Big 5

Has it already been five years since Nathan and I stopped at the Del Taco on 13th east and 8400 south for a disgusting quick burger before our wedding reception??  Indeed it has!  To celebrate, we headed to San Diego/Carlsbad area for one last freeish hotel stay. 

Our welcome fruits!

After breakfast/view of the golf course.

The La Costa staff gingerbread house contest. 

Early in the day...

Later in the day...

Our second night there it was so hazy and foggy and we loved it.  After our soak in the hot tub, we headed out for Five Guys and ice cream.  I have nothing to defend our unhealthy meal, but throw in the raspberry diet coke offered at Five Guys and it was perfect. 

"Hmm, decorations??  In December?  Maybe in a few more weeks..."

Our fun fireplace breakfast area. 

My smile is genuine in this picture.  This was the week I had started Practicum and I was immensely stressed; especially about leaving town.  But being away from everything and remembering all of my blessings, and spending time with Nathan was just what I needed...

....and feeding birds is usually what Nate needs when we visit California.  :) 

I debated including this picture, but since this is mostly my journal, it stays.  Nathan surprised me with a ring I love and don't really deserve.  On the up side, it frees Nathan of having to shop for Liz gifts for quite a long time. 

Pretty Carlsbad beach. 

Having occasions to celebrate are fun, but I am mostly grateful for the reason for the occasion in the first place. 

Thanksgiving x 2

For this past Thanksgiving, we got to celebrate it two times over and we had lots of fun!  For the actual day of thanks, Mom and Dad Higley visited.  The night before, we went to "Phantom of the Opera" at the Venetian.  Since they don't allow pictures (or even casual "I'm not really going to take a picture" loitering), we settled for a tour of the Venetian and their "Winter in Venice" display. 

Liz and D/M Higley

These were all over the place...I'm not sure what they had specifically to do with anything, but it was an impressive display of "stilt-ery".

Volcano at the Mirage

A really cute, but overpriced skating rink.

So as to not break the Nevada tradition, we headed to Lucille's for our Thanksgiving feast (void of any turkey, but still delicious). 

That very weekend, Nate and I headed up to the 'tah for the Harrison side of things. 

If you notice, Jim was the most dedicated to the "I'm really eating" pose. 

See?

Vince dealing with the news that he had to say goodbye to the tousins.  I know it's sad for him, but his emotional displays at farewell time make me feel so loved.  :) 

Christmas dog preview.  (also a shot of someone who put their Christmas tree up before December 20th...oops)

Graennifer Visit

Graennifer (still not sure if that really works: Ben, Jenn, and Gray) came to visit in November!  Unfortunately, the weekend they picked happened to be coldish, but we still had lots of fun, starting with:

Springs Preserve wins again!  Nathan took them to the bird show while I was at work.

So I missed seeing this guy bird again. 

At Grimaldi's! 

This was me testing out our new camera.  Our camera is so good, it has cat-pirate face detection. 

This scene was very common, but I never tired of it.  :)

Same goes for this one...

The closest thing we had to leaves for autumn.

A bold, rich, and (fashion) clueless man. 

We zipped over to France for lunch...

....:) 

Until next time!  

Jim makes us all old...

Because Jim is the oldest sibling, he's set the trend for aging...now that he's turned 40, there's no turning back for the rest of us.  So much like the burned carpet in mom's basement: it's Jim's fault.  To help offset the resentment, Jim and Alisha made a birthday visit to Las Vegas (in November) that made it (almost) all better.  :)

Fremont Street Experience.  This will probably be the only good picture I will ever capture of said event, so enjoy!

Alisha and Liz at the Springs Preserve whilst they were setting up for the dia de los muertos (day of the dead) celebration.  Two side benefits of this were less people and lots of props we were probably supposed to leave alone. 

Fish/shark tank at the Golden Nugget.  We visited their pool area in order to scrub our eyes from some of the Fremont Street "acts".



The fox that had the last laugh.  He was supposed to come out and eat his mice but he managed to sneak one and decided he could live without the other for a while.  It was during this time that I displayed my future parenting "skills" in action.  A sweaty young scout apparently wanted my spot in the fox viewing area so he said "excuse me", expecting me to move.  "Um, no."  Yay!

  

On the train at Springs Preserve.

For Jim's birthday joy, the four of us went to Mystere, the original Cirque de Soleil show.  Highlights included a 200 + lb. "baby" who plucked a man from the audience and ended up driving away with him at top speed backstage, as well as an older gentlemen dumping 3 or so buckets of popcorn on some unsuspecting audience members.  It really was funnier that it sounds, especially considering it didn't happen to us. 



All of the "Harrison" (both original and adopted) kids at Jim's birthday lunch.  Because our camera at the time was a sensitive piece of junk equipment, Nate was our photographer for this one.  It's a good thing too as this was the only clear shot of the series. 



King Jim at his birthday party.  Look how much Shaelynn looks up to the ice cream cone him!

Happy birthday Jim!