Thanksgiving 2009

It's almost Christmas and I'm just barely blogging about Thanksgiving! I'd blame it on kids but that would be a lie so I'll blame it on work and Adam.

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at Kari and Steve's. Adam and I joined Molly, Tom, Evelyn and Sophie along with Bub and Kari for a wonderful meal.

Evelyn helped make the rolls.

I was commissioned by Adam to assist in cutting the squash. He gave me this job because it was awful. Kari doesn't know this yet but she's getting new knives for Christmas!

Below is Adam in a cute but ill-fitting apron. His YEARS at Copper Mill have paid off in the kitchen!

This is the stuffing recipe my mom shared with us. We had it last year at the Nelson's Cabin and it was delicious.

Ready to eat!

Bub, hamming it up with the turkey.

Mama's boy.

Charli was "thankful" to be under the table. Some scraps were accidentally dropped, others were dropped on purpose. All were intentionally eaten.

New Home

We moved! After two great years we packed our stuff (in a single 24-hour period) and moved to North Logan. Believe it or not North Logan is a separate city from Logan. We had family in town due to Halloween so we commissioned their services. Thank you everyone who helped we honestly couldn't have done it without you.

We wanted to mimic the photo we took when we moved in... plus one.

Adam's job was packing the kitchen.

My job was packing the office/dogs room.

Lift with the knees!

The puppies were confused with all the moving so spent most the day locked in the bathroom.

First meal in the new kitchen, waffles.

Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day. Our new town home has a side yard for the dogs as well as a garage. We'll post pictures of the inside once we get the walls decorated.

New Address:

1504 North 200 East

North Logan, UT 84341

Halloween Party

Our annual Halloween Party was a blast! We didn't carve pumpkins this year but we did play a mean game of Pictionary. Below are a few photo's. For more pics of the spooky event check out Molly's blog.

Kari came as a gypsy. This is her in our black-lit foyer.

Evelyn as Alice In Wonderland.

The costume winners!

Angel Mo... er Russell?

The Knight family.

The Ozmun & Hunstman family.

Bub and Evelyn.

I dressed as Sandy from Grease. Thank goodness the bag is blocking most of me, those pants were tight!

So Long 328

Its official, we're being booted. Through no fault of our own our family needs to relocated. Our house has been on the market for a few months with no takers, until this past weekend. Yesterday our landlord called to let us know they had received an offer on the house and they were accepting it. They expect to close within 30 days. I think that's extremely wishful thinking in this economy but whatever, we're moving. There is the possibility that the new owners would want to rent to us but we are ready for a change. The house has been fun but it definitely has it's drawbacks so the move is both good and bad.

There is a townhouse across from the gym we both frequent that we are considering. They allow pets (which is rare) and they are in good condition (which is also rare). Plus my father-in-law does all the maintenance for the place so we know things would be fixed in a timely fashion.

Move-in Day two years ago.

You can tell this photo is old because Adam can hold Charli with just one hand, she now requires a forklift.

Everything we love about our family room we will be taking with us!

We are sad but excited about the change. Adam and I made a deal that any move we ever had would be considered a "good" one. What's wrong with looking for the positive? Unless the move included jump suits with numbers we'll consider it "good".

Thanks Molly

I don't normally watch Oprah, nothing against her I'm just usually working. On Sunday Kari showed us a recorded interview she had done earlier in the week with a women from Provo. I was amazed and inspired by this women's courage and positive attitude after such a horrific accident. (I also think she has amazing style!) Below I've included her blog address. This is the polar opposite of "Seriously, So Blessed" which is also based in Provo.

http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Halloween Party!

Adam and I are pleased to announce the return of our annual Halloween party. We are planning the celebration for the 30th of October (it's a Friday) at 7:00 pm (we decided 6:00 was too early). Costumes are required so plan ahead. We had a blast last year and can't wait to do it again. I'm planning on sending out invitations but with work being so crazy I can't promise they'll get there much before the 30th. Last year things were a little last minute and we failed to notify everyone (namely Grandpa and Tana) sorry guys! I'm trying to be more organized this year. Get excited!

The Dog Park

This little gem was discovered via Craigslist a few months back. I was in the "pets" section (slow work day) and came across a post sharing the location of a local dog park. In Logan there is no legal place to take your dog off-leash. We've long struggled with the lack of parks, canyons, open spaces that (legally) allow our four-legged friends. For the most part long walks have been Howard's only physical outlet.

For those of you unaware (I shall aware you) Howard is a Terrier, Terriers are relentless, Terriers are smart, Terriers cannot be worn out it's been proven, its science. Most the walks we would take the dogs on were as long as Charlie's legs. Unlike Adam I love all my dogs equally so I refuse to walk one without the others. Howard's need for exercise and Charlie's inability to walk long distances without the promise of food regularly collided. This impasse caused a good amount of mental anguish as well as destruction of couch pillows.

One day while scouring the Internet for answers (poetic license) I discovered the Craigslist post sharing the location of the dog park; a fenced one-acre lot littered with toys, balls, and two kiddie pools.

Our first few trips to the park we were the only ones there. Norman walked the perimeter smelling and marking, Charlie looked for things to eat and Howard walked around waiting for someone to throw something. We live in a house without a fenced yard so our dogs don't go outside without leashes on. This free range option was an entirely new experience for them. It wasn't until we went when other dogs where there that we saw how much exercise this park provided.

There are specific rules when entering the dog park. Rule one, you are required to love dogs more than most republicans. Rule two, if your dog poops you bag it. Rule three, someones dog poops you say, "Poop!" in a loud fashion and hope the owner takes notice of his/her dog. You are not required to pick up another dogs' poop but if you do so you are afforded a free poop pass. This means the next time your dog goes off into some far corner to do his/her "business" you can pretend not to see it. Rule four, you never ask the owners name only the dogs. When you are referring to a person you simply say, "_____'s owner". Rule five, if your dogs is humping another dog (regardless of gender) you are required to laugh, make a cliche comment, say its "normal" but eventually pull the dogs apart. Rule six, there are not bad dogs only bad owners. It is unlawful to bad-mouth the aggressive Pit bull but is completely legal to chastise the owner, under your breath of course.

We have loved the park and are not looking forward to the snow, which will inevitably close it for the season. The dogs are better behaved at home and Charli is slowing losing some weight.