Grand America Sunday Brunch

Each year me, my mom, my dad's sisters and my grandmas all pick a Sunday and go up to Salt Lake for Sunday brunch. We usually go to Little America Hotel; however this year we ended up going a few weeks later, and found out that Little America only does their Sunday brunch during Christmas time. So we decided to go to the Grand America Hotel instead.

The Grand America is such a beautiful hotel! Although I think Little America has a better Sunday brunch (because the crepes are better!) I still really enjoyed the regalness the Grand America brings!

I completely ruined my week of healthy eating, but it was oh so worth it! I didn't quite have as many crepes as last year, but I got close!

This has always been one of my favorite traditions! I can't remember how long we've been doing this, but it has been since I was a little girl! I remember how special and celebrity I use to feel as a little girl getting to go to this beautiful place, and be able to eat just about anything you could think of!

Nicole, Donna, Norelle, Chloe, Grandma T, Me & My Mom

We decided we had to get a picture in the front lobby. Those are fresh flowers in that arrangement! It smelled incredible!

Almost the whole group!
My Mom, me, Nicole, Chloe, Donna, Grandma T, Norelle, Mckenna & Mary Jo

Lanna & Marianne

My mom, me and Grandma T

I am already craving the crepes again, and I can't wait until next year!

Christmas 2009

**Beware this is a long wordy post!**

This year Christmas seemed to sneak up on me. I tell myself every year that I am going to start my shopping early so I can just relax the week before Christmas, but alas I failed again this year and finished my shopping on Christmas Eve Eve! Even though I had to brave the traffic and crowding at the malls, Christmas still turned out perfectly!

We started our celebrations with the Daley Family Party, which as usual turned out great thanks to my hard working parents, aunts and uncles. The kids enjoyed seeing Santa, and I had to laugh when Santa asked Cierra what she wanted for Christmas and her response was in her most matter-of-fact tone, "Well I sent you a letter!" Haha! She is such a hoot.

Next was the Thomas Family party. We were supposed to have it Saturday before Christmas but unfortunately my grandma was admitted into the hospital early Friday morning. Luckily she was out and feeling a little better by Sunday so we were still able to have our family party. I was so fun seeing everyone from Idaho and Nevada, and I even talked my uncle into making his yummy breakfast casserole for us all on Saturday! I certainly felt spoiled to have so much time with my family that weekend! Especially those I don't see often! We missed my cousin Olivia, but it was fun to snuggle with my new little cousin KJ!

On Christmas Eve Eve we had the Painter Family party. We first stopped at Grandpa Painter's and had yummy appetizers and had a heated game of 99! (For those who don't know it is a card game) Whit and Jordan being the competitive people they are were the last two standing! Steve had some good advice for the soon to be newlyweds... he told Jordan, "If you win you lose, but if you lose you win!" Haha! So I think he may have lost on purpose! We then traveled to Billy's aunt and uncle's house for a party full of tradition! We first eat, then Santa comes, then we play the Left Right game, and I ended up with something I actually needed this year! A yard stick! Then comes the best part of the night... The Chocolate grab! Let me tell you... you get 20 feisty women in a room together going after Chocolate it gets a little crazy! Luckily Billy's Grandma makes plenty so we all get quite a few!

Next we had our annual Christmas Eve get together with my parents. Once again, my parents did not disappoint! We all got stuffed on delicious dinner, and enjoyed the company of my entire family, including grandparents and my Uncle Art. The grandkids and kids all got spoiled as usual! We open all of our presents from each other and from my parents this night, so we actually pretty much consider this day Christmas!

Dana (my boss) gives me a Christmas Book every year, so I take it over to read to the kids. However, this year Saige (with her red lipstick and all) read the whole thing to us! She is getting so smart! She is in Kindergarten, but reading at a first grade level! If you see this book around grab it, because it is really a great book to help teach little kids (and adults) how to keep the CHRIST in Christmas!

I just loved this picture of Kanyon! His little GQ look! He has turned into quite the little rascal! He thinks he is so big and gets into everything!

