Thanksgiving

So, it's not too late to put up my Thanksgiving post on Oct. 29, right?!  :)  

Ugh, sorry about the delay.. it just seems to be one thing after another, but that's just life right? And I kinda do love it, so no complaining about busyness from me!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Mom and Dad were away to Nova Scotia, so big sister had to step up and host this year!  Yikes!  Unfortunately, Gabe was working, but Bryon and Alicia and Ryler were around and Candace, Colin and Max joined us too!  I wasn't brave enough to cook a turkey (I know, I know, everyone tells me there is nothing to it...), so we did a chicken casserole with sweet potatoes, stuffing, salad and pumpkin pie AND cheesecake for dessert (Thanks, Candace!)  It was so good and no one could move afterwards.  That's the mark of a good Thanksgiving dinner, right? :)

 This was the giant mess I made while doing my fall craft... it was first time working with vinyl lettering on our cricut.. I absolutely adore using vinyl lettering and I can't wait to do more projects with it!  This is the next one I have in mind...  How cute is that, hey? :)

Via Pintrest

 And just because I am nerd like that, I wanted to get some family pictures by my fall craft! :)  This little guy is beyond adorable, hey?  I freakin' love him.

 Cute family!  (Too bad Max's eyes are closed!  Boo!)

 Bryon, Alicia and Mr Ryler!!  

 Daddy & son!

 Cute family #2!!

 Just Us! :)

 Thanksgiving kisses!

 My nephew's are the freakin' cutest.  Ever.  Playing with Aunty's pumpkin decorations!

And pretty darn proud of himself, too!

It was an awesome family day and maybe next year there will a turkey to talk about! haha..

Did you all have a good Thanksgiving?  

xo  ~ Jessica

Saturday Happenings... & my laptop is broken...

Happy Weekend!  I love them, I really do.

Here's what has been going on in our corner of the world today...

Oh, first off, may I just express my sincere disliking for my laptop being broken?  My laptop "lid" is cracked by the hinge, so it went back to London Drugs to see if it could be fixed under warranty.  Their tech wasn't in at the time, so I don't have a definite answer or timeline on when I could be getting my laptop back.  Anyway, if it's not covered under warranty and it costs more to fix than the actual cost of my laptop, then I **might** get a new one...  That is a big might, because really, I can live with a laptop having a crack by it's hinge (it's not like anything electronic is broken)... and maybe I can save up for a new one a year down the road or something.. :)  

And, of course, all my pictures are on my laptop.  It's backed up and everything, I'm just too lazy to actually go retrieve them.  Haha.  So, my Thanksgiving post will have to wait for now... 

But to tie you over to then (because I know you all just wait with breath that is bated for my posts... ha!), here are some photos are of our Saturday..

We had a house showing today at 11am, so we took this monkey (below) for a big run... Close to the college is a big fenced-in baseball diamond, so we took her there and let her off her leash, so she could run around... it was a beautiful morning and Bronze loved every minute of it!  I didn't have my camera with me at the time, so these photos of her (looking at me so disgustingly, too.  Seriously, this dog gets the biggest attitude when I pull out my camera) will have to do!

 "Mom, hurry up.  I hate this"

 "No, I'm NOT looking at the camera.  I refuse."

 "OhmiWORD, mom.  Honestly.  Just stop."

 So this was my fall craft... It's old soda pop bottles with vinyl lettering and wheat poking out from the tops.. I found it here...  It's not exact, but I had to work with what I could find or had... Anyway, I am quite enjoying it, sitting on my breakfast bar (that I don't use for breakfast)...  It was easy and fun and now I am looking for other things to use vinyl lettering on! haha!

(I actually made this earlier in the week, but all my pics of it are, you guessed it, on my laptop..)

Last but certainly not least, I am baking on this fall afternoon.. :)  It's so sad, but I can't remember the last time I whipped up any sort of baked goods in my kitchen!  I think my true love is cooking (a relationship I don't nurture enough either!), which is why baking takes a back seat, but it was fun to make this low-fat Mexican Chocolate Cake today!  Tyler is going to have dessert tonight... for once... :)

So, the cake is done now and it the baker's job to go sample, so I must run!  It's a tough job, but someone has to, right?!  

On the menu for supper tonight are these..  I don't know what has gotten into me lately.. doing crafts, baking chocolate cakes and now I'm actually organized enough today to know what we are having for supper!  I'm sure whatever it is, Tyler wishes he could bottle it up and serve it to me daily! haha!

