Thanksgiving

This year, it was my family's turn for Thanksgiving. We didn't follow the typical Thanksgiving routine with the extended Arbon family. My family decided to join my Grandma and Grandpa Rich in Idaho.

Remember that crazy blizzard that was supposed to hit Utah? Yeah, didn't really happen. I was actually kind of disappointed. One blessing though was the easy drive to Shelley, Idaho. There was only one ten mile stretch that caused us some icy-grief, but the rest was pretty smooth.

Here's a look at our holiday weekend with Grandma and Grandpa:

Thanks to the "some-what" storm, we had some nice snow and serious drifts to build snow caves

Had to get this picture of Bryan's "cave"....more of a rabbit hole.

 ...I had a good laugh...

...and of course, snow leads to snowball fights...

 We even developed our own steal the flag/snowball game

So bitter cold!

Food time:

I couldn't forget to mention Bryan's contribution to the weekend. As I've mentioned, he's always coming up with crazy ideas. When Jason and I arrived to join up with my family for the weekend, Bryan had prepared and posted signs everywhere, including schedules, his front desk (with his open hours), labeled rooms, a sign-up sheet for showers, etc. Take a look at what I mean:

Another successful Thanksgiving. Thanks family!

Some of our Favorite Things

November brought a handful of fun "events". Let's cut right to the list shall we?

1- Briana's Bridal Shower

With Bri's wedding fast approaching, it was time for yet another cousin bridal shower. Once again, my mom, sisters, and I, made the drive up to Shelley, Idaho. I love Bri so much, so I wouldn't have missed it for anything....especially with the responsibility of hosting one of the games. I kept it real simple...the Bubble Gum game...ask the fiance several questions about himself, the bride has to answer them...for every wrong answer...in pops another piece of bubble gum. Oh how I love when they get the answers wrong :)

Here are some shots from the shower:

Brooke, Bri, me, Kendra = The Gang

Each of us took turns hosting a game for the shower;

I think it gave the shower a special touch.

2- H. POTTER!

The first half of Harry Potter 7 finally came to theaters. Naturally, Jason and I saw it opening weekend. We went with Kerstin and Alisha (and husbands). In the past, I was all about the midnight showings and demonstrating Potter Pride through costumes (one year I went with Amy...I was Mrs. Weasley and she was Dobby...it was awesome!). For some reason, after you get married, you just can't seem to stay up as late as you used to. I start getting ready for bed around 10:30 and am thrilled if I get into bed before 11. I'm even hoping to make it an hour earlier.

My point is, even though Jason and I are devoted fans, we decided to go to a late-afternoon showing of the Deathly Hallows Part 1. We absolutely loved it! We hope to see it again soon.

3- Texas Roadhouse

I don't really consider Jason and I "big event" people. For example, we are definitely not the type to join in on Black Friday. However, when it comes to things that we are very passionate about, we don't mind joining the crowds. Just a few days or so after Harry Potter opened, we were on our way to another opening...Texas Roadhouse baby! One finally opened in Orem near the University Mall. Jason and I are frequent diners at Texas. It is currently the top on our list (with Cheesecake Factory close behind). So, of course, we were going to attend the Grand Opening. Serve us up with a twelve ounce medium rib-eye and a loaded baked potato...and we're two happy pandas! Even if it means weathering the hour and a half wait...it's worth it!

4- Thanksgiving

I heart turkey day...but I'll discuss the holiday a little bit more in my next post. 

5- BYU vs U of U

Working at APX (now Vivint) definitely has its perks. Of course, there was the Nitro Circus party, but on top of that, my manager treated me with two tickets to the BYU/U of U game. Little did I know how horrible the seats were going to be, but we were still thrilled to be there. 

As you can see from the picture below, we decided to dress in neutral colors...which turned out to be a very smart thing (given the game was at U of U). While waiting in line to enter the stadium, we pretty much thought we were going to get murdered if anyone found out we were BYU fans. Every one around us was in red and was shouting chants of "BYU sucks" and yelling to the few blue coats in the crowd to get to the back of the line. We even had an incident happen right in front of us with a lone BYU fan and an old drunk U of U fan. There were F bombs going off and pushing and shoving until it was finally broken up. I love BYU...but I wasn't about to die for the blue. I kept my head low and my voice down. Sorry, we're terrible.

The game was freezing cold, but at least most of the game was enjoyable (because it appeared that we were going to win). Of course we didn't in the end (typical Jason and Emily luck) so we left in a rage....but all in all, we were so glad that we were given the chance to go.



Halloween

I thought Halloween was worth a little recognition, especially this year. While Jason and I didn't do anything special or creative (we even dressed the same as last year), my little brother Bryan sure knows how to entertain.

Bryan had been planning this night for over a month. To illustrate his vision, he had the front yard strewn with caution tape and all of the family vehicles were parked in the drive way resembling a near accident, or crime scene. He had all of his "police accessories" in use....his flashing lights, his police uniform. He had a "command center" built inside of the suburban. On top of the suburban there was a video camera streaming video onto a TV inside of the car. He had the creepy music playing on the porch through a speaker that was connected and wired to the inside of the car as well. That way he could control the music through his iPod while sitting at his command post. Now, why would he want to video the trick-or-treaters as they came to our house? Well, Bryan has been pretty obsessed with his fart machine....so he hid his fart machine underneath the scarecrow that was sitting on the porch. When the trick-or-treaters would come to the porch to select their candy, he would activate the fart machine from his remote and watch their reactions. On top of that, he had my brother, Tyson, hiding in another car that was facing the porch. As the trick-or-treaters turned to leave, Bryan would walkie-talkie Tyson telling him it was time, and Tyson would quickly flash on the brights and honk the horn. If the flashing police lights and creepy music wasn't enough to scare the kids away, the shock of the horn sure set them jumping and a screaming.

Quite a production for an 11 year-old....

I'm so sad that we don't have any other pictures...the daylight doesn't quite give it justice....but, it'll do.