Carving out our niche.
Kristie's soup, cooked in the pumpkin...shout-out to Jody Farnsworth for the awesome recipe
We had originally planned on throwing a Halloween party with the old gang–but when schedules and illness forced a few key individuals to drop out, we decided to make it easy and host a fun little dinner instead. The food and company were terrific, as always. Jer and Ked represented by dressing up in costume, big ups to them.
Here’s a shot of Naomi, Lilah and Rebecca:
Just like last year, and the year before that, great-grandma Hiller invited us to celebrate her (and Caleb’s) birthday at the Asian Star restaurant in Midvale.
As always the food and company were terrific. We pack two long tables with family, and consume enough Walnut Shrimp, Sesame Chicken and Mandarin Beef Sirloin to feed a small army. Grandma shared some neat stories with the group. When one of them was interrupted by a hearty chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ from a table nearby, we all joined in, carried it away, and dedicated it to Grandma and Caleb.
Really fun tradition…grandma is as feisty, fun and darling as ever. It was great to have Lilah with us for the first time as well.
Tonight we had some friends over to watch BYU’s depressing loss to Utah State. At about halftime I wandered outside with Ruthie and Justin to check out the garden, and in doing so, discovered an enormous zucchini sitting under some leaves.
To illustrate just how big it was, I set it up next to Lilah. I think it freaked her out a little.
A bunch of us got together to celebrate Bobby and Kathryn’s birthday’s at Texas Roadhouse tonight. It was good to see everyone, and great to witness B&K riding a saddle to earn their b-day dessert. Love you guys.
Today Justin got us tickets to the Real Salt Lake soccer match where we met up with Jer, Ked and their cute little girl, Rebecca. This was Lilah’s first game, and both of the little girls were sporting their adorable little RSL jerseys.
Real won–the defending cup champions have had an awesome season so far–so that was a nice ending.
After the match we headed over to the Foote’s, where we joined a few more friends for a great home-cooked meal (compliments to Kedra!)
Also – a shout out to my brother Coleman…It’s his 19th Birthday today. Love ya, buddy.
So we had our first Groupon experience, and it was awesome. $50 of sushi for $20…so, so tasty. Our fav was the Haole roll (Coconut shrimp, pineapple, jalapeño and sweet chili-lime sauce).
(Btw, that is us, above. We always look super Asian when we eat sushi)
After dinner we got candy apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on Main St. If you ever go, get the ‘apple pie’ flavor…it’s the best, hands down.
In May we tried planting a garden, and it ended up working out pretty well. But here are some lessons we learned for next year:
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of my wife. Kristie likes anything in the vegetable family.
We wanted to hike Mt. Timp today with some friends, but the threat of rain scuttled our plans. I was a sad panda.
But on the bright side, it freed us up to hang out with Leah and Jonny and help them set up a reception for Leah’s younger brother Kurt and his wife. The event was beautifully planned and the weather cooperated nicely. It was fun to catch up with some family (family–assuming Kristie’s an adopted VanWagenen, like I keep hearing) and friends that we hadn’t seen in a while.
Tonight we attended the wedding reception of our friend Dani (who Kristie cheered with at BYU). It was a beautiful affair, and we got to catch up with a bunch of the old gang, including David Grant, Eric & Tracy Snowder, Dimitri, Katie, Mckell, Matt, Josh and Ashylnn. I think I’d like to buy the home they held the reception at someday.
So Qualtrics hosted its first annual family BBQ on Saturday, and it had a great turnout. The recipe for success included:
Our kickball team came in close 2nd out of four, and I got beat for first in the obstacle course by 2-tenths of a second. Still mad about that. Otherwise, it was a great party.
