Time to be Thankful!

So as the title says, I really felt thankful this thanksgiving. Although last t-day was great and we were tremendously blessed to get to spend it with some amazing families in Tucson, this year was very special. My parents, sister, auntie, and granny all came out to spend it with us in our first home, which was stressful but even more wonderful. We had an amazing feast (which we didn't get pics of but my dad did so I'm gonna have him send them to us!!) and we had some fun adventures too! Sadly, Matt had to work most of the time (some one has to support me!!) and missed out on Empire Mine State Park, which was one of the first mining areas in Nor Cali. I take Rusty up there to ride but I'd never been to the informational parts before. So I took the clan up there while Matty slaved away at work. It was super fun! I know my family is zaney and crazy but it really comes out when we go to places like this-which makes it all the more fun! We climbed around on all sorts of things and goofed off the whole time and imagined what it would be like to be a miner (a Cornish miner to be exact) during the late 1800s and early 1900s (the time period when the mine was most prevalent). So of course you get silly photos out of it!! The original owner of the mine had this beautiful "cottage" built on the property so we got to walk around that and I did a christmas card photo shoot with my parents and Gwynne. We went down a mine shaft (ok, just like 100 feet if that, but it was fun to pretend) and we walked around laughing the whole time! It was a blast!


The owners "cottage" and the whole gang posing pretty!


HELP!! we're falling into the mine shaft!!


Yup-they think they're hot stuff!! But in reality they are just silly!




So as I said before I am tremendously thankful that they all got to come for t-day. It was great to reflect back on my life with them all and see how each person helped shape who I have become. Also, it's a great kick start to the Christmas season and being reflective and thankful for what Jesus' birth really means. Sometimes it is incomprehensible to think that the Savior of the world came in the form of a baby and would eventually die for every one of us. I know that Matt and I are both so thankful for the sacrifices Christ made for us so we could have a reconciled relationship with God but also for all that He has provided for us; Matt has an amazing job that provides all that we need and so much more! We have the beautiful home that we can safely and happily celebrate Christ's birth in and we are blessed to have family to come around us to support, love, and celebrate the holidays with us. I know that there are lots of you out there who don't believe that Jesus was who he said he is, but it's so hard for Matt and I to look at our lives and how INCREDIBLY blessed it is and not believe. And it is our desire to share that love of Christ with all those we love.
So anyway, back to t-day and being thankful! I had the great privilege to be in charge and make most of our feast! It was a big feat to take on but I was ready and happy to do it!! I was particularly excited for the turkey since I found this fantastic recipe in food and wine magazine. It was this yummy lemon, butter, and chive paste stuffed under the skin of the turkey and cooked like that= TASTY!!! The gravy that stuff made was UNBELIEVABLE!!! And I am not a gravy fan!! Needless to say this was one of the best t-days ever, and the food was RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING!! Mom made these scalloped potatoes that were to die for!! Seriously, ask anyone. If you want the recipe, just let me know!! The day was super fun, filled with making food, playing games (like our neighbors borrowed wii that Matt and Gwynne hit up!), and stuffing our faces silly with goodness!! YUUUUUUUUMMMMYYYY!!!! It's a good thing we don't eat like that all the time or we would need to go on the biggest loser!! I would want Jillian as my trainer even though she scares me :/ So now Matts parents are visiting until next tuesday then we'll have a little quiet until the week of Christmas when we are invaded again by Hills and a Hall.

So intense while playing the Wii!


Taking the turkey to be cooked and preping the buffet area!


Look how far my hand is under the skin!!



Also, I have been debating whether or not to do a "picture of the day" on here which would force me to update more regularly and document our daily lives a little more. I want feedback on this idea!! It would be a photo either myself or Matt takes and will probably be of Joey most of the time (but who wouldn't want to see that?!). If it sounds like people like this idea, I will start it asap. The sooner I hear back to sooner it'll happen. It could get crazy, just an FYI!!!!

Halloween update

So I know halloween was a while ago but I gotta make the holidays and events go in order! Halloween was a blast! We had a neighborhood block party which was really fun and then we went trick or treating w/our friends and neighbors and their kiddos (since we don't have any but we still dressed up!). Matt was a sheriff and I was a convict; fun huh?! He even did a sweet goatee but didn't keep it long. We carved pumpkins from our own backyard which was really awesome too-nothing like all our hard work growing those suckers to be displayed proudly! I really like the throwing up one-it's green which makes it even more awesome!! Our friends little guy (Liam) went as a pirate (seen below) and he was so stinkin' cute! His mama had a baby not to long before halloween and went as a penguin (I'm holding him) and Joey was Matt's trusty search dog with his pack on! Also, our community does this awesome thing called "trunk or treat" that our church participated in so we stopped by and said hey to some friends, Troy and Ashley who were characters from Lost but it was lost on us (haha, pun intended!!). Overall it was a good night, complete with tricks and games and all our candy gone! Yaay!




