Guess what Wii got?

That's right, the time has come for the Alvord family to finally get a gaming console. Josh decided to get a Wii for his birthday. We ran out and got it Friday night. Everyone came over for the grand opening of the Wii.

The boys started out while we enjoyed pomegranates.

Then it was our turn. Apparently Brooke and I put our whole bodies into this game. This picture captures it so perfectly.

We won and it had nothing to do with me. I'm horrible at tennis, even when it's video game style.

Josh's follow though while bowling.

Now when we all get together after dinner the boys will have something else to do besides watch football. At least this is interactive, right?

Give Thanks!

Today was a great day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been seeing my side of the family. I did get to see my brother Chris, which was nice. He is in town visiting his wife's family. I woke up dark and early (it was still pitch black outside) to run a race! It was so much fun. I met up with Mari's family in Orem to run a 4 mile Turkey Trot. We got lucky and it stopped raining just in time for us to start our run. We all finished in good times and were happy with our results.

Here we have my Chris, Patrick, me, Lauren, Carlo, Ammon, Katie, and Mari.
I LOVE Chris's face in this picture. He looks like he is 5 years old.

Mi y mi hermano. He always has the best bed head.

After our run we went back to Cim and Katie's house for a delicious breakfast. I love Mari's family. They are warm, welcoming and very funny. I got to meet baby Lily who has stolen my heart. She is such a gorgeous, happy little babe.

Chris, Carlo, and Ammon kept the kids entertained all morning long. They were wrestled and climbed on for hours. Thank you Carver family for having me join you this morning!

Josh played in the Turkey Bowl this morning and had the time of his life. After we got back from our morning adventures we went to Josh's mom's house for our Thanksgiving meal. It was delicious. We were able to spend quality time with extended family which was really nice.

Kennedy loves her grandpa. This is a common scene when she goes to his house.

After an active morning and a huge meal Josh took a nap. I thinks it's funny that he is holding his pillow instead of laying on it.

We played games, ate pie, and watched "The Grinch",

and Kennedy loved playing with her Monkey.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Here are a few things we are grateful for:

• Our families and the support they provide us with
• Each other and the fact that we have a happy marriage. We realize that this is a rare thing and we are proud to say that we are a happily married couple.
• The gospel and the direction it brings to our lives
• Our jobs and that we are able to provide for ourselves
• The beautiful country we live in and all the freedoms we enjoy
• Josh is grateful for the Turkey Bowl, and he thinks that child labor laws are silly and outdated. He also said he is thankful to have me in his life.
  
• I am thankful for a new cozy bed. I completely adore sleeping and love sleeping on our Tempur Pedic bed.
  
• Our great friends. They bring joy and color to our lives
• Our healthy bodies
• Food. We both thoroughly enjoy eating and are glad we get to do it multiple times a day.

What are you thankful for?

Random

Last night my dear friend Laura and her husband Shaun came over for dinner. It was awesome to see them both! Laura was the first good friend I made when I moved to Utah. We went to PMTS together and became best "little" friends. She is hilarious and I miss seeing her everyday. She and her husband are living in CA and we haven't seen each other since the week before our wedding. I love you Laura and I miss you already!

Look at all the crap I pulled out of my purse:

In total I had:
1 t-shirt
1 wallet
1 P&P receipt book
1 check book
1 reading book, The Measure of a Man
1 pair of reading glasses
1 camera
2 spools of ribbon
nail polish, bobby pins, 5 hair clips, 3 rubber bands, 1 fancy hair tie, 2 broaches, 1 headband,
2 necklaces
22 lip glosses, lip sticks, lip liners, or chap sticks
a little bit of change and cash, a Coldstone GC
about 5 pounds of receipts and trash
9 pens
5 peanuts and 2 raisins

Holy crap, I need to hire a cleaning crew just to take care of my purses for me. I am a slob. Who randomly has a shirt in their purse? This bag weighed about 15 pounds, no wonder my shoulder hurts me.

And last but not at all least, Mari is in town! I got to pick her up from the airport on Sunday night. I was so happy to see her. We came back to my house and I weaved our hair. I love her to death. She has been the greatest addition to our family.

Casino Night

Saturday night we went to Angie's 30th birthday party. It was a casino night they hosted in their beautiful home. It was so fun because we had never played casino games before. When everyone arrived we received a ticket we cashed in for a hundred dollars in chips. They had Black Jack and Craps for everyone to play. Lady Luck was on my side and I was up a few hundred dollars at one point. Josh didn't do as well and mooched off of me the second half of the night. I can definitely see how real gambling would be addicting. I am strongly opposed to the real deal. I know a few people who have gotten in serious trouble because of it, but is was so fun to play with no consequences for the night. We won a candle at the end of the night in the winners raffle. Thank you so much Steve and Angie for having us over, we really had a blast. You guys are awesome!

Our lovely hosts.

Pants about to lose all his money

Me about to double my money.

Our beloved prize. I LOVE candles, I was so excited to win it!

People of the world spice up your life

Just in case your didn't know, the title of this post is a line from a SPICE GIRLS song, I recommend you listen to it. It will make you wish that you were 12 again making up rollerblade dances in your parents front yard, or maybe that's just me. Anyway, this week we spiced up our lives and did a few things that we don't often do.

