Turkey Day in Utah

I love Thanksgiving... It's sort of an 'under-the-radar' feast of food and family. Benj's mom can throw a great Turkey Day celebration: tons of yummy food, Thanksgiving Bingo (with great prizes), and new this year... music chimes. Unfortunately, I did not take as many pictures as I thought, but the food was delicious and Ella looked so cute.

One thing I love about Utah is that you always run into people you know: family, old roommates, mission companions, grade school friends... Benj and I even ran into my BYU freshman homecoming date at the Gateway. It's sort of nostalgic to run into and keep in touch with people from the past, and gives that small town feel... Anyway, that is one thing I really love about Utah. Ella and I had lunch at the Dodo with BYU friends Anne and her son Ryan and Courtney and her son Logan (picture coming)... it was so fun to see them and their boys. Ella and I also saw KT and Liam. KT and I have been friends since 7th grade, and we were so excited to meet her son.

Another thing I love about Utah is BYU. We went to the BYU vs. Utah game in Provo and, aside from being a fantastic game, it was so fun to be back on campus.

Benj and I bought matching BYU sweatshirts at the Cougar Bookstore, reminisced about old classes, walked by the Spencer W. Kimball Building and laughed about the first time we held hands during an international movie in the SWKT (yes, we are nerds), and just really enjoyed the game-day atmosphere. We ran into Bridget, Ben and Paige Reed (Bridget and I were roommates and went to the BYU Jerusalem Center together) at the game.

We saw several apostles in the box seats behind us, and for the record, Elder Holland was cheering with both hands when BYU won!

My final plug for Utah is that when you are with family you have ready, willing and able babysitters. Benj and I even went on a date and saw our first theater movie without Ella since she was born... Dan in Real Life. We highly recommend it.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Now it's time to take down the Thanksgiving decor and put up the Christmas decorations!

Beckers Visit

Last weekend Grandma Susie, Grandpa Dean, Aunt Sara and Jim came to visit. It was great to have family in town. Ella thrives on constant attention.

Currently, Ella has two favorite toys: Baby, her baby-doll which she lovingly calls "baby," hugs and feeds her bottle to, and a plastic shopping cart that she pushes all around the house. I'll post pictures soon of her enjoying these two favorite forms of entertainment.

So, on days when we don't have guests, go exciting places, or have fun play groups, we entertain ourselves around the house...

We eat (noodles are a favorite),

We take care of the house plants,

We pull out the wet wipes and unroll the toilet paper,

We play with the pots and pans,

And when it rains, we wait by the window for Benj to come home.

trick or treat

The expression says it all... we had a 'chill' time at the church Halloween party. Yes, I know, where is the Ellapus you may ask? Don't worry, she wore that costume on her birthday and Halloween night. For the ward party and Halloween day, she was a gold fish. In truth, I loved both costumes and could not choose between the two, so I decided not to decide and kept them both:) Also, it was easy for us to make the fish costume a family costume theme, and coincidentally, the first date Benj ever asked me on was to go fishing.

My mom was here for Ella's birthday and left yesterday. She was so helpful and we miss her already. I've never been a huge advocate of wanting to live by family (UT or AZ), but now that we have Ella I definitely see the benefits of having grandparents close by. My dad was in town last week and we had a great time with him as well. Ella loved feeding the birds at the Palace of Fine Arts. Grandpa Lowell also gave her a new doll "baby" that she adores.

Good news is, Benj's sister Sara and her boyfriend are coming tonight and then Benj's parents are coming Friday so we won't have family with drawl just yet!