Goodbye Utah, Hello Hawaii (Las Vegas in between)

Our last week in Utah was very eventful. Halloween weekend was very busy. We had a ward trunk or treat on Saturday and took Jace trick or treating that night. The next day on Sunday we had a family Thanksgiving with Sheldon's family. They were nice to have it early since we were headed to Hawaii and would miss the real one. We also took some family pictures with his family too so I am waiting for those pictures from Lance.

During the week I started some sewing projects with the help of my sister-in-law, Heidi, so I was busy trying to finish them up and pack up our stuff. While I was there I made a quilt and an apron. Heidi took pity on me and finished my quilt since she could probably see how limited our time was and how long it would take me to finish it. She is an excellent seamstress so I was glad to have her help me and I am a beginning sewer so I always have to do everything over since I mess it up the first time. Also, the last weekend we were in Utah one of my best friends, Marie, got married in Manti. On Saturday we headed down to Manti for the wedding and luncheon and then came back to Orem to do some packing before the reception in Alpine that night. Of course, I got to take only one picture and my battery died so I am waiting for my friend Michelle's photos. After the reception we packed up all of our last minute stuff into our cars and drove to Las Vegas during the middle of the night. We arrived on November 7th in the morning at my parent's house. My parent's also planned a Thanksgiving meal for us that day so we celebrated our second Thanksgiving dinner with them. On Wednesday night we went to Chuck E. Cheese with Natalie and her family and my parents. Then at 1:00 am my dad took us to the airport for the start of our three month Hawaiian adventure!!!!!!! More to come........
Ian and Marie Hanberg...a beautiful couple. Their whole day was so nice and I was so glad I was there to see it. Marie and I have been friends since 1999 when we were 18 at Dixie College. She made a beautiful bride. I stole this photo from her Facebook profile.
My mom cooked us a Thanksgiving meal the day we arrived. It was so delicious. We also celebrated my dad's 63rd birthday that night. We played some fun Thanksgiving games, had pie, and my dad opened his presents.




We stayed in Las Vegas from Sunday to Wednesday night. I sewed some more ties with my sister Natalie, got my hair done by my cousin Jenny, and also went and got pedicures with my mom and sister. Sheldon spent most of the time studying for his next board exam. The last day we went to Chuck E. Cheese and Jace ran around the place like a crazy child. He also followed Chuck E. Cheese around and gave him a high five. It was pretty cute.

Hot Dog Roast in our Backyard

A few weeks ago we had a party in our backyard with some of our optometry friends. We have a fire pit in our backyard and we roasted hot dogs and smores'. There are nine LDS couples in Sheldon's class and we have had so much fun hanging out together the last three years. We had a couple of "last" get-togethers the past few weeks because we are all going to be going separate ways once rotations start next week.

Julie, Megan, Paige, Cori, Lora, Rachael, & Jordan

Portland

Last weekend we were invited by two couples in our ward to go on their ski boat for a ride on the Willamete River and out to dinner. We went with three couples and started in Portland and rode on the boat all the way to Oregon City. Then we docked at a fish house and ate dinner. It was such a fun date night and way fun to see

Newport, Oregon

We had a great time in Newport, Oregon. We met up with some other optometry school couples and had fun touring the coast. We saw the Yaquina Lighthouse and the Newport Harbor. We were also lucky to see seals, sea lions, and a whale sighting (we only saw water blowing up and not any part of the whale because it was so far in the distance). After our day of sightseeing we went out to eat. We had fun!




Trevor, Jordan, Paige, Rachel, Annabelle, Jason, Julie, Sheldon, Easton, Cori, Josh, & Trennon

Blazer Game & Twilight

Last week Sheldon and I went to the Blazer vs. Suns basketball game at the Rose Garden. It was so fun to go to Portland and see what a really pretty city it is at night. It was also fun to see a professional basketball game. Shaq was playing and he is huge. The Blazers lost but we still had a great time. We went with several other optometry school couples.





I also read Twilight in one day and bought both novels New Moon and Eclipse. I read them both in two days. I love the books and I can't stop thinking about them. I know I need to get over it and start to live "real life."