Thanksgiving in TEXAS

It's been YEARS since either of us were in Texas for Thanksgiving break so we decided to make the long drive down there this year. and boy was it LONG! ugh! but it was so worth it! we were able to see lots of family (mostly sam's since we will be spending a lot of christmas with my fam) and spend the whole week playing and relaxing. :)

Our first stop once in Texas was in San Antonio to stay a couple days with my bro Tyson who I have not seen in over 3 years! i hadn't even met his two youngest kids! it was so fun to catch up with Tyson and Val and to play with my silly nieces and nephews! it was so good to see them.. I didn't get any pics with Tyson and Valerie but here are a couple we got with the kids at lunch one day...

Our next stop was at Sam's Dad's house in Conroe. a couple of sam's bros drove up to hang out with us for the night as well. and we had a blast, as usual! these are the only couple pics i got.. roasting marshmallows on the fire pit. mmm....

On the way down to Pearland, I stopped in to say hi to my parents. I dropped off Max because they told us they didn't mind watching him for the week which we were SO GRATEFUL FOR!! from what it sounded like, both Max and my parents had soo much fun! this was sort of surprising because my parents have never had a dog before. i'm glad it worked out so well and that both Max and my parents enjoyed his visit! :)
....aaand finally we got to Pearland where we spent the rest of the week at Jeff and Michelle's house playing games, swimming, riding bikes, and anything else we could think of! Sam's bro Dan came into town and his sister's were staying at Mom R.'s house just down the street so it turned out to be a party every day!
Thanksgiving dinner.. the adult's table hehe:

After dinner, Sam and Jeff (aka the Sweater Vest Men?) decided to give us a performance of some favorites from Sam's collection of songs he has recorded in the past couple years. it was quite entertaining. :)

"Moon-Shooter"
Picture sent from my mom of my sister's house that afternoon. Max is totally passed out on the floor! hehe.. i think all the little kids wore him out. glad he had fun:
We finally convinced Cami (Sam's niece) to dye her hair from blonde to brunette so that night, Whitney and I did the deed! :) it was so fun and Cami looks awesome!
Love these girls!!

Since I didn't ever post anywhere else what I was grateful for this year, I wanted to write out a little list of the things that matter most to me this holiday season...

--My LORD AND SAVIOR. I am grateful that I am able to have a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father. That he is always there for me and always knows what is best for me. I am grateful for the atonement and the love he has shown towards everyone. He has been the greatest example to me of unconditional love and I am grateful for that.

--SAM. my best friend, my husband. I'm so grateful I can talk to him about anything and everything and that we have so much fun together. He is always there for me when I need him most and he knows how to make me smile every day. I love how hard working he is and that he has such high aspirations for the future. He is an awesome example to me in that aspect. plus he is HOT! ;) love you babe. i know you are going to make a great dad. :)

--FAMILY. Both my immediate family and Sam's family. I have practically grown up in his family and I'm so grateful for the love and support they always show me and the fun that we always have when we get together. I love both my parents and his parents very much and I'm so grateful for all they have done for us!! and of course, my OWN brothers and sisters who have been such awesome examples to me in all aspects of life. I cannot wait to see everyone at Christmas!

--SISTERS. Not sure where I would be without my sisters. I think our weekend get away back in September helped us realize how well we really know each other and how close we really are. :) I'm grateful for my "built in" best friends and the laughs we share.

--BABY Samkat.. i know i dont know him/her very well yet but i'm still grateful that Sam and I are able to share this small heavenly gift together. it has been a fun experience so far and i know it will only get better.

--MAXIMUS. this little guy just brings a smile to my face everyday. while Sam is at school, I am never alone and it is so fun. He is seriously HILARIOUS. and I love that he is a cuddle-bug. :) I'm grateful that we found such a well tempered, well behaved dog (well.... most of the time, hehe)..

--TECHNOLOGY. Talking on the phone, texting, and the internet have all made the world of difference with the relationships we have with one another. there is no way i could NOT be grateful for this one. hehe

--CHOCOLATE. Some may agree with me on this one, some may not.. all i know is that since i've been pregnant, it has been ALL i ever want. pretty sure this itty bitty creature inside of me is going to be a chocoholic. like mother like son! or daughter! lol

--and last but not least, our AWESOME FRIENDS! We love all of you very much and hope you had a great Thanksgiving!!!

100th post and some exciting news!

I guess it's only fitting that for my 100th post I spill the beans that we are expecting a baby! Due May 22nd, 2011. Woo!

