Playing with guns by Utah Lake

Over the weekend we had really nice weather (probably for the last time this year), so to take advantage of that we decided we would either go golfing or go shooting. We ended up choosing to go shooting because it is sooooo much cheaper. We had a little fun with this excursion and decided to recreate one of our first dates.

Back in May of 2007 a really cute boy that I had only been on one or two dates with decided to take me on a really long drive to the unpopulated side of Utah Lake. It was really hot out and his car didn't have air conditioning and my window didn't roll down all the way. I was a little bit grumpy on the hour long drive to get to the right spot to go shooting. McKay is super lucky that I grew up with my father who collects guns and has taken me shooting since I was a little girl, otherwise this kind of a date could have put an end to us. McKay was a brave boy taking girl he barely knew into the middle of nowhere to go shooting. Luckily I am the kind of girl you can do that with. Maybe that is why we ended up getting married. Anyway so on this date we had fun shooting his handful of guns and then finished the drive around the lake and had a picnic lunch/dinner in the Provo Harbor. McKay planned the whole thing so all he brought was cheese and crackers. The cheese wasn't even sliced so he whipped out his pocket knife (which was kind of dirty and grossed me out) and cut off little slices for us. We sat by the edge of the lake and talked for quite a while and had one of my most memorable dates ever.

So, fast forward 3 1/2 years and you will find us, recreating that date. The drive to the other side of the lake was much more comfortable because our car now had air conditioning and windows that roll down all the way. Plus, we know each other really well so there were no awkward silences on the drive. This time we spent even more time shooting. We were out there for close to 2 hours and it was a blast! After that we drove to the American Fork Harbor (because that is closer to where we live now) and had cheese and crackers for dinner. However, this time we pre-sliced the cheese so that no dirty pocket knife was needed. I am so lucky to have such a fun, awesome husband. We decided we will have to go shooting more often. This time we definitely won't wait 3 1/2 years to do it again.

Us in May 2007:

We look so young!

Us in November 2010:

Halloween 2010

We were able to start our Halloween festivities a little early. On the 23rd we had a birthday/Halloween party at our house and had a ton of fun. I made way too much food, and we ate the leftovers for the next few days!

How cute are these pumpkin cupcakes?! This is my new favorite cupcake recipe!

On the 28th McKay's work threw a Halloween party for the families of their employees. It was geared towards kids, and since we don't have any kids we borrowed two of our nieces for the afternoon. We had a fun time watching them play all of the games and get their faces painted. I laughed pretty hard when one of my nieces to the person doing the painting that she wanted to be a dead cinderella. The face painter tried to talk her into a pretty butterfly on her face, like her sister had, but it didn't work. So she got scars and blood and a skull painted on her face. You could tell the lady doing the painting was a little uncomfortable, but she obliged a very stubborn little girl (who absolutely LOVED her face paint by the way).

On the 29th I had my school Halloween party. All I can say is my preschool kids are soooooo adorable and I had a blast with them.

Luckily my mom also teaches at the same school I do, and my sister goes to school there, so we all got to hang out together for a little bit during the school costume parade.

On the 30th I delivered a wedding cake to Springville that I have been working on FOREVER, and then we went' to a family party at McKay's mom's house. We ended up getting there about 2 hours early, but we had some good time to visit with My mother in Law and McKay's aunt Ilse. After pumpkin carving, home made donuts and hot dog soup we headed to our house briefly to be there for trick-or-treaters. It was raining so hard that we didn't have to many people come by. Then we headed down to Heather and Doug's apartment in Provo. We had such a fun time at there house. Lots of good food and people. At the end of the party we were playing apple to apples and I was so tired that everything was funny and I had a minute or two where I seriously could not stop laughing. For some reason cabbage was hilarious.  We went dressed up as a cowboy and an Indian. Costumes are awesome. I wish we could wear costumes every weekend. 

On Sunday we had a few stragglers come trick-or-treating. Luckily we had plenty of candy left over to oblige them. All in all it was a great Halloween!

McKay's Birthday

On October 21st McKay celebrated his 27th birthday. He just barely started a new job at Fidelity and had training all day, but we were able to celebrate during his lunch brake and after work. When he came home for lunch I had pizza from Pizza Hut ready and waiting for him, that has been a tradition for us since China last year.  When he was done with work he opened presents and then we wen't to Macy's and bought pumpkins. Then we carved our pumpkins as we watched season 4 of Fraggle Rock (one of his birthday presents). Our pumpkins turned out pretty cool, and this is the first time we have had jack-o-lanterns at our house for Halloween!

After we finished our pumpkins we had birthday cake. It was  really weird singing Happy Birthday to McKay as a solo, but I just had to sing it. For his birthday he requested a green funfetti cake with tons of sprinkles, and I delivered. He blew out one giant candle and then we ate cake!

Happy Birthday McKay, you are the coolest guy I know! I love you!

The cutest nieces and nephews ever!

This afternoon I decided to empty a camera card that happened to be VERY full, and in the process I downloaded all of the pictures from the beginning of August when all of McKay's family was in town. We had a really fun, 2 week long, unofficial family reunion. The two weeks were very eventful. We had lobsterfest, my niece Julia's baptism, a girls only tea party and we went to the Children's Museum, Pirate Island and the swimming pool. We also spent a lot of time just hanging out at Sasha's house. (Thanks for letting your entire family take over your house for two weeks Sasha!) I had a whole lot of fun with everyone and It was great to see Marissa and Cecily's families. We miss them when they are back home in Illinois and Massachusetts. I have only known the Young family for 3 1/2 years but I have come to love them just like my own family. It is amazing to me how much I really do love all of them, especially my crazy nieces and nephews.

We took over 700 pictures during those two weeks so I can't possibly post all of them, but I have a ton of them that I would like to put up. So, from here on out there will be a whole lot of ridiculously cute pictures of my nieces and nephews, and a few of us slightly less cute adults.

Thank you for a great two weeks Young family! Marissa and Cecily, We can't wait to see you guys (and your families) again!