MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

From our ugly sweaters to yours.....

Merry Christmas! 

We sincerely hope your holiday is filled with joy, laughter, presents, delicious food, tacky jewelery and ugly sweaters! 

For more pictures of our fabulous ugly sweater party hosted by the Littles click here and here!  (Go ahead and look. Trust me, it is so worth it! )

Mandy came to visit

A few weekends ago these two lovelies came to visit us in Utah...

It was such a treat to have Mandy and Everett come visit. No one in the family knew they were coming except for me. It was the best surprising the family when we walked into Katherine's place. Tears were shed, jaws were dropped, hugs were given. You get the idea.

We spent a lot of time just hanging out. Even though we did nothing super spectacular, mostly just sitting around talking and laughing, the weekend very memorable.

Everett is Mandy's youngest and was born in CT. We don't feel like we know him, like we know Posey and Ian. It was fun to have Everett all to ourselves to get to know him a little bit better. I know I'm a biased aunt but I think he is so darling.
Mike seriously has this magical way with children. Everett loved him from the start.

We loved seeing Everett and Grace together. They loved running around and screaming at the top of their lungs together.
I was lucky enough to have Mandy stay at my house while visiting. She had never played Rockband so of course we had to play.  We were one rockin band. 
All the music and singing led to some serious dancing by Everett. For a little white boy he sure has some great skills!  

                                                 

While Mandy was here we got to spend some time with my cousins and grandparents. Love the cousins.
Louisa May Alcott said it best when she wrote, "I could never love anyone as I love my sisters."
I don't know what I would do without my sisters. I'm so glad we have technology which allows me to talk to my sisters whenever I want/need to. Spending the weekend all together was the best. Love you girls...

FINALLY!! TRADITIONS

I'm sure most of you feel the same way as I do that time is passing too quickly. I can't believe Christmas is a week and a half away. Needless to say I've gotten a bit behind in my blogging. So the next few posts will be an attempt at getting back on track.

Rewind to almost 3 weeks ago to Thanksgiving weekend...

First off I must say it was a fabulous weekend. Mike actually had Thanksgiving off! Wahoo! 

TRADITIONS:

#1 Turkey Trot
The annual must run Turkey Trot. This year Mike didn't join me in running the Turkey Trot, but I was joined by two of my favorite running buddies, Lindsey and Lauren. Even though Mike didn't run the race he still came to cheer us on at the finish line. He's the best. The race was fun and made the food taste oh so much better later that day.

BEFORE                                        DURING                                   AFTER

#2 BINGO at Grandma Wynn's House

The day after Thanksgiving we always go to my Grandma's house for Prime Rib and Bingo. Seriously what could be better? We've had to miss this tradition the last few years since being in Chicago, so we were so glad to be back in the festivities this year.  It's great to be with all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Bingo gets pretty intense, it gets competitive with all of the cousins but this year Mike and I came out big with excellent prizes. 

Our winning game boards        Anxiously awaiting the      Enjoying our time together

 right number to be called

#3 BOWLING with the Walkers

The Walker family has a tradition of going Bowling Thanksgiving weekend. It's a big deal. Teams are created, scores are kept and prizes are awarded.  We had all of the family together. It was awesome. I was so pleased to get over 100 the first round of bowling. Pathetic I know. 

Mike with his sister Stephanie         Excellent release By Mike       Loving our time together

              

#4 A new tradition....ROCKBAND with the family

What is a holiday without a little Rockband? The Erickson's (Mike's sister's family) had never played Rockband before and I must say they were naturals!  There was singing, dancing and excellent playing.  Good times. 

                                                                                                 

That's it for our Thanksgiving weekend. Look forward to the next post coming in the next few days....A surprise visit from Amanda! 

Day Off

After having an extremely busy week at school...I decided to take Friday off.
I couldn't wait any longer to see this sweet baby boy.

His name is Will.
He is my sister Katherine's baby.
He is so darling. It's amazing how much you can love someone so quickly.
He had a very difficult time getting here, you can read all about it here.
We are so happy he is here and doing well after such a rough ride.

