Trick Or Treat...

So this Halloween was a Little Bit more Eventful than Years Past...There Was...

Friends:

I am apart of a Bunco group & for Halloween we thought we would have fun and dress up! It was great to see everyone's creativity :) I won't say I was very creative, just more of a "Crap what am I going to wear...How about my Coworkers 5 year old daughters costume...yeah that sounds good!!" haha!! I LOVE these Girls & I LOVE our Bunco group!!

Family:

Mike's parents came to town last week so we could celebrate Mike's Mom's Birthday. We tried to be creative with the days activities and part of it included pumpkin carving. I thought we could do a contest but Mike & I decided to not be creative & used a pattern from the carving kit, but his parents took the creative route & came up with their own design. Great Job Mom & Dad!! We had a lot of fun doing it!!

Work:

So every year (at least for how long I have been there) my work has a Halloween decorating contest & my team LOVES to win. Well I don't really have pics of the decor but we Kept the Thrown & Won!! But of course it didn't hurt that we all dressed up as dead people (our decor was a grave yard theme) & busted out in the Thriller Dance when the judges came in. No I am not Lieing & yes we did do an Encore for the entire office...but heck we got chick filet breakfast which is VERY yummy so definately worth the embarassment. And that was only on Thursday...Then on Friday we dressed up Again & enjoyed the fun festivities around the office for Halloween.

Parties:

My friend Becca threw a Dead Wedding Reception party since her and her hubby dressed up as corpse bride & groom. It was really fun & she did a killer job with the decor to help show it as a wedding reception in a more ghoulish way. Mike even won Best Costume which is funny because his costume was very simple & cost us NOTHING but his acting Stole the Show. If you didn't know any better you would have really thought he was an old person, it's definately hard to express in words but he was the Hit at the Party. We also had another party on Halloween at our Neighbors. They definately know how to throw a killer party & its always fun to see everyone's costumes.

Did you notice how many different costumes I had? Which do you think is Best?

The Strawberry

The Dead Worker

The Old Couple

And in closing Mylo would like to wish you all a very Happy but Late Halloween!!

Timp Caves & Fun w/ Paige :)

Yesterday we decided to enjoy what may be the last nice weekend & give it another try and head to the Timp Caves for what I knew was going to be an uphill hike yet I had no idea how out of shape I really am :( The first quarter of a mile I was ok but then it got harder & harder & harder. I had a feeling this would happen so when I was still feeling "ok" I told Mike that when I started to complain that he had to remind me that this was MY idea & that I WANTED to do this, he quickly promised that he would and soon when he should have been reminding me of my need to go tour the caves he encouraged me to keep going & never complained when I had to stop & rest & after what felt like an eternity we made it!!! And it really was worth it. The caves were really cool & it felt nice to be walking slowly & enjoying the amazing formations that mother nature had made herself. Thanks Mike for taking me & enduring my complaining & heavy breathing as we climbed/crawled to the top!!! and if you live close by & have never gone to the caves I suggest going, but you may want to work out a little more than I did before going ;)

The weekend before we got to enjoy the weekend with the cutest little girl ever!!! Our adorable neice, Paige. My sis & her hubby came up for the weekend so they could attend Josh's grandma's 95th Birthday. They had a nice family get together for her birthday & luckily for Mike & I, little kids were not invited so we got to spend the day with Paige. She was so good as we ran some errands & drove all over town. Mike & I are so use to it just being the 2 of us that we would get involved in our conversations & forget that Paige was even there, then we would hear a giggle or a noise in the back seat & there was Paige entertaining herself without a care in the world. Does that make us bad babysitters?? We met my friend Brett Devine & his GF for lunch & they just loved Paige! I wish I had taken a pic of this but Mike got a Thin Mint Milk Shake & Paige quickly fell in love with it! After she had one taste she was hooked. She wouldn't eat a french fry unless it was dipped into the shake. Then she practically licked the cup clean when it was all gone (sorry Amber, but what are Aunties & Uncles for)... Then it was off to the Park. We knew that Paige loved ridiing the Swings & going down the slide but what I didn't expect was her fastination with walking up and down the "board walk". The playground had alot of paths made with boards and she would just walk up & down, up & down, with no concerns for doing anything else. I was surprised we got her to leave her new found toy w/out throwing too much of a fit...

Thanks Amber & Josh for visiting! Sorry we have no pics of you but we sure had fun with Paige :)




And last but not least....The Rainbow. This pic is a pic of a rainbow that was just outside our window. Look at how Bright it is!!! Mike and I were walking Mylo when we saw this Beautiful Double Rainbow!!! I didn't get a pic of the 2nd arch but this one was SOO bright that I was literally in Awe by it!! I don't think my camera caught the true brightness of it but isn't Nature Beautiful & Amazing as to what it can do!!

