Canyons Retreat

This past Saturday, I used my AMEX points for a night stay at the Westgate Resort & Spa at The Canyons. It was supposed to we a girl's getaway but only Carly and I went. We planned to cram shopping, skiing, eating and a movie into 18 short hours. We did manage to get in the shopping and, of course, eating. We had dinner at the fabulous Westgate Grill - let's just say that we were breathing out the sweet smell of garlic all night long - yum.

We tried to convince Andrea that she should drive up to Park City to spend the night with us but she was too tired after a hard day's labor curling, teasing, straightening and coloring. I think if she would have known about the massive bed; the even larger garden tub; the chef-prepared food; Phase 10 playoff and the race walking through the lodge...she would have been there pronto!

Carly and I think we need to establish an annual girl's weekend right before Thanksgiving - kind of the calm before the storm. So save the date girls! Between now and then, I will be working on my race walking skills.

Cats & Cookies

Silly story but I don't want to forget it so I'm posting it here. A dear friend of mine who is a mega-successful government contractor was in town last week and stopped by to visit. I haven't seen her in over two years so as you can imagine we spent a big chunk of time getting "caught up." In the middle of some brilliant, sparkling conversation my friend says, "Is that cat supposed to have a cookie?" I was so embarrassed - there was Zoe walking around with a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie in her mouth. I didn't think that my cats jumped up on the counter to fetch food - apparently that was naive. Wished I could have caught the moment when she was actually carrying the cookie in her mouth. Bad Zoe!

Happy Birthday Michael Jon

What does 53 feel like? It feels like a lot of love and a lot of family. We celebrated Michael's birthday Sunday with homemade Cafe Rio pulled pork salads; German Chocolate cake; Wii Super Mario Tennis; some Karioke; and the showing of Ice Age 3! Whew! We also need to mention the new BYU tie - now Jim Taggart and Austin Spencer won't feel so alone at Church! It was a great evening - wish the entire family could have been with us. Happy Birthday Wonderful Man!

Halloween 2009

We celebrate Halloween with a family party that includes creepy-sounding treats, games and costumes. We always try to have the shin-dig (love that word - I'll have to look up the meaning someday) the Saturday before Halloween and this year was no exception. I have no pictures to share because Carly took them and I am waiting for her to shoot them over. Once I get them, I'll post a post-Halloween (haha) photo album!

So that leaves the real deal - Halloween. It's pretty grim around here. It's a dark area of town, no sidewalks and cheap treats (that would be us) so there's no real incentive to trick-or-treat on our street. However, we did get a visit from Carly and an unknown Power Ranger. Also once the 9 or 10 trick-or-treaters stopped by, we did head over to my friend Carolyn's mom and dad's house for some homemade donuts and hand-pressed apple cider. What a great tradition they've got going. Good memories!

2009 Soup Throw Down

The Second Annual Soup Throw Down ala Bobby Flay was held at Angie and Darin's house in October. Competition was stiff from the varied entries. Thanks to everyone for humoring me and telling me that the Hangover Soup was good. The undefeated champ of the Throw Down two years in a row is....Andrea - with her Creamy Chicken Wild Rice soup. I've posted the recipe on the side bar of this blog. Congratulations Andrea!

She always has been a great cook. I remember the time when I was working at Layton Hills Mall and Andrea called to ask me if I wanted her to make cookies (I had forgotten) for Ethan to take to his cub scout meeting - she was, like, 11 years old. Keep cookin' good lookin'!