Vegas and Birthday fun

Whew, long time no post! I am back after my almost 2 week vacation! I am sad it is over because all the the family is no longer near us, but I am happy to be back in my bed! I have a lot of catching you up to do...I am sure it will take me a few days!

I had a great 23rd birthday! I cannot believe that I am 23! I feel so old, I should have so many things achieved by now! I need to kick it up a notch! ha! I had a great day filled with a lot of fun phone calls from family and friends. Most made the call before 11:00 am...which is pretty dang good! I did have one friend call at about 10:30 pm...you know who you are!(She claims she remembered all day...she was just trying to fake me out...yeah, uh-huh. Love ya!) My parents got me a cream jacket that I have worn every day since, as well as a knife sharpener that is totally awesome! Cody spoiled me and took me to see Twilight...finally! I was so happy and absolutely loved it! He gave me the best present that I will probably ever get for my birthday. He made a photobook on our apple of our wedding. It has the most beautiful quote in it with some amazing pictures from that special day. I couldn't have asked for more, I love it! I love you hunny! Thanks again!

On the 20th we headed to Las Vegas for the BYU vs Arizona Vegas Bowl. The game was such a blast! It was FREEZING cold...yes, in Vegas! I drank 3 hot chocolates and Brittany and I shared the most DISGUSTING churro I have ever eaten! (Okay, so we each had about 2 bites and then Tanner downed the rest!)

This is the pic of the watered down hot chocolate and the nast churro! (As well as me in my new beanie that I got for my birthday! Cute, huh?!?!)

After the game we ate a a yummy restaruant in the Bellagio, Sensi. We got this coconut creamed curry, the best potatoe wedges ever, tempura battered asparagus, and Tanner and Britt had short ribs. It was O-So-yummy! We headed to the center of the bellagio after that for a few pics...

They had some amazing Christmas decorations. The Tree was the center of it all and was HUGE! As are the Christmas balls that Tanner and Brittany are trying to lift...to no avail!

Also, we of course ate at Jean Phillipe, I can't talk about it...it makes me want to drive a mere 5 hours to taste it on my tounge! It was delicious. 

We probably won't be heading to Vegas for who knows how long...so it was good to make one last trip to sin city! Ha!

Here We Go Again...

We are off to Vegas...again! We are headed to the Vegas Bowl! WOo-hoO! I can't wait to go to my favorite place in Vegas, John Phillipe...it is chocolate, crepe, dessert, etc HEAVEN!

We are driving down on Saturday morning, and driving back on Sunday morning so that we can catch out flight to MT on Saturday afternoon...wish us luck! And fun!!!

Tons of stuff!

I have so much to write I don't even know where to start! Life has been so good the past couple of weeks...well years! We are so blessed! I guess I will start with Thursday....

We went to a Jazz vs. Trail Blazers game in SLC. It was so much fun! As you can tell, we had great seats! 

We were only like 15 rows from the court, and we could see Greg Oden's MASSIVE feet extremely well! I seriously don't even know how he can run with those feet! It was fun to watch some pro ball...however, I still stand strong that I love all college sports more than Pro. I feel like there is more heart in College sports or something!

On Friday we drove up to Sandy to babysit Ian and Meggie for Amanda's Birthday present. We decided to have a little birthday/Christmas party then, too, since we will not see eachother until after Christmas. 

We gave the kids placemats(Ian was seriously freaking out/shaking when he saw Lightening McQueen on his!) and some cute shirts from old Navy, Kevin a Sears gift card, Amanda a bracelet and we babysat for them! Ian and Meggie were such good helpers when we were opening! Not exactly patient, but great helpers!

They got us exactly what we wanted. I got this amazing apron...that my AMAZING sister MADE!!! (Please ignore my face...I had seriously gotten up from a nap like 30 seconds before this pic!)

Can you beleive it?! It is so cute I about died! She made my mom one for her birthday and I begged her to make me one...she definitely pulled through! I love it, LOVE it, LOVE IT! They also gave us a fun sorry game...which is a major Winterholler tradition, The Dark Night movie(If you haven't see/bought this you are missing out), and she even gave us our own dish back...wrapped and all!

Let me explain...a few weeks ago we ate dinner there and left our dish. Then, for an enrichment meeting they were pasting names onto dishes and making them oven safe. So, since Amanda already had our dish, she did it for us! Isn't that great?! Now I can give food to people and actually get my dish back! (Or they will feel really stupid using it, anyway!) I thought it was such a creative idea, I want to buy a "cricket" just so I can do it to all of my dishes!

That is enough for now....we are going home in 1 week! YEAH!

Creighton HERE WE COME!

