Meet Perry Winkle

Perry Winkle is the newest member of the family. Being the Christmas freak that I am, I insisted we start the Elf on the Shelf tradition...even though we don't have kids yet. Morgan got him for me for my birthday in August. We took turns creating funny activities for Perry to be doing when the other person woke up. My favorite was the campfire. HILARIOUS! Here are a few different ones...I wish I had taken pictures of them all!

"I'm a huge college football fan!"

The locals weren't a fan of the newcomer.

My favorite! Morgan is so creative.

Getting excited for Christmas!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that Christmas is my favorite time of year! I was more than ready for the festivities to begin...but I waited until the day after Thanksgiving to decorate. What restraint! ;)

Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade...a tradition!

The first Christmas lights I saw...Thanksgiving night.

Our cute little tree, stockings, and village!

We went to Temple Square with family the day after Thanksgiving. It was PACKED! But so beautiful.

Afterwards, we all went to City Creek (the huge fancy mall that opened this year) and watched their amazing fountain display. It was synced to famous Christmas music and so fun to watch!

PT Thanksgiving Party

We have made so many great friends while we've been in Physical Therapy school! There are six families in the same PT class that live in our apartment complex. How did we get so lucky? I love it! Meredith and I decided it would be fun to have a special PT Thanksgiving party to celebrate *almost* being done with school. It's sad to think that in a few months we will all go our separate ways. Hopefully we'll get one more party in before graduation! I decorated and brought a yummy cranberry salad. Meredith and Ryan made the most delicious turkey, and everyone else brought wonderful side dishes. It was quite the party!

I made a Christmas Activity jar as the party favor...they turned out so cute! Each day you can pick out a new slip of paper that has a fun activity to do with your family. 

The men gathered to witness the turkey massacre.

All the yummy food!

The kids' table! They were the lucky ones...getting to color on the tablecloth!

What a fun bunch! We love our PT friends!

Trip to VA

In November I went to Virginia to help while Devin had surgery. It was hard to leave my cutie husband behind, but I did have a wonderful time with family. I sure miss them!

Saying goodbye. Boo!

Cracking up with Alli about something.

Piling pillows on Alli...she thought it was hilarious!

One night my mom and I were going shopping and we came downstairs wearing essentially the same outfit. I ditched the scarf after I saw this picture...not working with this outfit. 

 

More fun with Alli-cat

My family is so goofy. After a nice fancy dinner, my mom and brother started stacking glasses on top of each other. They are pretty talented.

While I was home, I decided to do a little Family History work, since we don't know much about my mom's side of the family. It was so addicting...once I started to find names and dates and pictures, I was on a mission and couldn't be stopped! Here are a few of my favorite photos. (These are all from my mothe'rs side of the family)

My Poppy's parents.

 First Communion - My Poppy

My Grandma - How cool is the old picture??

My Poppy in World War II - Bruhl, Germany 1945

Arresting a German prisoner...these two war photos blew my mind.

Poppy's seven aunts (one is taking the pic) and grandmother

My great-grandfather. He died early and I think was in prison...not sure what his story is!

My great-grandmother with her four kids. She also died early.

More Halloween Activities

Halloween was really fun this year. It's usually my least favorite holiday because I hate scary, yucky, gory stuff. I finally realized I could still have fun with the cutesy, kid-friendly Halloween. It was so much better this year! We hosted two different RA activities to celebrate...one was a pumpkin & storytime activity for the children in the court. They loved painting mini pumpkins and I loved reading to all the kids! It was absolutely adorable and heartwarming. On Halloween we had a soup & chili cook-off, costume parade, and trick or treating. Afterwards, Laura (Morgan's sister) and her kids came to visit. It was a fun day!

I think my favorite part however, was this funny note I got on Halloween morning. He's so clever. ;)