Twas the Days Before Christmas

Twas the Days Before Christmas and all through the house, nothing was Christmasy, not even my spouse.  So we bought a permit and climbed up a mount, to pick a fair tree and finally we fount.  It was full, it was green, and there arose such a clatter, a man with an axe and a whole lot of laughter.  Then it was off down the steep mount, with a man amount like a sleigh, he wooshed and he swooshed ahead of his wife who said "Hey!" 

(It was like Bear Grylls Man Vs. Wild)  And that is how we got our 1st real Christmas tree together!  It was way fun!  Then Ann and I made popcorn/cranberry garland.  Mine took 6 hours.  It was so nice looking though.  Totally worth it.

Mid December we had the annual work party for the dentist office at our boss's home.  We had a gingerbread house contest, boys vs. girls.  We girls did the mini dental office with a root canal in process, while the boys got really creative and made a trailer home with an old car up on blocks, beach lounge chairs, and even tires on the roof.  So funny.  Then we ate the most amazing Chinese food.  Delicious!  After dinner, we proceeded with rock band, where I sang horribly and Michael got into a groove on the drums.  We were there till nearly midnight it was so entertaining.

Thanksgiving In Arizona!

We ventured to Arizona for a week for Thanksgiving.  We had so much fun running with my parents alongside the canal, where I got attacked by a wet dog GROSS!, met 'thee spotted pigeon' who is afraid of no one, and saw at least 100 carp swimming up and down!  The weather was awesome, 70-80's or so.  We played tennis and even swam.  We also had so much fun with my nephew Grant.  He is a cutie pie.  I loved going in his room in the morning.  He would be singing and all smiles.  Melt my heart.

Anyways, I also had fun shopping with my sister Courtney.  We found the cutest fabric and I even had the gumption to start making a spring dress.  But of course, I only got it cut out.  I've never made a dress before.  I never thought of it before, but sewing is now very nostalgic of growing up when my mom would help me when I messed up or needed to think something out before I committed it to the needle.   If only I had a sewing machine, oh the things I could do--while probably on the phone with Mom! I miss you MOM!

So, then on Thanksgiving morning we headed to the Turkey Trot!  My father had previously challenged me to the 10K and we talked my mom into running it too.  I ran this same race when I was a junior in high school in 53 min., so my goal was at least to make it under an hour.  So it began and Michael took off at the front to win the thing, while we trotted behind all together.  We stayed together almost the whole time.  It was really hot by mile 5 and everyone was wanting water.  Let's just say the water station got hammered and we got separated.  Mom was ahead and I hung back until my dad caught up again.  Then we passed the 6 mile mark where there was a clock @58:40, and I said "See ya" to pa and took off sprinting.  It was so fun and I had a great kick.  I passed about 10 people, I love that feeling!  I finished in 59:58.  Yeah!  I achieved my goal!  And of course Michael got 2nd overall, 1st in his age group and secured a turkey for my sister's freezer. 

And now for the Feast.  The day was lovely and we decorated Keith and Courtney's patio with lights and made a chandelier to hang over the table.  It was awesome, the food great, and perfect temperature to eat outside.  Then we played some games and called it a night.  Then we left the next morning.  Sad.  Thanks Keith and Courtney for letting us stay with you!

The Fall

In October we started getting snow here in Laramie.  It was exciting.  Ann and I built an Abominable Snow Penguin with all the snow in front of my apartment.  It was awesome!  I also was thick into training for the 10K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving in AZ.  Michael took me for a run in the mountains next to Laramie and we ran 4 miles in at least one foot of snow the whole time.  That was fun and truly a work out!  A week before Halloween we ventured to the little town of Manitou Springs, CO for a 5K race.  Michael didn't do as hot as he had hoped, but we had a fun time looking at some shoppes on main street and watching weird people that were all dressed up for the Parade of Coffins afterwards.  It really was almost creepy.  In all, a very touristy town.

On The Run

In beginning June Michael ran the Pilot Hill 25K. The course started at the edge of town, went through prairie and up canyons, and up a steep climb to the very top of a mountain and back down. Michael finished 2nd place, behind the lead guy by 30 seconds. It was his first time ever racing this kind of distance and he was spent at the end of it.
We also went camping for our first time (with just us) at Happy Jack. We had so much fun riding our bikes on all the awesome trails and taking a hike by a lake. Making smores was fun too. They were so good, we had them as part of breakfast the next day. I love roasting mallows!

Off to Utah!

The first two weekends of May we spent in Utah at my cousin's weddings. It was fun to see family I don't see very often. The weddings were both beautiful as well as the brides in their gorgeous dresses. All the tulips were out in full bloom as well as the blossoming trees at the Mount Timpanogas Temple.

We also spent some time with Michael's syblings Amber and Chris. Overall, both trips were great!

The Newest Member

On February 20, 2009, my sister Courtney gave birth to a handsome little guy Grant Stanley Jackson. He is so adorable. We spent our spring break down in Arizona and saw just how fast he grew within a week. If only we lived closer!

The Wedding March Comes to an End! (and everything inbetween)

Wow! So it's been a long time since my last blog, I know, and a lot has happened since. We had 4 weddings within about a 2 month span, our anniversary, and a great July 4th! We are almost experts at traveling now. So, we will begin in March....

March 21
We went down to Denver for the weekend of our spring break and had fun with Michael's family. ATVing was on the list of activities. Actually, it was with just his dad Kerry who came with us. We drove to Devil's Head, a big mountain with snow still on it. They let people drive their ATV's on the"closed" snowy road up to nearly the top of the mountain during the winter. Let's just say, I never knew you could drive so well on snow. It was a blast! Michael drove most of the time and fishtailed a lot on the snow. I was on the back holding on for dear life and laughing histerically--because for some reason it was just sooo fun and funny! When it was my turn, I probably scared Michael. I got us stuck 3 times in the deep snow on the side of the road, but we always got out of course. Doughnuts in the snow were also very awesome with snow flying out everywhere! It was a great time and I highly recommend it!

A Massive Hexagon Boulder Standing Idly By--So COOL!

Michael & Me

April 18
We drove down to Denver for Michael's sister Stephanie's wedding. She married Brady Wood. Michael takes all the credit for introducing the two, who don't really ever remember meeting eachother at beach volleyball. The wedding was beautiful and they are very cute together! They had a huge chocolate fountain at the reception which was very....chocolatey!

Brady & Stephanie Wood

May 23
We drove to Sandy, Utah for Michael's sister Amber's wedding. She married Briton Wright. Now there is only one Amber Huntington, to make things less confusing :) She and her hubby were married in the Timpanogos Temple. They had their reception at a decked-out garden greenhouse. It was beautiful, and smelled wonderful with all the plants around! We had a lot of fun dancing and the food was so good.

Briton & Amber Wright

June 28
We made a day trip to Logan, Utah for Michael's cousin Dave's wedding. Its a six hour drive so it was a short but sweet trip. The temple was beautiful and so was the ceremony. Dave & Melissa are just so cute together. Between temple and family dinner we made a short drive over to Gossner's Cheese Factory where I, Amber, experienced cheese curds ("squeeky cheese") for the first time. We came home with some really great cheese. I love cheese! Anyways, dinner was lovely and it was just fun to spend so much time with the family. Then we headed back home for a couple of days to work.

July 2 -- July 7
We made our second trip to Utah, this time for an extended vacation at Grandma's with nothing planned to do than eat Creamies and light fireworks. We of course stopped in Evanston to buy some fireworks, as Michael calls it... "family tradition". I have never spent so much money on something that was so, well...short lived. Yet, we had a blast and spent time with family hiking up to Lake Blanch. On the morning of the 4th, Michael and his dad, brother, and sister Amber ran the Murray Fun Days 5K. Michael placed 5th overall, and second in his age group. It was fun to watch everyone come in. The oldest man that ran was 93 and finished just as they were giving out the award for the oldest runner. It was pretty amazing. We also had the opportunity to visit my Hurst cousins with my sister Courtney and her husband Keith, who were in town for a family reunion. It was so good to see Courtney and Keith, since we only have that pleasure about twice a year.



Michael sporting his silver medal.

The traditional "TANK WARS"

July 12
Again, we made the trek to Utah for what?, yes, another wedding. This time it was on my side. My cousin Katherine Hurst married Shiloh Mecham in the Timpanogos Temple. It was especially special because my Grandpa Hurst was able to seal them. It was so beautiful and the room was filled with so much love. It was also so great to see my parents and my sister Ann. We even had time inbetween events to just hang out in the hotel and act all sisterly and such. We have such a ball together being silly that I really miss my sisters, being so far from them and all. Anyways, the reception was fun and it was just great to mingle with the whole family.

THEN my parents and sister came up to visit us for a day and a half in Laramie. We played a gruelling game of Risk till late Sunday night, and ventured to Vedauwoo for a fun hike on boulder mountains. It was a great time.

AND NOW we are just happy to have stayed home for these past two weekends. We suffered out first week back with "travel lag". No doubt, this has been the most traveled summer....thank goodness that we get good gas mileage!

And so the wedding march finally comes to an end.