Today was the day, and Cody got into Creighton Dental School for the 2009 year! Woo-hoo! We are so excited! We will be moving to Nebraska sometime next summer. We can't wait for this new phase in our life...thank heavens for Brilliant husbands!  Here we are celebrating at P.F. Changs!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break, what a wonderful time! We got to fly home to Billings on Tuesday morning. My dad picked us up from the airport and he and mom took us to MacKenzie River Pizza, my favorite place EVER! I ate lodgepoles and their creamy house dressing to my little hearts content! Thanks parents! That night Missy and her clan came into town. We whipped up some Honey Glazed Chicken and hung out all night. We got to meet Tyce, the newest addition. He was so adorable! It was so fun to hold him and hear his little baby grunts and squeals all weekend. Not to mention Jaxson, Kinsley, and Lilly...man those kids are fun! They have so much energy and we loved every minute with them. 

Nate, Alexsis, Carson and Madi came on Wednesday....WOO HOO! It is so fun to see them. Thank heavens for holidays. I wish we could have seen them more, but splitting between two families on both sides definitely causes some scheduling conflicts! We did eat together a couple of times, so that was fun. 

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were filled with shopping (although we didn't buy one thing!), food, and family. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Jay and Marsha's with my family, and it was great. We got to chit chat with Quincy and Monica, as well as Ashley and Andrew, who are both living in Idaho right now so we don't see them very often. Pretty much the whole clan was there, and we had a blast eating and playing games afterwords.

On Thursday night we colored my hair brown! I love it, it ended up just perfect, thanks Missy!

Saturday was a super exciting day...I got to go and try on bridesmaid's dresses for Carrie's wedding! It was so fun! I probably tried on like 10 dresses, and we did come to a conclusion so that is always positive! She is getting married in 9 months and I am so excited for her. Afterwords we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. MMM it was yummy! They definitely have good WINGS! My meal was just okay...but I guess that is expected since WINGS are their specialty!

Chelsea, Alyssa, Carrie, and Corrie.

We had such a great time and we can't go back to see everyone in only 21 days!!!!

And we are off...

To the great State of MONTANA! See you in a WEEK! Yesss!

Coldplay

I don't even know what to tell you about this concert! the one thing that I have been telling people is this, "Even if you have never heard ONE Coldplay song, I would tell you to pay $200 for one ticket to see them LIVE!"
Yep, it was that good. The light show was out of this world, and that is coming from a girl! We felt like our seats were just perfect. We got to sit down and stand up the entire time, there were two huge screens right in front of us, and we could see them at every angle.
I feel like if we were on the floor we would have missed out on a lot of the lights, etc. We had such a blast, I want to go to them again ASAP.
10 more points for CODY!

Carrie Underwood Concert!

We had SOOO much fun! I can't even explain it to you! We were 10 rows back (thanks to hub signing up for the Carrie Underwood fan club! ha!) and only 4 seats from the stage that came out into the middle of the crowd. She was so amazing! I could not believe how down to earth she was! She honestly told us that she was so lucky like 10 times. 

Sometimes I feel like stars are so fake, but she was wonderful! There was even a time that she tried to squeeze "Salt Lake City, Utah" into a song, and she totally messed up! She laughed right in the middle of the song, and made fun of herself after the song was over. She had awesome clothes, and she changed 3 times! (Well, 4 if you count the time that her dress ripped off to a mini skirt! Whew!) 

 I need her legs, let me tell you! She seriously just seemed like some small town girl thrown on this big stage that can entertain and sing like crazy! Her voice was out of this world! She even sang Guns and Roses "Paradise City".  Basically, I need to go to her concert again...TOMORROW!

Basically, my husband gave me an amazing anniversary gift! I love you babe!

This is me and Carrie, We are BEST BUDS!:

Preview

I just thought I would give you a preview of the upcoming post!

BYU BBALL IS BACK!

I can feel it...I am going to have an addiction to BYU basketball games this season. We went on Friday night and I had a blast! (The company was great...maybe that helped a little!) The first half was definitely a little sketch, just asked my dad. I called him at half time to, well...I am not sure why! I think it is purely because I am a daddy's girl. I have this thing with sporting events. I HAVE to call my pops and let him know that I am there, and the fun that he is missing out on having with me! I think I just really wish he was there giving me a play-by-play and such. Anyway, I love you dad! Anyway, again, the first half was shabby. Not much Defense was happening, which makes for quite a sad basketball game. I actually said to Cody, "I feel like I am watching a high school game!" Well, Coach Rose must have thought the same thing, because the second half was awesome! That is what a good butt chewing gets you I guess. The game ending up being a blast, leaving me itching for Thursday night, the next game.

We went to Quantum of Solace...and I give it an A+. Enough Said. (O, but make sure that you watch the previous 007 before going, it is a sequel.)

As for the Primary Program, it went wonderful! All of the kids knew their lines so well...good job kids!

We had a great weekend...and only 3 days until Carrie underwood, 6 until Coldplay, and 8 until HOME!!!

Popcorn Anyone?

What is the most fun thing that you can think to do on a Saturday night?! Pop popcorn? Was that your first guess? I KNEW IT! Well, you should all be jealous because this is what I did from 10:00-11:45 pm!!! Woo-hoo for me! From popping to buttering to salting to bagging, my kitchen was looking pretty disastrous. In the end, however, I was able to jam everything into one corner...ALMOST!

