Thanksgiving with the Bloomfields

This year was our turn to have Thanksgiving with Matt's family in Arizona.  I have to mention here, just because it's hilarious, that the last time we had Thanksgiving with the Bloomfields, they came up here and we had planned on going out to eat at a restaurant.  Well, the lines were too long so we came back to our apartment and had hot dogs.  At the time, I did not think this was very funny because, and anyone in my family can vouch for this, I suffer from a form of Hangry that manifests itself when I am in the mood for something specific and either can't figure out what it is or for some reason cannot have it.  Well, in this case I was in the mood and had planned on eating Thanksgiving food, so the idea of eating a hot dog was pretty much the worst thing that could have happened.  Just to spite the whole thing I had a pb and j.  NOW we all laugh and crack jokes about how Thanksgiving hot dogs.

That being said, this year's Thanksgiving dinner was top notch.  All the food was incredible!  And the company was even better.  One thing that I love about Matt's family is how down to earth they all are.  They are always up for anything and no idea is too big or silly, which keeps things really interesting.  For example, Matt was wiping off the cabinet doors in the kitchen and then decided to take them all off and refinish them at the wood shop.  I love that!  We had a really fun time playing games, watching movies, making food on top of all of the Thanksgiving food (ok, really I can't take any of the credit for this-- it was all Kathi) like cinnamon pecans and almonds, cookies, brownies, etc.  How I didn't gain any weight on this trip is a mystery to me because I'm pretty sure I had about 200 of those nuts.

Adam was the star the whole time and loved (for the most part) the attention.  Being the only grandchild/nephew definitely has its perks.

Now, on to Christmas!

We didn't forget about November

I don't know about everyone else, but I feel like November was gone before it was even here!  Here are a few highlights from our November:

Adam turned 8 months old and can crawl all over and pulls himself up on everything which means we had to baby proof the things that we thought we baby proofed!  He has two teeth that have popped through on the bottom that I think are the cutest.  He has started to make more sounds and can totally say "mama" although I don't think he knows what it means yet.  Carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, and peas are among his favorite foods... and the occasional bite of ice cream that his dad sneaks him when I'm not watching.  How do I know this?  Adam hasn't figured out how to hide the drool evidence yet.  We continue to love him more and more each day!

Adam got his first haircut!  Thanks, Lacey!

There was a big horned sheep that came down from the mountain and found its way to our neighborhood.  It made quite the spectacle with police, every neighbor outside, etc.

Matt had to go into work to catch up on a few things on a Saturday morning, so Adam and I tagged along.  Not that it was hard to be there or anything-- Adam loves Qualtrics!

Adam and I spent one weekend up at my parent's house while Matt was out of town for a job interview.  We set up their Christmas tree while we were there, and Adam loved it!  However, he was more interested in the cord to plug the tree in than in the actual tree itself.  We love having my family close and all the time we get to spend with them; we missed Matt though.

And finally, we've been prepping for CHRISTMAS!!  That means Christmas food and Christmas crafts and Christmas music... Yes, we do love November, but mostly because it means it's almost December.

Thanksgiving in the next post!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great week leading up to one of my favorite holidays!  My neighbor, Ashley, and I hosted a Clue mystery dinner at her house with a few friends from church.  Matt and I were invited to a similar party last year, so we basically copied the idea and it was so much fun.  Everyone's costumes were very creative!

Madame Rose and Prince Azure (Mackenzie and Spencer)

Scarlet and Colonel Mustard (Matt and I)

Ms. Peacock and Professor Plum (Lacey and Casey)

Ms. White and Mr. Green (Ashley and Matt)

Yvette the Maid and Mr. Boddy (Emily and Paul)

Our ward Trunk-or-Treat party was also a lot of fun.  We got "Honorable Mention" for our costume!   There was a chili and corn bread cook off, so we were able to try all kinds of delicious varieties.

Matt's work party was catered more to children-- there was a face painting booth, magicians, and a balloon person (what are those called anyway?-- the people that tie balloons into all different animals...), so it will be fun to go when Adam is a little older.  However, the food was awesome.  They had soup bowls and salad, which I love.

Halloween day was actually pretty relaxing.  I totally forgot to get candy, so I avoided all of the trick-or-treaters, except for one kid that STUCK HIS HEAD IN THE DOOR!  Yeah, I still can't believe that happened.  We ended up watching World War Z with our neighbors, which is one of my favorite movies of all time mostly because I have epic zombie dreams every time I watch it.

All in all Halloween this year was a blast.  I'm excited for next year when Matt will no longer be in school so that we can fully immerse ourselves in the holiday without thinking about tests and homework and all those other schooly things.  I'm already planning next year's costume!

Sumner Family Reunion

I honestly can't even remember the last time I'd seen some of my dad's siblings, so I was really excited to hear that they were all coming out to visit in October!  Most of them had never been to Utah before either, so my parents were excited to show them around, ride the gondola at Snow Basin, etc.

Matt, Adam, and I went up on the Saturday that everyone was here.  We had a beautiful, intimate memorial for my grandmother who passed away earlier this year followed by good food, jokes, and lots of catching up.  None of them had met Matt before, and they were obviously excited to meet Adam.  My dad's siblings are all super witty and have great senses of humor.  We had a great time and are already looking forward to the next reunion!

(These pictures were gathered from several different sources, so forgive the picture quality...)

1800s (just kidding... probably like 1965) 

Present Day

Barbara and Joe

My cute parentals

Nancy and Richard

Tom

Ashton and Bill

Maybe Matt and I will take our little family on a trip up to Minnesota to visit these awesome people in the near future... I mean, Adam has to start learning how to play hockey sometime, right?!