Last Saturday Cassi and Allen invited us to go to the Little Sahara with them to ride four wheelers. I had only done this a couple times before and this was years ago so I was a little freaked out to be driving my own quad. Thanks to the help of good friends and a cute hubs, I didn't injure anyone or get killed myself! Josh did roll his machine and it about gave me a heart attack, luckily he was fine and so was the 4-wheeler. We had fun Cassi and Allen, thank you! Oh, and thanks Angie for letting me borrow your gear, you're the best!

Thumbs up dude!

If you didn't know this was me just this last weekend, how old would you think I was here?

Usually we are pretty boring during the week but we decided to spice things up a bit this Wednesday night. We went to our first Jazz game in a VERY long time, and ate at the delicious Red Iguana. I had never ridden on the Trax before this night so I had to document the historical event.

Yeah, we sat way up high in the nose bleed section.

K, this is my favorite picture of Josh! How geeky does he look? I think it's hilarious. His head actually looks small here and we all know his noggin is massive. Let's hope that our children are born with heads more like their mommy's. No offense babe, you know how much I love your big head.

We took a short walk through the city and passed the "Old Clock" downtown. I absolutely love this clock and had to be photographed with it.

The rest of our week consisted of work, work, work, not working out, and more work. I had a boutique Wednesday, Thursday, two today and I have two tomorrow. I'm pooped.

Josh just said

and I quote, "I can't wait to have four sons so we can hang out and be awesome. We can box all day and they can protect my one daughter who will hopefully be mentally challenged."

Chocolate Goodness

Last night we went to Cocoa Cafe. It is simply delicious. I LOVE hot chocolate and this cozy cafe has mastered the art of hot chocolate making. It is the second best cup of chocolate goodness in the world. The first would have to go to Mr. Max Brenner in NYC, which I will be enjoying in exactly 3 weeks. Oh I can't wait.

sippy sip sip

So, I was telling Tori how great it was to have a shock and water proof camera. Two seconds later I accidentally dropped my "Courtney-proof" camera in my hot Chocolate! That camera was a wise purchase for someone as clumsy as me.

Cocoa Cafe has these charming old board games for their patrons to use. I particularly loved this old game of Clue. I have this weird quirk where I think that old men are cute. It's not like I am attracted to them, I just think they are cute. When I was little I had a wee crush on Sam from the game "Guess Who". Weird I know. I think the old man on the cover of this board game is cute. I also like the chef and the sassy blond in the hot red dress.

Here are our cute, good friends: Joe, Heather, Brett, Tori, and of course my gorgeous husband Joshua Ray.

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Today is my baby brother Patrick's 18th birthday. I can't believe he is officially an adult, it makes me want to cry. Patrick such a stud. Here are some things I love most about him:

• He still gives me a hug EVERY time he sees me. When we go home and stay at my parents house he will give me a hug every morning, when he gets home from school, and before he goes to bed. He is so sweet.
• He has amazing eyebrows and the cutest smile. No wonder all the girls LOVE him.
  
• He has so much confidence if it were tangible it would fill an entire room.
• He is a protective younger brother (like Chris wasn't enough).
• He is very smart.
  
• He loves our family.
• He is such a good little boy, maybe that's why I still feel like he's a baby.
• Patrick is ALWAYS happy! Since the day he was born he has been a happy person. He is always smiling, always laughing, and is always in a good mood. He is just pleasant to be around.
  

Seriously, how cute is this kid?

This picture was taken three years ago, but it shows how happy he always is so I love it.

Sundance, Heaven on earth.

One of my very favorite places on earth is Sundance, Utah. It is calm, rustic, and charming. I love the clean, crisp mountain air, the smells, the architecture, the decor, the food, the trees, and everything else I am forgetting at the moment. My family rents cabins in Sundance every other year and some of my favorite memories are from those weeks. We were able to go eat at the Foundry Grill at on Friday night. Our friend, Veronica, is in town from NYC so we took her to experience the beauty of Sundance.

I wish these photos were in focus. This is my favorite hall way. It is lined with old photos of events that have taken place here. There is one that I particularly love, it is of Robert Redford and his daughter riding a horse together. I love daddy/daughter pictures so I completely adore this one.

I really want this bowl. It is enormous and beautiful. I could bathe in it every day.

Josh enjoying watching me enjoy my favorite raspberry lemonade.

Meet our darling friend Veronica.

We got to see a raccoon. Luckily this one was friendly because they can be mean little buggers.

Happy Birthday to yooooouuuuu!

Josh's birthday was really fun. We spent two days celebrating his birth and life. We started off by going shopping.

Josh on his couch at Anthropologie playing Brick Breaker. I LOVE the pillows behind him.

He really wants a Wii now.

After shopping we went to dinner at Market Street Grill. We had some tasty crab cakes and a yummy meal. Then, Matt and Brooke invited everyone over to their new house, which is sooo cute, to play games and have home-made ice cream.

Sunday was Josh's actual birthday. I woke up and made him yummy waffles and spicy breakfast potatoes for his first birthday meal. We showed up to church 2 hours late because no one told us our meeting schedule had changed. So we had a short day of church and had a nice, relaxing day. We went to Josh's mom's house for dinner with the WHOLE family.

I love this picture of Josh with the Littles. I love the colors of the leaves and how they are all holding hands. The girls wanted him to take them out in the rain and he's a champ so he did. They love their Monkey.

One of the gifts I gave Josh is a rubber band gun. I don't know what I was thinking and I have a strong feeling that I will pay for that choice.

I made Josh's favorite chocolate cake and I think it turned out ok. Brooke is the master cake maker and was kind enough to let me use her recipe.

All in all, I think he had a great 26th birthday.
Happy Birthday Josue! I love you.