Memorial Weekend in Utah

For Memorial weekend, i visited my friend Jackie in Utah--she's also one of the pharmacists for The Apothecary Shop--for our store in Utah! It was rainy on the day we toured the city, but here's a picture of the Salt Lake--kinda dreary!
After that we drove up to Snowbird Mountian. They had a lift that would take us to the top so we could see the amazing view, however it was covered in fog, so we just took pictures on our way down! A very beautiful city--not anything like I expected!

Christmas Day at the Powers'...

Christmas day was spent at my mom and dad's where we lounged in our PJ's, watched Christmas movies, ate, and opened presents all day long. Here's Maddox with his Radio Flyer rocking horse...before we knew it, he was bouncing like crazy!

My family has an unhealthy obsession with cheese balls. This is the economy sized tub we munched on throughout the day...it didn't even make it to New Years!

Matt, my dad and Maddox with their matching Santa hats...

...my mom, me, and my sisters Lana and Nikki in our matching velour track suits!

Maddox and my dad having a serious conversation. Just kidding. Isn't that what it looks like?

Christmas Eve at Uncle Bill's...

As far back as I can remember, it's always been the Powers family tradition to hang out with my dad's older brother (Uncle Bill) and his family on Christmas Eve. It's always a small family gathering, but a great time, nonetheless. Above is Maddox with my Uncle Bill...they were instant buddies.

Of course, in typical baby fashion, Maddox would rather play with the ribbon from his present than his actual toy!

My Aunt Vicki got Maddox a super cool bike that makes lots of different sounds (the engine even revs). My mom is sitting behind him to the left and is talking to my cousin's wife Shari and their daughter Celia. Aunt Vicki is watching Maddox figure out his new toy!

This is Maddox's "scarey" face...I don't know why he started doing it...but it's hilarious. That's my sister Lana holding him...she thinks it's pretty funny, too!

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Hood...

As tradition has it, Debbie and Dana spent Christmas in Arizona with Jessica and The Downhours. So we had our Christmas with them a couple days before they flew out. Below are a couple pics from that evening...Maddox with his very first Bible...a momento he and I will cherish for many years to come.

Presents galore! "Hope you like your cozy throw, Grandma!"

" Watcha got in there, Pop-pop?"

"This present is as big as me!" (FYI...it was a stuffed elephant).

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a Mark and Christian's new house in Cave Creek--and this was no ordinary Thanksgiving!

To begin, Mark asked that we have "small plates" for the meal- of course neither Shirley or I knew what that meant, so here's how it went! Our first course was Bruschetta with Sangria and Bacon wrapped Shrimp! YUMMY!

Our 2nd course we sat at the table to enjoy a salad and Crab stuffed Mushrooms! Between this and the main course we took time to digest our first two courses by playing a few rounds of Dominoes.

The main course consisted of Steak with a garlic onion cream sauce and then all the fixens that Shirley and I brought; Corn Souffle, Mashed Potatoes and Roles. After this course we watched some TV, then made our final attempt at the last course-Dessert!

For dessert Shirley brought Apple Pie and Mark and Christian supplied the ice cream! At this point, I gave up- I could eat nothing more! After I watched everyone else eat dessert we finished the evening by playing the rest of our Dominoes game! Not what I expected for Thanksgiving, but very satisfying!

So, the temps jumped back up into the 80's this weekend and they may be here to stay a bit! The beautiful weather demanded me to spend some time out in it, so I packed up my book and a blanket and drove to the Kiwanis Park, just a few miles up the rode and found a shady spot to park! Doesn't even look like AZ, but the picture with the light poles in it--if you look far enough into the horizon, you can see some mountaintops in the distance! I spent a few hours enjoying the sights and sounds, it was very nice!

Fall Photo Shoot...

Last Sunday we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and had our own photo shoot in my parents' backyard. Some of the pics turned out really great! Here are a couple...

Matt and Maddox are so photogenic...it's ridiculous!