Giving Thanks and Wedding Bells

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Utah - and what a celebration, indeed. Christopher (or for anyone who met him after age 7, "the boy") and Krystal immediately secured highly-favored status in our book by setting their wedding date for the weekend following Thanksgiving. So we were lucky to spend the holiday and the week thereafter with nearly the entire Christine and Alan Riley clan. An impressive feat, with Riley addresses spanning the globe.

We kicked off the week with a morning run along Riley Drive {you know you're in Payson when...}, the menfolk skeet shooting in the hills {you know you're in Payson when...} and a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. We also celebrated Grandpa "Alli's" 60th birthday with cute gifts of 60 favorite items from the grandkids and a list of Gramps' 60 best tales. If you know Alan and his penchant for storytelling, you know that coming up with a list of 60 was a breeze :). Noah also initiated Laine into the "cancer test" club. {If your hand is bigger than your face...} Thanks for not actually hitting that sweet little face, Uncle Noie!

Then it was off to St. George for the reception and wedding. They could not have ordered a more gorgeous weekend - I'm starting to understand the appeal of St. George.

The morning of the wedding, all seemed to be humming along smoothly. Way out of character for a Riley family gathering. Eerie, even. Fate did catch up with us, however, when in the 11th hour, we had dead car batteries, a bride separated from her dress/make-up/vehicle, a forgotten marriage license passed out the window of a moving car, a temple recommend locked in a car {the keys were inside the temple in my father in law's suit coat pocket... in a locked locker... that was occupied. that's a fun story.}, forgotten shoes and tender mercies. When all was said and done, we all made it to the ceremony. Perhaps just a little worse {read: sweatier} for the wear. And it was such a lovely ceremony.

Ben and Laine were flying home to Australia from St. George, and none of us could bear to part a moment too soon. So we all ended up staying an extra night with Grandma and Grandpa Riley in St. George. We had a great evening together, playing cards late into the night and keeping Grandma awake against her will. The next day, we also made great use of Aunt Nan and Uncle Scott's gracious invitation to use their cabin and four wheelers.

While the girls were quite content to "go fast" and find gourds along the route, the boys embarked on a slightly different adventure and returned with this slithery fellow. And now I'm petrified at the thought of raising boys.

We welcomed the Christmas season with a visit to Temple Square to see the lights {where Jesse had yet another run-in in a crowded place with the same sweet family he bumped into on a crowded NYC 4th of July} and the little ones ate the apples out of the wedding bouquets.

 

Those Autumn Leaves

I'm bundled up inside. I can literally hear how cold it is outside. And from all reports, Davis County will blow entirely off the map today. {or, at least, it was the day i actually started penning this post.}

I'm in denial that winter weather is actually coming 'round the bend, so it seems like the perfect day to hold on to those last few memories of the gorgeous fall we enjoyed with a pictorial of our weekend outings.

We had a whirlwind weekend with the Collins and the Moodys. Collins' visit came to a close just as the Moodys pulled up in front of our place, so the guys enjoyed a quick Forest Gate apartment reunion on the sidewalk for a few minutes. Central Park was basically begging to be enjoyed that weekend. One does not turn down a lovely day in Central Park. We enjoyed ample time in the park, where we caught a chess tournament, sang along to some Beatles tunes at Strawberry Fields and - ah, heck. i'm just going to say it - I had the best hair day of my life.

On a whim, we headed up to Sleepy Hollow to run the Sleepy Hollow 10k with our Connecticut Barlow family. The course was the perfect way to enjoy this Halloween town in the fall - a headless horseman atop an actual horse was the course marker at some turns and race participants are encouraged to dress up. We were slackers in the costume dept, but Alyssa's costume had us - and everyone else - cracking up.

For the last few years, Noah's had a tough time grasping the appeal of apple picking. To this orchard-raised boy, apple picking just means chores. But we've been in the city long enough that the prospect of picking fresh apples from the tree really spoke to him. We enjoyed the most gorgeous fall day picking apples and indulging in one too many apple cider donuts with a great group of friends. And Noah impressed us all with his knowledge of apple varieties, his insight into how the trees ought to be pruned {apparently these trees are suffering from serious neglect} and his ability to break an apple in half with his bare hands. That's right, ladies. He also does laundry. I hit the dream man jackpot.

The following weekend, winter tried to sneak attack us with a snowstorm in October. Rude. But fall bounced back, thank goodness, and we made the most of its return with an afternoon at the Cloisters and Fort Tryon Park with the Hydes. 

And last, but certainly not least, I made my way to the Upper East Side on a lovely Sunday afternoon to catch mile 23 of the NY Marathon. A client of mine was running, so I met up with Zach and pals who were also there cheering on their friend. They made these great signs for their friend {the other one said "do it for the cheeseburger."  because really, who's NOT thinking about meat and cheese after running the equivalent distance of Times Square to Scarsdale?}, and I was holding on to one of the signs when my client ran past. I was all about high energy and yelling his name, jumping up and down, you get the drill... and the sign was right there in the mix of my hoopin' and hollerin'. It wasn't until after he passed that it dawned on me that I had the "extremely good looking" sign. Hoping I didn't send an uncomfortable message...

Exuberant Knudsens

If you're coming home from a long vacation and you, like me, really dread the post-vacation blues, I recommend scheduling a visit from Koryn and Jeremy. I suppose you could also schedule a visit from someone you know personally. But you might enjoy hanging with Knudsens regardless.

The only thing that got me through my week alone {Noah had to fly right back out for work} was the promise of these two arriving at our place on Friday morning. I really couldn't sleep the night before. I got up and went to the gym. Yeah, I was THAT restless.

We had the most delightful visit with my beautiful sister and her wonderful husband. Their visit also marked the last Furniss/Riley sibling to visit our humble abode {though we do have two siblings-in-law who still need to grace us with their presence}. What a treat to share our city with the Knudsens. They were such gracious guests.

Koryn and Jeremy requested tasty eats and treats recommendations and some off the beaten path neighborhood wandering. Done and done. These are two of my favorite things to do in New York. I think we hit nearly every neighborhood on foot and were sure to get in some delicious meals and sweets in the process.

 {Pretty gal - pretty street.}

I really love that my best friends are my siblings. I just can't imagine spending a weekend any more wonderful way. Thanks for your visit, Knudsens!