Under the Big Sky!

The second weekend of December,

we flitted away to Big Sky Montana for

a mini ski trip.  The Big Sky resort

was having a 40th anniversary celebration,

along with a military appreciation weekend.

They had fresh powder and temperatures 

above average, so the conditions were perfect.

I probably lost a few years of my life

on our way to Montana - as you will see in

the picture below, the roads were covered in

a snowy ice mixture.  Being from Oklahoma,

I'm not used to this sort of thing.  Even in my

two years living in Utah, I've never seen roads

quite like these roads.  But Eric, being from 

Colorado, was an expert scary snowy icy road driver.

We stayed at the Huntley Lodge at the base of the

mountain.  You could throw on your skis right

out the door and jump on the lift right around the corner.

We arrived on Friday night, so we

had time to settle in before we found a

nice place to eat dinner within walking

distance of our hotel room.  We ate at

a new Italian restaurant and it was fantastic!

If you're going to Big Sky, I would recommend

Andiamo!  And get the rosemary with olive oil

gelato for dessert.  It sounds gross, but it's

quite something.  Yum.

We woke up Saturday morning and enjoyed

a lovely breakfast buffet at our hotel before

heading to the lift.  We were, of course, among

the first skiers on the mountain.

Below, I'm sitting in a warming hut with a map

of all of the trails.  It's a pretty big place.  And 

we covered a pretty good chunk of the mountain.

We ate lunch at Yeti Dogs - a cute little hot dog shop

at the base of the mountain.  Apparently, Chuck Norris eats there.

We skied all day Saturday and then Eric 

skied for half of the day Sunday with some 

friends we ran into the night before.

As long as it's not below zero, I would definitely go

back to Big Sky.  It's beautiful there and I found

the most amazing macaroni and cheese dish at a 

restaurant called Choppers.  YUM.  I would go

back just for the macaroni and cheese.  Haha.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was a little different

this year, but it was still a wonderful day.

We had some good friends over

for a fantastic feast!

I decided to make a gingerbread

house this year.  As most of you know, 

it has been a tradition for me and my 

cousin to make gingerbread houses

on Thanksgiving to be displayed

at the funeral home Christmas

Memorial Service.  I haven't

made a house the past two years,

however.  This year, I needed

to bring back the tradition.  

It was definitely bittersweet this year. 

Lauren and I would sit at

Pa and Mimi's glass top kitchen

table with our hot glue guns 

and all of our candies, cookies

and other treats.  We would

turn on some Christmas music

and get into the holiday spirit.

All of our houses had a theme - 

the theme always had to be a 

Christmas song.  We had some

really good times sitting around

that table, with our moms

and Mimi checking our progress 

occasionally.  

I went back through several years

of Thanksgivings and found some

great pictures of us making our

gingerbread houses.

So, for your enjoyment...

Thanksgiving 2009

Away in a Manger and Holly Jolly Christmas - 2010

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa, Holly Jolly Christmas and Walking in a Winter Wonderland - 2008

Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving 2006

So, this year, in honor

of Pa and Mimi, I did one

of their favorite songs.

It's not technically a Christmas song.

This song was actually played

at their funeral - 

"When They Ring Those Golden Bells."

There's a land beyond the river

that we call the sweet forever

And we only reach that shore by faith,

you see

Yes I want to see my Jesus

Shake His hand and have Him greet us

When they ring those golden bells for you and me

Don't you hear the bells a-ringin'

Can't you hear the angels singin'

It's a glory hallelujah jubilee

In the far off great forever just beyond the shining river

When they ring those golden bells for you and me

When our days have known their number

When in death we sweetly slumber

When the Kingdom mends the spirit to be free

There'll be no more stormy weather

We'll live peacefully together

When they ring those golden bells for you and me

Don't you hear the bells a-ringin'

Can't you hear the angels singin'

It's a glory hallelujah jubilee

In the far off great forever 

just beyond the shining river

When they ring those golden bells for you and me

When they ring those golden bells for you and me

Now, onto the Thanksgiving Feast!

I thoroughly enjoyed setting my new table

and using all of my beautiful dishes.

My mom got me those turkey salt and pepper
shakers a couple years ago for Thanksgiving

On the Menu:

We had sliced beef brisket, macaroni and cheese,

green beans with honey almonds, mashed potatoes,

and garlic cheddar biscuits.  

The annual Mac and Cheese Picture

I found some of our annual Macaroni and 

Cheese pictures... there are quite a few...

but here's a taste.....

Mimi and our aunt Paula were
being silly, trying to be like us.

Pumpkin shaped sugar cookies and pecan pie were our desserts

We really enjoyed Thanksgiving

with our friends.  We spent the evening 

looking through black friday ads from the paper

and watching football on TV.

This week, I have been getting

the house prepared for Christmas.

I made a Christmas wreath,

which was a lot of fun.

 I had to take a few ornaments off

my Christmas tree to finish my wreath,

so I went to Hobby Lobby and got a couple

new boxes of ornaments for our Christmas tree...

I decided to take everything off the tree and

start fresh.  I added a couple more strands of 

lights and some more ribbon.

The finished product turned out 

quite fabulous......

And my super sweet husband brought

me a beautiful flower arrangement yesterday

when he came home from work.

He's very sweet.

I hope you all had a

wonderful Thanksgiving!

Vacation to St. Thomas

Here are the pictures you have been

waiting to see!  

We had a fantastic time in St. Thomas.

Our resort was amazing, the water

was perfect... it was all just wonderful.

Well, take a look for yourself!

The view from our room

These lizards were EVERYWHERE

It was so fun having Natalie 

there with us - it was her

first trip to the ocean...

Natalie's first time at the beach!

She wasn't sure about it

The guys basically lived on the floating trampoline all week

It was fun watching cruise ships come in and out - one day there were 5!

The girls enjoyed a spa day

That water kept creeping up... I had to keep an eye on it.

Our beautiful resort

Just lounging in the ocean...

Natalie loved Eric

One of the restaurants where we dined - gorgeous view

That is one cute baby

We went snorkeling one day - saw turtles and schools of fish!

On the catamaran that took us to a snorkeling spot

We were ready for the OU game

We definitely want to go back to

this place at some point in the future.

It was an awesome vacation!