Little Cierra was quite the poser at the beginning of the night! However, her little attitude kicked in complete with little snotty looks and sassy comments. Its hard not to laugh when she rolls her eyes and tells you how it is! My mom told her we didn't get to open any presents that night and she looked at her with the most disgusted look and said, "Grandma, we opened presents on this day last year, so yes we are!" Then I got told off because I mentioned it being Christmas in general, and she said, "No it's Christmas eve, Christmas is tomorrow because that is when baby Jesus was born!"

Kanyon was really into opening presents this year, he actually tried to open several that weren't his! I think the girls opened all mine, but it is so much funner for them!

This was Kanyon's big gift from Grandma and Grandpa! Grandpa decided that his back needed a rest so they got him his own bucking bull! Kanyon just loved it! It makes bulls noises and cheers! It was the cutest thing ever!

Cierra got a handheld Vtech gaming machine, and I just loved this pic that showed her excitement over her Dora and Tinkerbell games!

Saige got a Nintendo DS Lite with Tinkerbell too! She was so excited! We all told her that she should have asked Santa for her two front teeth!

Every year Dustin gives the kids a Harley Davidson shirt, and it instantly becomes their favorite shirt! I think Jarrett wore his from last year everyday for months! Every time someone tells them how cute their shirt is they tell them they got it from Dustin, and I think he loves that so he'll keep buying until they stop! Haha!

This was the only picture I got of Caiden opening his presents, and I don't even know what it is! He got the new Band Hero game for his Playstation. Can we say jealous? I love Rockband and I still don't own it!

Last but no least....my favorite present of the year:

My beach cruiser!

I have been wanting one of these every since the road trip that Cassi and I took to California a few years back! They were everywhere there! There is a funny story about this gift though. When I was little I had this white and blue banana seat bike. It was my world. I loved the bike so much! It was similar to this one:
However, I grew out of it and I got a new cool mountain bike. So that Christmas my parents wanted to give the banana seat bike to a little girl who wanted a bike for Christmas, but her parents could not afford to buy her one. They asked my permission before hand and I bawled for days on end. I wanted the little girl to have a good Christmas, but I really loved my bike! I didn't want to give it up! I did however do the right thing, and although sad, I still feel good about it! However, I jokingly brought that up the other day, so when my mom rolled out this new beauty, she said, "I hope this makes up for us giving away your old bike!" I would have to say that it certainly does! I can't wait for the snow to melt and spring to come so I can actually get out and ride it!

Speaking of making a little girl happy on Christmas Day, I did it again this year! You may have noticed I have taken Nessa (our little yorkie) off of my sidebar. We decided that we had to find her a new home because she didn't get along very well with Toby, and I realized how much work it was having two dogs inside with two totally different personalities. We posted her on KSL and I got a call from a sweet family looking for a yorkie for their 10 year old daughter. They came and picked her up on Christmas Eve Eve, and I will admit I had a good cry on the way to work after saying goodbye! But there is no doubt in my mind that we picked the right family for her to live with! Toby has been so much more sociable since she has left! While we miss her, I think I love having Toby pay more attention to me :)

Finally, Sunday after Christmas I had a first at my house. My brother and his wife went to her Grandpa's viewing so they left all 5 kids at my house! It went so well! The boys played playstation and downloaded music onto their new ipods while the girls played board games and with their dolls. I downloaded Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA because everytime it comes on the radio I do a little dance and Cierra thinks I'm a dork! So I taught them how to do it, and now they don't stop! They love going in my room and using the doggie stairs to get up on my bed! Kanyon was everywhere, pushing the stroller, playing in the drawers and torturing Toby! It was so much fun! I didn't get many pictures, but I did get these two of Cierra...I swear she is going to be a model when she grows up! This girl is so beautiful!

Well, there is my Christmas update! I'm excited to have the rest of the week off work, and spend time with family over New Years! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and enjoyed spending time with your families as much as I did!

Becoming Domesticated

Now that I am older, I have been thinking a lot about all of the things that I had when I was a little girl. When I was little, I never thought twice about the work and effort that went into the things my mom did for us. I always just thought that things were easy, and just always assumed that I had the things I had because that was just the way it was! As I become a "grown-up" and a wife, my eyes were opened up to me about how much work actually went into all that was provided to me as a kid. I've learned that dinner doesn't just appear on the table, laundry doesn't just clean itself, and water & power don't come free!

