Christmas Adventures

Jonathan and I headed to Colorado to spend time with my sister Jill, her husband Drew and the four boys for the holidays. The break from school and work and to just get out of town was certainly needed and we just took time to relax and spend time with family. It's nice to be in a real home with Christmas lights twinkling, and homemade food all about, and little children excited to open their new treasures. We arrived on Sat. morning and stayed until Thursday afternoon, we ate good food including Sushi, honeybaked ham and turkey, homemade rolls, you name it we had it! We all tried to master playing guitar hero and we did happen to get somewhat better!! We taught Jill and Drew how to play settlers, we watched movies, we practiced playing with the new cool kids toy called the rip stick and fell several times... Jill also had us go running to keep up our schedule for the marathon coming up, and Jon got a Rifle for Christmas so him and Drew went duck hunting! Here are some pictures from the trip, it's so nice to be with family for the holidays, we had such a good time! I didn't get any pictures but we came back and got to spend time with Jon's family also including family Christmas parties, dinners, and seeing the new baby Austyn (not sure on the spelling)! It has been so perfect to be with our families to spend the holidays, I love this time of year and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and most importantly were able to feel the love in of Christ in your life*

I think we have here Mary, Joseph, one wise men and a Shepard!

Here is Jon on Christmas Dinner, I think we calculated that he had a whole gallon of egg nog over the Christmas Holiday so we had to get this picture! Below that are sledding, Jon hunting, and Karter being cute!

The Land of the Warm!

I'm a bit behind on my blogging, but a few weekends ago Jonathan and I headed to St. George with some friends! Our friends had a condo with a pool and a hot-tub and it was warm enough to get into both even at night! It was the perfect weekend to go as it dumped snow in Provo and it was sunshine in St. George. Really we just hung out, played games, went swimming, got see our favorite St. George people (Jon's parents and the Nelsons) It was just really fun to get out of town and sense it was warm outside Jon and I got to go on a long run outdoors.. now that was a treat! One really cool thing we saw while we were there was a huge display of over 300 nativity scenes at the church, it was really quite specatcular I thought!

Intramural Football Champs!! Team Thundercats!

So every year since I have been in Provo I have played intramural football.. it is the very Best, I love it!! It is what makes me happy that we still live in Provo during the winter time! We won the championship last year and Last Thursday night we became the Top Division Football Champions.. we had no loses for the Pre- Season or Tournament games. This year I was a rusher and a blocker. I love to rush, there is such a thrill in pulling those flags off the quarterback before she throws the ball!! I had such a great time playing this year, my team was so much fun. Jon got some great pic's of our final game.. who by the way was so awesome and game to every single game and cheered , in the freezing cold most of the time!

Dancing Skills

So Jon and I found this site and we wanted to show you all our sweet Christmas moves!!
Go to the following website to see!


http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9631053569

Gobble Gobble

So for Thanksgiving we took off to sunny California to visit the Thompson's, and we had so much fun!! We arrived on Thursday morning but had to leave on Sunday evening so it was a short trip, but it brought back so many memories of this summer. It was great to be somewhere and know your way around and to think of Jon and I's first few months together as newlyweds, it was so fun to be with the Thompson's who we have missed so much.
We headed to Gladstone's to dinner on Thursday which is always fun it's a little restaurant on the beach.. we did have one small hiccup on the way over in which I threw up all over Jon's lap.. yikes not good but he was really sweet about it and luckily I didn't make anyone else sick as we were all in the car on the freeway. We played great games of settlers, and chatted, and we got to see the Nelson's also which was so fun. It's always nice to spend time with family, so we were really glad for the opportunity! Grace certainly remembered Jonny as she just loves him and gets all giggly when he is around.. it's the cutest thing ever.
Thanksgiving is such a good time of year to reflect on all the things were thankful for, and Jon and I feel so blessed. I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I had planned but here is what I did get!

Tagged!

