Halloween Party at Hinton Manor

Last weekend we hosted a Halloween Party for a bunch of our married friends. We thought it would be fun to have a reason to dress up in costumes and get together! I love Halloween, it's such a fun holiday with lots of fun decorations and costumes. We had a costume contest, a photo booth and some games too. 

We loved seeing so many of our friends. It seems the older we get, the busier we get and the less we are able to see our friends. It is always fun catching up with everyone! We hope to make this an annual tradition at the Hinton Manor.

Ryan surprised me with his costume

Lots of yummy Halloween treats

Pumpkin bread bowls and homemade chili 

The boys deep in discussion

Miss Charlotte and her Mama Witch

More hanging out

Miss Charlotte wins the cutest award

Storm & Wolverine (aka Sara and Brent)

Ben & Allison as parents

Twinner witches

More people chillin

Jonathan & Tara

Shane & Mel- the costume contest winners

Wayne and Garth (aka Adam & Katie)

Some of my gals

Michelle & Mark

Some of my favs

Stay Puft takin' care of the babe

All the girls at the party

Another girls pic

The boys

We Love the Fall

There's just something about the Fall. It's such a beautiful time of year. It's almost like a kick-off to the Holiday season. It doesn't get much better than crisp Fall air, beautiful Fall colors, holiday decor, sweaters and boots. Ryan and I took a drive up to Silver Lake at Brighton one night to see the Fall leaves. Gosh it was beautiful up there, but freezing cold. Here's a few of the beautiful shots we took...

Family Time

We are so blessed to live so close to both of our families! We get to see them and spend lots of time with all of them, I love it. In October we get to celebrate my Mom's birthday and also my little sister Cassie's birthday. Cassie was born when I was five, she was my first little sister, but she was stillborn. I was so young that I don't remember a lot about when she was born, but my parents have always told us about her. Every year on her birthday (October 12th), we all get together, take flowers to her grave at the Riverton cemetery and do something to celebrate her. This year for her birthday, we drove up to Sundance to ride the ski lift up the mountain and see the full moon and beautiful fall leaves. We invited Ryan's Dad and Step Mom (Craig and Jen) to come with us too. We had a lot of fun hanging out together that night. I am so lucky to have such an amazing family and I love spending time with them. 

Here's some pics from our fun night together celebrating our sister.

A Birthday to Celebrate!

Forty-nine years ago today, the most amazing woman I've ever met came to this big wide world. That woman is MY MOM. I don't just say that because she's my mom and I have to, I really, truly mean it from the bottom of my heart. And anyone that knows her would agree. Even back when I was a teenager (you know, when you're not supposed to think your parents are cool), I already hoped I could be even HALF as amazing as my Mom is. 

I was asking her what she wants to do for her birthday this year, and she said that when you are as old as she is, you don't celebrate birthday's anymore. I disagree, I think her life is something to celebrate! Each year, she blesses my life even more and I learn so much from her. 

She is the most generous, talented, loving person I know. Not to mention she's beautiful and doesn't look a day over 30. She is always, always doing things for other people. She works so hard and it so great at everything she does. She has so many wonderful talents and I hope to be like her someday.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you so much! I hope you have an awesome day!

Labor Day in Park City

This year for Labor Day we stayed at a condo up in Park City with Ryan's family. It was so much fun to spend some time up in the beautiful mountains and get away for the weekend. We got there Friday night, settled in and went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant with everyone. 

Then on Saturday, the girls went to Swiss Days in Midway while the boys went golfing. Swiss Days was so packed, but was so much fun. I got so many cute craft ideas and bought a few things too. Saturday night we were all pretty exhausted so we got pizza and played games and watched a movie at the condo. 

On Sunday morning, we made breakfast and then the boys played in the pool for a bit before we went to a park to play tennis. We had fun watching the boys play a pretty competitive game. Later that day we went up to the Park City resort and went down the Alpine Slide and did some mini golfing. What a beautiful time of year up in the mountains! 

On Monday morning, we packed up our stuff and headed to the Outlets for a fun day of shopping before we headed back home. I am one of those lucky girls that has a husband that loves shopping as much as I do.  Surprisingly, he can out shop me most of the time! 

It turned out to be a perfect weekend. We love spending time with our family and it's always fun to have an extra long weekend too.