Thanksgiving Fun

I left Wednesday, hit some traffic but got to my parents in 4 hours 15 minutes.

We ran to the mall to say hi to my sister at Forever 21, then hung out at the house while daddy made cornbread and chili.

Thursday, my parents made dinner. My grandma came over at 1. My aunt and her boyfriend at 4 and we ate at 430. We had turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, broccoli salad, sweet potatoes, and I think that's it. It was DELICIOUS!

After dinner, Abigail and I went to see Breaking Dawn and it really was the best one! Surprise ending and all!

Friday, we went to a nearby park. Abigail and I walked around and our parents ran. Then we went to the mall for a few hours before Abigail had to work. Daddy and I played on the Wii before going back to the mall to get Abigail.

Saturday, we went to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens. It was super cold so only a handful of actual rides were open. But I really just wanted to walk around and look at the pretty lights anyway. We saw 2 of their musical shows, drank hot chocolate, had toasted, sweetened pecans and almonds and had dinner. We rode the train around the park to see different lights. We walked through most of the areas and one of them had a snow machine. Haha. You know you're in the south when you run into a snow machine. We went on the sky ride and saw more lights. It was a lot of fun. We froze. We sang Christmas songs. Then we froze some more.

 Santa's workshop. Santa was inside taking pictures with babies and such

This tree changed colors and lit up different areas every half hour to music.

One of the musical shows

This is the Pompeii Ride. They drained the water for winter, and covered it with lights. Those purple trees are 6 feet tall so you can get an idea of how many lights this really is. 

Spring Break

What is that again? Oh, right. Time off from all responsibility. That would be nice right about now.

Abigail came to visit for her spring break. She arrived on Saturday the 31st and the lovely Denae accompanied me to the airport to pick her up. She got to meet Jasmine and loved her. But who doesn't? Besides non-cat people that is. :) Abigail arrived a few minutes early but was stuck on the plane for 25 minutes while they arrested someone and took his kids. The three of us then went to Burger Bar (a local walk-up restaurant type place) so that Abigail could get her beloved shake.

During Abigail's stay, we saw the Hunger Games (which she loved without reading the books), colored Easter eggs, watched movies and spongebob haha! and went swimming. We went window shopping with Charlotte at the new City Creek mall down in Salt Lake City. Charlotte bought a few things from a normal priced store (which there are very few of) because the mall is very high end. We found a men's argyle sweater that looked nice until we saw it was 200 bucks! Ouch. Walk the other way. We oogled the diamonds at Tiffany's and sat by the fountains for a little bit.

Once we got back, Charlotte had stuff to do and Abigail and I decided to go on the hunt for a graduation dress for me. Abigail wasn't in the best mood at City Creek because there were too many people. It wasn't as much fun, but she perked back up when we went out to the normal mall and some other stores. When we found the dress I wanted, we talked our dad into buying it for me. :) He's so generous. He also changed her plane ticket that day. She was supposed to leave that night at 1AM but let her stay another day and a half! I really love him! I needed my sister.

Anyway, as we were shopping, her phone started restarting and did it continually for about an hour. Finally, I decided to give her my old phone. We had our parents passcode and everything but couldn't get my phone to program to their account. We went to a verizon kiosk in the mall. They were no help. So then we decided to actually go to the verizon store and we finally got it set up. Yay for people who know what they're doing!

On her last day, we walked to an ice cream shop called Subzero. It's really cool. You pick your base (ice cream, yogurt, soy, custard or some rice mix) then you pick as many flavors as you want from about 30 choices (I did brownies and cheesecake) and then they mix it, and instantly freeze it with a nitrogen machine! Then you pick your mix ins and done! It was delicious and I highly recommend it if you have one near you!

It was nice to spend so much time with my sister and to have company the first week my husband was gone.

Six for Saturday: Things my sister and I did

My sister came to visit me 2 weeks ago. Here are some of the things we did

1. We went to Lagoon. I got sunburned a lot. She only got a little (because she's so tan).

2. We played board games and had a blast!

3. I was the big sister that showed her little sister a cool, new hairstyle.

4. We both played laser tag for the first time.

5. We went shopping at the biggest outdoor mall I've ever seen.

6. We laughed a ton!

Day 20: San Diego

A PICTURE OF SOMEWHERE YOU'D LOVE TO TRAVEL

San Diego!

I went there with my family when I was 15 and I loved it!

Steve has never seen African animals (other than tigers) and he really would like to go to the San Diego Zoo. I'd love to take him there!