So my friend Jessie tagged me, and it's been hard to come up with 6 random facts or habits that I do.. but here goes what I came up with...
1. I am a total list maker, everyday I start out making a list with big boxes to the side so I can check them off. I make lists over anything I can think of and carry them around with me in my planner.. I swear it's the only way I can remember to get all my stuff done.
2. I have broken 4 bones, and have had staples once on my head. Here in Provo I think they know me by a first name bases in the ER. I broke my leg on the trampoline, my arm snowboarding, my nose playing basketball, my finger playing intramural football, and staples in my head snowboarding. I'm hoping for a few years at least before I get a new injury!
3. I love the office, the Nelson's got Jon and I hooked quite some time ago and I'm addicted and hate if I have to miss an episode or if it's a re-run.
4. I have a hard time holding still, I'm a total goer, love to always be doing something, personally I think I thrive a little on chaos. Weather it be running, sporting events, hanging out with friends just about anything and I am up for it. I have a hard time missing out on things, for instance if I am sick but there is something fun going on I usually make it to the event, or if people are over and I'm really tired and want to go to bed.. I can't cause I don't want to miss out on anything. When I was little my mom would find me in the most random places sleeping as I would try to be included in the adult fun.
5. I have some funny issues with food such as I only like guacamole that is homemade, but won't eat it at resteraunts or anywhere else for that matter. I only like tomatoes on somethings like salads but not sandwiches, tomatoes are really hit and miss with me. I only like soda or most drinks in the can or smaller bottle so that means no 2 liter bottles or pouring my drink out into a cup.. not a fan.Jon and I had dinner at David's a little while back and he had this like calzone meaty pizza and I gobbled it right up, Jon was shocked and said I don't know if I'll ever figure you out, I would have thought you would hate that.
6. I love any kind of celebration, if there is anything big or small I love to celebrate it. So if it be the 4th of July or Jon doing well on a test we celebrate. Now this doesn't have to be a big celebration but just something.

People to be tagged: Cami E, Jill H, Lisa N, Dave and Emily C.. and anyone really I would love to hear some funny things about you all!!

Sun Lover's

Saturday morning was absolutely beautiful, Jon and I woke up to clear skies and the warmth of the sun! So of course we have to take full advantage of the day, we started by going on a run and then we decided to hike up Stewart Falls with our friends the Housley's thinking it would be warm. We drove up the canyon to Sundance and our hike was mostly all in the shade a bit cold and muddy. It was worth it though after hiking for about 5 minutes we were warm anyhow. The falls were slightly disappointing as they usually are big and spray you upon arrival, this time you could hardly call it a falls. It was nice to get out in nature and hike around for a bit, and enjoy one of our last warm days before the winter hits. We all know once that happens Jon will be sad as he has self diagnosed himself with SADS disease!

Dinner Fun!

The dinner festivities began, Jon and I had been talking all day about making homemade pizza and buying our coveted coke! We have been restricting our soda intake which Jon is really good about and I'm still struggling, so when Jon suggested that coke would be the perfect drink to go along with our Homemade pizza I was extatic!! So we headed to go our cokes which I drank as soon as we purchased and Jon put his in the Freezer to get nice and icy for the pizza. So we made our pizza which turned out amazing by the way, and Jon got his coke out of the freezer and had a bit of a coke explosion which he tried very hard to gulp down as it was coming out as to not get a ton of soda everywhere! I laughed so hard and got a picture, needless to say his coke didn't taste very good after that!
Here is Jon and the explosion, and below is our delicious BBQ Chicken Pizza!

So this isn't the best angle, but Here is the Recipe if you want to make it for yourself:
For the Dough:
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 warm water
Dissolve yeast and brown sugar in warm water and let stand for 10min.
Then Mix
1tsp. salt
2tbls. olive oil
3 1/3 C Flour
Let the dough rise 15-20 minutes

Roll out dough and add toppings for whatever kind of pizza you want. This one had a stuff crust with string cheese in the center, then the toppings consisted of Famous Dave's Sweet and Saucy BBQ sauce, mozz cheese and colby jack cheese, and grilled chicken spiced to taste!
Bake till it looks done at 425 !!! (Golden Brown) Also I bake mine on a pizza stone that has olive oil and corn mill on the bottom.

