Collin's Birthday and Thanksgiving Week

Now that December is coming up, that means that winter is making its appearance. In our case, it already made it's appearance in Utah...

 A Snowy Provo already in the middle of November

 My car became covered by the time I was done with work

November flew by like the blink of an eye! Not only did we have a lot of birthdays this month, but we got to eat so much food on Thanksgiving. So as you can imagine, things got pretty busy this last month.

I can't believe that Collin is now 25 years old. This means that we are now the same age (for three months)... On the week before his birthday, we celebrated it by going out to eat at this nice restaurant called Tucanos. It's an all-you-can-eat meat buffet. It has become a tradition to go there on his birthday. Apparently it only exists in Utah. If we live in Utah next year, we will go again.

About to enjoy our dessert.We were pretty stuffed...

 Mango Pound Cake. So yummy!

On his birthday, I arranged a party for him, and not just any party, a BATMAN party. :) Collin knew I was planning this party, but had know idea that it was going to be batman themed. We had fun celebrating his birthday and just being kids again. Here are the pictures of the Batman decorations.

 

 His wrapped present that I gave him

 The result of his present: Spot it! We love this game.

 

 I used black and yellow crepe paper to put on the ceiling. There were also yellow, blue, and black balloons that were scattered on the floor. Collin's head got in the way, but, oh well!

 The table cover was none other than Gotham City!

 The plates, the cups, the napkins, and the cake were all Batman themed

 The funfetti cake I made for the party. I was nervous about doing the bat symbol, but I think it turned out...

We played Batman cartoons without sound during the party.

 The 50 piece puzzle I bought for just $1. :)

Exactly a week after Collin's birthday was Thanksgiving day. We got Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off to enjoy time with family. We decided to stay in Provo this year. We were invited by Collin's brother Miles to go to Saratoga Springs to have dinner with his wife's family. We met them back in August for their wedding. They are a very nice, welcoming, and not to mention great cooks! Dinner was so amazing and to top it off, pies for dessert. I think we were both in food comas afterwords. We ended the night by playing a couple of rounds of Scrabble.

 We made bacon and chicken wraps as an apetizer. They're made out of bacon, chicken, crescent rolls, ranch dressing, and mozzarella cheese. So good!

 Our thanksgiving picture. This was taken at Saratoga Springs. Just look at the gorgeous background!

Thanksgiving always makes all of us reflect on the things that we are thankful for. I have so many reasons to be thankful this year. But I think the number one person I am thankful for in my life is my Heavenly Father. He truly hears our prayers when we need Him. He has blessed me with a great life that I have now. I am the person I am today because of Him. I thank Him not just on thanksgiving day, but everyday of my life.

Outstanding October!

We had a lot of fun events happen during the month of October. Right around the middle of the month was Fall Break at Sunrise Preschool where I work. We got the 16th, 17th, and 20th off. Collin still had to work and go to school during that time, so we just stayed in Provo. Since I was staying put, I wanted to do something with my time. One thing I thought about was doing a fall photo shoot. The weather was beautiful and there were lots of colorful trees for the fall. I asked my coworker and friend, Erin, if I could do a photo shoot of her and her husband Brantley. Of course, she said yes. :) I couldn't have picked a more perfect couple to do a fall photo shoot. They were so fun and and sweet together. We took the pictures up at the Provo Canyon by Bridal Veil Falls. Here are my top five favorites.

They inspire me to be a photographer. I love doing photography as a hobby, but not sure about starting my own business. We'll see though... :)

I was glad that during my time off at Sunrise, I was also able to go to my second job working as a nanny. It was great to catch up on some quality time with the girl that I nanny for.

Just a few weeks ago, we got a group together to go to McCoard's Mystery Corn Maze located on the other side of Provo. I didn't even know such a corn maze existed until last month. We had a really successful turnout of six couples including ourselves. They were mostly people from our ward. My brother and sister-in-law joined in on the fun too. The corn maze wasn't haunted (luckily), but we kept trying to scare each other as we traveled through the corn maze. It was pretty funny. It took us a long time until we finally saw the exit sign out of the maze, but we survived and have the pictures to prove it. :)

 Our group (minus Kevin and Natalia who took this picture. :) )

 
October is also a good month for pumpkin carving. :) I made two pumpkins this year: one with the relief society sisters and the other with my husband. We had a relief society activity where we bought pumpkins from the Farmer's market and carved them at a nearby park. I created Tinkerbell for my pumpkin. I was nervous about how it was going to turn out, but it looked pretty cool lit up.

Collin and I decided to carve a pumpkin together for an FHE activity. We had our next door neighbors join us and they each carved two pumpkins. Those that know Collin and I well know that we are huge nerds. So naturally, we carved our pumpkin as Avatar Aang from the animated TV show that Collin and I enjoy watching together. It's called "Avatar: The Last Airbender." We had fun just interacting with each other and getting in touch with our creative side.

                Sam and Glenna and their pumpkins. So cute!!! :)

 Avatar State!!

Our pumpkins this year

During the last week of October, I was involved in a lot of Halloween parties! We got to throw a couple of Halloween parties for the kids at my work. This was our week to dress up at Sunrise Preschool and Provo Peaks. I dressed up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I wore the blue dress that she wears while walking through town. I think some of the kids knew who I was.... Haha.

 The bow I made for my costume.

 How my hair looked from one side.

 The Full Costume

My coworker Stephanie and I after we had our second Halloween party with the kids. We didn't plan this, but we ended up having a Disney-themed Halloween.

On Halloween night, Collin and I went to our ward Halloween party. He got to dress up like non other than Gaston. :) We ate Mexican food, participated in some costume contests, and broke a pinata by the end of the night. We had such a good time mingling with other couples in our ward. They are all truly amazing.

 Our ward members setting up for the Halloween party. The decorations were beyond incredible!!

 Disney Group Picture

I ended up wearing my costume a total of four times!! I wore it twice for the preschoolers, once for the kindergarteners, and once for the ward Halloween party. We ended our night playing scary games with some people from our ward. Unfortunately I was had a bad cold by the end of the night. It might've been all the Halloween candy... Haha. Other than being sick, our Halloween was so fun this year. I can't wait to dress up again next year!