A Thanksgiving to remember...

Spending time in Utah for Thanksgiving is always a treat but getting to witness my brother Sean and his sweet wife Amy exchange rings in honor of their marriage added a special element to this trip. After being together for over five years, Sean and Amy decided to tie the knot but rather than plan an extravagant wedding, they made the decision to make things simple and just elope in Vegas. Yes, they actually got married in one of those chapels you see on the strip. They invited no one as they didn't want to worry about anyone feeling left out. Of course, they knew they had to do some sort of ceremony if even for both of their kids' sake, so this evening was dedicated to that and what a nice night it was celebrating with their closest friends and family. We are so happy for Sean, Amy, and the kids...all five of them! With a family of seven to care for now, Sean most definitely has his hands full but if anyone can manage it's him! We love you guys!







Before learning Sean would be having a ring ceremony, the original purpose of this trip was to do some house hunting but after spending a couple days checking out a few developments and becoming more confused about the area we should focus on and then compounding that with the distraction of a fresh snowfall, neither Jack or I were feeling ready to seriously consider any options so we instead spent the remainder of our time enjoying the mountains, and time with family. We had been hoping for snow and as you can see, within a couple days of arriving, my parents yard was covered with poop snow. Nothing makes the holidays feel more magical to me than a fresh snowfall! And the timing was perfect because we had been really hoping Nova would get to experience snow on this trip. While we didn't make it up to the slopes as they would have been packed with it being opening weekend, we sure loved seeing how much Nova also enjoyed the snow. Speaking of Nova, this trip Jack offered to bring him out on his earlier flight since he had to be back in UT for a meeting a day earlier than we were all coming. Of course Jack's experience traveling with Nova was far different because since he was the only one traveling he booked himself a first class ticket to allow for more leg room for Nova! Yes, now Nova gets more leg room than the rest of us...haha!

Here are Nova and Luna (my parents new dog) enjoying each other's company...before and after the snowfall!



Taking Nova up to Sundance to enjoy the mountains and snow!




Not only was Ty hitting the gym in Utah doing his swimming, he had said he wanted to run to the top of the 'Y' for some extra conditioning. When I asked him if he actually made it to the top, he shared with me his "Rocky" photo...lol! Love this boy!



Thanksgiving with the Knudsen gang...minus Steve who came into town long enough to witness Sean and Amy's ring ceremony but had to skip out and get back to CA since he had already made Thanksgiving plans before knowing we'd all be there!



Learning my lesson last year about not waiting until the last minute to get our photos with Santa taken, I made certain we hit up Santa out in Utah. The lines are never long during Thanksgiving weekend. We first went to River Woods where they had a Santa but no professional photographer. While I got a decent photo, it's kind of tradition to pay for the overpriced mall photo so off we went to the mall. I still take my own photo but there is something about getting the professional one printed right then and there. Thankfully the kids were good sports knowing it was better to get it over with now rather than go through what we went through last year in Orlando to get one...haha!





Good Byes! I think Nova is starting to get the hang of the flying thing. Now if we can just figure out a way to turn him into a "comfort" dog... Happy Holidays!!!

Andrea's back!

After such a fun time together last year, I was so excited when Andrea decided to return again this year for a visit. While our time together may not have been as action packed as it was last year, Andrea definitely experience Florida! From a bit of jet skiing and relaxing by the pool to taking an air boat tour and driving through a nature reserve where we almost ran over an alligator... She definitely can return Ohio saying she did and saw stuff you just don't see in Ohio...

Halloween 2019!

Should we be worried that our sweet daughter decided to be the devil for Halloween?



In the meantime Ty went to a Halloween party as the Russian from Rocky 4. I couldn't remember what "the Russian" looked like but I have to say after researching online, I think he did a good job turning his red shorts into a carbon copy of the Russian's!!! Ty has always been creative and resourceful. Well done Ty!!!



Ty and Nathan acting the part...haha!



Connor played it cool and just went to hang out with friends...not in costume.

He did it!

Connor was initially in no hurry to get his license.  I think it was a combo of learning to drive with me in the passenger seat and the crazy drivers in Orlando that scared him into not really caring about getting his license.  In the meantime Ty was the opposite and could hardly wait, getting his as soon as he could.  Connor was completely fine having Ty chauffeur him around and Jack and I were completely fine not having to worry about Connor on the roads.  Of course, Connor could only handle for so long having his brother or me chauffeur him around on his dates so needless to say once his dating life started picking up so did his desire to get his license.  It really is a miracle this poor boy passed his test with all the stress leading up to it. First of all I didn't realize until moments before we went to go take the test that our registration on both the Escalade and Rover had expired.  We still haven't moved our plates over from Ohio and the plates had just expired a month earlier so taking the test in the Rover as he had planned since it's our smallest car was out of the question.  The only car left was the Raptor which is even larger than the Escalade. Connor had literally only driven the truck once and was now finding himself taking the test in it.  As we rushed to the same place I had taken Ty to, we found that this DMV location was no longer there. When I went to confirm the address on my phone I realized they had since moved. Of course with Orlando traffic we were 20 minutes away from the new location and would be 1/2 hour late for our scheduled appt. After unsuccessfully begging the lady at the counter to squeeze him in she recommended we head over to another location which was showing availability...another half hour away. I think it really was a blessing that we ended up at this location with the sweet instructor Connor ended up with. While the driving test in Florida is really short a lot of it is focused on parking and tight turns. Let's just say in the end Connor passed with the help of a wonderful instructor who was very generous in his grading. But to Connor's credit he told us that this was the largest vehicle in his twenty years of testing that anyone had arrived in to take the test! But he said he could tell he had no concern about Connor being an extremely cautious driver which he indeed is. Good job Connor!!! You have freedom and a new car to drive that we can trust you in...

Homecoming 2019

There was no question who Connor was going to take to Homecoming. He had also put in a lot of thought about how he would ask Abby. Abby is fascinated with space so Connor took advantage of that knowledge when asking her!



As it turned out Homecoming took place on the same day BYU was playing here in Tampa and we had already purchased tailgate and game tickets so we decided to still go and thankfully Sage took on the role as photographer for me. She did so well. I felt a tad bit guilty for not being there but we made it back in time to hold down the fort for the after party at our house!

Our handsome boys!



Sweet Connor and Abby!




After breaking up with his last girlfriend, Ty has decided to stick to the single life. Of course he has no shortage of cute girls he enjoys hanging out with even though swimming takes up so much of his time now. Him and Ella decided to go together and how cute they looked!



Some of the boys friends who decided to take dates to homecoming!




Connor and Abby after a fun night!



It makes me sad thinking about how all these high school traditions will soon be a thing of the past for the boys. But I'm so glad they are taking full advantage of their senior year and all the fun activities!

In the meantime Jack and I had a good time at the game even if BYU played TERRIBLY!!!

Just one year shy of the half century mark...heaven help me.

Well, while I'm not a fan of celebrating getting older, I am a fan of spending time with my family and getting a break from cooking! And so off we went to one of Jack and I's favorite Orlando restaurants, Ocean Prime. Happy Birthday to me!