Housewarming Party

Alright, I'm almost caught up blogging before Christmas! A little while ago we held a housewarming party for the employees of Equation Consulting to see how cool it is to live up here in Mountain Green. We had lots of people come, lots of food to eat, and a great time. Thanks to everyone who came :) Our home had so many people. Kirstin also came up, and was a lifesaver and played with James and kept an eye on him while we were hosting.

James, Kendra, and Kirstin at the party

A full house of people

I looked out the window and what did I see....

...not popcorn popping on the apricot tree (I'm actually not sure what sort of trees we have :)

But, we have seen this month....

Mommy and Lady shoveling the driveway


A porcupine in the tree across the street


A snowshoe hare in the front yard eating the grass he was digging up

We see deer everyday, but this day we saw Elk and Deer right next to each other on the hill



A fox who is sneaky and we can never get a picture of, but he's as big as Lady!



And a momma and calf... Moosen!!!

Yogurt Boy!

This kid would live off of whole milk and yogurt if we'd let him. He LoVeS dairy!

Cute ones of James

I just have to add these cute pictures of James from December...

Eating cheese while saying cheese


Wearing a monkey backpack, Daddy's tie, and eating goldfish out of a little tupperware...priceless

James has gotten the hang of binoculars, which comes in handy to see all the animals out the window

James and Lilah. We went to Costco with Tom and Kristie, and these two just kept touching each other during the cart ride.

EQC Christmas Party

Equation Consulting is known as being a fantastic place to work, and also for their fantastic parties. This year's Christmas party was no exception. The food was great, the white elephant gift exchange nice, but the entertainment was exceptional. David Jenkins was the magician, and it was the best magic show I've ever seen. The tricks we so crazy real, I didn't get it, and we were right two feet from him! No mirrors or special effects.

Hmm, how does this work, where is Jeff, and it totally looks like he is cut in half, but he still put his hand through the hole. I even put my arm under there, I don't know how he did it.

Brian Buell is helping with some tricks, and getting us to laugh in the process :)

Anyway, I wish I had gotten more pictures. I even got to participate in the "Broken Bottle Russian Roulette". I had to pick a bag that didn't have the broken bottle in it, and then the bag was smashed into my hand. Let's just say "HOLY CRAP"!! I was so scared, it worked though, and the last bag had the bottle. I have no idea how, but I thought I was going to pee my pants I was so scared. Thank you Equation Consulting and Rick Carter (CEO) for the outstanding party once again!

Birthday number 26

This year I actually wasn't excited for my birthday. I guess because I'm now closer to 30 than 20. I just feel old. I can't complain too much though, I have had a great year, it just seems to have gone by so quickly! Anyway, I did have a fun birthday. Saturday we went to the EQC Christmas party (more on that to come). Kira and Tanner watched James for us and did great. Sunday the Kutterer's came over for dinner. A good day, and I loved spending the time with family. Here's to another great year!

The only picture of Nathan and I on my birthday!

Tonight's Snow Adventure

Tonight I decided to get everyone dressed and we went outside to A) take pictures and B) take Lady for a walk to find the name of the "F" street (we live on the "C" street, Cambridge). Brrrrr, was it cold, but James was nice and toasty in his new snow gear!

Daddy and James, who reminds me of the kid from A Christmas Story who "can't put his arms down" because of all the snow gear.

"Cheese", I love his little voice when he says that

Trying the snow, just don't try the yellow snow, it isn't lemon!!

Kind of deep, at least James' boots work! Can't say the same for Nathan's tennis shoes, now he needs boots

Black Friday Deals

This over 50% off snowsuit from Kohls, and boots and mittens from Kid to Kid in Layton make up James' new snow gear!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! We hope that everyone had a great time, and was able to spend it with people they care about. Nathan and I hosted for Nathan's brother Jason and sister-in-law Nicole, my sister Kirstin, and a co-worker of Nathan's who is from India, Ankit. We skipped the turkey and made prime rib (why not right, we were hosting!) , but we still had all the traditional sides. Kirstin made delicious pumpkin pies from my Mom's recipe, and she did a great job. Thank you! The only bad part of the day was that I scratched my cornea (like I did last Christmas on the way to Arizona). I fell asleep next to James with my contacts in when he woke up crying the night before. When I awoke at 4:45am, I rubbed my eyes, took out my contacts, and knew that I had done it again. It KILLED, seriously, and so light sensitive (didn't help with all the new snow) I had the blinds and curtains drawn all day. However, after doing this last year I knew that in about 2 days cornea's replace themselves completely, so I'd be good as new. I'm almost all the way 100% now. Lesson learned: NEVER sleep in contacts.

Nathan with the prime rib

Ankit, Jason, Nicole, Kirstin, (my empty chair) and Nathan. James had his nap during dinner which was really nice

And a cute one of James for the grandparents :)

Sorry for lack of neat food pictures, but I really couldn't open my eyes much at all. We did get to use my great-grandmother's china that I received this summer from my grandma, I remember always using that as a little girl, and I'm even the one who chipped a platter when I was about 5 or 6. We also had sparkling cider, another tradition. What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions?

