October is my favorite month for so many reasons, and this year was no exception. October in Arizona isn't quite as magical as it is in Utah, but this year we filled our October with family trips and even cooler temperatures!
For the past few years, Jake and I have taken a drive through the mountains in Utah on the first Saturday in October to see the leaves changing colors and also the first dusting of snow sometimes. We haven't been able to do that since moving to Arizona, but this year we did drive up to Flagstaff to attend their Oktoberfest celebration and hopefully see some colorful leaves and escape the heat. We were a bit early for changing colors, even at their ski resort, but the weather was perfect and we still had amazing scenery.
The next weekend was our two year anniversary and we celebrated by going shopping to take advantage of Columbus Day sales and going out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants. We both agree that the second year went by quicker than the first and that it just keeps getting better.
The next week we traveled to Southern Utah to celebrate Jake's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary! We were only there for the weekend so it was a very quick trip but we got to see so much of Jake's extended family that we rarely get a chance to spend time with so it was really nice. The anniversary celebration was really special; Jake has really sweet and amazing grandparents!
Here's a picture of the whole group!
Here is Jake's immediate family (I'm the shortest adult).
The last week in October was reserved for my family. In fact, it was reserved for more than 2 years! My mom planned a family trip to Disneyland and she planned it at the perfect time because my nephew, Lukas, is 5 now and he's just tall enough to go on all the rides! I really don't have many photos from the trip because I was enjoying living in the moment, but I realized when we got home that living in the moment costs photographic memories! Thankfully my mom took some and shared them with me. We spent 2 and a half days at Disneyland and one morning at the beach with my mom's brother and his sweet lady-friend.
I made everyone (minus Jan) Disneyland shirts; Halloween themed.
We had breakfast with Mickey and friends one morning.
All of us at California Adventure the first day.
Disneyland
Jan, Jake, Christy, and Lukas on the Grizzly Rapids ride.
Lukas and Lego Hulk.
Mater
Lightening McQueen
The tire ride.
The Cars ride was the first ride we went on and it scared the daylights out of me and my mom! You can't really see Lukas here, but he's in the driver's seat.
The castle all dressed up for Halloween.
The highlight of Disneyland for Lukas was getting to go through Jedi training and fight Darth Vader!
Pictures from the beach with Uncle Joe and Maggi.
Disneyland flashback to our first trip! Jan was 5, I was 3.
There was a ping pong table at our hotel and Jake taught Lukas some moves.
We also went trick-or-treating through Disneyland at their special Halloween party, but I don't have any pictures of that. Lukas was dressed as a vampire. We had so much fun hanging out as a family, and I'm so glad we were able to go.
November was a lot less busy for us, and we went to Utah for Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Park City with Jake's family. My mom came up for Thanksgiving day and we also had time to spend with my dad.
On the plane to Utah.
The view from our room in Park City.
We ended the year in Utah as well, this time with my mom at her house, along with Christy and Lukas. Sadly, Jan had to work and wasn't able to come out while we were there, but he was with us in spirit! We had no shortage of snow during our Christmas visit, and Lukas and I took advantage of that by building a snowman. His name was mountain, and he was a blob because the snow wasn't wet enough to pack. Jake created his face by using pretzels, cheetos, chocolate chips, popcorn, and raisins. His arms were celery sticks, and for some reason Lukas thought he needed 4 of those.
Here's our Christmas tree at home.
2014 was a great year; we were able to put our focus on family and spent a lot of good quality time with them. We started out 2015 the same way we have for the past 3 or 4 years, by getting massages, and it's been a great year so far!
Here's to a fantastic 2015!
