::fun with fam::

B's family is in town! We spent the weekend just having fun together (in between studying of course). Brady has a noticeable boost in spirit, which makes me happy :) Its just the best when families can be together!

playing with avery

the boys

the girls

my husband loves me :)

and i love him too.

We had a delicious "thanksgiving dinner" on Sunday night since we won't be together on Thanksgiving. I made a dessert... it seems like you can make something perfect a million times, but just when you have to actually bring it to people, it doesn't turn out right! Oh well. Good thing families are very forgiving people (and they say still say it tastes good). Good times :)

::single ladies::

Just to warn you, this is completely silly, and may be offensive to some (due to the missing pants and the dancing). But I found it funny.

So this is the new Beyonce video for "single ladies":


And this is a video that i saw on a friend's blog earlier this year (which is also in my video bar):



Is there a law against dance plagiarism? Oh well, I actually love both videos. Mostly just to laugh at. But I actually do like the song (which is on my playlist).

As if you haven't had your fill, I have one more video for you:

justin timberlake snl beyonce single ladies video

B-rilliant

::christmas countdown::

No we're not starting to countdown to Christmas just yet... I'm a firm believer of waiting until after Thanksgiving to really start counting down, but tonight for FHE we got started on some of our christmas gifts. We made christmas countdowns for all our nephews and nieces (something to look forward to carrie, sarah, caroline, and kjirst)! Its our super easy, super inexpensive version of an advent calendar. We'll give it to them at Thanksgiving so they'll get to open and eat 1 piece of candy (starting dec. 1) for 24 days straight (please don't hate us parents)! If your looking for something cute, simple, and fun to do for your nieces and nephs (or yourself) you should totally do this!

All you need is candy and/or small toys, saran wrap, and ribbon ties.

Here's how ours turned out:

There are several spins you could take on this and probably make them a lot cuter when you're not on a budget :)

::Aida::

This past year we have enjoyed having season tickets to the Hale Center Theater (in Orem). It was such a perfect fun Christmas gift from our Hansen parents, and has provided us with at least one really cool date night a month!

I was lucky enough to see Aida in New York on Broadway my junior year of high school, so I was really interested to see how little Hale Center was going to present this epic tale. To my pleasure they did an amazing job! Of course it was done on a much smaller stage, much smaller scale, and with what I can assume was a MUCH smaller budget, but it really made me notice how creative they were with the set and dance numbers. It has been so interesting to see how the set looks completely different each month and how well they have been able to create entirely different atmospheres for each show.

If you haven't seen Aida, you should. Its a love story set in ancient Egypt between the Egyptian heir to the Pharoh's throne and a Nubian princess who has been captured as a slave to the Egyptians "immersing the audience in the woes and heartbreak of their plight and the dire consequences of what a decision to transcend the easy road and submit to true love would mean- and wraps it in a rapturous musical score".

We all lead such elaborate lives
I just want our time to be
slower and gentler, wiser,free
-Aida (Elaborate Lives)

If your looking for something a little different to do for a date night, I highly recommend going to a local theater for a live show!

Just some of my favs...

today i'm grateful...

...to finally be done with all my midterms!!! I am sooo happy! I have been feeling like a bad wife/person because I haven't cooked (not that I really cook that much) or cleaned since last Friday. Sick I know, but between work, class, my enrichment calling, taking every spare second to study, and actually taking tests... I haven't had time. I'm so grateful to be done and able to focus on home and family! I'm especially grateful for a kind and loving husband who hasn't even mentioned anything about the disgusting house and who brought dinner in to me while I was hiding in the office studying.

There's a ginormous stack of dishes in the sink (and overflowing onto the counter) that I better get started on...

::you can vote however you like::

A friend at work showed this to me and I just loved it! If only we could all be this enthusiastic about voting. I thought it was really cool that these kids know all about the issues and where each candidate stands, even though they aren't old enough to vote. If you want to read the lyrics click here.

Happy voting tomorrow!

::this was halloween, this was halloween::

Of course we went to the annual Willits halloween party and had so much fun! There were some awesome costumes and yummy food! Then we stopped by the Call party and had some more fun! Thanks for forcing us to take home the treats. I already ate my cupcake/muffin and it was soooo yummy, even though Brady smashed it on the way out. Why didn't we take pics? We also stopped by Ry and Steph's to catch up, see their sweet little girl, and spread some spooky cheer!

fyi: Brady was a plastic surgeon gone bad, and I was his patient

Also my parents were in town this week!!! It feels like forever since I've seen them. Its been almost a year. We had a TON of fun being with them during their short visit!!!

Spoon Me! We're excited to try Orange Cup in Dallas!

Tepanyaki

Love you mom and dad!
Thanks for the food and fun! We miss you already!

and i made 2 other posts in an attempt to get caught up....

::bday fun::

Brady had a fun filled bday! We slept in, had a yummy breakfast, went and walked around the riverwoods, saw "Eagle Eye" in the theater, had a delicious lunch at Tucanos (and randomly were seated at the same table we got engaged at: #16!), and then came home decorated cupcakes, and opened presents! Then we enjoyed having friends and family stop by through the night! Thanks for coming! It was fun to see everyone, even if for just a second :)

::this is what we've been up to::

We won a free dinner at La Vigna in Pleasant Grove



Carrie and I went to Wyoming for Sarah's baby shower! (i stole this pic from danielle's blog)



We went for a drive up the canyon to see the leaves




And we got to see the sunset on the way back




Then we went to our ward Halloween Party as Johnny Cash and June Carter (we had to throw this together, and we were still an hour late... oh well)