Saturday, December 28, 2013

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.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

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!