Thanksgiving...oh the joy!

So this year since most everyone we know is away from family, we decided to have a group Thanksgiving! We're hosting at my house and there will be 10 couples!! woooohooo! I love entertaining and can't wait to enjoy this day with all those coming. There will be the Woolverton's, Gandy's, White's, the Woolverton's friends(I'm horrible and can't remember their last name!), and Us! We've got quite the spread planned out so keep an eye out for my next post on how things go!

Wish me luck! :)
XOXO

Our 5 Year Anniversary and My 24th Birthday

"Happy Birthday-versary" Jon says to me that morning.... Wow! It seems like it was only last year or something, that Jon and I were just settling into our house in Orem and trying to get used to each other and the roles of being husband and wife; time sure flies by! It's been 5 years since we were married and it has sure been an adventure!! I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life (and beyond!) with. Since moving away from our "home" in UT, we've become so much closer and such stronger friends to/for each other. I really think that the time away to focus on each other has been the best thing we've done so far in our marriage! We've done so many fun things and gone so many fun places; and all of it together :) He's my best friend. I love you babe.

Our anniversary also happens to be my birthday! (woohoo!) There are some out there who would say, "Why do that? It takes away from your special day!" I beg to differ. I love being able to spend "My special day" with my favorite person!!! It's always a total celebration for us both on Oct 20th!!! :)

This year, with Jon studying like crazy and me running around like crazy with Young Women's stuff, there wasn't really much time to celebrate on our actual anniversary so we just enjoyed a nice dinner out and some good quality time together. Jon took me to California Pizza Kitchen (my faaaaavorite!) and then we went back home and watched a movie together. I loved every minute of it! We did go up to San Jose the weekend after and do some shopping and stuff, but I honestly loved that little minute in the middle of the week that we got to take a break and just enjoy each other. : )

Me

Him (he looks like such a soldier, right?!)

Did I mention we're goofballs???

Jon reminds me a  snake in this one! haha! Hissss!

Steady....

 

 My sweetheart.

 

 Doing the "Uniclops" .... believe me, you don't wanna know how we discovered this one! hahaha! Waaay too much time on our hands.

Six Flags Animal Kingdom with the Johnsons!

 A few weekends ago, we had the chance to "escape" from Monterey and the stresses of the DLI for Jon. Michelle and her sweet hubby Nels invited us up to their house in Vacaville for the weekend. It's about a 2 hour drive to their house from ours, however we learned the hard way that you DO NOT drive on Friday nights...yikes! The traffic was horrendous! Then, to add to our situation, we got trapped at a toll booth and the $5 toll turned into a $30 ticket the state of California will be mailing to our house...RIDICULOUS!! Anyway, Michelle and Nels were the perfect hosts and made us feel right at home(It probably also had to do with the face that Michelle is basically like another sister to me; we grew up together in UT!). We relaxed and had a chance to catch up with each other on Friday night, but Saturday was the best part!!! We went to Six Flags Animal Kingdom!! Woohoo! It was pretty hot that day, but luckily there was plenty of shade and a nice breeze every so often to keep us happy. OH! It was also "Frightmares" at the park so at night, there were creepy-zombie guys wandering all around(soooo not my fave!).

Here are Michelle and Nelsie-poo while were were waiting for the Tiger show to start...so precious(haha!)

Here's my funny hubby. CLOSE UP!

 A month or so ago, I totally twisted my ankle at a Zumba class and here's the repercussion of that...check out my "cankle"! ouchie.

One of the awesome tigers of the show. They've trained them to climb up poles, present themselves on cement blocks for the audience to see, and to even swim!!

Here's the second tiger. Isn't she beautiful??! She was super lazy and wouldn't do anything the trainers wanted her to do. She ended up just chilling in the shade on the far left of the stage, haha.

 
Even though this is hard to see, it's still so awesome! This is the orange tiger that they've trained to swim and get meat that they throw in the tank.

Check out how beautiful she is!

Jon got this awesome pic and made it his wallpaper for his computer...AMAZING!!

Coming out of the water to enjoy her treat.

Biiiiig kitty.

Jon and I in front of the Giraffe Cages.

Haha! My impression of being a lion...see the mane?? 

HAHA! This is my favorite... this is Jon's impression of being a lion....I think he was going for the stalking side of it???

...Laughing at his lion impression. : D  Love this silly guy.

Bob the turtle going back into his house. He's ginormous!

If you look in the little house, you'll see the cutest little baby fox ever!

Michelle and I having a beverage break. We're goofballs!

Mmmmm...We got this awesome cup too!

Jon, Michelle, and Nels are on this ride. I happily stayed at the bottom to take pics...yikes!

One of the cute dolphins.

Jonny and I in front of the dolphin tank. The water was so blue!

The fountain was colored to look like blood.

Creepy window display and bloody handprints...eeeek!

Being so brave walking through the "zombie-fog"....there were some serious creepers in there!

HUGE Walrus.

Cheese!

Everything was all spooked-out for Halloween.

Creepy!!

Above us in the shark tank room....there were about 5-6 sharks there.

A Sting Rey.

DINOSAUR FISH!!! 

My fish impression...hahah!

In this one, if you look straight back in on the "floor" of the tank, there's a swordfish!! He's kinda hard to see though.

 

All in all it was sooo much fun to have a little vacation and to see our friends. We can't wait to come up again soon!