Thanksgiving

Josh and I had our first Thanksgiving together. Last year we were dating, but both went with our own families. Molly, Josh's mom, Sadie (sister) and Spencer (brother) came to visit from Utah. They drove two days with bad snowy roads to get here, but we are sure glad they came. We had our Thanksgiving feast Wednesday, and we also invited a couple friends of ours. It was a lot of fun to host. That night we saw the new Harry Potter movie. Here's some pictures:

Molly and Sadie



Turkey- First one I have ever made (with the help of Molly, of course). It turned out great!


Josh Carving the Turkey. He did pretty good, but I finished carving the rest.


Josh and Spencer had some good brotherly bonding time with the XBOX.



On Thanksgiving day we went to see various Church sites. They helped me to realize how thankful I am Josheph Smith and the early Saints. They all went through so much, but their Testimony's of the Savior were strong, so they perserved. They are good examples to me.

We then found a resturant in a hotel that was opened, where we enjoyed our Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving dinner.

Friday we went black Friday Shopping, but we didn't it the stores until about 11:30. We still got some great deals, and it was a lot of fun. That night we decorated for Christmas.

Sadie and Molly doing ornaments for the tree.



Josh and Spencer putting the Christmas lights outside on our deck.


Josh and I putting up lights in our front window.


Mellissa decorating under the tree. I have never decorated under the tree before,but I sent most of my Christmas presents home with Molly.


Finished product:

OCTOBER

I haven't had much time to blog in October, and the month went by so quick! It was an adventureful month, so here are the happenings:

October 2- Birthday
I turned 26 this year, but last year I had a goal to do 25 new things while I was 25. Now that 25 is over- here are the 25 new things I accomplished (many of these things were not on my original list, but things change):

1.) Get engaged
2.) Get married
3.) Drive a car in Mexico
4.) Go skiing
5.) Decorate my very own room in my very own condo
6.) Make my own duvet cover
7.) Try Ox Tail
8.) Go to a Temple I haven't been to (Ogden)
9.) Go to Nauvoo
10.) Drive half way across the country
11.) See the coolest lightning storm ever
12.) Buy a laptop
13.) Buy a wedding dress
14.) Have a bridal shower thrown for me.
15.) Get my ESL endorsement in Utah
16.) Experience Chigger bites
17.) Sing at Aaron's baptism
18.) Meet Lowie Jones
19.) Hike in the Rocky Mountains
20.) See Alcatraz
21.) Sleep in the jeep for the entire night
22.) Play an African Drum
21.) Get an American Express Card
22.) Shop for my own car insurrance
23.) Bring a guy (the one) to the Sock Party
24.) Go the First Presidency Christmas Devotional at the Conference Center
25.) Shop at Kohls

I know some are pretty lame, but on the other hand- some are pretty Awesome!

October 14-18 My Good friend Came
Josh went to ICMA, a City Manager Conference, in California for his program. Since he was gone, I invited Shawn to come visit.
It was fun to see her and we had a good time together. We went to Kansas City to go shopping, and we also shopped around Lawrence.

We went to the Wizard of Oz Museum.
It was neat with all sorts of old artifacts.

On the way to the museum we saw the sign that says, "Road to Oz Highway." I just had to get a picture!.


October 23- Pumpkin Patch
Josh and I went to the pumpkin patch in Lawrence. It was huge, and we had a lot of fun. We rode the tractor to the Pumpkins.
There were so many pumpkins- it was hard to choose. .We finally decided on two small pumpkins and a medium pumpkin to carve. The two small ones were for Dinner in a Pumpkin for our Halloween Dinner.
After we picked out our pumpkins, we got hot apple cider, which I spilled on my shirt, bought some Kansas made salsa, pumpkin butter, and kettle corn.

That night we went to the University of Kansas (KU) football game. It was fun, but we left early because KU was losing terribly. I guess football is not their thing, but I hear they rock at basketball-Rock Chalk Jayhawks.
It was a fun day.

The last weekend in October we went to Nauvoo so Josh could do a school project. We went to the Temple and took a couple pictures then came home.

This weekend (in November) Steve, Josh's dad came to visit! We took him to downtown Lawrence, Liberty Jail, and Kansas City. This picture is in Liberty Jail.

We also went to the Facebook movie, which was good story, but had a lot of "notty" scenes. After the movie we went to a Brazilian Steakhouse, which was fantastic, but a little pricey! Thanks Steve for the great dinner and day!