Thanksgiving with the Atkins

Kenny and I went to Wyoming to spend Thanksgiving with his brother's family, Jason, Tonya and their kids. It was a great weekend. It was the first time I was one of the people in charge of cooking. I usually just show up and eat but not this year. I was a guest cook in Tonya's kitchen. We did a great job. She told me what was on the menu and I tried my best to remember how to cook, add ingredients, and find my way around her kitchen.

After some effort, we produced delicious green beans, stuffing, apple tarts, rolls, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy. The boys were in charge of making the turkey. We had smoked turkey - probably the best I've ever eaten.


I think my favorite part of that weekend was washing dishes. We washed dishes by hand. Morgan pulled up a chair to the sink and rinsed after Tonya washed. I was in charge of drying and seeing if I could figure out where things went in the cupboards. But my favorite part was seeing Morgan and Tonya sing as they did dishes. It gave me a very warm feeling of the love they have in their home and the fun they have together as a family. It made me grateful to be there at that moment to witness that happiness and be reminded of the small things that count in life.

Clive looks more like a slug these days

Clive looks more like a slug these days than the caterpillar he started out as. He is ready for this semester to be over so he can turn into a butterfly and fly freely away from the demands of school. I have 4 days of class left and final exams and then I will be DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yahoooooo!!!!!

His and Hers

Dacy and Sherby are spoiled – we all know that. So why not continue the spoiling. Kenny and I found these cute beds for the dogs and they LOVE THEM. They even sleep in the right one - pink for Dacy and blue for Sherby. It really is quite cute to walk in the room and see them snuggling in their own beds. If we can get them to sleep the night in their own beds, Kenny and I can forego the purchase of the King size bed for ourselves!!

Family Field Trip

We tacked on a few days to our anniversary mini-vacation and had Haven join us in Park City/Deer Valley on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had a great time!

We slept in Saturday morning, which was very needed by me. I have a great appreciation for sleep and I’ll take as much as I can when it is available. Once we were up and functioning, we decided to get some breakfast at one of our favorite hole-in-the-wall cafés – The Hub in Heber City. As we were eating breakfast, we realized we didn’t really have a plan for the day. We could go back to the condo and lounge or we could make a plan. Since we aren’t really the lounging type of family, Kenny said he would surprise us with our destinations for the day.

We left The Hub and Kenny drove us over to the Heber Valley Railroad Station. I’m sure all of you reading this blog are aware of Haven’s deep interest in trains. This was a special treat just for Haven. We were able to walk around the rail yard and check things out. I’m amazed at the amount of knowledge Haven has in his head about trains. Quiz him next time you see him!

After the stop at the train station, Kenny told us to hop in the car and prepare for a bit of a drive. Where were we going?? Kenny was very clever in his planning. He took us to the Hill Air Force Museum in Clearfield. Haven has been very interested in warplanes lately and Kenny thought it would be fun for him to see some in real life instead of in a book. See, the night before we were at Barnes and Noble and Haven purchased an encyclopedia type book about almost every military aircraft built complete with all the facts on each one. He carried around the book in the museum so he could look up different facts about the planes. It was the kind of museum field trip every parent desires – a fully engaged child that wants to be there and wants to learn while they are there.

We had a really great time! And we did something special for Kenny – we ate at Burger Bar in Roy. That is Kenny’s favorite place to eat but they are in Roy so he doesn’t get to enjoy a “Big Ben” as often as he would like. Kenny - thanks for planning such a fun day at the last minute!

Happy Anniversary

Kenny and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary today. It has been quite a fun adventure while at the same time a growing and learning time in our lives. I’m ready for the next 8 years. Are you Hunny? No time to think - ready, set go!!!

We had a lovely evening together. We went to dinner at the Tree Room at Sundance – some of the tastiest food I’ve eaten. I highly recommend it to anyone. Then we snuck off to Park City/Deer Valley to stay the rest of the weekend at a condo Kenny reserved for the weekend.

The next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast in Salt Lake at Eggs In The City. Again, very tasty food that I highly recommend to anyone. We then headed off to be pampered for several hours at the Kura Door day spa. Yes, Kenny went to a day spa. We enjoyed ourselves and walked out VERY relaxed and refreshed. We will be going back there very soon!

It was a great mini-vacation for us and an anniversary to remember. Thanks Hunny! Love you!

Pedicures

I've raised my son right! He was willing to have a pedicure with me - wax and all. I was fun! Haven was a sport to do this and he said he enjoyed it. He liked how soft his feet were afterwards. We might need to go do this again...soon!

Clive is getting shorter...

Clive is getting shorter and shorter – this is a good thing! I have 11 classes left until the semester is over and school is finished . WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!