December 2013

December flew by with lots of concerts, parties, events and too much good food! We started off the season taking Mom and Dad J to the Handels Messiah sing in at Symphony Hall. I love the words "wonderful, counselor, the mighty god, the prince of peace." It was a perfect way to start the Christmas Season. We took Mom and Dad D to go see A Christmas Carol and the dancing and music was lovely. This year our Jefferson family went to The Candlelight Christmas at This is the Place park, and our Dennis family met up at Temple Square to see the lights and the candy windows at City Creek. We bought some Christmas gifts together for each other which we usually do each year but this year Brad was Santa Clause and surprised me with a beautiful sapphire necklace that he said "makes my eyes sparkle/" I gave him (and myself) the gift of dry cleaning his shirts from here on out. I can handle most household chores but ironing- I detest! It is time to accept it and no longer fight it and Brad will have lovely crisp shirts in his closet.  At the end of the season we had our friends over to celebrate Three Kings Day and had an actual Rosca de Reyes from Mexico that our friends brought back on the plane the day before. It was our first Three Kings Day party and was fun for everyone, and Brad got the baby Jesus so Feb. 2nd we are supposed to be responsible for tamales for everyone- which in Latin America is when the Christmas season officially ends. Though we kept our tree up longer than usual by the middle of January it seems time to get excited for Valentines- we are true Americans, but why not have more reasons to celebrate?

November 2013

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving early with the Jefferson's. It turned out lovely. We broke out our coats and boots to commence the season of winter hiking. We hiked Neff canyon and took turns expressing what we were grateful for and we were rewarded with the view at the top. White peaks breaking through the clouds and a cobalt blue sky- we were sorry we forgot our camera. For Thanksgiving this year we joined the Hendricks family and feasted and played a tournament of games. At dinner we were supposed to write down things we were thankful for but it then turned into "scattegories," and Brad put on his list he was thankful for everything on mine so he took all of my creative points. That boy! We had a few game nights with friends and family this month and laughed hysterically playing charades. And as a tradition in the Dennis family we welcomed in the Christmas season by attending and singing the Messiah at Symphony Hall. This time we took Mom and Dad J. as an early Christmas gift. We truly have much to be grateful for! 

October 2013

October was a traveling month for us. Brad presented research at the MESA conference in New Orleans- highlights of course were jambalaya on Bourbon Street. I had fall break and Erica and I headed down for some sunshine and hiking in Zions. Lucky for us the government shut down ended just a few days before we got there. We had planned to hike the narrows but once again- too cold. It was beautiful to see Zions in the fall. Mountain biking and finding more petroglyphs were another highlight, and of course basking in the sun at Sand Hollow. Then of course the season of Halloween was celebrated with Girls day out at Witchesfest (we missed Angie but Dixie loved the witches, just not her witch hat.) This was a fun movie month with scary Hitchock movies and watching the black and white silent Dracula with Angie. And the Hebdon Halloween Party was another Halloween success. We all dressed up as Minions. My co-workers and I also dressed up as Minions and led the Halloween parade. The kids loved it!  

September 2013

Why is it with autumn comes the need for another home improvement project? Brad must really love me because he helped put in a beautiful new floor. Out with the carpet, in with the wood. It turned out beautiful and we survived another home improvement project with the realization that WE ARE NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN. We will see how many times we learn that lesson in our lives. Amid the chaos we did enjoy the Utah State Fair and the worlds best funnel cake and the grossest deep fried meat balls that still make me a little sick thinking about them. We went to the Greek festival with our friends for the first time. We stood in a line for over an hour for food but it reminded us so much of the food in Istanbul it was worth it to reminisce about our dining experiences there. We hiked Bells Canyon and caught the most heavenly view of the sun hitting the waterfall and I snapped this great picture with a cell phone! And as always we celebrated our 1st Date Anniversary for the 7th time (2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012, and now 2013) at India Fest- the food is not as great as it used to be, but taking the time to remember how we fell in love each year is so much fun, we danced the night away.