Snowshoeing...brrrrr!

We went snowshoeing today at Willamette Pass! It was really fun and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. There was SOOOO much snow...it was crazy.




My favorite picture of Grant ever! Lindsey says he looks like a true mountain man!



Fish Face!



This video makes me laugh so hard...my little comment at the end is pretty classic (I didn't know it was still recording)

Two Year Anniversary!

Today was our 2 year anniversary! Its funny because sometimes I can't believe its only been two years, but at the same time it seems like we just started dating.

We had a great day...I met Caitlin for breakfast (soo good to have some time with her), we ran errands during the day, and met up with the McCords this afternoon. It was sooo good to see them...and we are happy to report they are doing very well!

We wanted to do something fun for our anniversary, especially since it is the last time we will celebrate it in December (by this time next year we will be married and our anniversary will be in September)...so we made reservations at this great restaurant called the Melting Pot.

This is us posing all decked out before we left...



Course number 1 was cheese fondue with bread, fruit, and veggies...YUM!!





Course number 2 was salad...definitely not the highlight of the meal. Then we moved on to the main course number 3. It was several different types of meat that are set on the table raw and then you cook it in the fondue pot...SOOO GOOD!




Rosy cheeks from all the wine....


The last course was white and milk chocolate fondue with lots of yummy dippers!




Grant couldn't bear to see any of the food go to waste so he was VERY full...



This is my favorite part of the night...Grant was trying to wow me with a magic trick and in real life it wasn't very impressive, but look at how great it is on video... (ok I just watched it with sound and it isn't as impressive when you can hear the mint hit the table...haha)

White Christmas?!?!

Christmas was really great this year. We spent it with both of our families all in one day! It was the Simmons' in the morning, then to my mom's for brunch and my dad's for dinner. It was really fun, but exhausting so we're going to try to spread it out a little more next year.

Can you believe we actually had snow in Oregon on Christmas this year?! First time since 1990! It didn't stick around long, but it was nice while it lasted.



Opening a few presents (we're so spoiled!)



My mom and Tim digging in...



Me being a goof while helping my dad make dinner...



Joel, Me and Grant at my dad's



Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures of or with the Simmons this year...we'll have to try harder next year!

Christmas Kitty

My mom was doing some last minute wrapping and Rossi started to join in...here are some cute pictures of him all wrapped up!





He decided now was a good time to get clean...

Wedding Cake Round Two...

Making this cake is a very long process involving baking, leveling, slicing, crumb coating, cooling, and decorative frosting. Sadly the only part that really matters and that I need to practice is the last part...the decorative frosting! Well I tried a new frosting recipe this time and it turned out MUCH better than last time in terms of taste and consistency. But I still have quite a bit of work to do on my frosting technique. The good thing is that all the little mistakes don't look as glaring once it is all done.

Here is the mess I made making frosting batch number 1 (I made 6 in all...oh yes that means this little cake has over 24 cups of powdered sugar just in the frosting!)



These are the four layers that make up the top layer of the cake just before I add the 'crumb coat'



Here are both layers with their crumb coats cooling in the fridge. The crumb coat is a kind of protective layer of icing that makes the decorative icing easier to apply.



After the crumb coats were cool I was able to apply the basketweave decorative frosting. Here is the final product... We decorated it with Christmas holly to get the effect of what it will look like with flowers on it.

(It looks better if you stand back so this picture gives you that prospective)



Here is a close up just so you can see that I am actually improving over my last attempt!

Lindsey & Sarah's Christmas Party

Sunday night we went to a small party thrown by our good friends Lindsey and Sarah! We had a great time...it was really laid back and best of all we got to play games! Here are the two pictures I took...(Lindsey you have to email me the rest)

Shoes

This morning we are packing up so we can head to Portland to spend Christmas with our families. As I was packing Grant stopped me to ask...what is all that for? My response...I don't know what I'm going to want to wear. He proceeded to laugh and take pictures of all I had packed...How is a girl to know what she is going to need for the next 5 days??

Kitty

We inherited a kitty last weekend! He is my brother's cat, but we are babysitting for the break. His name is Rossi, but we prefer Kitty or Ross. We've fallen in love with him and are going to have a hard time giving him back!!!

He follows us around the house (he hates to be alone while we are in the house) and meows when he wants some love...isn't he cute??

France? Yes, Please

Update: Grant emailed Jean-Luc last week and we are officially going to live in France for a year!!! There are many details to be worked out, but we are extremely excited and maybe a little scared.

We hope that we get lots of visitors...start booking dates with us soon Ha!

Grenoble by night...

Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday was my 24th birthday and I had soooo much fun! Lindsey & Janelle were in town as were my parents. We all had lunch and went to pick out our first Christmas Tree! We went home and had a chill evening...decorating the tree, playing games, and eating homemade chili! My brother, his boyfriend, and Kendra joined us too...we had a BLAST!!!

Thank you all for making me feel so special!


With our free tree (yes I said FREE...so sweet! Thanks David!)



The whole gang at the Christmas Tree Farm..it was freeeeezing!



Decorating for our first Christmas under one roof...thank goodness for that!



We didn't have a tree topper so Grant and Lindsey got creative with some cardboard and aluminum foil...not too shabby!

The Annual Christmas Party...

Friday night was the annual Human Physiology Christmas Party!!! It was a really fun time and just as outrageous as usual. I can't believe it has been 2 years since Grant and I began dating!! Of course I was the most out of control, but hey I was about to turn 24 so I wanted my 23rd year to go out with a bang! Here are some pictures from the night (the rest are in our online albums-link is in the sidebar...I finally updated them)