A HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year at my parents' house. I actually made the turkey...a first ever for me, and it was yummy. I have a big family, there are 8 kids in all, and there are lots of grandkids. Plus we had some other family and friends over, so we had a FULL house! After dinner, me, Manny, my two younger brothers, and all the grandkids went outside to play baseball. It was hilarious watching them hit and then running to the wrong base. Afterwards, the kids went inside to make Christmas ornaments and write letters to Santa, and eat all the good desserts that were brought. After dinner there, we went to Old Navy because they were having a really good sale, and then we went to Manny's parents' house in PG for dessert again. We were so stuffed! It's too bad that I forgot the camera and didn't take pictures of anything. I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving.

OOOOLLLLLEEEE, OLE, OLE, OLE!

I thought I would document this momentous occasion just for Manny. Real Salt Lake just won the MLS Cup Championship. They beat the LA Galaxy. Take that Beckham and Donovan! I'm sure you can imagine all the cheering and yelling going on at my house these past few hours. Go REAL SALT LAKE!

"WHOOP THERE IT IS"

We went fishing at Strawberry again on Saturday. Manny didn't know that I was recording him.

The fish spalshed into the water so I wasn't able to get a picture of it.

On a side note, yesterday on the 24th was the 7 year anniversary since the first time I had ever met Manny. We don't celebrate this anniversary or anything, I just happen to realize the date and so I started thinking about it. I can't believe that 7 years has flown by so fast. Manny and I were set up on a blind date, so it was a little nerve racking because I just kept thinking about how he could be some ugly, weird freak and that this could be the worst date ever. But it wasn't. Our date only lasted about an hour. We went out to eat and that was it. On our date, he said to me, "I hope you don't mind, we're only going to eat and then I'll take you home. That way if you decide you don't like me, then you don't have to be around me for very long." I thought, Man, this guy is smart, sounds good to me. Turned out, I wouldn't have minded if our date was a little longer.

A WEEKEND OF BREAKING RECORDS

Friday morning, Manny and I went fishing at Strawberry. We had a great time catching some big fish!

You might want to turn up the volume to hear Manny better. He really believes in jinxes. I didn't jinx him though. The fish ended up being 22 inches. That's the biggest fish for Manny to date.

Here's the 22 incher. Record number 1. He was so happy. And, he caught it on a fly pole which he doesn't use very much.

The next video is of a 19 inch fish he caught.

The picture below is of the 19 1/4 inch fish that I caught. This is record number 2. I seem to only ever catch much smaller fish, so I was glad that I finally caught a bigger one. I had to have Manny unhook it and hold it, because I may catch the fish, but I definitely do not touch them. Record number 3...I caught this on a fly pole too. This was my first time ever using a fly pole.

We caught quite a few others, but I won't post the pictures because they pretty much all look the same. All of the fish were caught on a fly pole and they were all between 18 1/2" and 22".

I thought I'd add the picture of the dead pelican that I took. It was lying on the side of the lake next to where we parked. It was really big. And, gross, I know, but I was still fascinated with it.

Saturday, we went to Scofield with my brother in-law Big Ryan and my nephew Little Ryan. Record number 4 is that I caught the most fish that I have ever caught at once time. 9...and I know that's not very many for some people (like Manny), but again, I'm not the best fisherwoman, so I was happy to break another record and catch a lot of fish. There was a total of 30 caught between us. My newphew broke record number 5. I taught him how to cast and retrieve and he ended up catching a fish all by himself with my pole. He was so excited, and I think all the adults had a better time watching him reel it in than we did catching our own fish.

And earlier today, we went fishing at Salem Pond. Manny's nephew Jared has been asking him for weeks to take him. Jared has never been fishing before, so Manny was happy to take him. I love watching Manny and Jared together. You can just tell that they absolutely love to play together. Here's a video of Jared catching his first fish, record number 6.

Manny and Jared with his first fish. Jared didn't want to get too close to the fish.

And here is a video of Jared catching his 2nd fish.

Yeah, it was a good weekend of fishing.

FISH LAKE

Manny and I went to Fish Lake the last weekend in September. We were thinking that it was going to be a little cold, but it wasn't. The weather was perfect. We had such a blast camping out. We rented a boat and spent the whole day on the lake on Saturday and caught quite a few fish. It was quiet and peaceful because the lodges around the lake were either already closed or just about to close for the season, so there weren't that many people there.

We were able to enjoy all the beautiful color changes in the mountains. Each night, we listened to the elk buguling. It would last until morning. That was probably one of Manny's favorite parts of the trip. I didn't take very many pictures. Most of the ones I took were of the lake and the mountains.

Here's a family of deer that we saw while we were fishing. We saw a lot of deer during this trip!

This is another lake that we stopped at, but I don't remember the name of it.

FALL ALREADY?

Fall is now official! Summer has come and gone in lightning speed and now it's Autumn time. I'm happy about it because Fall is by far my most FAVORITE season of all. I love all the bright colors on the mountains and on the trees that line my neighborhood. The absolute best part of this time of year is Halloween. This is hands down, my favorite holiday! I know it's still a little over a month away, but I don't care. I just couldn't wait any longer and have already started decorating my house. I'm not completely done with decorating. I've only put up a few Fall and Halloween things. I'm trying as hard as I can until Oct. 1st to put everything else up. So far, here's a couple of things I've done...

I'm proud of myself because I made this cornucopia on my own. I'm not really a very creative or crafty person. Hopefully, I'll be adding a bit more to the cornucopia and this little display on my table.

I can't wait to get into the mountains and take a drive through all the pretty colors! Happy Fall Everyone. I hope you enjoy the beautiful change as much as I do.

6 YEARS AGO...

SEPTEMBER 6, 2003

We were married in the Salt Lake City Temple. These definitely aren't the best photos. I tried to upload much better and prettier pictures from the temple, but for some reason, they just wouldn't upload. So here are a few of the pictures that I have from our reception. It was held in the ballroom of the old BYU Academy (Provo Library). The song that is playing on our blog right now is the one that we danced to at our wedding. It's about saying goodbye to a lonely life and starting a new one with someone you love. I thought it was fitting for a wedding.