Merry Christmas from Utah

Talk about a whirlwind! This trip has been jam-packed with awesome fun-ness.

We got about 4 hours of sleep and then got ready and headed to the Richmond Airport for our 6:00 AM flight to Minneapolis. Then we connected to Salt Lake City. We weren't able to sit next to each other on either flight, but that's ok because we were so tired and wanted to sleep. Jim and Wendy picked us up when we flew in at about 11:45 and we went to the Henderson household to see everyone. It was so fun! Wendy, my mother-in-law, always outdoes herself. The decorations, the gifts, the food - it was all wonderful. The little boys are obsessed with trains this year and got some Thomas the Train engine play sets. They also got some foam swords and played with those. They couldn't seem to get the helmets on quite right though :)

After opening gifts at the Henderson's, we went down to Grandma and Grandpa Cuthbert's house in Lehi. They had some amazing food, and we were so stuffed. Homemade soups, rolls, and hand-dipped chocolates were so delicious. It was so wonderful seeing everyone!

We then went to my parents house. We opened gifts (and got some sweet turquoise Vans, thanks Jared), among other awesome presents! My parents got us this awesome game with magnets and you have to avoid attracting everyone else's magnets. It'll be a great game for game night with our friends back in Richmond! We watched Salt, had hot chocolate, and then went to bed.

Sunday was also packed. We got all dolled-up for family pictures at Wheeler Farm with the Lassig side of the family and had a great time in the cold (no, seriously)! The photographer never showed up, so uncle Mark took pictures instead and they turned out fantastically. He also got some great shots of the "golden rooster." You had to see it - I'll ask him for some of the pictures and post them once I get them.

We went to David and Marci's for a late breakfast and chilling. It was so fun! I love just sitting around, talking with family members. Except about politics, which Omi and Buppi found out (lol).

Then we went back to the Henderson's to get ready for the Henderson family party up at Classic Skating in Layton. It was good to see everyone!

THEN...(are you getting tired of our itinerary???) we went to Centerville to see Grandma and Grandpa Beers and visit with them! Wayne and Annette also showed up with their kids so that was a fun surprise :)

Monday we decided to go to Classic in Salt Lake City to play with all the little boys. It was exhausting, but SO fun! They had a blast in the ball pit and sliding down the slides. The Blast Zone is a favorite for sure :)

After Classic, Jordan, Josie, Beckham, and I went to see Great Grandma Wood. She was pretty tired, but it was good to see her. She is 94! We then decided to go see Grandpa Larry and Grandma Della. They are so sweet, I always love talking with them.

And that's our trip in a nutshell! I left Monday night at 12:50 AM. Jordan stayed until Thursday morning and almost didn't make it to the airport with the huge storm - but barely made it for both flights. VERY lucky, considering that people were stranded all over the country with freak snow storms.

We were so glad we could come out for a bit and see almost everyone! We are going to hopefully come back out to Utah next March. My dear brother Jordan is going on his mission to Argentina on March 2, and Jordan's best friend Colin is getting married on March 5! I love how everything works out :) Love you all!

Goin' to the Gym

We got annual gym memberships to Gold's Gym this week. We're excited for many reasons...

1. Jordan will have a warm place to run (not outside in the cold).

2. They have pilates, yoga, bodyflow (a mixture of pilates, yoga, and tai chi), and ZUMBA!!!!

3. Swimming pool

4. Sauna

5. Abs room

6. Cardio Cinema - a cardio room where there is a movie playing all day!

7. 3 minutes from our house

Yay for exercising :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

Jordan and I are SOOOO excited for Christmas! The week after Thanksgiving, I decorated our front porch with lights and our front room with some Christmas decorations. For some reason, we waited until 2 weeks before Christmas to get a tree. A real tree, mind you! I LOVE the smell of Christmas trees. That, and the smell of "smoker-men" incense brings to mind so many Christmas memories from growing up. We weren't sure where to get a tree, so I kept my mind out while driving in Richmond. There really weren't many places it seemed! We also needed to get a tree stand. Target was all out of them, so we went to Home Depot and lo and behold, they had Christmas trees! For really good prices too. So we got a cute 6-foot Douglas Fir, a tree stand, and some tree food. Isn't it cute!?

We've gotten all our shopping done and I'm loving just taking in this Christmas season. It snowed last week (2 inches) and all the schools had a snow day and a lot of businesses shut down. It was pretty hilarious! We decided to go to the mall that day, and it was perfect because NO-ONE was out! Then the snow melted over the next couple days and we're supposed to get a "big" snow storm this weekend. I hope it doesn't interfere with our flight home!

Yesterday at work we had a potluck and I was the only one who remembered. Haha. We were supposed to bring foods from where we were from (A lot of the girls I work with are from Africa, so they were going to bring African cuisine). Well, I brought funeral potatoes, and everyone loved them! I also brought Martinelli's, but didn't have a bottle cap opener. One of the patient's daughters brought everyone doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Then one of the CNA's bought some Fanta from the gas station. So my dinner consisted of funeral potatoes, Krispy Kreme, and Fanta. Delicious :) It's a good thing that I burn so many calories during a shift, otherwise I would be getting fat, lol.

Good Old-Fashioned Cheesy Potatoes (Funeral Potatoes)

6 large potatoes, boiled and grated OR 24 oz. thawed country-style hashbrowns

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup

2 cups sour cream

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup melted butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 cups corn flakes

2 Tbsp. melted butter

Combine soup, sour cream, cheese, 1/2 cup melted butter, and onions. Gently blend into potatoes. Pour into 9x13 baking dish. Crush corn flakes and mix in 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle on top (or omit corn flake topping and just sprinkle with paprika). Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Delicious!

Thanksgiving 2010

This year, I had to work on Thanksgiving. Jordan and I decided to "postpone" celebrating until the weekend, and we had a wonderful time! I had bought the smallest bone-in turkey breast I could find (5-ish pounds) and cooked the bird, made mashed potatoes, rolls, and pumpkin pie! It was a Thanksgiving to remember :) The turkey turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. And since I bought one with a pop up thermometer, roasting it was easy. I'm going to do that from now on! I heard from my grandparents that my little cousins raised a turkey that was over 30 pounds, and they had it for Thanksgiving! Talk about a lot of meat! Our little bird lasted us for about a week.

For the turkey, I rubbed it with olive oil, salt, and pepper and cooked it for 2-3 hours. The rolls are freezer rolls. Pumpkin pie came from can (and was yummy). The potatoes are 4 large potatoes, with sour cream, cream cheese, milk, butter, salt, and pepper. I've found that you can have a delicious meal without the hassle of cooking all day long - meaning you can make things from a can or the freezer section and they'll still taste good. Yay for shortcuts! :)

We're Coming Home!

I totally spaced blogging about this - we're coming home for Christmas! We fly in on Christmas day at one in the afternoon. We're SOOOO excited to see everyone and we want to fit in as many visits as possible! I fly out Monday night and Jordan will fly out Thursday night.