Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Birthday!!!

This last weekend has been an incredible weekend. I'm really sad it has come and gone so quickly. For thanksgiving, we got together with all our friends from the ward and the missionaries. Jeff and I really have loved working so closely and getting to know all the missionaries that come through our ward. We love having them over to our house for dinenr... it just makes me so proud of them and to see first hand all that they do, knowing my brother is out doing the same thing. Anyway, thanksgiving was so fun. Jeff and I were in charge of all the mashed potatoes for 22 people and 2 pies.(Our friend Ryan came and helped us prepare, thanks Ryan for everything) I made my first apple pies, so glad my mom was here a week ago to help me make a good pie. Rumor has it they were tasty, they didn't look as good as I wanted but for my first pies they turned out ok. We had many laughs and shared good memories. anchorage got its second big snow storm, think we got 8 or so inches... it really was beautiful.






I have always participated in the black friday festivities with my mom. Jeff went last year for the first time with my mom and I and he loved it. So he wanted to make it a tradition. So we were up at 430 and off we went. We didn't really care to get there for all the big sales but we went for movies, family gifts and lots more and got everything we needed. We hit Walmart, Sportmans, and Target all by 9 am. We then ended our morning at Village Inn and off to work Jeff went. I'm so glad he is willing to start all these traditions with me and I just love that he loves it as much as I do. Anchorage wasn't even bad to shop in. NO one was argueing or fighting over gifts, it is nothing like Utah. Later that night when Jeff got home, for date night we went out to eat then came home and wrapped all our gifts while listening to christmas music. It was so nice to relax at home together. Most our weekends are filled with so much entertainment and fun with our friends that it was just so nice to kick back in some sweats and just enjoy each others's company at home. Megan and Ryan came over to vist later in the evening and we enjoyed laughing and talking and watching the boys fly their helicopters til 1 am. We really have the most amazing friends here in Alaska







I turned the big 26!!! Wow, if you would've asked me 10 years ago where I thought I would be when I was 26 I would've said married with 2-3 kids living in Utah... ha ha ha. Not even close. But I look at my life now and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love that I have an education and a great job. I love that my husband is so very good to me and I love that we have 2 puppies as our kids for now. As much as I would love to have a child right now, I love my time with Jeff. I know that I will never get this time back once we have kids. Oh and I never thought I would ever go to Alaska, or LIVE in Alaska. This adventure has really brought Jeff and I closer togther and I can't express how much I love him. For my birthday, who would've thought he had more surprises for me. I thought last weekends surprise party with our friends and mom was great... Well he went above and beyond for my actual birthday.
First off, Jeff said he had to go to work for a few hours (but he lied, he ran around planning my day to come). So I know this my be a shock to some, but I got to sleep in... ha ha! Jeff came home with a huge box wrapped in red ribbon and duct tape. So I opened it to find a huge piece of luggage. I don't have any luggage and with all the plane rides to come in our lives, this will definately be well used. on each zipper of the luggage was a piece of tape with a number on it. I was to open them in a row and when ever Jeff said I could. So zipper #1 was passes to the indoor water park in Anchorage, H2Oasis. It is like the 5th largest indoor park in the nation. We sure had a blast going down the slides, enjoying the lazy river and of course relaxing in the hot tube, all with it being 23 degrees and snowy outside. Then we came home and I opened zipper #2, gift certificates to Sullivan's Restaurant, which is very high class and incredible food! So zipper #3 was a fur lined brown vest... super cute. So I went to shower and get all dressed up for our dinner date. As we were getting ready to leave the house for dinner, zipper #4 was a massive bag of Swedish Fish(my fav) and movie tickets. Jeff also promised I could go shopping so off to the mall we went. I bought lots more cute alaska winter clothes (sweaters, scarves, beanies, another fur lined vest) and then we had dinner. After dinner we invited our friends Meg and Ryan to join us for a movie. We went to the Next Three Days (very good in our opinion) and then ended our night at home. and last but not least was zipper #5, a super cute jogging suit and some way comfy memory foam slippers. Although all this was very simple, the fact that Jeff had planned my whole day and let me do whatever I wanted, order whatever I wanted and watch whatever I wanted, the fact taht he put so much thought into it made the whole day that more special. He also wrote me the sweetest card about how much he loved me and his whole goal for the day is for him to show me his love and hope I felt it. He really is the perfect husband, always thinking of me and supporting me. This whole weekend with him, thanksgiving, black friday shopping, wrapping presents, dinners out, movies... all makes me realize why I married him!!! Jeff I love you so much and I couldn't have found a better husband. Thanks for making me smile.
(Unfortunately, I started taking pics of my gifts but didn't finish :(!!!)