Apples and Plane Tickets

Fall is here, which means (in Texas) that it's only 80 degrees right now instead of 98.  But MAN does it feel good.  The other day I panicked a little trying to find a zip up jacket to take to work with me and then I realized...I am acclimated.

One of my favorite parts of fall is Honeycrisp apples.  Have you guys tried these bad boys?  They are so crispy, delicious, and of course (in Texas) the size of a softball.

Another wonderful thing about fall, Thanksgiving is coming.  Dave and I were worried we wouldn't be able to go to Utah to see his family this year because of a. me being prego and the doc saying no to flying and/or b. the plane tickets being astronomical for Thanksgiving travel.

Well, turns out I can fly just fine until around Christmas time (thankfully my parents are within driving distance for Christmas travel) and we ended up getting tickets Tuesday night - Friday night to avoid the expensive and busy travel days.

So with the vacation tickets bought, the apples eaten, and the belly growing too large to fit my previous fall/winter clothes, I think it's time to go shopping!

The Forgotten Vacation: Port Aransas

Over Labor Day weekend, Dave and I decided that we needed to visit a Texas beach.  I grew up going to Galveston with my family, but Dave had never experienced the brown sand, brown water beauty that Texas has to offer.  Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised. The trip turned out to be really fun and the beach wasn't that bad.  Right? Ha ha (I miss Cancun). <---click link for photos.

We drove down to Port Aransas (right by Corpus Christi) and stayed the night in a cute little plantation style hotel with a free breakfast the next morning (Dave's number 1 must have criteria for a hotel is a free breakfast).

After hanging out on the beach for a while, we had a competition to see who could find the ugliest shell.  Here is the line up:

I think #1 won for its pure lack of aesthetic beauty.

"...and so, Dave threw all the uglies back into the sea to give them hopes of finding someone to truly love them one day...The End." 

 On the way home the next day, we found a new gas station that we love which sells 64 ounce drinks!  That's a huuuuge cup!  Dave probably only drank half of it because by that time the rest is watered down from the ice.  But we still have the cup just for memories and the occasional refill of diet sodas.

The End (for real this time)

Conference Weekend with my Parents!

General Conference weekend is probably one of my favorite weekends out of the year.  It's a time when family gets together, cooks delicious food, stays in their pjs, and watches inspired messages from leaders of our church. 

This weekend my parents came into town and watched the conference sessions with us.  We also fit in some shopping, cooking, eating out, and house projects while they were here. :)

Saturday Morning Breakfast Menu:

Scrambled Cheese Eggs

Hickory Smoked Bacon

Carmel Bundt Rolls (Dave's Specialty)

Fresh Fruit

OJ and Pomegranate Juice

Late Saturday afternoon we headed out to Rudy's BBQ for some yummy food.  Afterwards, my mom and I went maternity clothes/baby clothes shopping while Dave and my dad put up a white subway tile backsplash in the kitchen (pictures to come when I show you the final reveal of the remodeled kitchen).

 Post Shopping Faces (The back seat was pretty stuffed with stuff!)

Later Saturday night, my mom and I gardened while the guys headed off to the priesthood session of conference at the church.  We planted some beautiful marigolds and these leafy plants that looks very autumn-y to me:

We went out to HEB (shout out to the best grocery store EVER) and got some essentials for Sunday night's dinner.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day, my dad cooked his famous pot roast and gravy:

Hand picked "weeds" from a bush out front.  I almost threw these away but I thought it made a nice little centerpiece for the table.

It was such a nice weekend, made it really hard to get up on Monday morning to go back to work! 

Thanks for coming, love you guys!