The Holidays

Okay. So here's the update I promised!

October is when Alice Lima came from Brasil and we had a little party. Then I quit Montage so I could work one job at the University of Utah Orthopaedic Center (plus my handful of private clients). I got to go climbing with some friends after several years away. It was super fun.

We also got gorgeous views during the endless fall that lasted through October.

Halloween was kind of lame. Justin worked the night shift.  Richie was a monkey, but he hated his costume. We went to a little party with his Grandma Chris. Then I handed out full size candy bars to reward the handful of kids that actually show up at our house.

I had a lovely day with Richie up at Crystal hot springs and my friends Liz and Carrie were there. Then we drove home stopping at little fruit stands up in Brigham City.

November was pretty chill. Justin was working crrrraaazzzzyyyy hours at the hospital picking up extra shifts, working 4th quarter from Backcountry.com on the side (their busiest time of year). We didn't see too much of him. But the pay out was definitely nice. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of Thanksgiving beside this one.

We went to Mimi's cafe for lunch with the Henderson clan. I had lots of salad. It was fairly low key. Then we came home and I made a giant vegan Thanksgiving feast. Lentil loaf, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, cranberry sauce, apple sage stuffing, rolls, kale salad, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, pecan and apple pie were all on the menu. Everything from scratch. Obviously. I'm not a snob. I won tickets to the U game against Oregon at work. We sat 11th row but even with our cheers the Utes had a miserable loss.

Our anniversary was in November for 6 years of marriage. Justin planned a trip up to Diamond Fork hot springs. We had a great time with the dogs and the hike. On the way back to the car Koda got confused and ran all the way back to the end of the trail and we searched high and low for him but he was all the way back up to the pools. Justin ran the whole trail again and finally found Koda whimpering and crying next to the other swimmers. Poor crazy dog.

The next week I went to Seattle to see my sista and her three munchkins. I had to meet Mister Jude for the first time! It was a blast and Noah and Elijah kept calling Richie "Ricky." Of course Caroline took me to the best chocolate shop ever, Chocolati THREE times because I'm officially addicted to their hemp milk "Aztec" hot chocolate with cayenne. Oh. My. Gosh. Awesome. We also went on walks, played at the indoor playground at the mall, had froyo, played in their unfinished backyard (which personally, I think she should keep as is because it's a little boy's paradise back there, minus all the hidden trash the builders left), and went to Carkeek Park to check out the Salmon Migration. The only sucky part of the trip was the 2 hour rush hour ride to the airport with four screaming boys, two frazzled mommies, and no escape. Ugh. The worst. I still feel back about that, Caroline. I'm sorry!!!!

December we had... what? maybe two good storms? I only got to go out on the board and skis a few times . Justin got a brand new pair of touring skis and didn't get out much because he didn't want to scratch his brand new skis. There just wasn't a good base for him. Justin got me a new pair of Salomon skis so I could learn to ski this year. Unfortunately with the lack of snow it didn't go to well. We did A LOT of hiking.

  I discovered Ferguson Canyon next to Big Cottonwood and had several gorgeous hikes with the dogs while Richie napped and Justin worked from home.

It was so nice during early December I actually took Richie to the zoo in the morning a few times.

And we snuggled in the hammock.

After a few snowy hikes the snow melted so naturally I ran 9 miles in a tank top on Pipeline. In December. So weird.

But most of my trail runs were more like this.

One day after a good snow storm we took Richie backpack skiing at Alta. The first run he loved it and laughed the whole way down. The next time he freaked out big time because the temperature dropped 10 degrees and it was windy. Poor little guy.

We also went to Zoo Lights. It was insane and busy. I loved seeing my cute nieces Oakley, Rylee, Bentley and nephew Ashton. But we did not love the crowds.

Christmas came and Richie had a blast. He got way too many presents from parents and doting grandparents. This year we did a limited gift thing with the phrase, "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read." It made gift buying simpler and took the focus off of the commercialism. For Christmas Eve we had a "shepherds dinner" to remind ourselves of the night the Christ came into the world. It was simple and beautiful. For brunch we went to the Henderson house, for dinner we met with my family with cousins and aunts and uncles that all flew in from all over the US. It was lovely and simple.

My cousin's girlfriend, Amber (living in New Orleans), made the most stellar vegan chocolate pie that is super simple. It really was the star of the show. Thanks again, Amber. So glad you're in the family!

New Years was really forgettable. Justin worked til 11 pm. Then we went to bed together (a rare occasion with him working nights) and got a decent night's sleep. Ah the simple things.

And that was our holiday season!