turkey weekend

umm... this is a long post.... sorry! 

What better than 1 thanksgiving dinner?????  

2 Thanksgiving dinners!!!!!

It was so great to be able to spend thanksgiving with both the "Huls" and the "Call" family this year.  Our families celebrated on different days.. so we got the both of best worlds! 

Turkey Day Huls Style:

Stuffed our faces of coarse, laughed all day, FLAG FOOTBALL (my dad was MVP!), tennis, played spades, topped off with more eating and BOND... James Bond.

Turkey Day Call Style:

Ate too much Fantabulous food, little bit-o-football, shot guns, played pictionary, ate so much candy/pie/popcorn I could heave thinking about the amount we ate... SO yummy though! And ended the night watching Polar Express~

It's funny... the older I get the more "moans" I make as I eat thanksgiving dinner.. the "mmmm... this is so so good"  moans from the food being so DELICIOUS!! I remember as a kid only liking one or two things on the whole table, but now I can't think of one of two things I don't like... better yet... LOVE!! I know I'm getting old because of a few times throughout the day after dinner thoughts came into my mind like ... "wow... those sure were fantastic yams!" or "Could that smoked turkey have been any more moist?"... you know what I'm saying don't you!!!   Love it!

It really was a great thanksgiving.. and speaking of getting older... the older I get the more I recognize how blessed I am personally and how blessed Jeremy and I are as a family.

  

While we were at the Calls' house, our nephew, ASHTON, had a great idea to surprise us with a "thankful celebration" (that's what he called it) after thanksgiving dinner.  He took the whole family outside by the lights and he had us sing, "We wish you a merry Christmas", and then he had everyone share one thing we were thankful for. He is only 5 years old!! I thought it was so cute he came up with this "thankful celebration" on his own and was so excited about it. Kids truly are perfect examples of how we should be in SOO many ways. 

I also wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving even though its late!! One of our MANY blessing is having all of you as our friends and family! Love you all!    

We also got to meet our newest nice KAMRYN.. she is PERFECT! I couldn't get enough of her, there is just something about those sweet new babies! I could tear up thinking about her sweet face right now. What miracles each and everyone of them are! 

Okay.. So I may loose my life by posting these pictures because I'm pretty sure Lacie is going to Kill me!!!! But I'm laughing just posting this right now! When I was explaining what the "Huls" did for thanksgiving and said we "laughed all day".... I was NOT exaggerating! Lacie and I sat and took idiotic pictures of ourselves for probably an hour. We were laughing so hard we were seriously crying between each picture!! It's really scary to see myself like this.. Lacie actually looks kinda cute as she is making moronic faces, but I really wouldn't blame any of you if you didn't want to be my friend after seeing me this way!  So please tell Lacie it's okay to see us this way!!!  Some say people try to make themselves look perfect and have their life seem perfect through their blog ( I'm not one that thinks that about anyone for the record!).... well, I think by sharing this with you I've proved I have no dignity! 

.... you would think this is all the pictures that we took because there is so many... but this is not even a 1/4 of them! It's okay... you can think what you are thinking because its true... we have completely lost our minds!  We were shopping the day after we did this and started laughing about something and both of us grabbed our stomachs in pain... our stomachs muscles were SHOT!! Best work out I've had in years! I love this girl and think she is pretty much the funniest person ever! ... we even got my sister-in-law JENNY to do one with us! Enjoy... and Lace... I love you!

What happens in VEGAS.....

Jeremy & I decided to take a little road trip to VEGAS this weekend!!!! 

We had too much fun... and now are recovering from walking approximately 58 miles.. okay probably not, but both of us have blisters from trying to cover all of the Vegas strip in 2 days!

I thought I'd pick 3 HIGHLIGHTS to share....

1.  PHANTOM OF THE OPERA:  We have both wanted to see this for years.. and let me tell you... it was well worth the wait!!!! AMAZING, fantastic, incredible.. love love loved it! And the best thing about it was that we bought nose-bleed section tickets... and when we got in the theater a guy came and said we were getting upgraded and moved us to some seats that were about 10 rows from the stage. The seats were DIRECTLY under the chandelier that falls during the show! AAHHH.. I'll scream for you if you not doing it right now! SO FUN!

