Food, Food, Food

So Bryan and I cook meals four times a week for each other. I cook Mondays and Tuesdays and he cooks Wednesdays and Thursdays. I have really learned to love this. It is a huge time commitment though, depending on what I am making. I can spend from 1-2 hours working on a meals. (A HUGE thank you to all moms who don't have the effort they put forth acknowledged or appreciated).

Bryan keeps telling me I have the "feed the missionaries syndrome" where I always make too much. I just worry that people won't have enough. I never want anyone to feel like they can't eat as much. SO, I make, according to Bryan, "enough to feed a family". Because of my "syndrome" and the excess food which I produce, we have been having people over for dinner recently. Whether my roommates join us, his roommates join us or his/my/our friends, it has been a lot of fun.

Most recently we had my friends Erik and Adam over for a meal. Erik had wanted a Mexican dish, so I made Cafe Rio. It turned out to be pretty good. I was really glad. I have realized recently that I have been making meals where I have never made the dish before. Kind of risky and dangerous.

Anyways, here are some pictures from our meal on Monday. Adam had mentioned how we were all kind of color coordinated and then Erik suggested we take a picture.

This was our attempt to take a picture with the timer set. It WOULD have worked if Erik had not been a little punk.

I then realized my roommate was home, so we asked her to take it of us. CHEESE.

Up the Peak

Over the Memorial Day weekend, my cute roommates and I decided to go snowshoeing. None of us had even been before, so we decided to rent some shoes and head out. Did we know what we were doing? No. But it turned out to be a TON of fun.

My cute roommates Trina and Kortni on our way to Squaw Peak.

Once we got there, we first started walking in just our tennis shoes because we didn't feel like we really needed the shoes yet. As we continued walking up this path area, we saw this little "turn off" area where we felt like we could go and have it be a little more intense. As we looked further up, we didn't think it would challenge us enough, so we continued on. As we continued up, there was a guy walking down this trail area. He told us how we probably wouldn't be needing our shoes because the snow was so compact. HOWEVER, my roommates and I had already decided to take a more "advanced" track...

STRAIGHT UP!

So, up we went. Kortni started out leading the way...

Our ascent...

My turn being "the fearless leader"!

We had to pull on trees to get through certain areas. This one area, was little a mini forest of dead trees. The scary thing about snowshoeing up a mountain is you never know what's under you... Kind of a weird thought as you are throwing your weight around to make it up.

A view from the [almost] top.

So when we finally got to our "destination", we started hearing gun shots. Right next to where we started our climb, we passed an area marked "Provo Gun and Rifle Range". However, when we heard the gun shots, it didn't sound like they were coming from the range next to us. We looked over the ledge and saw this man just free shooting. We then looked closer and realized he was shooting EXACTLY up the "trail" we were considering going up before. We then started laughing and saying how "WE COULD HAVE DIED!" But really, there would have been no way he would have seen us. We seriously could have been shot! Haha! What a fun story that would have been!

On our descent down..we took a different way. We decided to explore a little.

We found this road/trail on our way down. It was such a fun day!

When we finally got down to the bottom, we actually met and talked with the man who was shooting. He was CRAZY! It was so funny. My roommate asked him how he was doing and what he was doing there. He wanted to reassure us and make it VERY clear that it was still the right of an American to carry a gun. (We weren't arguing... :) We then asked what he was shooting and he told us he was looking for a moose that he had seen signs of. (That's all well and good, but he was NOT shooting in an area where shooting was/is permitted. WE COULD HAVE DIED!) Haha. It was quite the memorable day.

Unforgiving

Before I came to BYU, my dad had mentioned how winter can be nasty because of the snow and ice. He would also say how ice is so unforgiving. It just hurts. How right he is...

Recently I was kind of running out of my house dancing and singing. I was on my way to jump in the car to head to a family intramural team's soccer game. Try to visualize... I was singing and dancing with my arms up above my head. I went out my back door, down the steps of the porch, the car was insight (about 10 feet away), mid-song, I go down! I mean BAD! My legs came out from under me-- I was flat on the asphalt. The first thing that came to my mind, was that really hurt and HOW did I fall?! I looked back and say this TINY little patch of ice. Recently, here in UT the snow had been melting a little. So this tiny little spot of ice was the remains of what had melted off of our roof earlier that day. The rest of the night, my knee killed. I am not one big on pain, but I could not believe how much my knee hurt. My hands and one of my knees were cut, but they weren't what hurt. I had a feeling my knee would have a bruise the following day.

Less than 24 hours later...

My brother's called me weaksauce. I wasn't even complaining about the bruise and they dished that out...rude... :)

It has now been a little over 3 days...

