The problem with being busy and getting behind on the blog is that when I do finally get to it, it ends up being huge! Well, settle in folks, this one's gonna be long.
Our journey begins Thanksgiving weekend where ambition struck me and I decided to bake biscuits, an apple pie, and a two cheese squash casserole *pictured below*. Amazingly, all came out good. Guess I didn't do much to perpetuate my reputation as a crappy cook.
We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house with Annette & Walt and Lucinda & Deb, who were visiting from California. We played games and just enjoyed hanging out.
Mason and Siena duked it out over the wishbone. Siena won but failed to actually make a wish so the win was a bit for naught.
Not sure what this look is all about but it's vintage Siena.
This too is vintage happy Siena!
Get Papa Ron!!!!!
The cat's in the box.
Friday the kids and I got out Christmas decorations and decked our halls.
Helper girl!!!
Helper girl taking a break.
Friday night Luis and I went to the Pearl Jam concert at the Rose Garden (I refuse to refer to it as the Moda Center). It was a great show - they played for 3 hours! Definitely worth the money.
The following Thursday, we hit the road with my parents and aunt Mary Lou. Our destination was Park City, Utah for my cousin Shelley's wedding. We drove 8+ hours on Thursday and spent the night in Burley, Idaho. We continued on the rest of the way arriving at lunchtime on Friday. We had a great lunch at the Wasatch Pub on Main Street in Park City. Here's the happy and hungry travelers:
Utah is cold. This was definitely hot chocolate country.
Siena enjoyed a cup of cocoa too. She wasn't even willing to take her coat off!
My mom invested in a stocking cap at a gas station on the way into town. With the temperature peaking out in the teens, our fashion became entirely about warmth! Us mild weather Oregonians aren't used to this level of cold. We also weren't used to being at 7000+ feet above sea level. I thought I was in shape until but one trip up the stairs in our rental house set me wheezing for air.
It's the pink abominable snow girl!
We didn't have to be anywhere on Friday until dinner so Luis and I decided to check out Main Street after lunch. Turns out that Park City is a great little town for walking around, despite the cold. However, we did duck into about every 3rd store whether we were interested in it or not just to warm up.
A view of Main Street Park City.
Adam's parents were nice enough to invite us to the rehearsal dinner Friday night where we enjoyed a wonderful meal and got to spend some time with the family and wedding party.
Saturday morning we set out on the town again with the purpose of buying a puzzle. Our rental house was just up the street from Main Street so we bundled up and went walking. The kids made friends with a local bear. Park City got a lot of snow on Saturday creating quite the winter wonderland for Shelley and Adam's wedding that night.
Wedding night! Shelley and Adam's wedding was at Deer Valley, a beautiful resort up the hill from Park City. Mason and Siena found the Evans kids right away!
View of the lodge where the ceremony was held.
I struggled to get a good picture of the ceremony due to lighting but here's Shelley walking in with her dad.
It was a beautiful ceremony. This was quite the hot couple...so hot in fact that the fire alarms went off during the ring exchange.
Walking out, here's the siblings walking arm in arm!
He cleans up good, doesn't he...
So does she. No, that isn't Siena's wine on the table...
My cousin Travis with his girlfriend Annie.
My beautiful mother!
Ellia of many faces...
Photo credits of the above to Miss Siena.
Beautiful place settings. Look, it's me!
Oh wait, that's me.
The girls getting ready to eat.
Cute Berren!
The parents.
Heidi and Berren.
Siena's favorite part of the dinner was the fondue bar for dessert. Apples, cookies, bananas, etc. with dark & white chocolate and caramel heated over an open flame to dip them in. All of the food was absolutely amazing!
Mason and Siena by the wedding cake.
Mother and sister of the bride. Amanda was nervous about giving her toast but totally nailed it and did a wonderful job!
My uncle Doug giving his toast.
The bride and groom! Welcome to the family Adam!
We danced into the evening and had a wonderful time. Mason even busted out some break dancing moves we didn't know he had!
The next morning was a brunch at Doug and Joanne's rental house. I was too busy eating to take many pictures but here's miss Siena trying on some fur...
Sunday afternoon Luis, Mason, and I went snowboarding. The Park City ski lodge is all of 5 minutes from where we were staying so we made the short drive to the "First Time Lift". Luis has snowboarded many times but it was Mason's first time, and for all intents and purposes mine as well. I've been once before but that was like seven years ago. Mason did great and seemed to get the hang of it pretty quick.
As for me, I took out 2 people and have a bruise on my rear end the shape of Pennsylvania from repeated wipe outs. We had fun though.
We decided to try to get home in one day instead of two so we'd have time to do some laundry and errands. It was a very long day in the car but it's nice to be back to our beds. Tomorrow we return to the real world.
