Welcome Christmas, Christmas Day!!

It was our 1st Christmas as the Tanners! After finishing some grueling finals (and Grant's very LAST finals!) we packed up and drove to Denver to spend the holidays with the rest of the Tanners! All of Grant's siblings and their respective spouses and child (Kate's the spoiled lone grandchild) were able to make it so it was big party! We did lots of fun things and spent lots of time talking and playing Rock Band and Mariokart. It was great :)

First, we went on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory.We got a cool tour of the factory including seeing all of the automated machines. It was a bit like Willy Wonka, but it wasn't smooth and chocolate-y :) We didn't get to take pictures inside so that was a bummer.

But we did get this great shot of Clint & Andrea in their lovely hair nets!

Christmas Eve was Rachel's Birthday. We all went out to dinner and then went light seeing. We saw some pretty intense houses:It took between five and ten minutes just to get down the street to see this house because of all the cars and people walking around! I really liked the ornaments in the trees- fun!

We also had cake for Rachel's Birthday! The big 22!

We spent a lot of our time over Christmas playing with not-so-baby "Baby Kate." She got lots of attention being the only grandkid and we took lots of pictures of her adventures as well:


We had lots of fun playing with our Christmas presents as well! We got an iPod touch from the Tanners and we have had lots of fun figuring that out. We've been sporting our new clothes and I've been attempting to make a new skirt with my new sewing machine-- except I'm quite bad... so Leslie redoes the stuff I totally botch :)

For Christmas Grant also got me tickets to an Avalanche game! I was the envy of all the Peterson family-- to see the Avs in the actual Pepsi Center!!It was a great game AND they won. What a perfect present-- Good job Grant!!


Outside the Pepsi Center-- in some of our new Christmas clothes!

It was a wonderful break and it was great see everyone again. Now it's back to Provo for school and work-- Wahoo!

The end as I know it....

So I am now only two finals away from my undergraduate degree. The last 16-year period of my life is soon-to-be over. It feels...great, wonderful, soo good, liberating, refreshing, fantastic. It also feels...weird, scary, new and unknown. Well, here I go. Wish me luck!

Getting Ready for Christmas!

We've been getting into the Christmas spirit lately! We listen pretty much only to Christmas music, besides a little HSM3 every now and then... Our favorite song this year is "Mistletoe" by Colbie Caillat though Grant also has another favorite which he has threatened to put on the blog... keep your eyes and ears out...

One our of first Christmas-y activities was reindeer making! We made some pretty fun ones-- ones with halos and cross eyes and mohawks. Here is Grant showing off a few of our faves.


We also got a little tree!! It's a bit of a secret and a bit of a scandal because we're technically not supposed to have live trees, but like Grant put it, "What's gonna happen, we burn the cinderblock down?!" So we got a little "pree" for ten dollars and called it "Baby Shrimp."
We only had a few issues getting it to stand up because the trunk was more like a branch, but eventually he stood and we decorated him! Pretty much all we had was the reindeer we had made so those make up most of our ornaments. He's small but he's our first Christmas tree!!
This is the finished product complete with a fake tree skirt and approximately 8 real ornaments :)

And here's how he looks all lit up. Not too shabby for ten bucks!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Moving up in the World...

I am proud to say that I have graduated (at least in part) from my popsicle diet and I have consumed 1/2 of an entire turkey sandwich! Woohoo!! It's true folks, I'm moving up in the world :) I think Grant is happy that I'm no longer a couch blob as well. What a great husband to pull my weight while I was under the weather! Now.... back to school!!

Christmas Time!

Poor Kelsey has been sick all day with the stomach flu. :( The Sprite and Saltine crackers can only do so much. So while she's been resting, I have had some time to think about this Christmas season.

How grateful I am for Christmas time: the garlands and wreaths, the peppermint sticks, the hot apple cider, the sparkling lights, the crisp air, the fresh scent of pine, and the skiing! I am excited that the whole Tanner family will be back in Denver for Christmas. That, in itself, is a wonderful Christmas gift. How grateful I am from Christmas. What a wonderful season it is, as we celebrate the birth of the Savior and His precious gift to all mankind. Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving in Boise

We were originally supposed to spend Thanksgiving in Sun Valley. However, because of lack of snow the slopes didn't open and we drove home to Boise instead! Here are some of the highlights of our adventures:

• Playing with Bryce and "the babies." We had lots of fun dancing to "Soulja Boy," playing Guess Who, and using Bryce as a human leaf compactor as we raked and bagged leaves in the backyard.
  