{He only wishes. He only wishes.} ;)

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, everyone and happy Sunday tomorrow!  (Always the best day of the week!)

xo ~ Jessica

PS  In case, you are wondering, this post was done on Tyler's itty-bitty travel laptop.  :)  Yay to back-up computers!

Birthdays!

October is full of birthdays!  And I love it!! :)  A lot of my family has a birthday in October, plus my own bday, too, so it's pretty much the most rockin' month of the year, if I do say so myself.. :)

My birthday was October 3, but we ended up celebrating a little later in the week.. my in-laws were out visiting, so it was awesome to have them a part of the festivities!  My sister-in-law Candace was the most gracious host.. We played games, ate way to much food, devoured the yummiest cake ever and then I got my birthday present.  You guys.  I don't even know how to describe this without sounding like a total lame-o, but I will try.

Ok, have any of you ever wanted something so bad and dreamed about it but thought, meh, it's not ever gonna really happen, so you just keep daydreaming about said item but never really expect it?  (That last sentence was a run-on if I ever saw one.  And I'm sure it was full of grammatical errors.  Whoops.  Oh well!  It's the only way to make my point!!  I need to make grammatical errors!  Moving on).  And yes, I am talking about a natural, tangible item.  I know; please forgive me for this materialistic moment.  :)

So -- that was me and Hunter rain boots.  I've wanted a pair the longest time.  I even took a picture of a pair on my computer screen with phone camera, and then used that picture as my home screen photo on my cell.  See how lame this story is already?!  Anyway, I was always babbling on about how they would be an investment and I would wear them forever and how they were good for every season, blah, blah, blah.. Well, my sister-in-law knows how to pick up on a hint, let me tell you.  She organized the Great Hunter Boot Purchase of 2011 and all my family pitched in a little and on October 3 (well, October 6 at my party, technically speaking) a pair of classic black Hunter wellies in the Huntress style (specially for woman) were mine.  And I cried.  Yup.  I cried over a pair of rain boots.  Tyler wondered if he would have got the same reaction from  me if I knew they were purchased at Peavy Mart and he added the little Hunter emblem on himself. HA HA, babe.  HA HA.  :)

 Gang's all here!  Enjoying everyone's company!

 Look at that cake!  :)  Thanks, Candace!  So delish!

 Officially 28!  

 One of my most favourite people ever, Vanessa.. Just seeing her pretty little face makes me so happy!  

 The Hunters.  I still can't believe it, really. :)

 Ryler!

MY TWO FAVOURITE PARTY GUESTS!!

Max!

_________________________

The very next night was my nephew's 1st birthday!!  

We're just 5 days apart (and 27 years), me and Mr Ryler!  I love you so much, baby boy.  Even though you're not a baby any more.  :(  But watching you learn how to walk and seeing you point at all the things that bring wonder to your face and seeing those big toothy grins makes me so happy, too!  I love watching you grow!  Hope year #2 is as stellar as the first, buddy!

xo ~ Aunty Jessica

 Pretty much the best part of a one-year old's birthday.  Who am I kidding?  It's the best part of any birthday. :)

 Oooh, what's that?!  :)

 Mr Max came along to the party, too!!  But he was way more interested in shedding as many layers as possible and eating all the toys in sight.  Check and check.  :)

 My cousin and his wife brought their newborn baby girl twins along to the party!  Ryler thought Nellie (or Farren's) little bed looked fun enough to play in! :)

 All the kidlets! :)  Pretty adorable!

 This was the fifth picture of the kiddies and clearly, their attention span was drifting..  I'm not sure what Ryler is doing to Max's head here, but it seems to be entertaining Ryler and not bothering Max! 

Uncle Tyler with Nellie... no, Farren... no, Nellie.....errrrr, I have no idea, really.  :)  They are so so so cute though!  Either way, we count ourselves lucky enough to be snuggling one of them in our arms!

So, now my happy birthday's begin!! :)  I know I am going to miss some; it's not on purpose, though!  If I missed a family member's birthday in the month of October (and that includes all my cousins kids!), let me know in the comments, so I can add it to my list!! Thanks!

Happy Birthday to:

~ Darren

~ Ryler

~ Grandma Baker

~ I.S.P.