 

2. RIDES ON TOP OF STRATOSHERE:  If you have never heard of these.. you may want to look them up on the Internet just to get a better idea of how INSANE these rides are, and how insane that makes us for riding them.  They are called XSCREAM, BIG SHOT, and INSANITY. Just to keep in brief, I'll just say that the top of stratoshpere is 1000 feet from the ground, and all 3 rides are at the VERY TOP of the hotel. I'm not sure Jeremy is the same man now as he was before those rides, I have never seen a guy so terrified in my life!! And I have a bruise on my arm from him hanging on to me so tight (okay that is a slight exaggeration, but not much!)

Scary.. but crazy fun!  

3. Last, but not least.... Jeremy was flipping through a magazine in our room (a clean one everyone.. come on!).... and as he was looking through it a $100 bill fell out! He was beside himself!! We talked about turning it in.. but seriously... who knows how long its been there, and if someone remembered they had forgotten it they would have had a maid look or something right??? So right or wrong... we kept it and it helped pay for an AMAZING buffet meal!  It was our weekend for luck.. and we didn't even have to gamble!!  

weekend fun

First of all... I'm LUV'N this digital scrapbooking!! So FUN.. so easy, and SO clean (I hate cleaning up a scrapbook mess)!! You gotta try "scrapblog.com"!!

My brother JOSH and his family came and stayed with us this weekend. They actually came to see JENNY's family in Alpine for their "early thanksgiving dinner"... and her parents didn't have room.. so we got to have them both Friday and Saturday night!!!! I know I've said it a MILLION times.. but we LOVE having visitors!!

We stayed up WAY too late, laughing so hard we were crying over Jenny boxing Jeremy on the WII.. she couldn't even move the rest of the weekend she was so sore! But she put Jeremy's to shame.. no competition what so ever! Don't mess with her in the ring, I mean... look at those guns!   

Most of us were sick at some point during the weekend, but managed to have such a great time anyway! As you can see... they have the cutest boys ever... Braden & Tyler... 

LOVE my boys!

  

welcome to the world KAMRYN!!! We love you!

KAMRYN ISABELLE WILLIAMS

LaNae, Jeremy's sister, had her sweet baby girl tonight, and we are ECSTATIC about this sweet little girl joining our family!! We are so excited for LaNae & Aaron, and Jax & Ashton, what a perfect little family! We can't wait to meet, kiss, and squeeze her! We LOVE her already!! Congrats to the WILLIAMS! 

YES... this is LaNae.... the girl we had a baby shower for 5 DAYS ago... we cut that a little close didn't we?!!!  She was scheduled to have Kamryn next week, but we are so glad everything went smoothly and everyone is healthy and well! We are just so excited and wish we could be there... but will meet her so so soon, and CAN'T wait! 

Love you guys! 

Happy Birthday SISTA'S!!

My two best friends, who happen to both be my sisters, are BIRTHDAY GIRLS this month!!

"There is no better friend than a sister. And there is no better sister than you." -unknown author

"A sister smiles when one tells one's stories - for she knows where the decoration has been added." -unknown author

"A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double."- Toni Morrison

Lacie's birthday was on November 3rd, and Natalie's is TODAY! I had to give a little shout out to my favorite girls ever and tell them how much I LOVE them. I'm the typical younger sister that has always wanted to be JUST like my older sisters. Dress like them, talk like them, act like them... to the point where it probably drove them crazy many times as we were growing up... but not much has changed since we were young, I still want to be JUST like both of them. They are such wonderful examples of amazing wives.. incredible mothers.. and just pure, kind people. Love you Lace & Nat

HAPPY BIRTHDAY "SUWEE'S"

NATALIE BURTENSHAW

N- NICE She sincerely is the nicest person in every sense of the word... to EVERYONE

A- ADDICTING Her personality is addicting.. she is hilarious, so fun to be around!
T- TALENTED Especially when it comes to crafts!
A- AMAZING Such a cute mother and wife... really well-balanced person
L- LOVES LIFE Always happy, and can change anyone's bad mood into a good one!
I- INTELLIGENT So fun to have a conversation with b/c she always a little about everything
E- EXCITING Always excited about whatever she is doing, makes everything sound exciting!

LACIE K DUMAS

L-LAUGH Went she gets laughing she makes everyone else laugh bc she gets so out of control

A- ACCEPTING The least judge-mental person I know. Always can see the good in people.

C- CREATIVE Decorates her house SO cute, makes amazingly cute cards, never-ending crafts!

I- INTENSE We give her a hard time about being intense.. but its part of her "perfectionist" personality... a quality I could definitely take more upon myself!

E- EXCEPTIONAL Straight A's through high school and most of college, everything she does she does it exceptionally well!