The convict stole the little baby (that dingo ate my bay-bee!!!)


Us with Troy and Ashely (she's not really pregnant)


Matt's AWESOME costume complete with authentic goatee!


Liam the scary pirate!

Our home is FINALLY coming together!

So we've been working like crazy on our house, trying to get it to what we want! The backyard is going to have to wait a little bit longer since it's coming up on the time that is not too great to be trying to plant and grow grass. However, what's already back there is doing amazingly! Our veggie garden is pretty much done, with the exception of the pumpkins (which are so great! I can't wait to carve them and give them out to the neighborhood!) and the tomatoes (which we have way to many for just the 2 of us!). I am most excited about the butterfly bush and the honeysuckle bush-they are flourishing and growing like crazy and smell absolutely wonderful! We have 1 more room to paint and that I can not be more excited about! We actually live in our entire house now!! And we don't have to look at hideous colors all the time! WHOO HOO!! We have also decorated a little bit for the fall/Halloween season which I love so much! Fall is my absolute favorite time of year and I get so giddy with the cool, crisp weather. Sadly, it's kinda dangerous for me to go trail riding since it is hunting season and honestly, they'll shoot at any sound that might remotely be a deer. Even if I talk to myself (or the dog or the horse) and wear orange and stay away from the sounds of shooting, I would probably get shot. So, I've been kind of bored the last few days but it has been very nice to be home and not have to go anywhere for a little while. So I hope you enjoy these pics of what the house is looking like these days. We still have a little work to do, but, that never ends from what we are told.

Our beautiful plants! And they smell lovely!


Bedrooms-ours and then the extra



Dining area and living room-nice and cozy!


The man-lair-aka the office


We call this the "sitting room"-I LOVE reading and sitting in that chair-it's so comfy!


Our front entry-the big pumpkins from our garden and fun pumpkin lights!

Home for a wedding

So, we went back to our motherland (aka maryland) for Matt's twin's wedding. We went back for a long visit (about 12 days) and had a blast visiting the family and some friends. The wedding was beautiful and everyone looked fantastic! The weather wasn't as wild as Leslie's but that's ok! It was starting to get to be that beautiful crisp fall weather that I love so very much! We also got to go to the historic city in our area which was super fun for me since my mom used to work there and I spent a lot of time there as a kid. We also got some sweet pics there too.
So flickr only lets you upload so many photos (memory size) each month w/o making you pay after so much. So, I accidentally set up 2 flickr accounts at one point so I'm going to take advantage of that aspect right now. So to look at pics from MD (and not even that many really, I'll upload more when I can) you can click on this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lmmoritz

The newest Moritz sibling!


Twinies are married!


One of my best friends from high school!


Awww...we're snuggly!


Night before, can you tell?

No Fear!! We are finally HOME!!

So, we are finally home from all of our crazy adventures! I figured I'd start our journey off with the first stop, which was Leslie's wedding in CO/NM. It was a wild time for sure! I'm only posting a few pics here because I've decided it's a lot of sinkin' work to upload them all here (it can be kinda difficult and annoying) so I'm going to post them on flickr and post the link a so you can mosy over there and look at them. These are just some teasers for you. Matt looked great in his green shirt and I was ok in my bridesmaid dress ;) The weather was TOTALLY crazy while we there! Here is what happened:
Leslie, Jacob, and myself arrived in NM from CO on Monday, Sept 4 (Labor day!) and the weather was ok. Tuesday we get up and get going; by 1 pm it was pouring down rain and didn't stop for several hours. Wednesday it only rained for a little while that afternoon but it was nice for the most part. Thursday and Friday the weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect!! It was so beautiful, perfect for doing all the work needed at the ranch to get things done for the wedding Saturday afternoon. Then Saturday hit, wedding day! It was pretty nice in the morning and we had fun getting ready and goofing off. By noon we were all ready to go and started taking pics. In the middle of taking pics, it starts to sprinkle, but not real bad. Then it starts to rain harder. Once inside, it starts to down pour. Then it starts to hail. Then there is thunder and lightning. This combo continues for hours, literally! The wedding was suppose to take place at 3 pm; at that point there was still hail and lightning and thunder! Finally, they got the tent (that was supposed to be only for the reception) ready for the ceremony. It was still raining and such during the ceremony, which was beautiful, and it continued to be chilly and rainy the rest of the night. Sunday, once again beautiful! It was totally wild! But that is how things work right? The day you need the great weather, it doesn't happen. What is most important is that they got married (yaay!) and that they had an amazing and God-honoring ceremony. All in all it was fun trip; we got to see some great friends and visit with them. It was fun to go to New Mexico and actually stay there and not just drive through-it was a beautiful place! I think we both would like to go back for camping sometime in our life-and maybe go see the hot air balloons in Albuquerque too!
go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/themoritzs