You should know that I LOVE, I mean, LOVE bruises! Last night when I was at the gym, I felt so hardcore for having this gnarly bruise on my leg. :) It's too bad it's not a very good story. :)

Fire Hazard!

So my roommate Kortni brought back a cute little "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree for us when she got back from Thanksgiving break. However, this cute, little tree is more like a death tree. I have never felt a tree more sharp and pokey. It kills when you touch it! It really is painful, even if you barely touches you.

It is now far past Christmas and the tree is mostly dead. My cousin Alan saw and said how it is a major fire hazard. We (the apartment) all knew that, but didn't really think about it. We all wanted to get rid of it, but it was just a matter of doing it.

This past Monday, Kortni took the task upon herself and took the tree out. BEFORE she took it out, she put on layers! She put on thick gloves, her huge jacket (she never wears it--it's kind of a joke), and her boots. She also attempted to cover the tree with a garbage bag. Attempt is the key word. :) We are all grateful to be rid of the tree, but even though we vacuumed, we keep finding little remnants of the tree around--mainly because we step on them. Ouch!

What Happens When It's Snowing...

Recently, my cute roommates decided to exercise. One of Kortni's resolutions this year is to exercise. Because it is was so cold and icy outside we resorted to stay inside. SO what we did was turn on music and it basically turned out to be a huge dance party. I was filming. :) Kort and Trina were gearing up for their workout.

Christmas at the Perrys

Christmas was SUCH a fun time in our home. We were all together for the first time in two years. It was SO fun! At first it felt a little weird adjusting back to being with each other, but it didn't take long to get back in the swing of things. Our home this break was filled with music, laughter, singing around the piano (Bryan's back!), a birthday, games, a family party, fun movies, snuggling, delicious food, flexing, good conversations, and dancing. It was absolute bliss. Now that I'm back at school and the family is back into the swing of their normal routines, work, school, church callings, sports, etc, I think we all crave those times with each other again.


Bryan and Grandma Perry making her famous biscuits.

Grant's 15th birthday! This is the stocking Grant was brought home in when he was a baby.

Flexing is a big deal in our family. With the three boys at home, it happens all the time.

Celebrating G's birthday. The single candle represented a 1 and the 5 was..a five. (15 years old..)

A classic Perry holiday dinner: delicious food, a beautiful table setting, and conversations.

Oh hey good-looking...(s)

I found the Christmas pickle again...(I'm the reigning champ)This little pickle ornament was given to us by our really good friends the Clarks. Apparently it is a German tradition for the parents to hide the Christmas pickle on the Christmas tree for the kids to find. Because it is green and small, it's real hard to find. The child who finds the pickle gets to open the first Christmas present. Then the child right under that one (age-wise) gets to open the next one and so on. Hence Bryan's sad face.

This is a family favorite. We love DAD!

Grandma Tanner came for the boys Court of Honor. It was so fun have her with us for those couple of days.

New Jams.

So in our family, we have never been allowed to open Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. This year, we made an exception. We were all given our presents from Grandma and Grandpa Perry. As we all opened them at once, we all started smiling. They had given us each new pajamas. We had such a fun time with them. We had never been given pajamas before, so this was all very exciting and new. They were all very comfortable. So, of course, we all jumped in them and posed together. Some more than others...Craig...

Oh ya C!

So good looking! :)

(Should we all just look at those teeth?! He got his braces off over break--they look phenomenal!)

Normally a photographer tells you when they're going to take the pictures...clearly that didn't happen here...

The Perry 5!

Poor Moozer. That's a lot of weight to be holding up!

The whole fam bam. Together again!

So much fun! I am positive we will all remember this night!

Bryan's Home!

So the plan was for Bryan to get home the beginning of December. However, plans changed and I got the boot. I was then told Bryan was going to be getting home the second day I would be having finals, so there was no way I was going to be able to pick him up from the airport. Needless to say, I was not so happy. I had been counting down my weekly emails till I would see him. So, instead, after I was finished with my finals, I flew home only to be greeted at the airport by my brother Bryan/Elder Perry.

My first time seeing Bryan in over two years.

SO GOOD to have him back!

Over Christmas break, I could hardly get enough of him. I guess you could say we're pretty attached... :)


Bryan and I are now together at BYU. We live less than two minutes away from each other (walking). It is such a treat. This is the first time we have gone to school with each other since my sophomore year in high school and his senior year. It's been a while. It's kind of fun being sophomores together this year. I love being ahead of him in school too (even if it's just a semester). It has been so fun living so close and having a sibling at school with me again. We eat meals with each other Monday-Thursday. I cook Monday and Tuesday and he cooks Wednesday and Thursday. I love having him here with me and having daily contact with him. I am so happy.