LOVE MY SISTERS, you truely are my best friends in the whole world!! HOPE YOU HAVE WONDERFUL BIRTHDAYS!!

P.S. You all are the greatest FRIENDS... I think I made it through that milestone in my life (MY CANKER SORE) ... because of you and your sweet comments and sympathy. I'm feeling much better..so I'm pretty sure I'll pull through! But seriously.. thank you for your cute comments!

Open house, nephews, canker

I mentioned in an earlier post my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I were throwing Jeremy's sister a baby shower (it was actually just an OPEN HOUSE)... and that's what went down this weekend, and it turned out so great! LANAE is so excited for the little girl (KAMRYN ISABELLE WILLIAMS) to come, and so are all of us! She has 2 little boys, so this is her first girl.. and she says its her last child... but I'm going to do my best to persuade her into another one so we can have one together!! She is going to have the baby in 10 days! Doesn't she look amazing at 9 months pregnant!  

And here is the lady of the day with an armful of her stash from the open house.

Brooke (Jeremy's brothers wife), LaNae (Jeremy's sister), Me, Nancy (MIL)

I had such a great day with my Call GIRLS, we had this shower for LaNae, went to another baby shower, went to the cemetery to see Jeremy's grandma's grave, and went to a wedding.. not really sure how we fit everything all in that day.. but it was SO fun being with them! I'm so lucky to have such sweet people as in-laws... and friends. LOVE YOU GIRLS! 

What would a baby open house be without the fellas?? They showed up at the end to crash the party... okay, just to eat the left-overs!

Aaron (Jeremy's sisters' husband), Chase (Jeremy's bro), Lance (Jeremy's dad), Jeremy 

Me and Jeremy's cute cousins.. they are always so much help.. and so much fun to have around!!

Miranda, Mariah, Anniken

Okay so these pictures don't due the food justice.. maybe because I took them AFTER everyone had eaten instead of while the plates were organized and full.. you get the idea though.. my mother and sister-in-law did most of the food and did an amazing job!! 

My mom and dad are babysitting my nephews and my niece while my sister and bro-in-law are in MEXICO vacay-ing.... so I got to hang out with these crazy boys this weekend! We put them in charge of raking leaves.. and before they figured out it was a lot more work than it was play.. I got some cute pictures of them! Love these boys! 

Logan, Layton, Kaegon

I have to apologize to my family and to my in-laws for being the biggest BABY ever this weekend! Maybe the baby shower should have been for me, because I seriously was a BABY in every sense of the word! And I also want to thank them and Jeremy for letting me whine!

 I get canker sores ALL the time, but this one was a BEAST, the worse of ALL time. There was a couple of times I thought I may have to write my WILL and say my goodbyes to loved ones because of the pain that has come with this bugger! It was so swollen I couldn't shut my mouth, and got about an hour of sleep because of the throbbing/stinging pain. Well, if I haven't made you want to get up, get a smoothie for me and come rub my back I have not done my job! I'm feeling a lot better tonight, so don't bother coming tonight, and I'll hang onto my WILL and make sure to let you know if things change for the worst! More than anything I had to share this picture with you all. Hideous picture of me.. but HAVE YOU EVER seen one this big??? I'm sure you have, but say NO for my sake ;)  And if you finished reading all the way through this paragraph we truly are friends.. because don't think I don't know how LAME I am.  Hope you know me well enough to know I'm joking, and really don't want or need sympathy, just a laugh will please me more than anything! ;) 

Thanks for the HUSBAND TAG Mandy... I'll take any excuse to talk about my sweet friend! Some people say that blogging before you have kids is kinda lame.. but I think thats crazy... when I have someone this great in my life.. why not share it with others, and more importantly.. just record it in some way for him to read and hopefully for our kids to read someday! And I am by no means trying to make him sound perfect and flawless, because obviously he's not... but to me, he's as close as it gets, I really am the luckiest girl in my mind, and I truly hope that every girl feels that way... or will feel that way one day! I've defenitly seen him at his "worst"... but love him more than anything in this world even through those times he drives me absotutley crazy... okay maybe not "through" those times.. but I'm quickly reminded right after those times ;) jk

How could I not be crazy in love with this face! And he really is a perfect example of being as cute inside as he is outside! He makes me want to be better in ways I didn't even know I needed to be better. Love him so much. Hope that wasn't too juicy for ya'll.

These last two pictures you can probably tell are in the car... this is the biggest joke between us right now.. he is not a huge fan of pictures, and thinks I take entirely too many, so every time we get in the car now I take his picture as I'm laughing so hard because I know how bad he hates it... so now he won't ever make a normal face.