Will is such a long baby. 23 inches long, uh that's almost 2 feet!
Might I add that Mike looks so attractive holding him? I think so.

Although Will still hasn't come home to his family, we know he will soon.
He is a strong baby and making good progress.
We love you so much Wallin family!

Tired?

TIRED:  

1. needing rest

2. overused

3. mental or physical exhaustion

4. inability to respond to situation/stimulus 

SYNONYMS: weary, exhausted, fatigued, worn-out, 

drained, wiped out, sleepy, being a first year medical resident

After 4 months of working 80 hour weeks, Mike finally has a whole week off! YAY! Enjoy your week. You deserve it.  (The bad news...I have Parent Teacher Conferences this week, which means no time to hang out. Such a rip off!)

Snow Canyon Half Marathon

Evaluation of Snow Canyon Half Marathon:

THE BADS:

More killer hills than I was expecting. 

(Don't ever believe it when they tell you a race is mostly downhill.)

Which meant missing my goal by 2 minutes. Grrr. Better luck next time.

Being away from Mike the whole weekend.

THE GOODS:

 

Although I missed my goal by 2 minutes, I still got my fastest half marathon time yet. I know it's still not fast compared to others, but I'm proud of myself for improving my time. 

Driving to Zion after the race and seeing the beautiful fall foliage.

Running through Snow Canyon, which brought back many memories of camping there when I was little with all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

Hearing my dad call my name and cheer me on with a tenth of a mile to go!  

Getting this sweet action SWEAT BAND! You know I'm totally going to wear it running.

Having my dear friend Jessica cheer me on at the finish line. 

Thanks Jess for coming. It was so fun to see you.

Being able to watch my mom finish another half marathon. 

Have I told you how amazing she is? 

Well she is. 

All in all it was a great weekend and a fantastic race.  

Did you?

DID YOU?

OFF TRACK TIME

Working at a YEAR ROUND SCHOOL= 9 weeks of teaching, 3 WEEKS OFF (off track time), 9 weeks teaching, 3 WEEKS OFF... you get the picture.

Right now is my off track time and I'm loving it.

I've been spending a lot of time with this little one....


I was able to go to my cute cousin's State Cross Country Meet...

My cousin Liesl rocked the race and got her best time of the season! 

I had plenty of time to make this dracula dessert...

and get costumes for our fantastic Halloween party last Saturday.


Mike and I have been spending quality time together, which included carving pumpkins...



And I got to go out to lunch with my cute friend Lacey...

I've loved having time off. I think this is something I could get used to indefinitely.

In 48 hours or less you can.....

In 48 hours or less you can....

Fly to Chicago. Meet your favorite friends and go to dinner.

Stay at one of your dearest friend's house, stay up late talking, then go out to breakfast at a place called the Cubby Hole. You can only imagine how good the food was. NO JOKE.
You can then drive 3 1/2 hours away to the middle of Illinois to a small town called Peoria, making a few very important pit stops on your way, such as....getting lunch at a 50's drive in called The Polk-a-Dot Drive In.
You can enjoy the sculptures of the classics such as Marilyn Monroe found at the Drive In. Mike especially enjoyed this one. 
You can then make another pit stop to the annual Punkin Chunkin festival which is literally in the middle of nowhere.  
You can revel in the excellent company of the festival and the pleasure that comes from pumpkins being shot out of cannons and catapults. 
You can then finish your drive to Peoria, IL, change your clothes in a Taco Bell, attend a banquet honoring teachers of Illinois, catch up with old colleagues, and eat delicious food. 

You can leave a banquet, drive 3 1/2 hours back to Chicago, sleep for 4 hours, catch a flight and be back in Salt Lake City, all in 48 hours or less.

It's slightly exhausting, but a fabulous way to spend 48 hours. I'm glad Mike had the time off to partake in this excellent adventure. We had a blast seeing old friends, and look forward to when we can go back,  but hopefully it will be for a little bit longer than 48 hours.