A Little Bit of This & That & The Other...

Labor Day we started the day playing some Tennis w/ my little Bro Tyson. He's found a new passion outside of golf....Tennis & since he was visiting all the way from SLC while my parents were in town we decided to test out his skills... well Mike & Ty put each other up to the test & since I was there they let me play too, but I was surely no competition (I'm sure you can tell by the way I hold the rack)

Then it was off to American Fork Canyon so we could tour the Timpanogos Caves...No Wait about a drive around the Alpine Loop or better yet a hike at Cascade Springs. Ewe a scenic ride up the ski lift at Sundance, no I'm hungry how about we stop for a picnic in Provo Canyon.... So that would be our adventure that afternoon. My parents volunteered at a PGA Golf Tournament that was being hosted in SLC so while they were away Mike & I headed up American Fork Canyon so we could tour the Timpanogos Caves. I packed a lunch & headed up to tour the Famous Timpanogos Caves (maybe there not famous but I've heard there cool). Well I knew it was going to busy but I didn't expect EVERY tour to be sold out so with a quick changes of plans we decided to just driver the scenic drive of the Alpine Loop & fine a nice picnic area to have our lunch. Well on the way we kept seeing signs about this "Cascade Springs" so we decided follow up & boy did we drive a wee bit longer than expected but we found them & a nice little hike to the top of the Springs. It was really pretty up there & a nice pitstop. So we headed back to the Alpine Loop which found its way to Sundance & in the summer they do scenic rides on the chair lift so we stopped...but WAIT TEN DOLLARS PER PERSON...ummm we were enjohying our free afternoon (the entrance at the canyon let us go through for Free) & decided our tummies were hungry and it was time to eat. So we ended our drive in Provo Canyon and had a nice very much needed picnic :) Overall it was a really nice afternoon & even though our plans didn't work out we had a GREAT time w/ just the two of us.



Then on Wednesday to say goodbye to my parents we went Golfing & after a rough start I think I showed my parents that I really am a Tanner & I may have gained another invitation to go golfing again with them (I kindof invited myself to this one but hey why does Mike always get invited?? I am THEIR daughter)

And the Winner Is.......

The Turtle

The Lobster

The Octopus

Last weekend we had a Traditional (well what we want to make a Tradition) weekend in Bear Lake at Mike's grandparent's cabin. It is the end of the season & since we don't have a boat we just hang out on the shore but This Year held our VERY FIRST Sand Building Contest!!!! It was alot of fun seeing everyone's creative juices flow out & although it was a 3 Way Tie (no suprise we all voted for our very own) we had a lot of fun!! Here are a few more pics of the fun...

The pic of the Barbie is a new Family Member that I think Dave Adopted...haha!! He found this barbie on shore & was quick to befriend her & make sure she had some fun too so I had to make sure to include a pic of her for him :)!!

But I have to say my FAVORITE moment was this.....


Mmmm....Mike's mom & dad made us a Breakfast Feast on Sunday with Cinnamon Rolls and all :) I forget how much I love a Great Big Breakfast w/ all the Yummies!!! But besides that we enjoyed some great mind blowing moves on Sequence, remembering our favorite moments from the movie "The Goonies" & of course some much needed pure relaxation. Thanks for the Great weekend!!

Catch Up Time...

Of course, I am behind in my blogging but here is a quick recap of some of the things that have happend this month (August).

1. My little brother Tyson got his Eagle!!

We are soo proud of him but of course Tyson is a Tanner & carries the gene that likes to make us procrastinate at every chance we get (hence the delayed post by me) & he got his papers signed for his Eagle the day before his 18th Birthday. Talk about doing things in the 12th hour. Good Job Ty!! We Love ya & we're so glad we were able to be there for you!!

He also started his first Semester of College....Crazy!! Good Luck Ty! Make sure to leave time to Study : o )

2. Boating!!

So one of the perks at my job is that each quarter we get to have a team activity. Well this quarter we decided to go boating & we had so much fun & since not many of my coworkers look at my blog (excluding Becca of course), I thought I would be free to post some pics of the fun day!!

And just so you know all the brown (beer looking) bottles are actually "Apple Beer". Sorry...call us sinners but we couldn't help it! Oh & in case you are wondering....Achy Muscles/Sunburn/Mentrual Cramps DO NOT go well together. Yes that would be the day I had following this fun day.

