Happy (belated) Halloween!

Lauren & Danny (haha)
Caleb, Lauren, Lily, & Aidan
or
Vampire, Pocahontas, Tinkerbell, & Spiderman

Reasons I Was Excited to go to Utah...

FOOD - Cafe Rio - 3 times, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Carmel Apples - 3 1/2 times, Goodwood BBQ, Macy's donuts, and one seriously good home cooked meal. Please sir, can I have some more?

NNN (and his 'rents) - Seeing NEW NEPHEW NATHAN, Darin Andrew, and Jenny was loads of fun. Nathan is the most happy baby ever! He is so cute too! Darin and Jenny invited Allie, Carole Ann, Jon, and I to Sunday dinner. Jenny is one seriously good little cook. She made the best Beef Stew and Apple Pie with Carmel drizzle. Mmmmm Darin is one lucky guy. I am going to have to start making request for them to come for Christmas - so I can see Nathan and eat more of that Apple Pie!

Carole Ann - I should probably also add JON here too! They were great to let me sleep at their newlywed home with them. There apt. is so cute and quite comfortable - I slept like a baby! Carole Ann and I got to have lots of girl time. We shopped, ate, and met up with old friends... like JESSIE (LEE) MILLER!

Allison - I did everything possible with the little sis. Probably the best was taking a nice 8 mile stroll on the Provo River Trail and eating multiple donuts first - just like old times! It was also great fun to play college student with her - sleeping at her apt., going to class, and skipping class/work to eat and shop.

Marynel & Dolly - It is kinda weird to hang out with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law w/out Danny. Weird because it felt so normal. It's a great thing to get married and to instantly have a lot more family and yet it is a bit strange when it seems like you have somehow always known them. Marrying Danny was a great choice but landing the in-laws I got was great luck! I really enjoyed going out to eat, taking in the majestic fall foliage on a walk, and catching movie with them too!

Tia Lupe -

What is better than Brasilians? Not a whole lot. Seeing my Tia (Aunt) was great. Seeing her brought back so many good memories. Just one hug and I could smell that wonderfully nostalgic scent that has become so familiar to me. Sometimes when I am walking around random places I get a whiff of that smell - if I could figure out what it is I would bottle it up and take whiffs all the time to take me back to the motherland. Darin, Jenny, Nathan, Allie, and I got to enjoy some lunch with her and see some of the Law school, where Darin is currently is in his last year.

Hermana Amanda Ellis - Oh I just love her. It was too quick of a visit with her if you ask me but I did get to go to her Welcome Home Party and to see her give her Homecoming talk. She is a fabulous person so I can only imagine the kind of missionary she was - and from what was shared in a letter from her Mission President I can see that the admiration is shared by more than just me. And besides all of this she is a babe, as is her mother and sister (see above). =)

BYU - Like a good alum I made several visits to campus. I got to attend a Marriage and Family class with my little sister (too bad the whole lesson was on the law of Chastity and not so much on family). I also got to go to a BYU Rugby game. My brother-in-law Sam plays and quite well too. He kicked several extra points and even got a yellow card so that we could all say that we got our money's worth - thanks Sam! Rugby is an intense game. I especially like when they scrum and lift each other up. My mother-in-law and I had a great time watching, what she calls, a testosterone crazed game.(Disclaimer: I am not down with the Rugby lingo so if I have offended (or embarrassed - geez Danny!) anyone with my complete ignorance to this new favorite sport (extra points?!) then I sincerely apologize.)

Utah Mountains - I didn't really get to take any pictures of this but they were still there in all their beautiful glory!