First BIG Snow!!

It has snowed up here, but just a tiny bit that was gone by the late morning. However, that all changed this last week, and we got a few big storms that left their mark, maybe for the rest of the season! Let's just say now I know why people have said to invest in a snow blower. We did have two feet in the front yard at one point.

Last Sunday, we got more snow Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday! Plus today!!

Epic Run

I can't believe I forgot to post about this, but back in October, Nathan, Kristie & Tom did a run that Nathan and Tom had wanted to do for a year. The run started at Big Springs National Park up South Fork Canyon, went up over the saddle of the mountain, and down Rock Canyon Park by the Provo Temple.

At the beginning of the trail, looking good

It took them four hours, 11.8 miles, and a vertical climb higher than three Empire State Buildings later, they did it! Way to go is an understatement. It has given me some motivation to get better that is for sure.

Tom and Kristie on the run

Up on the saddle, such a beautiful area


At the top, water bottles empty, next the long decent

Wishing they had brought some food and more water

Nathan's dirt line afterward. We had dinner at Kristie and Tom's house, while Nathan and Tom recovered while watching football. Both said it took them a day to feel better and not sick.

Helping in the kitchen

Love to help make food!

What's cookin'?


Want some?

Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year was stormy! It started raining right before we went out, so we cheated, and drove to all the houses :) Cousins Tanner and Kira Kutterer came too. We got some good stuff though, including a few full size candy bars. Happy Halloween!

A little gnome playing the piano with Tanner and Kira before Trick-or-Treating

First door he knocked on, the Maughn family, he got a pencil and it was his favorite


Second house, now he gets it! Look cute, get candy!

Candy, candy, candy!! Without any prompting, he started going crazy and grabbing all the candy

After the excitement with cousin Tanner

Oh my stinking cuteness!!!

I think though we have a winner to cutest Halloween costume this year....

James, the Garden Gnome!
Complete with pointy hat and beard, which he kept on the whole time at the ward party

Could it get any cuter than that? I submit that it cannot!

Happy Birthday Grandma Hiller!

Every year for Grandma Hiller's birthday (actually great-grandma, and great-great grandma to James) she has a birthday dinner at the Asian Star in Sandy. Oh man, the food is great, and we love seeing all the family that comes. I have no idea how many grandchildren she has, but I bet it is close to at least a hundred. We got to live with her for 5 months after we moved back to Utah from Texas, and we loved getting to know her better. Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Doug stops for a picture

Us and Grandma Hiller, she wasn't happy we were taking her picture, but loves us anyway

Fall Yard Work

I did my very own, very first, yard project (besides mowing, which by the way I had never done until we moved here, and now I think I've done it most of the time). I put in edging between the grass and flower/shrub bed, then I raked in new mulch. So I guess not much, but I got to go to Home Depot by myself (James included though of course), pick out the edging that I thought we'd need, got the mulch, had to go back to get more mulch and stakes because I didn't know we'd need more and that. Then I dug up the area, staked it in a curvy pattern, put the dirt back, then started spreading mulch. James was a huge help! He loved getting the stakes and the hammer for me, then he'd hammer while I'd hammer. And he really like dirt, and wasn't even eating it this time.

I need this tool...

Okay, all ready to help mommy!

Isn't there something about...

...child labor laws?

What can I say, I needed the help :)

Helping Out in Las Vegas

I feel as though we have been helping out family fairly often lately, for pretty big things too. One of these times was the second weekend in October we went to Las Vegas to help out Aunt Diane move from there to my hometown of Englewood, CO (suburb of Denver) to be closer to my parents and so we'll see her now much more often. We were happy to do it to, though it was a lot of work to finish packing up the apartment and loading up the moving van. My Dad and his cousin Tom Tracey flew out to drive the moving van. Nathan's sister Karissa just started her career in Vegas as a therapist, so we got to see and stay with her. In all my years of visiting my aunt and uncle in Vegas, I had never been to the northern area, and I liked it! Karissa and I also had the best talk we've ever had, and I loved building up that relationship. Nathan also got me a massage at the QUA Baths & Spa at Caesar's Palace on Saturday morning. Awesome place, I give it a 5 star rating, and I'd definitely like to go back. We also got to do some shopping at H&M (only in a few places in the US, James got a great outfit!), and walk around the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. A big shout-out to Karissa for letting us stay with her! James had fun too, though during the walk around he was getting a little over-stimulated, and started shaking. A few too many bright lights for the babe. And traffic, oh man, it was a Saturday night, in Las Vegas, need I say more. We were so tired from packing up that we decided to leave on Monday morning instead of Sunday night. Overall a good trip, and now we'll see Aunt Diane when we go to Denver.

The Roman Baths at the spa, I could have stayed all day, but there was work to be done!

The only picture's we got while there was of James getting into the bath at Karissa's! He had fun in the ginormous bathtub