3 - Paige turns 2 (my adorable little niece)!! Sorry no pics because we weren't able to make it to her big Beach Blow Out Party but I just had to give her a Shout Out :) (if you care to see pics you can go to "the hammand family" on the right)

4 - Again no pics but it is definately worth blogging about (because I know my family would appreciate it) - I FOUND MY GOLF SWING!! After 20+ years of trying, I think I finally found my swing.

5- Nauvoo 103 Reunion!!

My old room mate, Carolee Coy from My FIRST year of college (aka 8 years ago in 2001) got married & we were lucky enough that the whole crew was able to be there. Now I had great room mates after this year that I love BUT this is the ONE & ONLY year that I grew to LOVE ALL of my Roommates in the same apartment!!! And I still LOVE seeing them all! I wish I had a pic of us from that year I could show (sorry no digital camera then) but boy have we changed, stayed the same, grown, shrunk & all of the above!!!

Congrats Carolee!! I wish you all the Happiness in the World for your Marriage :) And from what I could see just on Friday Night, they will be Extremely Happy!

6 - We went on an AWESOME TRIP!! haha - I Wish!!! No, this is the end of the recap. Hope you enjoyed :)

24th of July Weekend

Sorry this post is a little behind (like most of my post have been lately) but last weekend for the 24th of July we took Friday off & went to St George so we could celebrate Josh's birthday & go to Foot Loose @ Tuacahn. We had a really great time! For Josh's Birthday Amber & I decided it would be funny to have a Spider Man themed birthday party. It was fun getting all the decorations for it & of course when we saw the Spider Man Pinata we couldn't resist!!! So of course that led to the impersenations of the Famous Upside Down Spider Man Kiss...Now tell me this...Which is better???

Ok Spiderman & Mary Jane did a much better job...but hey it doesn't hurt to try :)

Here are some more pics of Josh's special party (haha its kindof funny because I don't have a picture of Josh...Oops) & we also got Spider Man Tattoos so that pic is of Mike's Ever So Cool Spider Tatt!!

Then the real reason we came down was to go to Tuacahn & by WE, I mean Me, Amber, My Mom & Grandma. We got a great deal on some tickets & we just LOVE Tuacahn so we couldn't pass it up. For anyone who hasn't been there its an outdoor theater that they call Broadway in the Desert. Now I've never been to Broadway but they do an Awesome job & this year we saw Foot Loose & it was AWESOME!!!! The music, the dancing, the acting was all Superb!!! And for all those "Think You Can Dance" Stars, the lead actor was Thayne Japerson from Season 5 so he not only can dance but he can Sing too!! (yes I am holding his hand in the one pic - or atleast pretending - & yes this pic must have been taken at a HORRIBLE angle because I look HUGE!! Sorry I just had to point that out :)

Well we had a Great time & I always love spending time w/ my family!!

What Would You Do If This Guy Was at Your Door??

Ok Technically he didn't show up at my door like this but after a Funfilled Weekend this is what he left with! haha!!! This is actually my dad & HE did his Hair like this but after a few laughs & some pics it was definately time for a hair change :)

This past weekend we were visited for a little bit by my sister Amber & her fam (pics are found on her blog - click on "The Hammond Family" to see), then my Mom & Dad & little Bro stayed for a few days. Well I won't say what all we did but we did enjoy some nice together time & one of the highlights was our hike up Battle Creek Falls. It's amazing what beautiful scenery is found just a little ways from your front door. We took a nice hike (that wasn't as easy as expected) but got to enjoy a nice lunch by the Battle Creek Falls found in Pleasant Grove. We also got to enjoy the nice company of our friend's Nate & Becca!! They really are soo good to my parents. They let us stay at their place the night before til like 1 am in the morning playing rock band, games & just laughing & having a good time.

Well mom & dad & Ty & Josh & Amber & Paige! We loved seeing you this weekend!!! Can't wait to do it again!!

Oh as a side note (& please don't judge me), we also dog sat my sis's doggy Molly & lucky for us she decided to go into heat right before coming. Well...our sweet little Mylo isn't fixed yet so we were a little worried as to what would happen. Well....let's just say all of our concerns about whether Mylo was gay or not was laid to rest. He IS gay!!! Ok...maybe we don't know for sure but I'll tell you what, he would have been happier to have had Molly gone. haha!!!

4th of July!!!

I was lucky enough to talk Mike into letting us go to Idaho AGAIN for the 4th of July! Last year's trip was soo much fun that I thought it would be dumb not to do it again, but this time Amber & Josh weren't coming so Mike wasn't as thrilled...but since he Loves me he agreed to let us go :) We had a Great time!! Although, I didn't get to see everyone I would like to see, it was great seeing who all we did!!! We had a Great time Barbequeing, Laughing, Parade Watching, Carnival Going, Firework Thrilling, Friend Seeing & Family Chilling (with).

