Catching up

November

I went to see "New Moon" on opening night at midnight on the 20th with my sister and sister-in-laws and friends. It was much better than the first one but still no comparison to the books. Then Pete & I went to the Utah football game on Saturday the 21st. They won easily!!!! It was a fun weekend.

Thanksgiving weekend

We had 2 dinners as has become a tradition - Wednesday night with my family, including my grandpa, uncle & aunt, cousins and their kids. It is a big group (and noisy) but super fun! And the food is delicious. Thursday with Pete's family at his aunt's house. A smaller group (and quieter) and more relaxing. Again the food is delicious.

I did nearly all my Christmas shopping on Black Friday with my mom starting at 4 am and hitting most stores twice. I had to do most of my shopping Thanksgiving weekend as I wasn't planning on being back in town until Christmas, and there isn't really any shopping available in Wendover except online.

Saturday my whole family gathered at my parent's house to watch the Utah/BYU game, many of us decked out in our Utah or red gear. We had a good time, even if the Utes lost - at least they did it with class.

December

We put up tree and other decorations, and finally have a mantel to hang stockings on (at least for a picture since we can't leave them up with the pellet stove on) -- thanks Pete!

California vacation

My parents rented a beach house in Newport Beach for the entire family. We arrived on Saturday the 5th and got settled in.

Sunday we relaxed, watched football, and hung out on the beach. It was cool and mostly cloudy but the sun did peek out a little. The kids were crazy enough to get in the water, the sand was cold enough for me. Pete took Logan to the hospital as he had been running a fever and broke out in an all-over rash - it turned out to be scarlet fever/strep throat.

Monday we woke up to rain, hoping it was better further south we decided to go to Seaworld. We were wrong, turns out it was much worse in San Diego (one of their biggest storms of the year). We insanely went through with it and sloshed around Seaworld in ponchos and umbrellas. We ended up soaked through and freezing, but the kids were troopers and didn't complain at all.

Tuesday & Wednesday the weather was much better, still cool but at least no rain, and we spent them at Disneyland and California Adventure.

Thursday those of us with little kids went to Legoland. This was probably the warmest day we had, and the place wasn't busy at all so there were no lines for any of the rides - awesome.

Friday we all went to Universal Studios, it rained a bit but nothing like Monday so we all tolerated it pretty well , and were better prepared this time.

Saturday we packed up and drove to Las Vegas where we visited some friends, then dragged the kids to Hooters for dinner and to watch the UFC fights (they were very good, though we let the boys bring their Nintendo DS's to keep them entertained). We drove home on Sunday. The weather wasn't great in California but at least we missed the single digit temperatures and big snowfall back home. And seeing all the parks decorated for the holidays was neat!

Back to real life

Work, laundry, grocery shopping, more work, kids to school, more laundry, mail Christmas cards, etc...