Thanksgiving!

So this year, my parents came to our apartment for Thanksgiving. Things were a little tight, but overall it worked out great. Mike and my dad watched TV and played cribbage while me and my mom cooked the food. It was my first time cooking a turkey and it turned out beautiful. It was great to have the family there for the day and get to spend time with them without being pressed for time. I really enjoyed the whole thing and was proud of my cooking skills. :)

Mike and Bill playing cribbage and

watching football.

Mom helping out in the kitchen.

My FIRST turkey! It's beautiful!

Bill helping Mike with the carving!

Mike concentrating hard.

All the food was amazing and the holiday was a great success and good time spent with family. Hope everyone else had as good a time for the holidays! 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Mount Lemmon

We decided to take a little mini-vacation that ended up lasting for 1/2 a day. This vacation was to take a break before the final rush of the end of the semester. There is only 3 1/2 weeks left of school plus finals. Mount Lemmon is a mountain only about 30 miles (1 hour by car) away from Tucson. Mike and I didn't know what to expect because we have never been there. Man were we surprised to see evergreen trees!!!

Trees on the mountain.

After being surprised by that, we also were extremely surprised to find patches of SNOW on the mountain! These were a little more ice than snow, but WOW!

Mike looking at the snow!

Mike and I looking at the SNOW!!!

After finally coming to the top of Mount Lemmon, we found this nice little "gulch" area with a little brook. It was nice and cold up there too!

"Gulch" area.

Mike walking around the "gulch".

Me in front of the "gulch".

Overall it was a great mini-vacation, and we were both soo excited to see the SNOW! We can't wait for a good snow up there. When that happens we will return and take the dog (Big Mack) with us.

Mike's Birthday!

Mike is 22!!! For his birthday we went up to Mesa to see his parents and to celebrate! Everyone had a great time, but it seemed that the birthday boy did not get the best present of the day!

Mike's present! (A t-shirt)

My present! (Shoes)

Malinda's (his grandma) present! (A computer)

Gail's present!!!! A NEW CAR!!!

So, it seems that everyone got a present for Mike's birthday! The best of all of them seems to be Gail's. She got a new car (although it's used). We had a great time shopping and hanging out with the family and celebrating another year!

PUMPKINS!!!

Pumpkin carving time!!!!

We decided it was time to carve pumpkins, being a week away from Halloween. After carefully choosing pumpkins a week ago from a pumpkin patch, we brought them home and waited until the weekend to carve. I decided on a stencil design from a book, while Mike decided on a home made design.

Mike dancing along with the Beetlejuice movie!

Mike and I no longer dancing once he saw me with the camera.

My finished product!

Mike's pumpkin!

Up close and personal!

We had a ton of fun watching Beetlejuice and carving pumpkins making it truely Fall!

Happy Halloween!

Iowa

So, at the beginning of the month, Mike and I went to Iowa for his Grandma's 80th surprise birthday party. It was soo exciting and Malinda (his grandma) was soo surprised she couldn't keep herself still. After she had seen everyone in the party there was a slide show with people telling stories about her, and then food and presents proceeded. The party was a huge hit and tons of fun. Here's some pics from it:

Malinda (in the middle) with 5 of 7 of her children

(Luanne, Jane, Malinda, Gail, Barry, Denny)

Malinda and Grandkids
(Halle, Mike, Luke, Sara, Troy)


Mike and his parents (Phil and Gail)

The quilt they are all standing in front of was made with squares from all the family. Each square has pictures or images or something that reminded the person of Malinda. There are also Malinda's favorite quotes, wedding pictures, birthdays of her kids and grandkids. It's a gorgeous quilt. Also, each person wrote a note going along with the square and a book was made with a picture of the square and the note along with it. It was such a great gift and everyone was amazed.

Mike and I outside the church.

The location of the party and Malinda's church.

Mike in front of the Iowa sites (a.k.a. cornfields)!!!!

Overall, the trip was great! We just wished it could have been longer! And it was also really nice to meet most of Mike's extended family.

Created Blog!!!

HEY! So, we've decided to start a blog. This is our last year of school, and we will most likely be moving out of Tucson. Because of this we have decided to start the blog to keep in contact and let others be updated. Also, this is our first blog, so please be patient. :)