The girl in the pic above with me is my brother in law's daughter from his first marriage. It was neat getting to meet her after all these years!! Then...of course we have to laugh at Mylo's pic with his face stuck in the container. he was really thirsty and before we put water in it he went straight in for a drink & got his head stuck. It was soo funny!! So of course we had him do it again...and again...and again...Animal Cruelty or Love? I think Love :)

Those are just some pics of me & some of the friend's I was able to see. Also the little girl in the top right pic is my friend Victoria's little girl, Nykelle. And she was soo funny!! She likes to pose and that was one of her many poses.

These next pics were pretty funny so I thought I would post them. Friday night we watched the Rigby Fireworks after my friend's barbeque & of course I wanted a pic w/ Mike & I. Well, the flash was Soo bright on the camera & so everyone time Britt tried to take a pic we would close our eyes. As you can see there were many failed attempts & the best pic we got is the bottom right one. So...next time I think we'll just forego the night time firework pics :)

Thanks Honey for letting us come & Thanks Oswalds (my aunt & uncle) for letting us stay with you!! We had a Great Time!!!

Meet the Next Singing Sensation....One Man Band!!!

It is True these guys are going to be HUGE!!! Well...Huge in the Rock Band XBox playing World :) My work had a Rock Band concert on Friday & so some of my collegues and I decided it would be fun to put a band together & I am not kidding when I say WE ROCKED IT!! Riley, the singer, has a GREAT voice & since the vocals were turned off on the game it definatley played to our advantage. I was the Big Eyed Bass player & my friend Nancy Rocked it out on the Guitar while Barbi sported a HOTT Cher outfit & killed it on the drums!!! Here are some pics & a fun clip of our killer performance. And if you LOVE it...Yes we are booking Encore Performances :)

And...just so you know the scoring was a little messed up but we won Best Costumes & had a Ton of fun!!! And at the end where the singer is hitting the Mic on the different things (hard to see in the video) They were bobble heads w/ the judges faces taped on them!!! We thought that would be a nice added affect! & he did mean to slide in between the monitors and not into one...haha!!

Oh and as a side note, the park where the performances were at housed alot of homeless people which was really sad to see but a kind homeless guy found my phone that I guess I dropped and called to tell us he had it BUT we had to pay him 2 peices of pizza & a couple dollars to get it back. What an experience & a memory I will have forever!!

Father's Day Weekend

This year we spent Father's Day with Mike's family! I think it's important to try to be with family on these special occasions, even if we can't always, I'm glad we were able to spend it with Mike's family. The Purser's have a Father's Day Tradition of having a nice Family Picnic/Get together on Father's day & here are some pics of that day!

I hope that Dave (Mike's Dad) & My Father were able to enjoy a special day this year as we gave tributes to all the Great Father's out there!!! Sorry dad I wasn't able to spend the day with you as well but I hope you had a GREAT Day!! Love You!

Kayla's Baptism Weekend

My sweet little niece Makayla was baptized last weekend but before that my sis and her little fam came down a day early so we could spend a fun day together before heading to Idaho. First we went golfing, because I have officially taken up the sport...again (I quite every year) & we had a great time!! Luckily it wasn't too hot, but it was funny because Josh (amber's hubby) has "sensitive" skin so everytime we were by ANY bit of shade he was found in it. It made me laugh seeing him far away from where we were just so he could be under some good ol' shade! Maybe it was a "had to of been there" kind of thing, but it sure was funny to me

Then to say Thank you to Josh's sis for babysitting Paige while we were golfing, we all went swimming at my condo & for once Mike & I actually blended in (ya see you rarely see people there without children). Anyways we had a lot of fun & Mike was so sweet & watched Rachel's baby while we swam...once again another Sign that he is going to be a GREAT daddy!!!

Saturday morning the whole fam headed up to Idaho for Kayla's special event! And this was extremely special because Kayla is 10 years old & do to some great home teachers she took the missionary discussions and chose to be baptized! I really look up to her for making that decision on her own & I am glad she got so much support from family. It was really neat too because she asked my little brother (her uncle) Tyson to baptize her & Tyson did such a great job! You can really tell she looks up to her Uncle Tyson & what a great way to help Tyson prepare for his mission. Congratulations Kayla!! We are all so very proud of you!!!!

Then of course we had to have a bar b que afterwards with all the fam to help celebrate the event. It's sad because I use to see my aunt's and uncles alot but not so much since my family moved to Utah, but it was great being with all of them again. Thanks for all your support!! (the pic of Kayla is her reading the scriptures she got from her Aunts and Uncles for her baptism)

Kayla I hope you remember this day always & how you felt on this day!! We Love You Soo Much!