T'was the week before Thanksgiving . . .

and all through the house . . . the stockings were hung by the chimney with care.  Okay, so I did something I've never done before - I put up Christmas decorations BEFORE Thanksgiving.  It started innocently enough - I started to listen to Christmas music a few weeks ago, then Ken started talking about the artificial tree we bought after Christmas last year (for only $3), and before I knew it, the tree was out of the box, fluffed, lit, and decorated.  Well, you can't have a tree without the rest of the decorations - so out came the boxes, and well, the rest is history.  

However, just because we have the Christmas decorations up, does not mean we are skipping over Thanksgiving;  we have much to be thankful for:  a home, a job, an opportunity for education, our family and friends, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, health, food - I could go on and on, but you get the idea.    Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all, a good night.

Hiking with the Pavlovich's

On Veteran's Day, Ken and I went on a hike with Amber, Andy, and Kylee Pavlovich in Sedona.  The weather was a lot warmer in Sedona than it was in Flagstaff, thank goodness.  In fact, it was just perfect for hiking - not too cold or too hot.  We did the Courthouse Loop - a fairly easy hike, which even Kylee could do.

We all enjoyed the views . . .

. . . but some had a better view than others.

It was a fun hike, and we all enjoyed it.  After a picnic lunch, we stopped at The Brown Cow for homemade ice cream - yummy!  Thanks Amber, Andy, and Kylee for a fun afternoon!

A Day in the Phoenix Sun

Ken and I went to Phoenix on Saturday for the day.  As an early Christmas present to himself, Ken bought 2 tickets to watch the Portland Trailblazers play the Phoenix Sun's in Phoenix.  I figure, if Ken gets to celebrate Christmas early, than so do I.  So, before the game, we spent a few hours shopping.  I don't really enjoy shopping though, but if I can get someone to come with me, than it's not so bad.  The last store we went to was IKEA - a giant nightmare of household products.  Ken aptly describes IKEA as "sensory overload".  After spending almost an hour meandering through the giant maze, we were both feeling dizzy (and I say, "thank goodness for the arrows on the floor or I'd never make it out of the store"), I finally find what I'm looking for, sort of.  And even though it's not exactly what I'm looking for, I buy it anyway, because by this time, I am exhausted, and just want to make a purchase so that I can check it off my list. 

 After checking into our hotel (which we only paid $40 for on Priceline - yeah!), we walk quickly to the bus stop, only to wait for over 30 minutes for the next bus - apparently they only come every hour on Saturday.  The round trip bus fare is $2.50, which is what the bus driver tells us.  Only,  she doesn't tell us the machine doesn't give change, until after she asks me what I'm waiting for - thank goodness I only put in $1's and not bigger bills.   The game was fun - 2 people sitting in the middle of Phoenix fans, cheering for the opposing team.  It would have been better if Portland had won, but at least Phoenix scored over 99 points, which meant anyone with a ticket stub got 2 free tacos at Jack in the Box.  Okay, so has anyone ever eaten those tacos?  No wonder they give them out free.  I think I would have felt I deserved change back if I had just bought those.  Maybe I'm just a food snob, but the tacos at Jack in the Box leave a lot to be desired.

All in all, it was a fun, but full day in the Phoenix sun.  The temperature was surprisingly warm for Nov. 1 - it was 88F at 6pm, so we're guessing it got into the 90's.  It's a great time to visit, but there's no place like home.

Halloween 2008

I love carving pumpkins and eating candy, but I've never been a real fan of Halloween - too much stress trying to come up with costumes, etc.  This year, however, I decided to work on getting over my bah-humbug attitude.  Ken and I started planning our costume months out, to avoid the panic of "what do I dress up as?" and I found a website with some great "couples" costumes ideas.  My favorite was me dressing as a bunch of grapes, and Ken dressing in a straight-jacket . . . "Grape-Nuts"; but Ken didn't want to wear a straight jacket all night.  So instead, we went to the student physical therapy party as the following.

I went as a heart.

Ken went as a cop.

And together . . .

 . . . it's a "cardiac-arrest".

Amazingly I had a good time - dressing up and at the party, but of course it didn't hurt that there was plenty of candy to keep me happy.  Below are some of our favorite costumes from the party - people really get into this Halloween thing :)

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