In the last few months, I have really started to look at the things that my mom and my grandma have done for me, and decided that I wanted to learn how to do those things so that someday I will be able to provide my kids with the same great things. First I started fiddling with sewing. My grandma has made me so many wonderful things, including a beautiful quilt that I will cherish forever. I am slowly learning this skill, and hope to be able to make a quilt of my own soon!

Today, I learned a lesson that I am so excited to have learned! Canning peaches and salsa! My mom & Grandma have canned salsa for as long as I can remember. I would always just grab a bottle, sit down and eat the entire thing in one sitting I loved it so much! So I decided that I really wanted to learn how to do it, so that I can keep my storage full! I also wanted to can some peaches while they were on right now. So today me, my mom and my grandma all got together and did both! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to can peaches...I can't believe I haven't done it before now!

Me and my grandma processing peaches and skinning tomatoes

Salsa on the other hand... I have gained such a great respect for my mom and grandma! It was a time consuming process, but well worth it! I just love the smell of the house when you are making salsa!

Stirring for 3 hours to get the right consistency

The mess... and oh boy did it make one!

In the end, half of our peaches weren't quite ripe. So we only did about half of them, but still we got about 13 bottles. I'm planning to do more later in the week once the rest are ripe. We ended up with 27 bottles of salsa, which should keep me supplied hopefully until next summer!

So a big thanks to my mom and my grandma for helping me learn this lesson in domestication! I am so excited to have this skill under my belt! Next on the list...Making Thanksgiving dinner!

Music and the Spoken Word

Today I was able to go to up to the Conference Center with my Mom, my grandma Thomas and my grandpa's wife, Norelle, to see the Music and the Spoken Word, and the Mormon Tabernacle Mini-Christmas concert. It was such an amazing and wonderful experience! We did get some pictures, but not on my camera so I don't have them! We got the opportunity to see the choir and the orchestra perform many Christmas classics, and also heard Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Herrmann (the grandpa from my favorite show, Gilmore Girls) perform songs, and readings. It is such an incredible experience seeing the Conference Center full and being able to hear some touching words from our Prophet. It was also incredible to see that many people performing in sync with each other!

After the show we went to the Little America Hotel for Sunday Bruch....a Daley girl tradition. We met up with my aunts and some cousins. We have been going up there every December since I can remember with all of my aunts. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the crepes they have there, and I probably shouldn't admit this...but I had 5 today! Hey, I have to get my $30 worth! It was so wonderful getting to spend time with my family this weekend, and it definitely got me into the Christmas spirit and I am looking forward to the parties up ahead! I've even got all my Christmas shopping done, and took the week after Christmas off work, so I'm in the clear to have a great STRESS FREE time this holiday season!

Sunny St George!

My mom and I spent the weekend down in St. George for our annual spring retail therapy trip! Every May we head down there to replenish our summer wardrobes at all of the awesome spring sales. We were on our way down and I asked, "so what is the plan" and we laughed when we realized the only definite plans we had made were that we were going to go shopping, get a Concrete (frozen custard shake for those who may not know), then eat at Paula's and the Claim Jumper. I also wanted to try out the new In-n-Out Burger, but we ran out of meals so we'll have to get that next time. So shopping and food...what else does a girl need!

We ended up getting some good deals. JC Penny's put out a coupon for $10 off a $10 purchase and gathered as many as we could find. I ended up getting two pairs of capris for $10 each, a shirt and some sweat pants for $5 each. I have to say that my mom and I are ultimate shoppers. She got an entire outfit (levis and a shirt) for $11. Anyways, since we didn't take any pictures while we were down there I thought I would share my new summer wardrobe! I was so excited with all my finds, good deals and cute clothes!
Oh, and did I mention...IT WAS SO WARM! I loved the sunshine! While my mom went to visit a friend, I spent some time reading by the pool catching some rays. It made me crave Lake Powell! I am so excited for our summer trips.