A wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

It's been such a fabulous weekend...well, week! On Tuesday, my sister Yoko drove in from Cali to spend the weekend with her in-laws, but before she did that she came and spent time with me! Even though it was short we got to catch up and do a lot together...we ate dinner, baked some yummy pumpkin cookies, and of course, took lots of pictures! here are a few that she has edited:

(believe it, or not, I took this picture!)

Noa enjoyed having Aunt Yoko here too!!

I realized that we dont have any good family photos, and my mom had been asking for some to put on their Christmas card this year, so....we decided to take some at the duck pond, they turned out really nice. Here are a few of my favorites:


We thought we would include Taka, who is the only other Yanagita left in Utah



...so precious...

We had a great time - and I think Taka did too...

Right after the photo shoot, it was off to LAS VEGAS!

We were able to spend the rest of the week with Chad's family and some friends from our ward.
On Thanksgiving Day, we had a HUGE family dinner at Aunt Konne's new house, and I got to meet some of Chad's cousins for the first time...and the family got to meet Noa.

We had amazing food...


...and great company


Noa's first Thanksgiving turned out to be a great one!

On Friday, we had our second Thanksgiving dinner...a KoReaN dinner (it's a Maris family tradition)...and the food was incredible! SO GOOD, we had leftovers the rest of the weekend!


we had: kalbi, dwagae bulgogi, beef bulgogi, kimchee-chung, shrimp cocktail, various assortments of numl and salads, and Grandma Betty's amazing pineapple cheesecake for dessert! YUM

On Saturday, we had the opportunity of going to the temple and doing some family names along with Chad's late-Grandpa Don's work...I am so grateful for the temple and for eternal families.


and for dinner, we had all-you-can-eat sushi with some friends that were visiting Vegas from our Japanese ward...[it's ALL about food on Thanksgiving weekend!]

We had such an amazing weekend, we can't WAIT for CHRISTMAS!!!

Elf-Yourself

I saw this on a friend's blog, and couldn't help but try it myself...a little freaky, I know, but it's pretty hilarious.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Holidays ~ Love, the Maris Elves ;)

My latest creation is...

...a Crocheted flower Hat...

I have my friend, Jess, to thank for getting me back into crocheting...she came over one day to learn how to crochet, and while she was working on her scarf, I decided to teach myself how to make a flower, which I've never tried before ~ I think it turned out alright...You can't tell from the pictures but I did a cool little pattern on the beanie too!

Next on my to-crochet list is: MITTENS

1/4 year old!

On Saturday, our little one turned a 1/4 of a year old!!

HAPPY 3 MONTH BIRTHDAY NOA!!

NOA @ 3 months...

• is starting to play with toys a lot more
• fits snugly into 3 month old clothes (that he's been wearing for over a month...)
  
• smiles at random people
• LOVES looking in the mirror
  
• tries to roll over - twisting his body while on his back (he has fallen out of his bouncy chair this way...)
• LOVES to laugh and have conversations :D
• "yells" when he wants something he's not getting
• has lost A TON of hair (except for his lovely rat-tail, of course!)
  
• sucks on his hand/fist/multiple fingers, NOT his thumb
• still has the CUTEST smile in the world!
  

*Funny Videos and Pics*

Here are some ( or A LOT of) funny videos and pics we have accumulated over the past few months...Enjoy!

sticking his tongue out...

Noa started copying Chad after a while, it was pretty cool (it takes a little while, so be patient)

wants to crawl so bad!

his legs are really strong...his arms, not so much. can't quite crawl yet

"This is what happens when daddy dresses me..."

...he's just so dang cute!

in this family, we like to...

....*zZzzZzzZz*....

...sleep...

...sLeeP...

...and...SLEEP!
(I found him sleeping like this one day and I had to take a picture...looks so uncomfortable...)

Noa screaming at Chad:

...apparently, he doesn't like getting his face touched...(please ignore the mess in the background! I promise our apartment is not always this messy)

Working out:

This is how Noa keeps in shape ;)

ok, just a couple more!

Playing with Daddy:

having a great time!

Laughing with Mommy:

soooo adorable! I LOVE his laughs!!

where is my hubby?

Chad began working at Nu Skin this week...on top of his job at APX and his calling in the Bishopric... basically, i NEVER get to see my husband! This new job has its perks (we get $250 worth of free product each month) <- that, I LOVE...what I don't love so much is that my poor husband gets NO breaks and we don't have any time to spend together as a family! with this new schedule, he will be working from 7-1 and 3-9, with sundays and tuesday nights reserved for his calling. I know that it is going to be hard on me and Noa, but I'm more worried about Chad getting worn out, and even worse, sick... :( ...it is just temporary, thank goodness, so hopefully we will be able to stick it out for just a few weeks!

I got it!!

I finally got a ticket for the H1N1 vaccine! I've been trying to for a long time to get it, but I always seemed to be a little behind...well not this time! I lined up at 8 in the morning at the Utah County Health Department and waited for an hour in the line. It was FREEZING, needless to say, but totally worth it! I love that they switched to a weekly ticket/voucher system... Now I don't have to worry as much about Noa getting the swine flu, especially now its going around in our ward.

Exactly 2 years ago...

Chad and I got engaged!

it happened right before we left for a cruise down the coast of Mexico...at a beautiful park in Las Vegas. He had the perfect set-up: a picnic under the stars and palm trees with candles, rose petals and sparkling grape juice. I will NEVER forget the feeling I had when he popped the question! It was the best day of my life! - well at least up to that point...

It has seriously been the BEST 2 years of my life! We have gone through so much together, and I can't wait to spend the REST of my life with him! :D

I am so truly BLeSSed to be married to the LOVE of my LiFE!