Get Your Ghoul On!

This year Jon and I wore costumes that cost no money and really not much effort, but we still dressed up and thats what counts!! We thought of several great costumes we could make but we got lazy and did the last minute scramble. We got a group of us together and headed over to HeeHaws for the not so scary corn maze, it was fun and Jon had a great time going off the path and jumping out of different corners to make the girls scream. They also had a hay trampoline and they did have scary hay looking men dressed up outside the corn maze that chased us around. We topped the night off by heading over to Chilli's were the waiter really did think Mike was a woman so that was entertaining!

Happy Six Months!

This past weekend Jon and I celebrated six months of being married, that went fast huh!! We headed up to Midway an area we have not ventured to explore yet. We first visited the crater which was quit different then what we thought it was. I was imagining bubbling water and smoke rising kind of like a hot tub, but it was more like sitting in a luke warm bath, but it was fun and we swam around! Then we went over to this romantic restaurant called the Inn on the Creek which was so cozy, and the best part about it was that we went in thinking this will be expensive but it's for a good cause... and when we got there they told us there was a special two for one entree's so it was cheap and perfect. I love being married to Jon there is never a dull moment thats for sure!!

Jon's Trip Out of Town!

Jon took a fishing/hunting trip two weeks ago, for an entire 6 days!! He went with my Brother in Law (Andy) and Conner my nephew and my Uncle Jim up to Idaho by the Salmon river! Here is a picture of the area and one of the fish that was caught. I had an entire week of productive things I was going to do with Jon out of town but somehow I never got to them, I have great intentions but life just gets busy, well plus I was trying to fill up my time with working, and football games and pedicures so that I would not be lonely. I am so glad he is back, it was too long! I told Jon to take lots of pictures but this is all he came back with, it works though!

Halloween Festivites!

I have been really slacking on keeping my camera around with me for the adventures that Jon and I have been having. However I have been able to capture a few so here goes.
With the cold weather we have been having and Halloween approaching we thought it was only fit to carve some pumpkins and drink some apple cider to be festive. Our pumpkin didn't really turn out the way we had planned but really who's does?? Our pumpkin is on the right and our friends Sarah and Jamis is the one on the left, we have evil vs. silly!

Addiction

So I have always had a bit of an addictive personality weather it be to food, a game, sports, just about anything. I really didn't think I was in much danger as the girls as work talked about the twilight series book.. I thought silly vampire book. Then some how I just kept hearing about it everywhere I went people brought it up and were talking about it. When I went to my sisters house she had them all around also, So I broke down and got the first book, that we less the a week ago now and I just purchased the third and final book at this time hoping to hurry through and read the book to cure my addiction so I can get back to normal life and so Jonathan isn't so bored!! This book has been really been a quick and fun read and keeps you excited to read more, so if you haven't read it look into it when you get a chance!

Colorado

Two weekends ago Jon and I took our three hour ride to the Grand Junction Colorado to see my Sister, her husband and the boys as we call them! We arrived just in time to see the rest of Conner's baseball game, and watch Karter try to run the bases with his one arm swinging away as the game was all over. Jill woke us up really early on Saturday morning to go on a run, she comes up the stairs at like 8:30 telling us that she has been up and waiting for an hour before her husband would let her wake us, she had all these great plans for long runs, starting with 9 miles, we finally settled on 5. She rocked us, but we made it. The trip was great and it was so fun to be with family and to see the boys!!

