Thanksgiving activities.....

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we had an awesome Thanksgiving day...it was filled with family, amazing food and fun, so what more could you want? (By the way I will warn you that I did get a little carried away with my posting pictures again.) Mom did an excellent job on the table decorations as you can tell...

Here is Seth playing outside before the dinner started. (I got a little side tracked and forgot to put these in where I wanted them...oh well I figure as long as I got them in!!)

After dinner he convinced his Dad to take him back outside for some more fun. Doesn't he look cute all bundled up?

Back to the decorations...Mom did the flower arrangements and Debra made the Pilgrim's hat for each of us! So cute!

The feast is ready....and it was AMAZING!!!!

The kid's table...they enjoyed being by themselves (and so did the adults.)

Debra, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Alisa, David and Michelle at one of the adults table.

Aunt Diane, Sandie, Dave, Seth, Amy, Jason, Janna and Claire at the other adult table.

David playing with fire and a plastic spoon. I guess you are never too old to have some fun with fire!

Debra and Mom getting the food put away. They look really happy to be helping and putting the food away. :)

Alisa was lucky enough to draw the paper that said "wash dishes" from our job jar. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. And she did it with a smile!! We had to have Ryan drag her away so that someone else could have a chance to help.

After dinner the kids went downstairs to play...looks like they had a lot of fun!!

Seth is trying to figure out exactly how this toy works...

...thank goodness his Dad is around to show him how.

The traditional after dinner activity...the looking of the ads and coordinating the "game plan" for "black Friday."

Brenna was Jesse from Toy Story 2 in the little play or something the kids were doing.

By the end of the day we had a couple of tired boys. Grandpa and Seth just chilling! Aren't they just too cute?!?!?

Ryan and Alisa are just relaxing as we watch the final version of their wedding video. It's SO dang cute, but then again so are they! :)

Janna, Jason and Claire just hanging out.

So after everything was done as far as the food was concerned and the ads, Mom got out some lipsticks that Dad brought home from work. We all had to try on the bright red one just for fun and for a good laugh!

So then of course you have to have a silly picture...kiss, kiss!

I took off some of the red and put on the shiny lip gloss and got a pretty nice color.

Abby got into the action as well.

Alisa after the red lipstick, trying on the lip gloss.

It was a wonderful day and thanks everyone for bringing such YUMMY food!

My Favorite Things.....

About a week ago my sister, Amy but some of her favorite things on her blog. And since then I have been racking my brain trying to come up with mine. (I am just in one of those moods where nothing in particular is grabbing my attention...but I did come up with a few.)

1. My BLOG!!!! I was a little nervous about joining the blogging world because I thought that nothing in my life was blog worthy. Well, I now have a totally different perspective...everything I do is blog worthy. It has become my journal and I LOVE it!!! I also love the fact that SO many family and friends have blogs...it's a great way to stay connected. So may I say to everyone...BLOG ON!!! :)

2. My Diffuser!!! It makes life SO much easier for me when I am in a hurry to get ready (which is about every day of the work week.) It drys and makes my hair curly/wavy so FAST!!!! I LOVE it!!! I really could go on and on about my diffuser and how much easier it makes my life but I will spare you all the details. In the end I will leave you with some advice...if you have some natural wave/curl to your hair try a diffuser with gel and hairspray. It may take a couple of times to get it looking how you really want it to look but your hair can be trained! :)

3. Pedicures!!! What says being a girl and feeling like a girl more then pedicures with pretty flowers? I just love looking at my toes when I have them painted all pretty with flowers. I LOVE my pedicure place. New Nails in Provo is awesome! They now know me by name, which I think helps to keep me coming back and the girl who does the flowers there is amazing! Pedicures just make me happy and it's an easy way to feel pampered!

4. Music/Concerts!!! I have to say that I LOVE music!!! I can't tell you the number of times music has helped changed my mood. It seriously has gotten me out of the "blah slumps" many times over. What I LOVE so much about music is the fact that the variety to choose from is endless so you basically can find anything to suite your mood. Lately, I am a fan of a little bit of anything and everything with a catchy beat. The beat is what will draw me to a more then anything else. I have too many favorites so if you really want to know you and ask me personally.

5. Fun Friends and Family!!!! I have to say that over the past couple of days I have had SO much fun talking and goofing off with some of my friends and family. I love the fact that your friends and family will accept you for who you are so you can just TOTALLY be yourself! Family and friends are what makes your life fun, interesting and meaningful! I am SO grateful to have lots of both in my life. But what I love the most lately is being able to act a little silly and have people go along with you and laugh with you. I think laughing is contagious and should be caught by those around you. The point is I am all about enjoying the company of those around me and having a great time and if I can share it with my family and friends even better!!!

Brazilian Party!!!!

"There's a party goin' on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you"

Last night I had a little "party" at my house, and can you guess what the theme of the party was? If you guess something to do with Brazil you would be correct. It was a Brazilian dinner/party (details to follow.) But first what would a party be without some kind of decorations? Here is the sign that we had on the front door (I didn't get a picture of it up on the door but here it is. So cute!)

Eduardo, Fernando and Jenn getting the food all organized. (It was SO YUMMY, I just can't even tell you how good it was...so you will just have to trust me!)