• Reminiscing about the good 'ole days. "Aunt Bof" made sure we had plenty to reminisce over. We watched Pippi Longstocking movies as well as the Christmas Classic movies. In addition to that the men bought the original Zelda and succeeded in beating the game in nearly 24 hours, a feat only the gods could imagine ten or fifteen years ago :)
• Lots of food! We did two turkeys this year. I did the deep fried one and Lindsay did the stuffed one, with the help of Dad, of course. They both turned out great! However, somehow in all of our years of turkey training, Linds missed the part about taking the neck out of the turkey... so it got cooked as well. Suffice it to say the stuffing wasn't the best... but Robbie's pumpkin pies and Grant & Bof's rolls were both tremendous.
• A double date with Lindsay and Dan to the Garden-a-Glow at the Botanical Gardens. It was really cool and a great way to get in the holiday spirit to see all the lights!
• A haircut! We're still getting used to the bangs idea... but it was time for a change so I took a chance.

We had a great long weekend. There was no homework involved and though we are paying dearly now, it was great to relax and enjoy some family time.

Now we're all ready for our "Welcome Christmas" Party!! It's a new tradition for the new Tanner family. Tonight is the night and we're going to get all decked out for Christmas. What a wonderful exciting season! We can't wait for Grant to graduate and for our Christmas trip to Denver to spend time with more family!!!

Good Times

We had a fun Halloween holiday! We went to a little party with some people in our ward (the BYU 1st ward-- yes, there actually is a 1st ward!), and then hung out with our friends downstairs, the Pellegrino's. Grant was a clown again, but this time a little less scary. I was... an African princess... I think. We carved this cat pumpkina nd also put together our 'princess pumpkin head.' Unfortunately, she got pretty gross and moldy as the picture shows so we dismantled her. Anyways, it was fun time and now we're ready for the next holiday... and the next holiday...

Then last weekend Rob and my dad came into town as well as Rob's friend Alex (the infamous Ute fan). We went to the BYU game which was fun because Grant and I haven't been to any this season yet. The Cougs kicked trash and we got a little sunburnt. That night we went to the BYU Hockey game and they kicked trash as well! We had a lot of fun with the family and now we're excited for Thanksgiving and some Sun Valley skiing!!

Big News!

We're moving to Texas! Grant accepted a job offer from Texas Wasatch Group in Colleyville, Texas (the Dallas/Fort Worth area) and will start on May 4th. I graduate at the end of April so we'll be leaving soon after and we're SO excited!!

There's a big story to go with this one but I really didn't feel like typing it all.... Texas will be a big change for both of us. No mountains :( But there is one little piece of home for me. The temple looks just like the one in Boise:

Halloween Waffle Party

This weekend we had fun dressing up for various Halloween parties, one being our own waffle/costume party! Friday we dressed up as luchadores with spandex, masks and all. We didn't take any pictures that night but we have quite a few from last night!

Here are some of our guests and their costumes.

Grant wanted to be a scary clown so I did a little make-up job on him

Then he turned scary on me!

Basically, we're pretty excited about Halloween in general-- but I guess that's pretty obvious. Though, I'm not sure Grant is too happy about continuing my long-time tradition of watching Willy Wonka on Halloween... I'll have to keep working on that one!

Hoodies, J-Dawgs, Zombies and more!

We've been up to lots of fun activities lately! We didn't buy all-sport passes this year so we don't go to the football games. We also don't have a television, so we don't watch the games either... But we did go to the tailgate party last week. This is mainly because of cheap and free food :)

The Carl's Jr. star was about 4 feet tall and it was highly entertaining for Grant. But seriously, there was a little kid in there! Note: We got free food from Carl's Jr.

We also got J-Dawgs for a dollar PLUS they were blue!

It was cold so we bundled up well!

Then, this weekend we went to Odyssey Dance Company's show Thriller in Salt Lake! I was way excited because I was in the show last year so I got to see some of my old friends and a great show!

Bayli wasn't in the show either this year, but got jealous so decided to be a zombie anyway :) What a great flashback to...

