Memories are made of these

Yep, we went camping again this year for Thanksgiving and had a ball. Per usual, I had our yearly family photo taken.

Obviously this isn't the one going on the cards, but my sister says it's the one that suits us the best. I'm not sure that's a compliment ;)

Happy Anniversary Mom!

Happy Anniversary Mom!!!

Today is my mom's second wedding anniversary. Two years ago today, the whole family got together to celebrate my mom's wedding. My husband and I flew in from Las Vegas, my sister and her family flew in from Alaska, and my brother drove in from another part of Colorado. My mom and her new husband first met in a park near where they live. They both love to walk around the pretty lake in the park. He is originally from Hawaii so for their wedding they had real Hawaiian Lei's sent from Hawaii for the wedding party. They smelled so wonderful.

Here's a family photo of my new family (and yes...the freakishly tall couple on the right is my husband and I):
Here's the whole extended family with his beautiful daughters and adorable grandkids. My mom loves having a ton of grandchildren nearby:

And here's me and my husband. I have to add this one because we're not in a whole lot of photos together. Two years later I am starting to finally get him in more pictures.

So here's to my mom and her new husband. I am so happy she found a wonderful person to spend this chapter of her life with. Happy Anniversary Mom!

Family!

Exciting news! Thanks to a frequent flyer ticket, cheap one-way ticket, and an awesome husband...my brother is flying in from Colorado on Saturday to visit for a whole eleven days! I'm so excited to show him around, see the sites, take cheesy tourist photos, and have him here for the holiday season. So be prepared for lots of posts on NYC and tons of photos. My work even has a holiday party in the office that family is invited to (even Santa will be there). So I'll get to show my husband and brother around the office. Getting married and moving to NYC has been a tad more difficult than I was expecting and lately I've been really missing my family. So I'm super excited...AND my husband and brother can get to know each other better...I mean they both like beer and video games :)

Happy Holidays!!

My husband and I decided a while ago that we were going to make our own traditions. This stemmed from the fact that his family is in Texas, mine is in Alaska and Colorado, and what do we do for Thanksgiving?? This saves us from arguing about who's family to visit, buying plane tickets, rushing around, preparing food, being stressed, and finding someone to take care of our dogs. Holiday time can be stressful!! I've actually heard people argue over what's better on sweet potatoes: marshmallows or brown sugar. I actually can't handle all that stress so we made our own tradition. For the last three years we've been going camping on Thanksgiving. It gives us some peace and quite, out in nature, and the puppies get to play. This is our first Thanksgiving since we've been married so we are hoping to keep up the tradition. So from my family to yours...Happy Holidays!!!

2005 - The Grand Canyon, Arizona & Cathedral Gorge, Nevada



2006 - Joshua Tree National Park, California & San Diego, California



2007 - Allegany State Park, New York & Lake Erie, Pennsylvania



Oh...and for some weird reason, the last two years have found us on a beach during Thanksgiving. Weird. But dog-friendly beaches are awesome. :)

2006 - San Diego, California



2007 - Lake Erie, Pennsylvania

Wondering...

I talked to my sister last night and I learned that my brother attempted to call both of us this weekend. Shocking really because to get in touch with my brother is super insanely hard. He really should be a celebrity because he's that hard to get in touch with. We both missed his call and of course we called back to no avail. So if you're my brother and reading this...call me!!!

And just a side note...I like this picture of me and my brother at my wedding...the picture frame is really there :)