at OUR HOUSE so I will make sure to post about that event as well soon!
Anyway it has actually become a very fun event and good excuse to spend a evening with good friends and fun games! :)
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ALSO..... I Really had to throw in this post as well... This is Maddux this year in his Halloween costume!!! HE'S A SCARECROW!!!! hahhaha He Loved it! Some of our neighbors even gave him bones in his trick or treat bag :)

Traditions... and my attenpt to catch up on life hahha

Traditions

As the years go on, Joe and I have started to form our own traditions for each holiday. One of our favorite traditions at this time of year is to go to Gardner Village here in Utah. Gardner Village is a witch infested fun festival filled with adorable shops and picture perfect moments. It is a place that strangely reminds me of a real life Halloween Town from the movie once showed on the Disney channel, as I was a kid. This year we decided to go with our good friends Janelle and Hoeun. We had a ton of fun showing them all the neat stuff and guiding them in and out of all the well-decorated Halloween stores. On this particular visit to Gardner Village it was raining!! That’s right raining!!! It started clear but cold and as the day went on it began to rain harder and harder! I was kind of sad about this because I really wanted to show Janelle and Hoeun the magic that surrounded Gardner Village. Even though it was wet and cold they said they still had an excellent time visiting the fun festive Village. After Gardner Village we went out to eat at the one and only GOODWOOD and then hung out with some friends at the “Hunted Hotel” getting scared together! The Hunted Hotel was fun but defiantly not the scariest hunted house I have ever been to. The 3D level was pretty cool but the rest was just so-so…

The only thing that could make this “traditional” weekend come full circle with Halloween fun is none-the-less then my famous Halloween Sugar Cookies!!!! YES “The sugar cookies” !! The one thing about these cookies is that they are AMAZING (not to boast) hahah But this is the reason I only make them in the months of October, November and December. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful Halloween weekend!!