Florida

In April we headed out to Florida for some R&R with our good friends Steve and Rachel who live out there. Many thanks up front to Steve & Rach for their hospitality and playing tour guide for us.

We spent some time waterskiing and driving around the lakes see all the mansions on all the lakes in Orlando. It was so fun to have some glass water and Josh could waterski with all the gators in the lakes. I was really nervous about him doing that but Steve and Rach convinced me it wasn't a problem so I let him go.

 

Of course being in Orlando we had to hit up Disney world. So fun to ride the rides and hit up all the attractions. We will never forget trying to get the Gorillas attention so we could feed him illegally of course. We were able to hit up three of the Disney Parks in just one day. It's amazing how much you can do without kids. We pretty much ran from ride to ride that day.

 

We went for a quick overnight trip to the Beach in St. Petersburg. It was such an awesome resort and the beach was incredible. Too bad the Ocean was still a bit on the cold side to go swimming. Perhaps next time we will have to come in the summertime.

 

We were really lucky in that our flight got delayed for three days due to a number of storms on the Eastern seaboard which caused all the flights in Atlanta to be diverted to Orlando. Due to the mess we got delayed by three days. So we used the time to go golfing, shopping,Gatorland, and to see the temple. We also got to go see a Cirque de Solie show.

 

Holiday Decor

After two years in Switzerland we finally got to brush the dust of our Christmas decorations and put them on display. I had tons of fun doing lots of shopping at Pottery Barn to update some our decorations. After all they are two years older.

 

 

We got an early present of a new couch. It was delivered on the 23rd of December. Talk about the timing. It was so exciting to get a big comfy couch to chill on for the holidays.

 

P.S I have been way behind in the blogging world. So be patient as I attempt to catch up. We'll see how far I get.

Christmas Memories

We were able to go to my parents again this year on Christmas Eve. My dad was in charge of the crab legs, Josh was on the grill, and I was on desert duty. After dinner we anxiously waited to opened presents. Josh was really surprised when my mom gave him a Golf Club. I was excited to get some new pillows for my new couch. We were equally excited to give Brian and Melissa a chocolate themed gift basket, which included a fondue pot. We absolutely loved celebrating with the kids. It was fun to watch the new babies get buried in all the wrapping paper. I especially loved the end of the night when I got the kids excited to look out the window to try to find Santa. It was hilarious when Brian scared the kids by taking a Santa Doll sneaking under the window and popping up with it. All the kids were scared to death and didn't want to see Santa anymore. It took an hour to convince them it wasn't the real Santa just Brian playing a joke. Oh what fun my family is!!

 

Birthday Wishes

I have loved ballet since I was a little girl. So it was appropriate for Josh to surprise me for my Birthday with tickets to the Nutcracker. And it was everything I pictured it would be. Josh was a good sport and didn't complain through the entire show. I consider him being there with me half the gift, seeing as I know he suffered through it.

 

I have had the pleasure of sharing my Birthday with my very own twin brother. From when we were kids, my mom has gone all out for us. She is big on parties. One of my favorites being the limo party she surprised us with when we were 15.I can't believe that was 12 years ago This year my mom made an amazing meal and an Alaskan ice cream pie to top it off.

 

Josh's family has a tradition that when there's a Birthday, the spouse makes dinner for the entire family. So Josh worked really hard picking up the phone and making reservations at our favorite restaurant "Asian Star". I wonder what I'll be doing for his Birthday this year.

 

Palm Springs

Josh's parents had a time share down in Palm Springs, and weren't using it. So we took up the offer to take it for the week. We broke up the drive and stayed in Vegas the first night. We spent a night in the Monte Carlo which the the hotel we stayed in when Josh moved me down to Arizona. We spent the night reminiscing about our first time in Vegas together(just friends at the time). We went to the Paris hotel for dinner and watched the show at the Bellagio.

 

We arived in Palm Springs with two In and Out stops along the way. And boy did we hit a gem. I am a sucker for palm trees. Which lucky for me, were everywhere. We spent four days, relaxing by the pool, playing horseshoes, hitting up the night street festival, shopping, and of course golfing. We ate at another favorite restaurant,"Tommy Bahama". Their coconut shrimp is to die for. I highly suggest you stop by for meal. When golfing Josh ended up randomly getting paired with an ex-PGA tour member, who is now the Golf Pro at the Marriott's Desert Springs five star golf course. Josh had fun getting some pointers on how to play the game. He was on cloud nine for a week or so after. Palm Springs was such a relaxing place we decided this would be a great place for us to retire.

 

Summer Happenings

Two of my favorite people were in town, Britt and Rach! We spent the night riding around on vespas, eating at Tepanyaki, then topped the night off with a pool party at Rachel's.

 

Josh surprised once again with a night out. He bought some tickets to the Magical Mystery tour up at the Deer Valley resort. They had the Beatles themed music with the Utah Orchestra playing in the background. These guys sounded EXACTLY like the real deal. We were both completely convinced they were from London. When they broke out with their American accents at the end, we were in total shock. This event was definitely a highlight of our summer.

We have missed Europe quite a bit. So it was nice to feel a piece of it at the Ocktoberfest up at Snowbird. The food was authentic and the music was bravarin. Which means lots of lederhasen and umpla music.

 

Family Summer Extravaganza

My uncle Reed arranged for a little family reunion with the Nuttall side of my family . We all got together for a Swim/BBQ at the country club.

 

This is Josh's annual Frampton family reunion. Josh's dad planned the whole day out so well. He had the "Frampton Family Olympics". The family was split up into to teams to compete in various events.

 

My family took a trip down to Fish lake for a few days. I have never been into fishing. But it was rewarding this trip to actually catch my first fish! The best thing about living back in Utah is being able to spend a lot more time with family. Our nieces and nephews are at such fun ages. They cracked us up constantly.

 

Our last trip of the summer, we went to Lake Powell with Josh's family. Josh is one of the best waterskiiers I know. So I LOVED watching him do what he does best. The rest of the week was filled with exploration, cliff jumping, fishing, sunbathing, and more waterskiing/wakeboarding.