~ David and Trent

Also, my Grandpa Pearman's birthday would have been this month as well.. :)  I always think of him when October rolls around.. :)  Miss you lots, Grandpa, but I know  you are in a much better place now.. :)

So, yes, please let me know if I missed anyone's birthday!  And don't be shy to leave a comment and let me know!  :)  

I hope your October is going great... the grey days of last week seem to have lifted and the cornflower blue skies of fall are showing up now!  I wish fall lasted way longer though.. Sigh.  Oh well!  I am a four seasons kind of girl, so I always look forward to the next one... I just wish winter didn't last 8 months of the year... (That may be a slight exaggeration). 

Until next time!

xo ~ Jess

Links

So, I was just on YouTube and was looking at some videos of the Bellagio Water Fountain shows and some people have captured them wayyyy better than I did, so I'll just link you those videos instead!  Here are the two that we got to see:

This Kiss by Faith Hill

God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood

Enjoy!  

PS  The last one (God Bless the USA) was taken at a different vantage point than we had.. (obviously! One night at the top floor of a lake view room would probably take all my monthly earnings, I'm sure! haha!) 

xo ~ Jess

The Great US of A Road Trip 2011: Part 3

Wow!  Photo overload! Haha.. Sorry about that, if this page took a while to load.. :)

But that pretty much sums up Las Vegas... there is so much to see and do and if you don't have the time (you need at least 5-6 days) to do it all, like us, you get way overwhelmed!  Lights!  Noise!  Traffic!  Heat!  Smoke! (yes! ugh!  Worst part!) Anyway, it was a total blast though and I would like to do Vegas again sometime...at a much slower pace and do more of the spa/shopping side of things... :)  Anyway!  Here was are!  Las Vegas!  Let's dive in, shall we!

 Home sweet home for the next three nights!  It was a brisk 61 degrees (16 C) when we opened the door to our room and it was a welcome welcome temperature! We laid on the bed for like 20 minutes, not even moving, just soaking in the A/C!  Let's just say the ride through the city to get to our hotel was hot.  Ok, very hot.  Ok, ridiculously hot. :)  This was so very much needed!  

 First thing we do is check out the pool area!  Obviously! :)  That's me, all bundled up (as Tyler likes to say) and my sunscreen in hand... hey!  I didn't want to get burnt, ok!?  And yes, I had my bathing suit on underneath this get up.. :)

 Bliss!

 Later that afternoon, we headed to the Strip!  Now this is where all the excitement is!

 First stop was the MGM!

 The Lion Habitat was the coolest... 

 Two big mama lions...

 Just outside the Rainforest Cafe, at the MGM..

 Next, it was onto the Bellagio.. we passed by the Aria (in the background, on the left of the picture) and actually ended up there for a late night snack later in the day before we went back to our hotel... It was my favourite hotel. :)

 Harley Davidson Cafe!  We thought it was a dealership, but no such luck!  Oh well, it was fun to check out anyway!

 Tyler at the Harley Cafe..

 Where I can't afford to shop... hahah.. :)

 Crossing over a foot bridge to get to the Bellagio.. :)

 Yay!  Finally arrived!  All these hotel properties look so close together, but they are not!  We enjoyed the shade and the water for minute... :)  We would be meeting Orlyn and Lori for supper here, so we just killed some time by touring around the hotel...  

 Right across the street is Paris!  :)  So pretty!  

 After supper, we came out to enjoy the lights and a water show in front of the Bellagio!  It was amazing!  I will be posting a video of the fountains on my YouTube channel soon.  :)  

 The Bellagio

 Water Fountain Show!!  The shows are done in time to music.. this one was done to This Kiss by Faith Hill... so romantic!  With the lights and the water and the music and the warm night air... it just makes you want to snuggle up by your sweetie!! :)

 On our way to Caesar's Palace now!  Crossing over another foot bridge...

 Hello, Caesar's Palace!

 The beautifully painted ceilings!  Totally makes you feel like you are outside!  I loved it!

 Our Las Vegas travelling buddies, Orlyn and Lori!

 Good bye South Point!  This our last day at our hotel.. :(

 A super friendly couple from Florida took this picture for us!  :)  2 minutes later a big thunderstorm rolled in, so we all had to clear the pool.. :(  It's Vegas!  It's not suppose to rain, right?!

Our last pic of the trip!  Tyler doing some work at our hotel in Provo, UT!  Another two days of driving and we were home, after this! :)

Whew!  All done! :)  This was one of the most memorable trips we have ever gone on.  I can't wait to do another one.  There is so much to see and do, right on our own continent! And I wait to explore it all! :)  

What about you guys?  Any places your dying to visit?  I love travel stories, so let me know! :)

Hope everyone is having a happy and restful Sunday!

Until next time

xo ~ Jess