Thanksgiving Roll Call

Thanksgiving was wonderful as always!  It's a wonderful Holiday that reminds me of how blessed I truly am and how I can show more appreciation to my loved ones and my Heavenly Father. This year dinner was at the Jaynes' home followed by delicious pie at the Finch's! We were able to get almost everyone for dinner with exception my brother Ryan, his wife Adrienne and their two boys--With that family missing we were 16 for dinner which sounded small. My parents home usually hosts other families, friends and more-30 plus! It was just us, just family this year and although everyone is always welcome it was perfect this year. We laughed, talked, and goofed off together-we have a lot to be thankful for.

Here's the crew! Roll Call! 

 

 Brandon enthusiastically shows his plate and milo wanted to show his as well...:)

 My mom gifted us all little "Give Thanks" books. She's always encouraging us to remember and take note of how blessed we truly are. 

Yummy food, excellent company, Thanksgiving indeed! Off to the Finch's we went and had fun tasting too many pies and relaxing watching a movie together. What a day! I was happy that this day was centered on what I'm most thankful for in my life-my husband and our families. We have warm homes to gather, food to eat, clothes on our backs, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. What more could you ask for?

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone and I can't believe October is over and we're making our way through November. The past year I've randomly announced possible costume ideas to Brandon but when Halloween approached I had nothing. Brandon was great to let me run too many ideas by him and even greater to come up with some to help us decide. He came up with our costume this year. We purchased a lot of felt and Brandon made his costume. He did a great job and his backdrop poster made our costume great! Here's Mr. and Mrs. Finch as Rosie the Riveter and Poster Backdrop. Together, We Can do It!

Camping, Birthday, Fall Catchup

Hello All! Well it's Fall and I'm in love with the cooler temperatures and jackets and boots that accompany it. The Mr. and I have taken lots of drives up the canyon to breath in the crisper air and clip some leaves. I wish that I had kept up on my blog/journal of our adventures because now it's hard to recall all the fun we've been having. Some things of note we've done: (We don't have a camera so they pics were taken on old phone. Now with new phone I can't get them off and took pics with another poor quality camera! BlurrySorry!)

Fishing: I caught my first little fish! He was little alright-makes me excited for next year!

Babysitting Indy, Libby, Ellie and Milo! 4 perfect kiddos that made us smile with their humor, sweetness and smarts! Glad we got to go to the zoo-we've wanted to go for a bit!

First day of Autumn: Paddle Boarding at Jordanelle. Beautiful day, Balance Needed!

James Bond Day: Mr. Finch requested that I be dressed in a little black number to accomplish our mission. With Gold Painted Nails (Golden Eye Polish thanks to my mom) we headed out to dinner but not before enjoying some pre-dinner mocktails. Shaken not stirred of course! My own James Bond dressed to the nines! Our mission: to finish our meals-we tried!

Real Salt Lake Game: Tied but still fun to go! Not a bad seat at that stadium! Go Real!

Mr Finch's Birthday! He took the day off work (Present for me!) We started the day with a doughnut (his request) then sandwiches at great harvest, Hotel Transylvania (not really recommended:() Watching the Fish Feeding at Cabelas (They feed them Gold Fish!) Dinner at Rodizio Grill. We ate so much we were too stuffed to enjoy a piece of the pie Brandon wanted. We blew out the candles of course though!

Annual Jaynes Family Campout: Another Super fun night! Fall Soups, Salads and Bread. Smores and Scary Story around the fire. Croquette Tournament that ended up with flashlights lighting the way-hey there was a trophy bowl of prizes at stake! 

Camping with Chip in the Finch Backyard: Brandon often comments on how he misses his dog. We decided to camp-out with chip. He was pretty interested in the food we cooked and nearly cooked himself trying to smell by the fire! 

Treats and Eats at a few of the restaurants featured on FoodNetworks Diners, Drive-ins and Dives! Great Shakes, Tacos and more places to visit soon!

I must say that I'm enjoying fall! There's so much that comes with this time of year and the time starts getting faster and faster as we get more holidays and family events. I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas and traditions galore! 

Enjoy this time of year! It goes much too fast! 

Beautification Award

My parents home is one of my favorite places to be. They have worked so hard to create a refuge and oasis for our family to retreat to. This month they received a Beautification Award for their yard from Pleasant Grove city. We were all so thrilled that their work is recognized and appreciated by others. The yard is really starting to develop and mature. We spend hours in the backyard, barbequing, playing games, relaxing in the summer evenings. I feel bad that the people that gave the award didn't even see the backyard! The thing about the yard is that it is so friendly and welcoming. Sure there are beautiful flowers but what makes it unique to my parents is the lawn ornaments that my mom has placed throughout the yard. They're cheery and the nieces and nephews love wondering around searching for the hidden and scattered faces. My parents are amazing in every way. I truly know they are blessed as a direct result of the lives they are choosing to live, the service they render and the love they give to others. Thank you mom and dad for creating a family home that enables such beautiful memories to be made. There is so much to take pictures of, i've selected some to show the variety of flowers and colors found in the yard. 

 

My parents have green thumbs for sure! Lovely yard. Heaven on earth with family there.