A Holly Jolly Christmas

This year we had a Holly Jolly Christmas!! Really :) We had Christmas with Mike's family this year & his mom wanted to switch things up so she planned a Holly Jolly Christmas Dinner & then we played our own version of the Amazing Race afterwards. It was alot of fun! For the dinner we had a menu & each spouse had to select their Spouse's meal. Of course there was a catch. The items to choose from were "Glacier Ice", "Elf's Tree's", "Mrs Claus's Yarn", etc. Of course Mike tried to figure out what everything was so I had a somewhat "normal" meal. Me, well I'm not that patient so I just chose whatever & it was quite funny to see what we ended up getting. Of course Mike did pretty good and guessing what things really were & each course I recieved was "mostly" normal. Well, sorry honey I wasn't as thoughtful because he got some interesting mixtures. I can't remember what they all were but the meal really was suppose to be Salad, Spaghetti and meatballs w/ a roll, brocolli & ice cream w/ caramel & chocolate cookies. But I don't think any of us got what we were suppose to in the right order. It was also funny because you had to choose the utensils as well & if you didn't select them until the 3rd course then the 1st & second course you were left w/ eating w/ just your hands & that is what happened to Dave (Angie's husband) It was pretty funny watching him eat spaghetti, salad & ice cream with just his fingers!! We also played the Amazing race afterwards where we had to use our minds fast & put together a Christmas puzzle, then our coordination and throw Christmas Bulbs into moving Mickey Mouse butterfly catchers, then we solved a Christmas word scramble & shared our beautiful voices as we shoulted out Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Sadly Mike & I lost because we read the instructions too fast & we ended it all wrong :( Thanks Connie for such a fun time & a great memory!!

Of course there is Always presents on Christmas :) Although this year was a more "simple" Christmas we definately still got spoiled (mostly thanks to the Day after Thanksgiving sales). Mike's mom also got us Christmas PJ's since growing up my family I had the tradition of opening up one present on Christmas Eve which surprisingly (not really) was always PJ's - Mike's mom is good to help me carry on that tradition when I am away from my family!! Our PJ's were definately fun w/ mine having snowboarding bunnys on them & Mike's had Moose all over this pants, Hence the pic w/ him wearing the antlers in his PJ's (It was probably a had to of been there moment)

I hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas!!!! Now its time to Embrace the New Year!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!

Mike's Birthday was on Wednesday & since we don't have any family real close we enjoyed a nice, quiet, fun & relaxing day together for Mike's birthday. We started the morning with some Yummy Breakfast, opened presents, then relaxed, shopped, enjoyed a scrumptious lunch at Zupas, went ice skating then ate some Amazing Cheesecake made & decorated by a famous Baker in town....well I wish but I did try my best :)

Love you babe!!! I hope you Enjoyed Your Birthday as Much as I did!!

And just because I want to remember this funny story. I got in Mike's phone & got a bunch of his friend's numbers and texted them to call or text Mike Happy Birthday. Well quickly Mike started getting a bunch of text. Well we had our phones by each other (and we have the EXACT same phone) and a text message came. I assumed it was Mike's phone I opened it up and sayed "Look Honey, let's see who texted you!" Well, the text was from his friend but when we opened it up it said..."Thanks Traci for the reminder, I'll be sure to call him." Sure enough "the other phone" started ringing & it was him. It was pretty funny. Obviously he knew that I must of told everyone but still I didn't think I was going to be the one to give it away...haha!!

This year for Thanksgiving we went to St George & spent it with my family. It was great because my brother & his fam were able to come up too this year so we had a great time with almost everyone there...(Jennie definately next year) I love spending the Holidays with family & I am glad that we live close enough that we can be with family for the Holidays. Here are some pics of my fam...but WARNING - you will experience some Traci Overload in the pics :(

Of course my mom went overload & we had a Spectacular Thanksgiving Dinner!! And luckily due to all the leftovers we were able to experience it...again & again & again :) Love ya Mom!! Delicious as usual

Another Joy of Thanksgiving is the Day after Thanksgiving Shopping! Not that Mike and I had much to buy this year we still had to wake up @ 3 in the morning with my Mom so we could be sure to enjoy the Craziness of it all!! Then of course we spent way to much, but afterwards we met up with Amber and Josh & went to Breakfast so we could get that extra needed energy before passing out of hunger & fatigue

It was also Amber & Josh's 5 year anniversary. So how do they feel about being married for 5 years?? I think this pic explains it all

And because it never ceases to amaze me my mom closes her eyes in EVERY pic we take of her. You may only have seen the ones with her eyes open on my blog but that was after 5 tries of getting the same pic w/ her eyes open. haha!! love ya mom!

To also help Amber & Josh celebrate their anniversay we endured New Moon yet a 2nd time. Ok well it was MIke's first & although you are probably thinking that Amber talked Josh into going to the movie it was indeed Josh who did the talking into. He loves these movies & was dieing to see it. So happily I joined & luckily Mike enjoyed himself as well (although we were still sporting the bed head from waking up so early that morning)

On Saturday we had a "Girl's Day" and went to Santa's Workshop Craft Fair

We always find way to much to buy, for instance...These Cute Accessories!! Amber got this really cute hat & my mom & I got these cute headbands. But I am sad to admit that I think they look better on my mom than me :( O'well Mom way to Spice things up!!

Then that night we made our Traditional Christmas Crafts & Look at How Cute they Turned Out!! I think we're getting pretty good at this ;)

On Sunday we laughed, cried, giggled, & sang as we all went our seperate ways. Ok, maybe that didn't quite happen but I was sad to go. (mostly because that meant going to work the next day) but I really had a Great Thanksgiving!! Thanks Mom & Dad for the Warm Welcoming & to all the rest of the fam. It's always good to see you!!!

Girls Weekend & Mom's Birthday

Last year my sis & mom came up and we went and saw Twilight together & celebrated my Mom's birthday. Well, luckily we were able to do it again this year for New Moon& I think we have officialy started our own little "Girl's Weekend", although we did miss my Sister Jennie! Definately next time.

To start things off we made some bead watches & officially became the "Watch Sisters". Grandma has been staying with me too while my Grandpa has been at the Hospital so she was able to join us!! We loved having you there Grandma :)

Then we sang Happy Birthday to Mom & enjoyed some YUMMY Ice Cream cake that Grandma got (well...she made Mike get it but she did pay)

Then on Sat we went to Gardner Village to go Shopping & took some of our goofy pics (this one is too true)

Mistle Toe...Yet no one to kiss :(

Enjoyed a Yummy Lunch

Then it was off to the MUCH aniticipated Movie! And since my mom is such a Die Hard Fan she HAD to buy the fun candy bars they were selling at the theater & I enjoyed the "Team Jacob" which was Warm Raspberry & Mom got "Team Edward" which was Cool Mint

The Movie Rocked!! Loved all of it & I think I offically became a Team Jacob fan for a Wee Bit!!! Definately can't wait til the Next one!!

Girls I had SOO MUCH FUN!! I'm so glad you came & Mom I hope you had a Great Birthday!!!

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 :)