Halloween

Since it's already Thanksgiving, I should probably post our Halloween pictures :-)

We went as a cave couple!

We had a Halloween Parade at school and the costumes were a hit!

Schmauch Family Visit

Jirik and I took a road trip to Washington to visit my family. Here are some photos that sum up our fun trip!

We were there for my dad's birthday. This cake tasted AMAZING!

I loved having a cat to cuddle with :-)

My niece Emily is so cute!

Dana made her famous appetizers!

We had a lot of fun chatting and playing lots of games.

My mother is a fabulous cook. I loved all the food!

creme brulee... a new favorite dessert

Emily and I made chocolate-covered strawberries.

I had a lot of fun doing Emily's hair in the mornings.

I'm really glad we were able to visit the same time as Lisa's family. They are a blast!

Have I mentioned I love this girl :-)

We played a lot of bocce ball and lasso golf.

little Brandt... adorable!

cute face :-)

We set off some pretty big fireworks!

Overall, we had a great visit! Highlights of the trip:

** shopping trips with my mom, Lisa, and Emily (my closet is filled with cute new shoes)

** Burgerville

** Dana's appetizers

** lawn games with Jirik

** playing games with Lisa's family (Emily's favorite was Dungeon Quest, haha)

** being outside (I love our yard & garden)

** Fireworks with Cathy's kids

** great food every day

** Air conditioning

Done!

Today I finished my ESL endorsement! 18 credits and way too much homework, but it's done! I went out to celebrate with some friends and am quite content :-)

Oh, and there was a fire about 50 feet from our condo the other day... very scary. I just double-checked our insurance policy and we do have renters insurance... just in case someone decides to burn part of the Boulders down again (2 times in 3 years). Maybe we should move...

Young Love

My students LOVE Valentine's Day. One girl called it "Candy Day," a term I feel summed up our day well! It was a little crazy, but I love watching little kids on this lovers holiday :-) You can totally see the little crushes between students and it is pretty darn hilarious to watch. We wrote letters, decorated cookies, and passed out valentines.

funny note from a little boy to his crush

my candy loot :-)

lovely cookies

Knowing today would be a long day for me, (I teach an after school class, and then stay to do more work... so I tend to get home kinda late most nights) Jirik and I celebrated Valentine's this weekend. We had fun spending time together, watching movies, and making some yummy foods (some of which I posted on our cooking blog). I love my husband! I love that we share interests (check out our board game blog) and can always have fun together.

Saturday night dinner (filet mignon wrapped in bacon)

Sunday Breakfast (crepes with strawberries & whipped cream)

Saturday Fun

I love Saturdays. Today we spent pretty much the whole day with Paul & Jesse. It was awesome as always :-) First, they treated us to Red Robin.

(Oh Chicken Caprese Sandwich, how I love you...). 

Then we played a board game called Ghost Stories. It's one of those cooperative games where we try to defeat the big bad guy together. Despite our best efforts we lost. There were some epic battles, but those haunters got the best of us. 

To console ourselves we went to Magleby's for appetizers and dessert.

They have the best chocolate cake ever, just so you know. 

We ended the night by watching episodes of the BBCs Top Gear. HILARIOUS!!

It was a fun Saturday, but now it's back to laundry, cleaning, filling out applications, and getting stuff done for work. It was nice to have a break... thanks Paul and Jesse... you guys are my favorite (and congrats on getting us out of the house, haha).