Isn't he handsome?


I got a smooch from the bride!


Yup-we got to go riding!! beautiful huh?


Bachelorette partay!!


We got a little wild-can't you tell?

Quasi-update

So our comp is being somewhat silly right now and won't let me download the pics I've taken of our finished product, meaning the house of course ;) Yes, it is true! We have finished! Well, mostly. The backyard still needs love, the garden is wild, but I did do some damage control the other day, and the extra rooms still need to be primed and painted (which is going to happen tomorrow, at least begun) but the areas where we actually live is complete! Awesome right? We're so happy to finally be living in the left side of our house! We still need to get blinds for all those rooms but at least there is furniture in them and pics up!
We've also been doing some fun things on the weekends. I went to CO for a bridal shower and have tons of pics to post from that! We also went to the Nevada County Fair last weekend with our neighbors (Joel and Julie and baby Cate) and had lots of fun! We saw the Budweiser horses hitched up to the big wagon and go around the fair grounds which was really interesting to watch (at least I thought so!). We spend lots of time with them, just hanging out or playing card games. It's been a huge blessing having them as neighbors because we became fast friends and have people our own age to spend oodles of time with.
Today Matt had his wisdom teeth removed so he's crashed on the couch with ice baggies on his face and in a vicoden state. Poor guy had a rough time of it; the dentist said that his roots were real boogers (mainly on the lower ones). I won't be mean and take pics since he was a sweet guy and didn't get anywhere near me with a camera when I had mine taken out. So needless to say we won't be doing anything fun or festive for the next few days! As soon as I can figure out what's going on with our PC and as soon as Matt vacates the couch so I can take a decent pic of our finished living room, I'll get those up asap.

As promised, here are pics!

So as promised here are pics from the fourth of July! It was a wild day of Jonny climbing things, sea lions being loud, walking around and a baseball game! The pics are in reverse order of what happened that day but that's ok. So we went to the Giants game where they killed the other team; all the points were scored within the first few innings and it ended up being like 12 to 0, no joke. It was exciting at first then it just got to be kinda pathetic for the other team. We met up with Darrel and Amanda and their little guy Liam (who is my buddy!). The pic of Liam and Amanda is really the only time he left my lap for a whole 2 mins. It was ok though, he was keeping me warm! I'm excited that Jonny is actually smiling in the pic too because that normally doesn't happen!
There are these toilets in Frisco that automatically clean themselves in between uses. We found them fasincating, itsn't that sad? Happily, or pathetically, we were not the only ones who thought this was a great new invention as there were many people who would stand and look at the magical toilet in wonder. Jonny decided to beat on the toilet while Matt was using it. It was pretty funny. There were other people waiting to use it when we were abusing, I mean harrasing, I mean utilizing it ourselves. They looked worried.
On our walk to the baseball stadium, we passed this large metal sculpture to which Jonny said, I bet I can climb that. So since we are not his parents, we said go for it while we watch and cheer you on. As he neared the top, more people stopped to cheer him on and offer advice on how to scale the entire thing. He didn't get all the way to the top since it was high, slippery, twisty, and kinda scary.
We walked up to Coite tower but didn't go to the top. It was a long walk up the hill and so I took a pic to document our triumph up! There were more people driving up to the top which I don't blame them at all for that! It was a pretty view up there, a nice one of the Golden Gate and the fog that was rolling it. It got pretty foggy as the day wore on and it was cool looking out at the bridge! Sadly, no pics. And we didn't bring the big lense for our SLR. That is a must for our next Frisco trip.
Also, we grabbed some Chowda at the Sea Lion Cafe which offered a fantastic view of all the sea lions sun bathing by the pier. They were loud and crawled all over one another which was funny to watch. All in all it was a fun day and we are looking forward to our next trip there.