Sea World too!

And of course, the beach!

Day 15: Italy

A PICTURE OF SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

I want to go to Italy. All the pictures I see are just beautiful. I want to see it with my own eyes. Steve just wants to go because of Assassin's Creed 2. Haha.

Day 5: Italy… We Will Meet Someday!

Something You Hope To Do In Your Life

This is going to be a really short and simple answer, but it's something I truly want to do. I want to go to Italy with my husband. Our finances won't allow us to go, and I know they won't in the next 5 years. Probably not in the next 10 either, but I really hope we can go to Italy one day.

To Virginia!

I just bought our plane tickets to go to Virginia! Wahoo! It was $50 more than when I first looked two weeks ago, but oh well. That's what happens with the stupid airlines.

I'm so freaking excited to see my family! Steve is just as excited, if not more so! He loves my family! I can't wait!!! I haven't seen them since my wedding two years ago! It's the longest I've ever gone without seeing them and I miss them!

The best part is that my grandparent's, my Aunt DI, cousin KI, Aunt DW and cousin JW (who is about to turn 1, and who I haven't met) will all be there! I'll get to see my other grandma, and another aunt on step-mom's side too because they live nearby.

Yay family!

Daddy promised me ribs. I'll be holding him to it. He makes the best ribs. :) Steve should pay close attention.

I Wish I Could Retire

My daddy is retiring from the Air Force! Wahoo! Now I don't have to worry about him being sent to Afghanistan or anywhere else over there!

His ceremony is Sept. 24th, and Steve and I are flying to Virginia for it. So Steve and I will get to have a nice little vacation visiting my family on our anniversary! I thought I was pretty stinking excited but he seems to be just as excited, if not more so. Not sure that's possible, though. :/

I can't wait! I miss my family and most, if not all, will be there so I can see them all at once! Wahoo!

Anyway, congrats to my daddy! I know it was a tough decision!

I'm just going to wrap this all up into one last post.

So Day 5, we took step-dad out for lunch before heading back to SH's city and said good bye for who knows how long. Made me sad. :(

Once we got back, we had to check into a hotel, because our host (BT) ended up having to leave town for work. Super sad. We only saw him the one night. Majorly sucked, especially for the boys.

The next couple days was just basically hanging out with SH and her little baby OH.

He loves his Aunt Jessica. :)

And doesn't really like his Uncle Steve.

He told me so.

I also picked up KF a couple times to hang out with us and have dinner. It was great being able to see her one on one.

On the last night we went swimming in the hotel, and some old friends came to see us. AM didn't have a swimsuit so she just went in her clothes. They ended up draining the hot tub the next morning because of that so they could put fresh water in. Haha. AD and TF also came, and we all had a lot of fun.

I miss them, but we need to keep moving forward with our life. We'll see them again if we pass through town again, or they pass our way but we won't make the mistake of moving to be near friends again. Some people think that's what we are doing with Utah, but that's not true at all. We both think it will be a good place to start a family once we've been settled in. That is, if we decide to have children of course. If we don't, it's still a great place to live!

On our drive back I drove to Billings while Steve slept. I was doing great until a stupid house got in my way! The house on the back of the semi took up a lane and a half, so I couldn't pass him. So we're going about 50 on a 75 road, and all of a sudden I see tire pieces start flying, so I back off even more hoping they figure it out. They did about 5 minutes after the fact. I've never seen a tire blow like that, I've only seen remnants on the side of the road, haha.

After that, Steve drove the rest of the way home and we were back by 7. We made good time, better than on the way there! I was just so happy to be able to sleep in my own bed!

Montana: Day 4

We woke up kind of late today because we were so worn out from the excitement yesterday.

Once we got going, step-dad, AJL and Steve and I went to a recreational park. It's an area that you can go hiking, walking, fishing, swimming, whatever park area.

We did a little walking through the woods. Where there was a fork in the path we let AJL decide which way to go. She was like "well that's the way the sheep go, and that's the way the bears go." Then she would choose the one she said the sheep went. She's really cute.

After exploring one area, we got back in the van and drove further up the mountain and found a CCC camp. The foundation is all that was left and there was moss growing over it. AJL kept stepping on it and trying to make us step on it too because it was "squishy like a pillow." She also found an old can of food on the ground from when the area was being used.

After that, we drove further and ended up finding a pond where you could swim/fish. Step-dad and Steve were skipping rocks while AJL was simply throwing them in haha!

