This weekend was full of adventures! Friday we were able to do Thanksgiving dinner with my sister and her family, my younger brother and my other sister. We started the day off with a 3k run- the "Turkey Trot". We were all getting ready to do the run and my nephew karate chopped the finish line (made of crate paper) and when my sister asked him why he did that he paused for a second, i think because he realized he did something wrong, and then he threw up his hands like he had won the race and said "woo!". It was super funny. After the run we all started the food preparation and then stuffed ourselves silly. After a movie a few of us went up to Ogden to iFly-and indoor place where you go inside this tube thing and they turn the wind up super high so you can fly. It was tons of fun!

Getting all of our gear on

All geared up and ready to go!

The next morning we met up again to go shooting out past Saratoga Springs. I didn't have the best time, but everyone else enjoyed it! I hadn't ever held a gun before and the first gun I shot was super loud and the trigger was hard for me to pull. Once I shot it I started crying because I was so scared! I screamed and handed the gun back over to Jake and then the rest of the day shot a small gun with my nephews. I am the biggest baby ever. Everyone else had and awesome time- Jake brought all of his guns plus some, so everyone had lots to shoot. Jake got some targets and clay pigeons, and I brought the pumpkins from our porch- so we had lots to shoot! It was interesting driving out to the middle of nowhere and seeing little spots where you could tell people shoot their guns because there were piles of garbage- tv's, bottles, and even a windshield(at least it looked like one). It was fun to be with everyone again, but I don't know that I would go shooting again.

Vic shooting a gun- doesn't she look totally in her element?

The guys all lined up

my nephew, Austin and his dad shooting the gun that made me cry- they are so brave!

Overall it was a good weekend. It was nice to sit at dinner and talk about all the things we are thankful for. It is amazing how I don't even think about some of the small things-like being able to take a shower everyday, having a car to drive to work, or even food to eat at every meal. We are super fortunate to have these things!

The other night we headed out to look for Christmas decorations (yes, i know it is not even Thanksgiving yet-but i wanted to be ready for the day after Thanksgiving) and we decided to get some stockings. Jake asked if I wanted them to match, and after I told him I didn't really care he went off looking for his favorite one. After looking at the picture below, I will give you one guess as to which one is his:

Maybe this will help:

I couldn't stop laughing. I think it is so funny how much he loves the Jazz (no, not the music Vic). We both love christmas and are excited for the day we get to put up our christmas tree! I even bugged Jake to get the gutters put up on the house so we could hang christmas lights outside. I still haven't gotten to it, but that is my goal for this weekend! (they will not be turned on until AFTER thanksgiving) I still can't decide what kind to do- the clear ones, white ones, or multi color? I don't really like the solid colored ones (besides white)-it reminds me of a house back home on our street that did all yellow lights on their house, including yellow spotlights shining on their roof. I can't remember if they had a tweety bird dressed as santa or not- I could be imagining that. I also don't like when people do solid red (sorry if that includes you)- it just seems like the opposite of christmas. Or I could do the ones that flash according to music...what will they come up with next year?

The one thing I don't like about this time of year in Utah is how dry my skin gets. It is disgusting, and I am sure people look at me like I have a disease but it looks like I have a goatee of dry skin. D-I-S-G-U-S-T-I-N-G. Maybe too much information for you, but it is worse for me- I have to live with it. Regardless of the pounds of lotion I put on, I am left with the dry skin goatee.

We are excited for Thanksgiving- we are going up to my sister's house to be with family (sadly Jake will be working on the real thanksgiving day so we will miss out on his family's festivities) but my sister usually does her dinners on Friday so her family can go skiing on Thanksgiving day-that way they aren't slamming into other skiiers and having to yell at people to get out of the way on the day after thanksgiving. We will probably all eat tons of food and have intentions of playing games afterwards but in actuality will fall asleep within minutes of finishing the dishes. That's the best part-taking a nap with your bloated belly. I am in charge of the traditional Black Bottom Pie (initiated by Dad Ryder) and hope I don't ruin it. I have never made one before- I am usually in charge of mashed potatoes which no one can screw up (which is why it is always given to me). Wish me luck! Dad- if you have any pointers let me know!

I am somewhat grateful I was home by myself tonight...after feeling extremely stressed and irritated by a couple days at work, I found myself sobbing on the couch reading about this amazing family. (or you can click the NieNie icon on the right pane) I found a link to this inspiring woman's blog on a couple of my friend's blogs and was curious to see what was going on. After a few hours of reading her blog entries, followed by entries in her sister's blog, I felt myself wanting to aspire to be a fraction of who she is. Her family is most important to her. She is loved by many people, mostly her husband. I cried the most when I read of how her sisters were helping through this, and how all her husband cared about was his wife. I know it sounds creepy, and almost stalkerish, but after seeing pictures of her and her family, she seems like one of those women at church that you see yourself longing to be more like. You should check this out- and if you are female, make sure you have some tissues handy!

I feel like this was a mushy, weird post from me, but I am allowed to be emotional every once in a while! :)

We went to Lowes the other night, and by our pictures you can tell what we found! They have all of the christmas decorations out, and they had tons of different types of hats.

I think this one is my absolute favorite :)

This one makes me feel a little sick

It kind of felt like winter because it had snowed almost 3 inches that morning! I woke up and was excited but ticked off at the same time. It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to work, when usually it only takes me 30 minutes. I think its funny and it drives me nuts how when it snows people somehow forget how to drive and they freak out. There was a five car pile up on the freeway, and another accident they were cleaning up. I fought the urge to jump into the carpool lane, but decided a super expensive ticket would make me feel even worse.
We joined a co-ed volleyball team with some friends from church and we had our first games on Tuesday night. There are three couples that play and it was alot of fun! We only won one game out of the four but it was fun to play. I haven't ever played on a co-ed team, but I do like the rule of having to have the girls touch the ball almost everytime it comes over the net. The guys on our team are good about letting the girls play, but there was one time I played a game with some people from church back home and some guy acted like girls didn't even know what a volleyball was. I am glad this team is different!
I am also on a church volleyball team and we were good enough to make it to the regional tournament! We played our first games last night and were good enough to move onto the next pool play next week. It is alot of fun and it's nice because everyone plays hard but have fun while doing it.
Jake and I also had a new nephew born this week! Jake's brother, Danny and his wife Courtney had little Cason on Monday! We went to the hospital to visit and they are all doing super well. Cason is adorable! He is so little!
Other than that things are good! I am counting down the days until Thanksgiving so I can be lazy, watch movies, and eat tons of food.

So, I know i shouldn't be posting at work, but i just HAD to do it. I got the hiccups and they were the worst I have ever had! I told this guy that I wanted them to go away, then he sent me this link:

Click This

It made my Hiccups go away! You should visit it!