Halloween and Sam's Birthday

This Halloween we didn't end up celebrating a whole lot.. we spent saturday night up at Joe and Emily's painting these pumpkins and going trick or treating with the kids in the freezing cold (with Halloween falling on a Sunday this year, most people here in utah went trick or treating on Saturday night instead. gotta love utah haha).. We rode on Joe's 4-wheelers while the kids walked. it was awesome lol.. then on Sunday we had an awesome dinner with a couple friends and watched the movie Beetlejuice. Pretty low key but we had fun. it was nice not to have to worry about costumes or parties or what not. mine, charity, and aaron's pumpkins:
Sam's 25th birthday was last Friday (November 5th) and we spent most of the weekend with Sam's brothers because Jeff was in town. The boys went golfing and then we met them at Tucano's for Sam's birthday dinner. afterwards we went back to Joe's for some games and 'better than sex cake!' mmm. so good. anywho, these are the only two pictures I got from the whole day lol.. happy birthday babe! hope you had a great weekend! Love you!!
hottie.

Fall leaves..

Seems that the leaves didn't start to change until AFTER the first snowfall this year haha.. i love all the trees in the neighborhoods south of campus in provo. They are gorgeous this time of year...

Max's first snow!

A few weeks ago back in October, it snowed over night and actually stuck to the ground for a few hours. We decided to take Max out to play in it a little.. Here are a couple videos and pics that we got of the event. Not sure if he liked it that much but he will get used to it. haha

Grandpa Harris turns 90

Last weekend we celebrated Sam's Grandpa Harris' 90th birthday (Mom Robinson's dad). All of the Harris children along with some of the grand children came into town for the banquet they had put together for him. It was fun to finally meet sam's aunts and uncles on his mom's side that I had never met before, to finally put faces with names. Sam's mom, his sis Mary Kay, and his bro Dan all flew in for the dinner as well. It was so fun to see everyone. And to see his grandparents again. Sam has the sweetest grandparents ever. They even flew down for our wedding a few years ago. Grandpa Harris seriously has the kindest heart and the biggest testimony. It was fun to see some slides from when he was younger and to hear him speak at the very end. To hear him share his testimony of the Gospel with the entire family was really special. It was so sincere and true. I am grateful we were able to hear it. And I'm grateful we were able to go that night and visit with everyone.

the Robinson table, lol...


Grandpa Harris blowing out his candles:
Sam with his mom and Grandpa:

wait. im domestic? no way.

since moving back to utah i've had a little more time on my hands so i decided to start trying a few new things. after being in california and always having yummy homemade jam at hand in kari's house, i decided it was time for me to learn to make my own. so i called up a couple friends and had a little get together to make strawberry freezer jam. it was SUPER easy and turned out way yummy. we just used the "quick and easy" recipe from this box:

it ended up making 5 and 1/2 jars (only 4 and 1/2 pictured, sry lol). i only used 1 package of strawberries. it turned out to be the perfect amount for the recipe. the jam turned out awesome! i already want to try some of the other fruits on the box like peach or raspberry:

one more thing i made recently that was also super yummy was a bean, corn, avocado dip to go with tortilla chips. I was inspired by sam's sister's recipe of using black beans, corn, avocado, and cucumber(and tomato? cant remember) but i modified it a little to fit what we like since i'm not a huge fan of cucumber... so this is the list of what i used and if you ever want to make it, just put in more or less of other stuff you might like. i couldnt find a recipe online that i liked so i kinda just made it up (with mary's recipe in mind of course) and oddly enough, it turned out great! lol its moments like this that make me feel like i actually might be a good cook haha..

Avocado, bean dip:

1 can black beans, drained

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can shoepeg corn, drained

2 avocados, chopped (be sure to add last to avoid browning)

1 half onion, chopped

cilantro, chopped (desired amount)

few squirts of lemon juice

a little s&p

Kari's bday weekend in San Fran

A few weeks ago, kelli called me up and said she bought a plane ticket to cali for kari's 30th birthday weekend and told me i HAD to come too. i didnt think i'd be able to but when sam and i looked at the ticket prices, they were pretty cheap so we decided i could go! woo!! it was such a random and awesome trip and i'm so glad everything worked out so us sisters could have some time together. we had so much fun just us! and we decided from now on that we are gonna do the same thing for the next sisters' 30th bdays-- kelli's next year, then mine later down the road.. anywho, here are the pics. happy birthday kari! glad you had a great time! i know i did. :)

gettin pedi's before heading out to san fran:

our hotel in downtown san fran:cab ride to dinner.. aka roller coaster ride to dinner. those drivers are crazy! especially goin down those steep roads in downtown. yikes:
the biggest noodle you've ever seen lol (we took a walk down to the pier after dinner):

kelli found zoltar on pier 39:
seals? just a few left this time of year:
crepes for dessert. mmmm:

next day= shopping allll day! loved it:
??? we realized san fran is sort of an "anything goes" kinda town:
cheesecake factory for lunch. pretty sure all we did on this trip was eat and shop. perfect! hehe:
leaving the city.. all the sailboats in the bay:
thanks for such a fun time sisters! love you!!