Tomorrow is our primary program, the favorite sacrament meeting of the year, right?! Well, our kids have been working hard on their lines...and if they do good they will get popcorn! (Honestly, do you think after popping all of this that I would GIVE it to them?!) Anyway, say a little prayer for our primary kids; that they will be on time, that they will NOT YELL into the microphone, that we will be able to hear AND understand each of them, that they will remember the words to the songs...but most of all, that the congregation will feel of their love for our Heavenly Father and know that they are each A CHILD OF GOD.

My talented friend...

I have to recognize my amazing friend right now...Brianne. She is a wonderful photographer...I only wish that she was hear to capture my precious moments. I want to refer all of you to 

her blog. 

Simply scroll down and you will see glimpses into her life through her beautiful photos of her amazing daughter, Lana. She doesn't know it yet, but I just officially decided that she needs to start a photo blog, like 

this one. 

I know that she would amaze me daily. I love you Breen!

All-Time Favorite Recipe

Check out my food blog for my All-Time Favorite Recipe....you don't want to miss it!

Click here

Fun Filled Weekend

We had a fun filled weekend! I think that the best part of it was spending time with Kevin, Amanda, Ian and Meggie. Cody raked all of the leaves...which he could not have done without Ian's help! Of course, afterwords, we all had to jump...or get pushed into, the massive pile! It made for some cute pics so I thought that I would share. 

We also had a blast with our buddies! We hung out with Tanner and Brittany a ton, I even let Tanner beat me in Rumikub. Tear. We played some blokus, which I hate playing with Cody...he is just so dang good that no one else can even get the chance to win! I will honestly give $5 to anyone who can beat him! We also watched Chronicles of Narnia in preparation of #2 coming out it just a few weeks on video! Not to mention a little Harry Potter #1...we must have been in imaginative moods this weekend. 

On Sunday we got to eat dinner with another couple for Billings and Katie and Dan. I haven't seen them in so long, it was a blast to get to know what they were up to. Katie made some delicious lasagna, and even GF style...just for me! Thanks Katie!

Guess what...remember like 6 months ago when Cody gave me tickets to see Carrie Underwood?!?! That is only 9 days away! AND...only 15 days until we are coming home! Woo-hoo! Let the countdown begin!)

Halloween

Who knew Halloween could be fun after the age of 12?! Well, we had such a great time! We had two separate events to attend; the church sponsored Trunk or Treat, as well as the party that we threw!

Party #1:

Cody had to have two different costumes for the evening...you will see why the other one was not appropriate for a church party later! His first costume was a "Carrie Underwood" fan. We signed up for her fan club to get cheaper tickets and they sent us these shirts...so we put them to use! He has "I love Carrie" tattoos all over his arms...as well as a tattoo of her head!

I was Cody all night...my costume gets a little better at the next party. 

Katie was a massive crocodile, and Dan was the Crocodile Hunter! It was hilarious! 

Dan's socks made him really look like him! Especially the socks! The shorts needed to get a little shorter, though! 

Anyway, We worked so hard on our trunk...this took a lot of thought, and it ended up so good!

We had a heart on the sub woofer, and had it playing in a heartbeat. The kids were SOOOO scared to reach in! It was hilarious! Katie kept telling them that the monster might bite their hand...some took it seriously! Ha!

Now on to Party #2:

This was the party that the Barratt's and we hosted. It was so much fun! Cody went as................CHELSEA! Chelsea went as Cody! 

Cody went all out, he stuffed his bra and all. He even wore my clothes! (I don't feel too bad that he can fit in my capris...the didn't quite snap!) He seriously looked so good, necklace, bracelet, and all! I put a beard on myself, and wore his clothes...I even had my Ipod headphones around my neck and sported Cody's favorite band, Mae.

We tried to act like eachother...that didn't last long! Tanner and Brittany were Greek gods, they looks SOO great...as you can tell, Brit and I are a little jealous in this pic...and Tanner is, well, freaked out!

We decorated cupcakes, ate my spider pie, and Katie made this awesome punch with a GREEN hand coming out of it!

Next was the pumpkin carving! We had so much fun, especially with the power drill that we brought to carve with! It worked great!

These are all of our pumpkins...in the close up picture mine is on the left and Cody's is on the right. 

Here is a pic of all of us crazies dressed up! We had such a fun night...I can't wait for next year!

The Zoo! Again!

I guess this is just the perfect time of the year to go to the zoo! Dylan and I (The 4 year old that I nanny) drove up to Hogle Zoo to meet Amanda, Ian, and Megan. We had so much fun! Dylan and Ian are about year apart in age difference, and they get along so well! There were multiple times where we had to get them to stop telling each other VERY important things so that we could move to the next exhibit! It was hilarious! The kids were great the entire time and thoroughly enjoyed their stroller...when they decided to ride in it!