Wind Rivers

So Jon's dad just sent us some pictures from our backpacking trip to the wind rivers and I thought I would post some of them!! The trip looking back on it was really fun, it was 5 days long and we covered some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Kent did a great job as our camp cook, which I was really happy about because it's hard to spice up backpacking food. Let's see some highlights from the trip were getting hailed on while in the tent, boys knocking over the tree for some wood, singing songs on the trail with Jon and David, playing cards with Eric even though he beat me ever time, campfires, laying awake at night wondering if I was going to be eaten by bears, Clint sharing his coveted sharp cheese and crackers, making it to camp and knowing you don't have to hike any more that day, moleskin for my blisters, just being with family and friends.

Wedding Festivities!

So two of our most favorite people got married recently, Mike and Jessica Cook!! More Cook's to add to the clan! The wedding was awesome and best of all Jonathan and I got to be part of the wedding party and recieved an award at their wedding for being matchmaker's of the year!! It's now framed and in our new office, we were pretty proud and got to make a speach at the wedding! Jess was so beautiful as you can tell from the pictures and we are so happy to have more married friends.. and family! We are so happy for them and the wedding was fabulous with great food!

Slacking on the Blog!

So I have become a slacker on the blogging, and decided that enough is enough! Jon and I moved back from california almost a month ago and our lifes have not sit still sense. For some reason every day is filled with something that needs to get done, or we are busy playing, or working or school or something... Life just gets busy. WE have been so sad to leave California, we miss it, and we miss both sets of Thompson's, and the beach, oh and the cheesecake..yum!! We are now back in Provo and Jon has started school and loving it, and I am back to the grind of work, I realize now just how good I had it, working from home. Our new home is nice, the living room is almost microscopic, but the rest is not too bad and eventually we will have time to decorate it! I am at work writing this so I have no pic's to blog, but I promise some pic's of our latest adventures soon!

Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear

Jon and I had started to doubt that California had a place that was nice and quite and away from the crazy mix of things. We got invited to Lake arrowhead and got to go with both sets of Thompson's! We started our drive and Jon and I had to turn around like 3 times before we were officially on our way, we just kept forgetting things. After about an hour and a half drive we were headed up the windy roads into the mountains, Jon and I were both grinning because this has been something we have missed about Utah, we rolled down the windows and soaked in the smell of the mountain air.. it was great. It was such a great time, we played with the kids and played games at night as they had all settled in their beds. Jon and I went on a half run half walk and I was so out of breath I thought I was going to die. So needless to say we are a little worried about our backpacking trip in a few weeks, coming from sea level! It was a really good time and unfortunately we didn't break out the camera till the end of our trip. Here are some pics of us at Big Bear going up to the alpine slide, the slide was great but it doesn't compare to the Park City two mile stretch!

Happy Birthday To My Sweet Sweet Jonny!!

Yesterday was Jon's B-day.. the big 24! I'm so glad he is 24 now, so he can no longer say oh Gina is 26 and I'm 23, she is 3 years older then me!! Now we are just back to our normal 2 years apart.

Yesterday we both took half days and went to the beach for our last time for a while, and we played all day with the boogie boards.. practically getting drowned the waves were so hard yesterday. Then we met up with everyone and went to this restaurant on the beach were they wrap up your food super cool as you can see from Jon's pose, his is a Dolphin with a mermaid on top!

I'm so grateful for such a sweet husband and friend, Happy Birthday Jonny!

Weekend Getaway.. Pismo Beach and Solvang!!

Jon and I got to get out town this weekend to visit some friends! As Jon and I headed down the 101 we thought our weekend might be doomed by overcast skies but as we made it to the beach they cleared out and we got to play. Kristen and I got to surf for a while and then we all stayed together for a sleep over in the hotel. Here we are all geared up to get into the cold water!

There I am surfing.. just about to loose my balance.. but hey we got it on camera!

And of course we can not post a beach blog without showing Jon's drip castles, we have to make one every beach trip, I think this is the best one so far!

On our way home we stopped at Solvang which is a little Danish community, we walked around the shops and ate delicious cheese, We love cheese!

On our way out of town we saw these beautiful rows of flowers and couldn't resist not taking a picture of them.