He's getting up there.

Dustin had a birthday this week! He turned 27 on Thursday. Dustin is definitely not into holidays and birthdays, and would chose to skip the day all together, but being married to me that just isn't going to happen. I love holidays and birthdays! So we kept it pretty low key and went here on his birthday, just the 2 of us...

Then we continued the festivities on Friday and saw this...

And ate this with some friends....

Thanks to all those who called, sent gifts, and cards. Even though he would like to avoid his birthday, I know he appreciated all those who thought of him. 27 years old! I have some catching up to do!

A look back...

Okay I just realized I still had Christmas music on my blog playlist and my cell phone ringer. I think it's taken a while to get out of the holiday zone. But with the holidays over and 2008 behind us, I've definitely been thinking about the great year we just had. It was a crazy and stressful year, but also one of the most action packed and fun years we have ever had. In no particular order here are our favorite top 10 things of 2008.

10. We welcomed 2 new beautiful nephews into the family! Baby Hayden and baby Tyson. We love being aunt and uncle to such cuties.

9. I went to Hawaii with my sister and her friends. I had never been to Hawaii before and it was just beautiful! I think we had too much fun.

8. Okay, since we lived in NYC this summer, our experiences there pretty much dominated our list. Lets start with the shows we saw; Wicked, Hairspray, Dave Letterman, the Today show were all fabulous. 7. NYC food. We ate. We ate a lot. Loved famous Magnolia cupcakes, Cafe Habanas grilled corn on the cob, Shake Shack and many others. 6. NYC museums.

5. 4th of July at Coney Island watching the hot dog eating contest and fireworks over the East River. Wildly entertaining.

4. Niagra Falls. So beautiful. 3. Went to many church sites like Nauvoo/Carthage/Palmyra, and had some great experiences there. 2. Although the winters here are pretty brutal, Michigan in the fall is absolutely gorgeous, the changing trees, the warm weather; we loved every minute of fall this last year. 1. Cancun of coarse. There's nothing like leaving Michigans negative temperatures in December and hopping on a plane to paradise.

So there you have it. What are your faves of 2008? Please share.

We are back and I have way too much to post

Our first week of Christmas break consisted of laying in the white sandy beaches of Cancun. It was beautiful, it was warm and it was sunny. We had a great time playing on the beach, relaxing and eating a ridiculous amount of wonderful food. After coming back to the Michigan snow, we are ready to go back.

(ps my camera decided to go crazy on me before we left for vacation and tinted all our pictures a lovey shade of pink...convenient)

Washington

Dustin was nice enough to surprise me with a plane ticket to Seattle for Christmas. I hadn't seen my family in 5 months and I hadn't seen my brother Chase in over 2 years since left for his mission. So Dustin sent me west to see everyone while he spent time with all his family in Missouri.

Me with my little brothers on Christmas Eve. (Well they are not so little anymore)

All of the fam on Christmas Eve.

Before heading off for a night in Seattle.

We went bowling. I won.

Missouri

Luckily I was able to spend a few days with the Sherwoods before I left for WA and also squeeze in some family pictures.

We're off

Finals have been taken, bags have been packed, and as of tomorrow we are on our way to Cancun, and then Missouri with all the fam. Probably won't post till we get back in January. Merry Christmas to all!!

For Cathy (and any others who would like to enjoy)

This Thanksgiving we went to dinner at the Smiths who are Enumclaw friends that now live in Michigan. We had a wonderful yummy dinner and I brought a cheese ball that seemed to be a big hit. My family has made it for years and years and this was the first time I've ever made it myself. It's super easy and so good! Thanks for having us Smiths!

2 packages cream cheese (room temp)

1 block (16 oz) of extra sharp Cheddar cheese grated

1/2 white onion grated

1 large fresh garlic clove finely crushed

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients together until well blended with spoon or hands. Form into a large ball, roll in finely crushed pecans and refrigerate for a few hours. Set it out to soften before eating. Serve with an assortment of crackers.