Jenn just hanging out. (I didn't take the pictures, so I don't know all that was going on but I thought it was cute of Jenn so it's getting posted.)

The table...doesn't it look festive?

Diogo, Nancy and Fernando hanging out while the food cooks. Diogo is an amazing barbecuer (is that even a word?) , the meat was SO delicious!!!

Can you tell who had the camera? I think Stephanie had a little fun, but I am completely okay with it since I take self-portraits all the time.

The food...rice, black beans, pasta (with homemade sauce), veggies and meat. Everything was SO fabulous I just can't tell you how FABULOUS it was. Daniel made the rice and beans, Fernando made the pasta and helped with the barbecue, Eduardo did the dessert...mousse. It was SO good. It totally reminded me of being in Brazil!

The guests, (L-R) Fernando, Claudio, Eduardo, Sandra, Daniel, Diogo, Ryan, Alisa, Nancy, Wendy, Stephanie and Mom back in the back (Jenn was taking the picture and I'm not sure where my Dad was.) So, we ate and ate and then just talked and talked. It was a great night...amazing food and the BEST company you will find, so what could be better?

Stephanie and I having a little fun with the camera. I know you have heard this before but it was SO much fun and the food was AMAZING!!! I think in the end the party was a success!

November Birthdays!!!!!

Sunday night we celebrated our November Birthdays! It was a great party and fun to get together to visit with everyone. Happy Birthday Mike & Abby!!!

Fall Leaves Are Great Toys!!!!

Yesterday Dave, Amy and Seth came out for a visit. Since Mom and Dad had some piles of leaves in the backyard Dave decided Seth needed to go experience how fun fall can be in Utah!

Once again, I will admit I got carried away with posting pictures...

Just having fun and smiling at his Mom!

Whoo Hoo these are fun to throw!

He's checking them out here and trying to figure out what they are exactly.

Hip Hip Horray for Fall Leaves!!!

1st Girls Night Out!!!!

Thursday night we had our first Girls Night Out. (Amy came up with the idea that since we have so much family around we should get together and teach each other things or just hang out with any kids around.) Our first "class" was on bread making. Janna, Debra and Amy just hanging out while the bread kneads.

Mom and Jodi cleaning up while the bread was kneading.

Alisa and I chillin'. Alisa was good and took notes on the finer points of bread making.

Janna, Sandie, Alisa and I just hanging out.

Mom was doing some research for us on gluten and stuff like that to help us understand why we put it in wheat bread.

Our two chefs...Jodi showed us how to make wheat bread and Aunt Diane showed us how to make her oatmeal bread! Both of them were SO good and YUMMY!!!

Jodi during her demonstration.

Jodi, Amy and Debra making cinnamon pull aparts. (Funny story, I was trying to get a picture of the 3 of them but Debra kept talking. Do you know how hard it was for Debra to be quiet so I could take a picture? And then in the end that picture wasn't the best one. Sorry Deb!)

The cinnamon pull aparts getting put together. I didn't get one of the finished product but trust me it was pretty and they were WAY YUMMY!!!

It was a great night! We learned a lot about bread making and had some great conversation! I can't wait for the next one. Thanks to our wonderful teachers and everyone for coming! (Michelle we missed you, we hope that you can come next time!)

Halloween Day!!!!!!

Happy Halloween! (Yes, it's late but better late then never, right?) I thought I would post a few pictures from the fun and exciting day. I was a little bored in the radio in the afternoon and I took out my camera to pass the time. I am only posting one right now but I will be adding the rest to my self portraits post below.

Mom, Amy and Seth came by to see my so I could see the little monkey. He was an adorable little monkey!

So Seth is looking away in this picture and I posted it because he was looking at me in the radio booth!

Isn't this a cute picture of us?

I was a little nervous that when Seth came to see me he wouldn't recognize me or want to come to me all dressed up, but I was wrong. He still loved me and let me play with him! Yes, we have odd expressions on our face but at least he was looking at the camera, kind of.

This one is just too cute of Seth!

Jodi's family came Novell for a little trick-or-treating. It was fun to show the boys around the radio booth and stuff. They were all SO cute dressed up!

Alisa stopped by after work, isn't she a cute cat?

David's family came by for a little trick-or-treating before they went to their ward's Halloween Party. They had really cute costumes as well.

Jodi's family stopped by in the evening for a little trick-or-treating and got a picture taken with Grandma and Grandpa Harrison.

Carving Pumpkins

Tuesday night Dad didn't have meetings so we decided to carve pumpkins (an activity that we have not done in years.) To start off the night we went out to the front porch to pick our pumpkins. Dad went out there first and said, "You have to come and pick your own out because I'm not doing it for you." So, I made the long journey to the front porch and picked my pumpkin. And here they are before we attack them! :)

Mom and Dad getting their pumpkins ready to cut!!!!!

Here we are cleaning out the good old pumpkins!

This one is Dad's, it's really cute with ears and all.

Here are the final products. We decided that each one of our pumpkins had their own personality. (Mine, Mom, Dad) We each took a different approach to carving. Mom got out paper and did a rough draft of what she wanted before she even started drawing on the pumpkin. Dad took the pencil to the pumpkin and made his pattern. Now me on the other hand, I tried to make a pattern and then decided I was just going to free hand it. So there you go! We had a great time, it brought back memories of carving pumpkins as kids.