An Update at last: November

November is a crazy month. A lot happened. I wanted to blog sooner, but my camera went m.i.a. after Thanksgiving for a few days. Thankfully my parents returned it to me (triple wrapped for protection in the mail). The month started out with my birthday. That's right, I'm 25. Quarter of a century baby! My mom and Kim came down for the weekend. Gunnison has this fun boutique thing called Mistletoe Mall that happens to fall on the weekend of my birthday almost every year. We ate out and shopped a lot, all of us spending more than budgeted, but most of our purchases were forward thinking gifts for others. (Yeah, that's totally a justification.)


I can't think of what else kept me busy the rest of the month. Probably Young Single Adults. But that's another story. I spent Thanksgiving in Gunnison. My family wasn't really getting together, and the family I live with had big plans. So the Browns have eight kids and like 24 grandkids between those children. I know most of them, and have kind of claimed them as my own. They're great people for letting me tag along on all their fun get-togethers. Kassie and I spent the week before Thanksgiving prepping rooms and bathrooms for the whole crew. Most of them came Wednesday night and Thursday morning. It was great. I think we had 60 people in all for dinner, and more than half stayed the night. We were crowded but cozy. Dinner was excellent. (The pie was superb!) The dishes and cleanup weren't so fun. I can only imagine how hard it would be if we had used real plates instead of paper.

The next day we all loaded up in all the available pickups to go Christmas tree hunting. Kassie's nephew just turned 16 so he gladly volunteered to let us ride in his truck for the day (anxious 16 year olds are so cute, and handy). The drive was glorious. I haven't spent much time in the mountains in the backyard, so I enjoyed it all. We drove to nearly the top before we found a suitable section of trees for us all to go hunting. Kassie and I found a tree right away. It is beautiful and full and slender. Plus it wasn't a spruce or a juniper. Limber pine all the way, baby (thanks scout camp for teaching me tree types). One of Kassie's brothers sawed it down for us and we were happy hunters. I just wish the anxious 16 year old was so easy to please. He and I hiked all over that mountain before finding the perfect tree (which was actually a hard sell). But, we got the job done and I think he's happy with what we got. I actually haven't asked him about it. Hm, maybe I should.
After we got home and warm, I headed for Salt Lake to spend some time with my folks. Mostly I just shopped the Black Saturday sales and hung out at the parent's apartment. It was nice to take a break from the crowd at home. Even with my extended family, the Browns are a big crowd (and boy do I love them).
Kassie and I have been decorating whenever we are home at the same time. Our tree looks amazing, and our outside lights will too. We started on Saturday, but the snow today made us put a hold in the progress. Plus we need a taller ladder. So we have a jumbled strand of lights hanging from the rain gutters waiting for us to finish. We will, but it might take us a while. Maybe we'll get it all done in time for Christmas.
I'm sure something exciting will happen between now and Christmas, but until then, enjoy the snow. I know I will :)

Here's the Hunt and last is the final product: