Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas this year. We almost didn't make it because of our Buick. We took the car into the shop before we left because the light for low coolant was on. Turns out, we had a cracked head gasket. To fix that cracked head gasket would cost us a cool  $2000.00 which made me cry(That is a regular occurrence now). We decided to buy a new car down in Vegas. So we left for Vegas and made it there in one piece. One of the first things we did was go see Mike's brother Nate, who happened to be in the hospital again due to blood clots in his leg.

These are the beautiful isolation gowns and mask we wore. They made us look like ducks. Nate is doing good and is home now. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get out in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Dinner was yummy and delicious. I like Thanksgiving the best of the holidays because it involves food and family and you do not have to worry about presents. I made pomegranate salad and apple bars. I also made pumpkin cookies with brown butter frosting. Yummy!

Saying goodbye to the Buick. (Notice the baby bump. It is there.I promise.)

We spent most of our free time figuring out our car situation. We ended up buying an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera 1994. It's a hot ride. White paint, with red velvet interior. It only had 75,000 miles on the car, and one owner in its lifetime. So we like the car. The doors are very heavy but that's all good. It did smell like old people at first but I bought an air freshener.

(This is our new car. Sorry for the picture quality. It was taken with my cellphone.)

We loved spending time with Mike's family. One of the best Garrard traditions for Thanksgiving involves camping. After Thanksgiving dinner the dads take the kids camping for the weekend. They leave as soon as dinner is over. It was really nice because then we were able to spend a lot of time with Mike's sisters. Sarah and Erin are very into the black Friday shopping. They map out their plan of attack by looking at the ads and organizing their route for the night. I decided to not go. Staying out that late is rough on me, and we didn't have money to spend anyway. They had some good stories to tell the next day, though.

We left Vegas on Sunday morning. The drive home is always the worst. Our Oldsmobile actually had better gas mileage than the Buick. 25 mpg on highway. We felt pretty good about that. Now it is back to school which I hate. Two more weeks and I feel like it is never going to end. I love school but I am finding that I hate my teaching classes. Not a good sign.

We also had our anniversary a couple weeks ago. One year of marriage down, and eternity to go. I managed to fit in the red dress that I wore on our wedding day. That was pretty awesome considering the fact that I was 22 weeks pregnant at that point. It was a little snug but I managed.  I gave Mike a volleyball he has been dying to have and some new ties. 

Don't you love his forced smile? We went to the temple and Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Simple and complete. It's crazy to think how different life is a year later. We have loved every minute of our first year. A lot of people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest but honestly we would have to disagree. If anything, life has been easier. Maybe it's because we are so awesome. Anyway, we are excited for this upcoming year because of our new baby. If you have baby name ideas for a girl send them our way. Food for thought is good.

Here is a picture of us on our first camping trip. We were only a couple weeks pregnant at this point and didn't even know about it yet!