1. What is his name? Jeremy Lance Call.."sweet friend of mine"
2. Who eats more? He does
3. Who said I love you first? Um him... and I replied "Thank you".... yes, it was as awkward as you are imagining... I was just real nervous I guess. But I said it about a week later!
4. Who is taller? Jeremy, only by a few inches
5. Who is smarter? He is with "business" stuff, I probably am with "science/medical" stuff
6. Who is more sensitive? Definetly me.. but I'm working on him, and he's getting more and more sensitive all the time.
7.Who does the laundry? We both do, but during the week I have to admit he does it more than me while I'm at work! He is the best house wife ever!... even though he has school and a job too. I think he is pretty unique that way and recognize I'm pretty darn lucky, LOVE HIM!
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Jeremy, he makes me sleep closest to the door in case someone where to break in to our bedroom, they would get me first. Okay thats a lie
9. Who pays the bills? He does.
10. Who cooks more? Um.. between the laundry and the cooking this is going to make me sound like the worst wife ever, but he cooks AS MUCH as me, but not more.. its pretty equal. I just can't make a grilled cheeser like he can!
11. What meals do you cook together? Grilled cheese and tomato soup... I "make" the soup, he makes the cheesers, because he is so particular on how they are done ;)
12. Who is more stubborn? We are both stubborn and strong-willed, but we both have a hard time staying stubborn on any topic for too long with each other
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Jeremy wrong... NEVER! HA! I'm kidding he's not that bad at all.. but it is a joke between us, he'll make something up to make it sound like he knows what he is talking about even if he doesn't.. I guess its the salesman in him. We are both pretty good with "taking turns admiting we are wrong".
14. Who has more siblings? Me, I have 5, he has 2
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I use to think I did when we were dating, but "wearing the pants" takes so much energy, so he takes a leg of the pants and I take the other I guess. It's fun sharing pants ;)
16. What do you like to do together? Work out, play basketball, tennis, vacation, take drives, shop for home decor (even though we don't have a home of our own), play the WII (ask him who always wins tennis.. booyah!)
17. Who eats more sweets? Now there's a toss up. We are both sweet-freaks
18. Guilty pleasures? Watching re-runs of the OC, old school 90210, and Save By the Bell.
19. How did you meet? At the ISU institute, and right after I met him I told my whole hygiene class and my mom I was going to marry him even though he didn't even ask for my number! ... he did a couple days later... and 2 1/2 years later... that statement came true ;) He is the most patient/persistant person I know, and I'm SOOO grateful for that!!
20. Who asked who out first? He asked me.. not near as soon as I wanted him to though.
21. Who kissed who first? He snuck in for a smooch and it totally surprised me... it was about 3 months after our first date so I wasn't expecting it... but was the greatest suprise of all time! I can still remember it like it was yesterday.. one of the most memorable moments of my whole life.. I know cheesy, but girls... those lips are MAGIC
22. Who proposed? Him. It was PERFECT! On the beach in New Port California when the sun was setting. He had his friends write "I LOVE KATE" in the sand and he asked me right by it.
23. His best features? ALL OF HIM> Incredible EYES, love his calves, and his sweet hands. He is just a pot full of yummy.
24. What is his greatest quality? He can always see the positive in any situation, one of his classic statements is "at the end of the day, what really matters?" And he never talks bad about people!
25. Tagged? Heather (BIRD) , Erin Guymon, Kate Ball

Halloween

We had more of a "dress up" night than anything on Halloween. My parents have a costume bag we have had for years.. and not very many creative costumes were to be found, but my sister and I modeled most of the "treasures" in the ole bag!!
My sister, Lacie, was a 80's prom queen.. Jeremy was a nun with a dew-rag, and I was a Bonneville Bee wrestler for just a few minutes of the night. I surprised Jeremy with this disgusting outfit.. I made a sad attempt to be "New York".. yes, that disgusting girl from TV. Instead of looking like NEW YORK, I ended up just looking like a trashy corner worker... oh yeah... so does she! I was only in this little "ditty" for a few minutes, but we all got a laugh out of it.
My nieces and nephews were all dressed to the max! We had vampires, ladybugs, cowgirls, mummy's, bateman, pirates, tinkerbell, chics, gedi's... all you could imagine Ü and we missed seeing Jen and Shaun and their girls, but here is a picture of Shaun with his 3 girls at trunk or treat!