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: