Saturday, December 31, 2011

Family Time

The day after we got back from NC we put up our Christmas decorations. We felt like real home owners when we decided to put up outside lights. We didn't do anything too elaborate, but we thought it looked nice :-) The kitties loved the tree! Just like previous years Snickers loves to play in the tree, while Lolly doesn't really give it much thought.
December was full of spending time with our families. We were very lucky to have my parents and brother come out at the beginning of the month to have an early Christmas and that we were able to travel to Texas to see Jason's family for Christmas day.
My family arrived on the 8th and stayed till the 12th. We were able to do some shopping and sightseeing around Idaho Falls. We also got to go to Jackson, WY for a day. My brother had never seen the Tetons and we were lucky to have a beautiful clear day.  We got a fantastic view.  We also saw some elk, buffalo, and bighorn sheep along the elk refuge.  We thought about cross country skiing but we decided to just take a snow hike instead. It was nice to enjoy the fresh air and the mountain view. The Sunday before they left we had a big turkey dinner and a nice relaxing day of football.
The Tuesday before Christmas Jason and I exchanged the gifts we had gotten for each other.  I think we both made out pretty well :-)
We left for TX on Friday. Jason and I are kind of sick of flying so awhile ago we decided to drive this Christmas. We made it there with no problems on Saturday. We got to see Jason's aunt, uncle, and cousin. We had great food and great times with family. It even snowed on Christmas Day.  I love my snow so it was nice to see. Jason's grandma was able to come to the house for the day and it was a fun day of family stories, presents, and making memories.
We made it back to Idaho Falls on Thursday night. The kitties were very happy to see us! We don't have any huge plans for New Year's Eve this year. We are just happy to be home (last year we got stuck in Denver for New Year's Eve) I think I am going to set an alarm to make sure I am actually awake to bring in the New Year haha. 2011 was a super year and I have good feelings about 2012!  Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and have a great start to a new year!!

Lolly enjoying Christmas :-)

Our tree

Tree and dining room decorations
Outside lights on garage 

lights on the windows and trees

Snickers being bad!

This is what he did almost everyday...haha

Jason with his gifts (new binoculars and a fleece jacket

tree with gifts



Go self timer pictures!

me with my gifts (necklace, ornament, jewelry box)

pictures on our drive to tx


A natural Arch. (we were near Arches National park in utah)


Jason with two of his doggies 

pretty sunset on the drive back from tx







Frozen fountain in Idaho Falls

Mom and Dad on our way to Jackson


Mom, Dad, Brian, and I in front of the Jackson visitors center

Tetons - never get old

Family in front of Tetons ( It was soo sunny)

Tail gait lunch in the snow 

Some buffalo hanging out

Visitors center at Teton National Park

It was cold! Look someone else took our picture!

On our snow hike

Elk

Big horn sheep 

Jackson square at night



Turkey dinner


Yum!

Birthday, Biltmore, & Thanksgiving

The end of November was a fun time for us. We got to celebrate Jason's birthday and travel to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. Jason enjoyed his cookie cake that I made him as well as the new additions to his wardrobe :-) I spared him and did not put 29 candles on the cake this year...I'm almost certain that last year I put on 28 haha. We left for North Carolina 2 days after his birthday.  When we arrived we rented a car and headed to Biltmore, which is near Asheville, NC. We stayed one night at the Inn on the Estate and were able to see the house with all the Christmas lights and decorations. We also went to dinner at the Inn. We got all dressed up and had a great time. It is probably one of the only times we will go to such a fancy place haha. The food was amazing and the service was wonderful! We counted it as a mini honeymoon along with our trip to Jackson we took earlier in the month. We also went on a tour of the winery and were able to walk around the gardens. After Biltmore we went back to Raleigh to have Thanksgiving with my sister. It was nice and relaxing. The trees were colorful and it was pretty warm out compared to Idaho. We went hiking and enjoyed the weather. Thanksgiving was full of yummy food. Everyone ate too much as usual and enjoyed some football and dominoes.  We also got to go see the Rockettes. I thought it was a great show. I think Jason enjoyed parts of it. He is always a good sport! And you can't go to Raleigh without going to the Farmer's Market restaurant for breakfast!  That is one thing that Jason misses from Raleigh. He had a couple waitresses come over and ask how he has been.  (I think that means he went too much...) He said it meant he was a loyal customer haha.  We left the day after Thanksgiving and didn't get to do any black Friday shopping (one of the few years I haven't gone.)    
Below are some pictures. Although for some reason I didn't take any on Thanksgiving :-( 
Jason and his cookie cake (see only 10 candles)

4 new shirts - super exciting bday gifts!

my attempt to write happy birthday...

Jason in front of Biltmore

Entrance of Biltmore

Biltmore - so pretty and amazing


Biltmore at night
pretty tree outside Biltmore

Trying to take some pictures of ourselves

Jason studying the beauty

One view of the Inn where we stayed

Picture of the clock at the winery

Another view of the Inn

We walked around outside and then rested in the chairs haha

And me resting


View from our chairs

This was where they had a blacksmith and some old farming equipment. 


More of Biltmore at night (you couldn't take pictures inside but  we got to walk
through 42 rooms and it took us 2-3 hours to see everything )


The gardens. Not much growing at this time but it was still pretty

We walked to the bass pond and little waterfall

The water was so flat and pretty


poinsettia tree in the greenhouse.