Last year! I think Grant was glad I didn't dress up for the show again this year, but it was fun to show him what I used to do!

Grant really liked the show too! We officially feel really "halloweeny" and have started a list of all the scary movies we have to watch now!

True BLUE through and through!!

Kels and I got really BLUE.

A Fun Filled Weekend

We got lucky enough to have tickets to two conference sessions last weekend! Grant's dad got us tickets for Saturday afternoon and my sister Lindsay had tickets for Sunday afternoon. I had never been to an actual conference session so it was really great to go. We forgot about 17 things :) on our first trip up to Salt Lake Saturday morning, so Grant graciously drove back home again while I was at dance rehearsal. Then we headed up to the conference center and enjoyed the rain, the protesters, and of course the conference talks! After that we picked up John Morrison and headed up to Snowbird. We stayed the night there with Linds and some of her friends at our grandparents timeshare. By Sunday morning the clouds had cleared, it was snowing and the mountains were beautiful! We made waffles and crepes and then headed off to conference once again! What a wonderful weekend with friends and family!!

Home Improvement

We've been busy busy lately with school starting back up and all. Grant is also working and job searching so when he's extra busy I have been working on my domestic skills, (yes family, even my cooking skills!) We have also been working on decorating our apartment which looked like this when we moved in...The day we got our key and started moving stuff in

Our empty little kitchen

The front door and wall

The other wall of the living room

Since then we've been working on home improvements. Garage sale-ing, spray paint, masking tape, and lots of 3M sticky things on the walls led to our little apartment looking a bit more like a home:

Our TV-less TV stand
Our masking tape tree decor-- We also fixed up that lamp that used to be gold and kinda nasty. Note, the pictures are still the ones that come with the frames... Also, that mirror on the right is one we bought at a yard sale for $3 and spray painted black!
We set up "track lighting" with sticky lights and pointed them towards our trendy wall.

Our kitchen-- still little, but not empty!
This is another lamp we painted. It looks really cool we just have to find the right shade for it.

We're really excited about our new little home and how it's coming together! Luckily we're finally getting some of our own income with Grant's Ebusiness job and High School Musical so hopefully a TV and a little table will be our next new additions!

We're still here!!

Although our blog does not show it, we, the Tanners are still alive and kickin it! We actually have quite a few exciting things to blog about! However with recent computer issues... (unfortunately self-inflicted) and our busy transition back to school and work we just haven't gotten around to it yet. But in case you've missed our faces, here's a little somethin somethin :)

Apparently the entertainment bug has caught on because...

Grant decided to jump on the bandwagon... Here's American Fever-- 10 million albums sold and tours in China, Japan and Lithuania!! Wahoo! Go Grantie!!

Okay... we'll come up with real news next time....

Honeymoon in San Diego

Grant and I just got back from a long trip! First we went to Denver for our open house at the Tanner's home. It was really nice with lots of yummy food that we actually got to eat this time! My family came out for the occasion so we had fun both the Petersons and the Tanners once more before we headed off to San Diego.

Once we got there it was go, go go! We hit the San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld, Jetskiing at Mission Bay, lots of boogie boarding at different beaches, shopping, and even a trip to the San Diego Temple! It was a perfect end to the summer and start to our family! Here are a few highlights of the trip:
I developed a strange tongue habit in picture taking... luckily it subsided by the end of the trip...

Hiking at Torrey Pines
This looks like Pirates of the Carribean-- sweetLa Jolla Cove-- the water was coming to get me
All soaked after a ride at SeaWorldOur last day at the beach

What a fun time we had! Of course it is good to be home as we attempt to get settled in to our new place. If now we could only get rid of our killer colds!

Officially a Tanner!

This last Saturday Grant and I were married for time and all eternity in the Boise Idaho temple! It was certainly a long day but other than having tired feed and being sick of taking pictures it was so perfect! Everything we planned, (or really didn't plan because my mom did mostly everything) was great. Our families were both able to make it and we had a great time remembering old memories and creating new ones. Thanks to everyone who did so much to help make this the best day of our lives!! Hooray for being a Tanner!!!

Our first dance as husband and wife. Grant had some hidden dance skills...

Us and our parents




Pictures taken from Lauren and Jill-- thanks-- we didn't take any pictures of our own so we have to steal from everyone else :)