The joy of carving pumpkins...

Last night, most of my family got together and carved our pumpkins. I know that we are carving a little close to Halloween this year, but this was the first time that we had all the right ingredients (pumpkins, almost all of the family, and most importantly time). Chris and I had picked up our pumpkins on Monday at a local farmer's home (if you live in the Sandy area, the Rassmussen farms have really great and inexpensive pumpkins!), but with every one's schedule, we didn't have time to sit down and carve them until yesterday. I love carving pumpkins because after we are all done scooping out the seeds, my Mom will clean them off and bake them which is one of my most favorite things about Halloween! It's also just a fun activity to do with the family and even the dogs enjoy pumpkin

carving because they sometimes get the insides of the pumpkins which they love to eat.

This year my Dad got the biggest pumpkin and ironically, he carved the smallest face onto it! I had the smallest pumpkin and instead of carving out a face, I dedicated my pumpkin to James Bond and carved a 007 on the face. Thomas made Jack Skeleton from the Nightmare Before Christmas, while Chris carved out a fearsom pirate onto his pumpkin. My Mom left hers a blank canvas but still sat around the table and had fun with us!

Well, now that are pumpkins are complete, I can't wait for Halloween when we can put them on display!

Jackson Hole, WY

This week, Chris and I have our fall break for school, so, we decided to take a short trip to Jackson Hole, WY. I was so excited to go because the last time we were there, was on our honeymoon. While on our honeymoon, we got some sweatshirts but during the summer, those sweatshirts were lost by UPS (I am still very, very bitter towards them because along with our honeymoon sweatshirts, they lost a lot of our wedding gifts!). So, we have been wanting to return to Jackson Hole to get ourselves some new sweatshirts.

We drove up to Jackson Sunday afternoon, and just chilled for the first evening, which was really nice and relaxing. Than on Monday, we walked around Jackson Hole which only took us about an hour and a half. By that time, we had found some new sweatshirts and a few little trinkets. We than decided to take a drive, so we drove towards Yellowstone National Park which was about 30 miles away. It was so beautiful! It is not a very populous area, so all that we could see was mountains and open grassland. There were occasionally herds of deer roaming around, but the land was mostly empty. When we found the entrance to Yellowstone, we discovered that it was going to cost us $25 to enter the park. That seemed a little high priced for a couple of hours in the park, so we decided to drive back. On the way, we found a cool historical cabin owned by some of the first ranchers that settled in Wyoming, which would have taken lots of courage seeing how there was nothing around and the weather can be unpredictable. After we had walked around the little log cabin, we took some pictures and headed back to the car. Our next unexpected stop was for the Teton National Park Visitor Center. It was a really nice, new building which gave some great information on the Teton mountains and surrounding wildlife. With new souvenirs in hand, we went back to our cozy hotel room and watched a movie until dinner. We went to an amazing steakhouse for dinner where they serve not only cow steaks, but elk steaks, Buffalo meat, and venison. Chris and I ended up sharing a plate of Elk medallions, Buffalo chops, and Venison bratwurst (which tasted just like regular bratwurst). It was sooooo good!!! I was amazed! If you like steak, I highly recommend trying different varieties! This morning, we got up and checked out by 10am. We than went back to the town square and had our picture taken under the famous antler arches that they have in downtown Jackson Hole. We had gotten a picture here when we were here for our honeymoon in our old sweatshirts, so we thought that it would be fitting to have pictures in our new sweatshirts. Overall, this trip was a blast and i'd love to come back again!

Thomas is home!

An event two years in the making has occurred. Thomas has come home from his mission to Seattle, Washington. Yesterday morning, Mom, Dad, and I headed down to the Salt Lake City airport to pounce on Thomas as soon as he came down the escalator. His flight was supposed to get in at 10:22 am and we arrived at about 9:40. We went inside around 10:00 and got our position at the end of the stairs and held our banner (made by Brett) high. As we were waiting, we noticed that we weren't the only ones waiting for a returning missionary. There were about two other families waiting with us and we chatted with them for a while. One of Thomas' young men leaders met us at the airport to be with the welcoming committee when he arrived. We found out soon after we found our spot, that his plane had already landed, so we thought that we wouldn't have to wait long. Well, every time a young man came down in a suit we prepared to see Thomas, but most of the time, they were just young business men coming home. We began to fidget and make jokes that maybe Thomas is just sitting on the plane teasing us and purposefully taking longer. By 10:30 we were getting pretty antsy when suddenly, there he came down the stairs. It was an awesome site! After two years, we finally got to see him, and it didn't look like he'd changed too much. As soon as Mom laid her eyes on Thomas, she started to tear up, and I grabbed the banner so that she could run and give him a hug. It was a tearful and happy reunion. After lots of hugging, we picked up his luggage and went home. On the way, we updated him on the latest news from the family and prepared him for the changes he would see at home. When we got home, I let the dogs out of the house to run up to Thomas, but Gir, didn't recognize him and started to bark and bark. It took Gir most of the day to feel comfortable with him again and I'm so excited that Thomas played with him and helped him become less shy from the start. We had lunch and began looking at all of Thomas' photo albums and hearing the stories behind them. After lunch, Thomas opened his belated Birthday/Christmas present (the airsoft gun he's been looking forward to his whole mission). For a couple hours we just sat around and talked about mission and chilhood stories, and the changes in the neighborhood. Around 4:00 Brett and Brenda arrived and reunited with Thomas. Thomas immediatly showed Brett his new gun and they had so much fun strengthening their brother bond. At 5:00 Chris came home from work and we all went out to dinner at one of Thomas' favorite resturants. We talked together until about 7:30 when Amanda and Liz came over for some rootbeer floats and to see Thomas released as a missionary. The member of the stake presidency that came over gave Thomas some great advice and said some really nice things about his mission. After he left, the first movie that Thomas wanted to see was Transformers, so, we watched it. He loved it!! He has a huge stack of movies that he's missed while away and is determined to watch in the next week. Well, yesterday was so much fun and we are thrilled to have him home again after a good and faithful service. Welcome home Thomas!!

