Happy Birthday, Utah!

Yesterday, January 4, was Utah's 130th Birthday.

It was also National Trivia Day and National Spaghetti Day. I asked Jeremy some Utah trivia. Some people ate pasta.

I took a long nap but I made sure to say Happy Birthday to Utah. 

Road Trip!

Road Trip!

May 30-June1, Jr. Jr., Jet, and I made a quick weekend trip with my sister and her family to California because...

MY LITTLE (younger) BROTHER GOT MARRIED!!!!!!

It was such a quick trip, traveling from Utah on Friday, wedding stuff on Saturday, traveling back to Utah on Sunday. The only day we didn't spend any time in Utah was May 31 which is National Utah Day. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

We met my parents and two of my brothers who traveled from Oregon and we all stayed in a house together for the weekend. 

Jr. Jr. and Jet both got to visit Nevada for the first time since we drove through there and stopped for lunch. 

We brought Jet's pteranodon wings for the trip and he loved wearing them both in the van and flapping around at the house we stayed in.

I got to meet my brother's fiance/wife for the first time and see that my brother is so in love. I am so happy for them. 

 

Saturday was a wonderful day. Jet was so well behaved in the waiting room at the temple with Jr. Jr. and his cousins while I went to the sealing. Jr. Jr. told me Jet didn't say anything while I was gone and when I got back he was quiet and whispered requests. I wonder if he could feel the Spirit there. It was beautiful. Outside for pictures, he also did well. No running off, he followed instructions from the wedding photographer. I am so proud of him.

I'm also proud of my brother for making such a good choice.

It was nice spending time with my brothers. Paco got to meet Jet for the first time. Jet has seen "Paco videos" at home but they hadn't met yet.

The reception was so nice, too. Jet again didn't run off but stayed by me. They had pizza so Jet got several slices as well as other foods.  

There was dancing. There was juggling. Of course there was juggling. It's our family. I love that I have a new sister-in-law who juggles with her juggling husband.

Some of my cousins came from Utah and Wyoming for the reception. That was great. 

It was a beautiful day. And getting married on National Smile Day is a pretty awesome thing. 

  

On Sunday, I said goodbye to Jr. Jr. because he traveled back to Oregon with my parents and my brother. It was his turn for the grandparents trip like Nichole and Jr. both did in previous years. He had a great time and my parents loved the time with him. 

Since we were traveling with my sister and her family, I had nieces and nephews part of the time in my van and my sister actually sat with me the last leg of the trip on Friday. It's a great time for chatting when you're traveling all day.

On the way back to Utah, we stopped briefly to get pictures with Donner Lake (after making all the jokes about not stopping while going over Donner Pass... just in case).  

Once again we stopped in Nevada for lunch. 

 

When Jet and I got home, Jeremy surprised me with an omelette bar. I got to choose the insides I wanted and he made me an omelette. My sweet husband. I love omelettes... and I love my husband.

It was a quick but very nice trip and I'm so glad we went to support my brother and sister-in-law and had quality family time.

Catching Up January 2025 part 1

We toasted in the New Year at midnight and had New Year's Nachos.

January 2 was National Buffet Day. I made dinner Fend For Yourself that night.

We also finally got out to donate to the Giving Machine right before it closed for the season. We donated "piglets," "art classes," "five visits and meals to a senior," and "empower through play."

We did not get a good family picture like we did in 2022 but that's not the point so... who cares?

 

I got out for morning walks before school started up again.

January 4 National Spaghetti Day. We ate spaghetti. It was also National Trivia Day and Utah's Birthday so we did some Utah trivia. It was also Play Outside Day (which is every first Saturday of the month). A few of us went out to see barn owls (and some other birds but we went specifically for the owls). When we got home we warmed up with hot chocolate.

We celebrated National Bird Day, January 5, a day early with the owl search, although we did eat chicken for dinner on the 5th. We watched The Big Year on Saturday as a family.

 

January 6 was Sherlock Holmes' Birthday. Lucky celebrated by going to "elementary" school the first day back after Christmas Break. I watched a TV show with a Sherlock Holmes character.

It was also National Cuddle Up Day and National Bean Day so you better believe we cuddled up while eating chocolate (which comes from beans). 

 

January 7 was Old Rock Day and National Bobblehead Day so I got out to take pictures of Jr.'s bobblehead with mountains (old rocks). I haven't done that for a few years so it was fun to do it again.

 

January 8 was Elvis' Birthday. We watched Lilo and Stitch.

We started over with "A Season of Family Meal Plans," volume 1, by Jordan Page.

That's enough catch up for now.

Our Vacation, Thy Creations, and Our Relations- Part 13

Road Trip!

Goodbye, Grandma and Grandpa. Goodbye, evergreen filled mountains. Goodbye, Washington.

Welcome to Oregon.

Welcome to Idaho.

Hello, Snake River.

Welcome to Utah.

We made it to our final destination- home. Hooray! Sigh.

Traveling all day kept us from celebrating Embrace Your Geekness Day on July 13 (though we did listen to video game music on the drive) so we celebrated it the next day "observed." We like to call it Embrace Your Geek Day. I even wore my Mario shirt.

I have no more of our wonderful vacation to share. It really was wonderful, though. We got to enjoy the vacation, God's creations, and spent some good quality time with our relations. I'm so glad Jeremy got a real vacation instead of just a few days off. It was awesome!

National Utah Day 2024

So, Jr. was all the way in Oregon but Jr. Jr. was camping in Utah when National Utah Day happened on May 31. It was also National Smile Day so we smiled at each other.

As usual we decided to make foods known for being "Utah" foods.

Funeral potatoes, lime green jello with carrot shavings, and... pastrami burgers?

Apparently pastrami burgers are a Utah thing? Never heard of that until we were getting ready for this holiday. We did put fry sauce on the burgers, though. That is for sure a Utah thing.

I don't drink caffeine so we skipped the Diet Coke. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!