Then we went back down and out of the woods, and there were some horses on the side of the road. They open the horses up to the public later in the season for a tourist thing, I think is what he said. Or maybe just a local thing. Either way, they came right up to us and let us pet them.

Steve had never touched a horse before. I was kind of surprised! He was nervous. "It's kind of nerve wracking being so close to such a huge powerful animal."

I didn't think so, but I've been around horses before. I love them. They're beautiful. As you can see, there were some mules with the horses too.

Poor AJL missed out on this part. All the walking around wore her out and she passed out in the car.

Steve and I ended up taking a long nap when we got back to the house too. We missed saying goodbye to KF (AL drove her to Helena to drop her off with her dad).

The rest of the night we just hung out with step-dad and watched movies. When AL got home, they went to bed early. They were both tired and step-dad had work early in the morning.

Montana: Day 3

We went to a pretty little park next to a creek, and got some nice pictures. This first one is me and my step-dad. Although, he's technically not my step-dad anymore, but he'll always be family.

Me and Steve, of course.

KF and her best friend. There was a lot of rain recently, and so the water was going super fast. They made me nervous being out on those trees!

This is AJL and she loved throwing rocks into the water.

The girls and me. FF, KF, and AJL.

Step-dad had to go to a doctor's appointment, so we dropped him off there and went to a playground nearby.

After step-dad was done, we went to a pool with some water slides. AL, FF and I didn't go on the waterslides. I didn't go because I didn't want to end up hurting my mouth since it was still pretty tender. If straws are a bad idea, then I'm guessing possible rushing of water into my mouth is a bad idea too.

AJL went down a little waterslide meant for toddlers and young children so many times. She loved it. FF had a blast being tossed around like a beach ball. Step-dad, Steve, KF and her friend went down the big water slides quite a bit. Everyone had fun! No pictures though. Didn't want the camera to get wet!

After picking up a few groceries, we went back to the house to grill, watch movies and make a fire! While step-dad got the fire started, and AL was grilling, Steve, KF and her friend played a little soccer.

Then KF decided to try to chop wood. She tried and tried and tried. Her arms were sore the next day. Haha!

After dinner, we all sat down to watch "The Ugly Truth." One of the funniest movies ever! AL was kind of shocked that KF had seen it already too because of the sexual humor in it. It is rated R, but it's really not THAT bad. Anyway, by the end of the movie the fire was ready for toasting marshmallows.

She wouldn't eat smores, she just wanted the chocolate and she got it all over her face. I didn't get a pic after she was completely done, sadly.

Step-dad and I stayed outside after and just talked. It was nice. I've really missed him. And that was the end of day 3.

Montana: Day 2

BT left early in the morning to go to work. That boy does not know how to wake up and turn off his alarm haha. As soon as he did, I must have passed out again because I didn't hear him leave. Not surprising, I was drugged up on Vicoden after all. I can't believe how tired that stuff made me!!!

My mouth would start hurting when it was getting close to taking another pill so I was taking them every 6 hours on the dot. I was so exhausted.

Anyway, my 3rd mother AL (my step-dads wife now) said they were in town for her daughter's (KF) award ceremony and to pick her up for the weekend, and asked if we wanted to wait for them and drive back in a "caravan." Haha! We did. Since they weren't going to be ready to go until 4PM or so we had to come up with things to do.

We went to Pizza Hut and got their buffet. Steve ate a ton. He loves pizza! I ate more than I thought I would, considering my mouth hurt and wouldn't open all the way. SH met us there and ate with us, and then we all went to see my old boss at the shoe store. I spent about 2 hours talking to her. She talks a lot, and I listen a lot so it works for us haha. No, it wasn't just her talking, it was an actual conversation.

SH had to get back to work so she took off and Steve and I went to the mall to the other shoe store to talk to my other boss. We talked to her for about 20 minutes, and by then, it was time to meet AL and the girls at 3.

KF was still in her driver's ed class, so we waited outside the school with AL and chatted. Found out some sad things about KF, but she's doing better now and that's what counts.

I love when the clouds do this! This was right as we got into my step-dad's city.

Awesome rainbows too!

On the way,I fell asleep instantly (vicoden, remember?) but when we were almost there my stomach started really hurting and so we pulled into a gas station and I got sick. Wasn't great. Oh, and this was the first day of my actual cold. Not cool to be healing from wisdom teeth and have a cold. I felt better afterward and the rest of the evening was nice.

Step-dad was happy to see us when we finally got to the house, and we were pretty excited to see him too! The rest of the night, we kind of just chilled and went to bed early. I was still exhausted.