Elder Thomas Prusso returns...

Finally after two years away Elder Thomas Prusso is going to be coming home tomorrow! We are all so excited for his return!

Gir Graduates from Beginners Training

This past Wednesday night, our cute dog (I guess he's not really a puppy anymore) graduated from his first training class! It was an eight week class that taught him some tricks like sit, stay, shake, and down, and also taught the "puppy parents" how to understand our dog's behaviors better and what to do about them. Our main goal and concern for Gir is his socialization. Chris and I adopted Gir about 2 years ago from a shelter in South Carolina when he was about 6 month old (and SOOO cute). The people who ran the rescue center told us that he and his siblings had been found in a cardboard box abandoned (I still can't understand who would want to abandon such cute and

innocent puppies) and we discovered that Gir, understandably, had some issues with new people and places. We have been working on trying to help him socialize, but with little success, so, we thought that we'd try training. Our trainer Robyn was amazing and really helped us with Gir. There was one other dog in the class, a seven month old boxer named Hinkley. For the first couple of weeks, Gir wouldn't let Robyn or Hinkley near him, but the last couple of weeks he really started to improve. He would let Robyn sit next to him and pet him and even began taking food out of her hand. He also began letting Hinkley smell him and once in a while, he tried to play. Even though Gir has made some progress, he still has a long way to go, and hopefully the intermediate class (which we signed him up for) will help him out even more. On the graduation day, he got to wear a little cap (as did Chris, luckily they only had one, so I didn't have to wear one) and he got a diploma. It was so cute! I highly recommend training for anyone with a dog that has some difficulties!

Vanessa's Top 10...

I've been going through a rough patch lately, so, i've come up with a list of my Top 10 Things that i'm greatful for. Here they are:

10. Ice Cream- it makes any bad day way better!
9. Being creative-helps keep my mind occupied.
8. My health-it would be much worse if I had bad health.
7. Books-help me forget my worries and let my imagination grow.
6. Dates-time with the hubby is always wonderful.
5. Being a member of the church-what a blessing!
4. Friends-always there to cheer me up.
3.The beauty of the world around us-we are so blessed to live in such a beautiful world.
2. My family-they are always there for me when I most need them.
1. Chris-my world, my life, my love.

Canyoneering...

This weekend, Chris and I tried something adventurous! We took a class (through the University of Utah) on canyoneering. It was soooo much fun! Thursday morning, we met our class and than drove down to Southern Utah (near Lake Powell) where we set up our camp and got our equipment. When everyone was settled, we packed up our backpacks and went to our first canyon. We first had to hike for about 15 minutes before we got to the entrance of the first canyon and than we repelled in. The first repel was pretty scary because I hadn't done one in a couple of years (since Girls Camp) and it looked a long way down, but I summoned the courage and went down (which was pretty fun once you got over the edge). We than continued in the canyon for another two hours or so, traveling on the side of the canyon walls, repelling down long drops, and going where no human should rightfully go. The biggest annoyance was that our class was pretty large (about 15 people or so) and it took a while for everyone to repel. The only person to get hurt during the canyon was a guy who though the bottom of a particular area was closer and jumped off the walls and sprained his ankle. Luckily he did this close to the end of the canyon, and it wasn't too hard to get him out. Needless to say, he didn't join us on the next canyon.
The first day was so much fun and Chris and I escaped with only minor scratches and bruises. When we finished the canyon we headed back to our campsite and ate a wonderful backpacking dinner of chicken and rice. Our class than had some discussions about the canyon we had just been in and what we should think about when we are canyoneering. In other words, our instructor told us all the ways we could either get injured or die while canyoneering (which was a lot)! It scared me a little, but not enough to stop me from going on the next canyon in the morning. The next day was a beautiful day in southern Utah, and we did a two hour (or so) hike to find the entrance to the next canyon. The hike itself nearly did me in. We had to climb up sandstone cliffs and walk through the desert. By the time we found the canyon I was pretty thankful for some water and a chance to rest before we started out again. A couple of my classmates decided not to try this canyon, so, our numbers were a little reduced but not by much. From the beginning, the second canyon was much harder. Instead of easy repels off straight canyon walls, all of the repels were down narrow channels that I could barely fit through. There were also a lot more deep drops and very technical area's. Our instructors also warned us that this canyon was known to have water in it and that we might have to swim for a part of it. What! Swim!! That made me panic a little bit, but luckily all was dry and I didn't have to worry. In this canyon, there were a lot more narrow parts where we had to walk sideways in order to fit, and most of the time we had to spread out over the canyon walls to get anywhere (which I did NOT like to do). Also, our group spread out more, so that the instructor was not always near at hand to help out in a tight spot, and without Chris there to guide me and show me where to put my feet, I think that I would still be stuck in the canyons without a way out. Another thing about the canyon was that one moment, you would be sweating because it was sooo hot, and the next minute, you would be in the shade and would freeze! I wish that there was just one constant temperature. Well, we made it out of the canyon still intact (although I cut up my hands pretty good from the ropes, and I have a lot of bruises) and we really enjoyed ourselves. Canyoneering is a very dangerous sport where if you are not careful you could easily get killed (as our instructor liked to remind us constantly) and I would advise that if you ever wanted to try, go with some expert guides and be careful! here are some more pictures of our trip! Enjoy.

Awkward looking hug! Its because of all the gear we have ;)

I was so tired and sore when I finished this canyon. The group was allowed to do another night canyoneering trip, but both Chris and I were far too tired to try.