Thanksgiving & Halloween

Friday after Thanksgiving a large group of us got together at Happy Sumo for half off Sushi. It was fun to get a big group together and not have any dishes to do afterward!

We split into 2 tables for Thanksgiving dinner. 8 people at this table.

12 people at this table.

My Mom made tons of delicious food and there was a lot of left overs.

Thanksgiving! This is my first Thanksgiving in Utah for 4 years. I had an amazing time spending it with friends and family.

This is the view out my kitchen window. Don't you think they should put in a ski resort there? To me it looks like a bunny hill is already groomed.

Last weekend it snowed. This is one of the views from my house.

I got to go to another fun BYU game this season. It is nice to live close so I can come down for the games.

This year some friends of ours got together for a Halloween party. Brandon & I showed up right when it was over because we were at our ward Halloween party.

Quick Update

Football season is here!
Brandon met & got Johnny Harline's autograph on his new childrens book. Johnny Harline caught & scored an amazing touchdown with no time left on the clock against UT for the win. Brandon was at the game at Rice Eccels Stadium in Salt Lake and was really excited to meet him.

My 2 younger sister and our nephew Lincoln wen to the BYU vs. Utah State football game. BYU just one in the last few minutes of the game. It was a great night and even better because they WON.

The final score of the game.

That same trip was my cousin Ashley's 22 birthday. Some of my cousins and sisters went to celebrate with some frozen yogurt.

Me, Danielle, Ashley, Heather, Brenna

My parents came to visit one short weekend and we headed to Jackson Hole to get a BILLY'S BURGER! It has to be the BEST hamburger I have ever had. My dad ordered Billy's Giant Bacon Cheeseburger & added Pastrami.

When the food runner brought it out he asked "Who order the heart attack?"
We have been taking walks and enjoying the BEAUTIFUL fall colors and weather!

This is the view from out my bedroom door leading outside.

The day I put up all my Halloween decorations it SNOWED. I felt like taking it down and putting up my Christmas tree & drinking Hot Chocolate. Luckily it has mostly melted now. Whew... I was worried it was here to stay.

Last year in his 20's

Happy 29th Birthday Brandon!

I hope you had a great day, even though we ended up having to speak in church on your big day.

Birthday Breakfast included, French toast, eggs, sausage, & fruit smoothie.

The athletic director asked Brandon if he would officiate at the Jr. High School football games. I had to swing by on his first day and get some pictures!

The people here really take football seriously. I told Brandon "What goes around, comes around". All those years of you yelling at the referees it going to come back to haunt you.

It is also my nephew Lincolns 5th Birthday! He had a STAR WARS BOWLING party. I wish I could have been there. Brittany rented a FOG machine and had it running as well as a STAR WARS soundtrack when Darth Vader and the Storm trooper showed up.

Onion Days - Labor Day

A LABOR DAY family tradition has been to go to Payson and celebrate at the "Onion Days" Parade & Carnival. Grandma Grace loves it and I guess the little kids enjoy it too.

Watching the Parade which has actually has turned into a big commercial. Everyone put a big poster of what their business is, on the back of their BIG RED TRUCK.

After the parade Grandma always hosts a nice BBQ on her patio. Since I had been living in Southern California it has been years since I have been able to be apart of it.
Lots of Yummy BBQ food!

Grandma bought this huge, heavy hula hoop years ago. It was one of those work out schemes that if you do this for 15 minutes a day you can burn an outrageous number of calories. I don't know about that but it was entertaining while we waited for lunch to be ready.

Who says you can't have fun livin' in a small town?

There are so many hikes right around where we live. We are having fun exploring them when Brandon gets home from work.

Its amazing how beautiful it is if you just venture off the main road a mile or two.

Seafood in Wyoming? I thought the same thing. Apparently the owner goes to Washington every weekend and buys fresh fish for his restaurant. Not that you really need fresh fish for fish n' chips but you could tell it was quality fish.

After dinner we decided to go bowling. We were the only people there. We had the lady working turn up the music and we had a great time dancing and cosmic bowling.

Eli couldn't resit getting a late night Bahama Mama hot dog from Maverik. ewww.... I thought he was doing it as a joke but apparently he really likes them.
On Saturday we went to a car show in Alpine, WY. The weather was perfect so we enjoyed walking around and seeing all the cool old cars.
Brenna standing in front of one of the cars she liked the best.

Brandon & Eli standing in front of a low rider mat black car.

They don't make cars that look cool like this anymore. I am glad people have restored them back to there original condition so we can see what stylish cars look like.

Saturday night we went to the Bar J Wrangler's. Eli said it best it is like a COWBOY'S LUAU.

They serve you a Chuckwagon dinner which includes, beef, baked potatoe, baked beans & applesauce.

After dinner they put on a show with comedy, and music. It is something fun to go to in Jackson Hole every couple of years.

While we waited for dinner we walked around because they have a lot of fun things to look at.

Talk about Culture Shock

My blog is named Elements of Surprise because I have always loved a good surprise & life is typically full of them. Moving to Wyoming was definitely a surprise since I never imagined myself as a country girl. Don't get me wrong I love an occasional rodeo, wearing cowboy boots & country music. As for Brandon he has always seemed to me like a "wanna-be" cowboy. I say "wanna-be" because his allergies are so bad, one ride on a horse will shut his eyes for the rest of the day! Since we don't own any horses the wide open spaces and seriously not a single stop light for over 30 miles living here is his dream come true.

We just moved into a beautiful SMALL town named SMOOT. Population under 200!

The surrounding towns nicknamed us SMOOTIANS. (Which I actually like, its kind of like BYU students referred to as Zoobees, it just fits). The directions to our house are amazing. Turn at the small, lean to post office probably built in the early 1900's. Drive down the road and make your first left. When the road splits and make another left onto the GRAVEL ROAD! It may be a little different from places I have lived in the past but it is peaceful here and the people are very friendly and talkative. (Unless they see Brandon's California license plate, which we need to get changed before we get a ticket for going 1 mile over the speed limit).

Home sweet home

The home we are staying at has so many large window with unobstructed views of the countryside.

Although we live in a very rural area we have still had some visitors.

G-Baby!

Ann Macdonald

Bryce & Brooke was here too.
Brooke was spending some time as Bear Lake and decided to come with her Mother-in-law & the boys to check out my new spot. We had lunch and I enjoyed hanging out for a couple hours before they headed back.

Friday afternoon we met up with my dad who was in ID for a Rough Rider vacation and rafted down the Snake River! It was so much fun. I didn't get any pictures of us rafting since I didn't bring my camera on the raft.
This is us eating dinner after rafting at a little Mexican hole in the wall restaurant in Jackson Hole.

On Sunday after our first week at our new ward we took a drive up one of the many canyons really close by. It is amazing what you can see if you turn off the main road and up a canyon for a few minutes.

Doesn't look like the hard country life you image when you think rural WY, because its NOT. I have it way too easy and am so thankful for my new adventure here.

P.S. VISITORS WELCOME!