Behold: the ugly Christmas sweaters!  Getting ready to party!!

It wouldn't be Christmas without sporting the ugly Christmas sweater!

This year for Thanksgiving we flew to Ohio for a Hamilton Family Reunion.  What a wonderful fun time we had.  Here is Banks with his cousins Max and Graham.  (Really wished they lived way closer...Banks ADORES them!!)

Uncle Jeff decided a 'Human Pyramid' would be fun.  Unfortunately my camera wasn't quite fast enough to capture the pyramid before it came tumbling down...

Fun with the cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Hamilton's house!!

Crafts with all the cousins on Thanksgiving day!!

Thanks Aunt Alayna for being the mastermind behind these super fun candy-turkeys. 

Thanksgiving Pies:  Key Lime, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Salted Caramel Apple.

On Saturday of the Family Reunion/Thanksgiving we had a Cousin's Birthday party.  All the kiddos took turns swinging at the pinata. 

(Left to right) Cousin Mabel, Banks, and cousin Sienna with Grandma!

My mother-in-law's face!  Need I explain anymore...  :)

(In Ohio over the Thanksgiving Break) The final night these two best friends/cousins seemed to sense they might not see each other again for a very long time. (since Mabel would be moving back to Switzerland with her family)  Banks kept trying to convince me to let him go to sleep with his best friend Mabel in her crib.  It kinda broke my heart to say no.  I wished we lived closer and could play all the time.  Banks LOVES Mabel.

(Back in Utah...) Almost the entire month of December (so far) has been the mildest, best weather!  Banks and I have been playing outside lots!  Trying to take advantage of this great weather!!

I took Banks and his friend Jada to the dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point the other day.  We met his friend Kate there.  This is the sandpit where they can dig/uncover dinosaur fossils!

Banks as a lil Shepherd.  Dressed up for 'A Night in Bethlehem' (our ward Christmas Party)

More FUN pictures from the Hamilton 2014 Family/Thanksgiving Reunion.  Its a lil cold but we're sure having fun playing games outside nonetheless.

COUSINS!  So much fun!!

Wow where has the time gone?  I apologize its been so long since I did a blog post.  Here are some pictures to catch you up on everything we've been doing.  This picture is at Brents house....their new pet! 

Jeff went on a birthday hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Speaking of Big Cottonwood Canyon...Jeff and I ran the Big Cottonwood Canyon half marathon in Sept.  We both had a phenominal race.  Jeff finished 1:30...and I finished 1:31.  Thats a 7:00 minute pace for me and like 6:56 pace for Jeff.  It was an ALL TIME best record.  We both finished and said, "eh, I dont think we'll ever beat that record."  It was a super beautiful course.  Jeff and I LOVE that we race at about the same pace so we can run pretty much the whole race togther.  What a blast!

Playin in the rain with Sadie!

The only word I have for this picture is PRECIOUS!

 

I would fill Banks lil wagon at least once a week with tomatoes this summer.  What a wonderful year for tomatoes!!

Happy birthday Jeff!  I made him a german chocolate cake accompanied by his favorite ice cream for his bday. 

Uh, has anyone ever grown one of these insane gigantic pumpkins before!?  (I kinda think it would be fun??)

Speaking of gigantic...have you seen these suckers at your Costco!?  If you want to know what to get Banks for Christmas...here it is!  ha ha

Pumpkin sugar cookies.  5 stars.  Let me know if you want the recipe.  (It will change your life!)

Little Boys.  Are.  Awesome. !!!!!!!!!!

Yes!  I did it!  I canned for my very first time!!!!!!!!!!!  (Besides running a marathon) this is for sure my biggest accomplishment of the year!!  I cant tell you how intimidating this was for me, but I did it! 

Teaching his friend Violet how to cook the perfect al dente pasta!

Last race of the year.  :(    The Haunted half marathon down Provo canyon with my favorite race partner.  Jeff had a great race.  Mine, not by best.  (Actually my slowest of the year)  But hey, it was still SUPER fun and beautiful!  Jeff and I kinda have a special place in our heart for this race because this (a couple years ago) marked the FIRST half marathon we ever did.    In 2014 I ran a total of 5 half marathons and 1 full marathon. 

My great lil helper.  My mom got him this awesome mini wheelbarrow.  THANKS grandma!

Happy birthday cupcakes for Danny!  (If you want the best whipped chocolate frosting ever, let me know!)

My mom and dad got to come down and visit a few weeks ago.  We all got to go watch Tanner, Spencer, and Sadie in their primary program.  They did a BEAUTIFUL job!  I love this pic I caught of the boys walking out of church together.

Yummy recipe!  (Thank you to Alicia) roast any delicious vegetable you can find in your garden.  Roast with olive oil and kosher salt @ 300 degrees for several hours.  Then, throw it all in a blender, puree.  Add beef broth and fresh herbs.  Oh I loved doing yummy stuff like this all summer from my great garden!

Banks trying to manhandle "Jack".  (sadie, tanner, and spencers pet goat!)

Tis the season to make fresh marinara sauce from the garden!!  (Everything minus the spices ARE from my garden)

Jeff's stir fry creation ALL from our lil garden!

Also from the garden (minus the chicken).  I love this time of year!!

Look at how grown up our lil Banks is!  This is Banks on Grandpa Maruji's tractor in WA.  We got to go up for a family reunion with all of my dads side...SOOOO FUN!  Then Banks and I got to stay an extra week after everyone went home (we stayed for my 10 year class reunion)

This is all 52 of us.  (The only one we were missing was my brother in law Michael.)  Other than that, this is all the Maruji's.  This picture was taken on our front lawn.  Don't we have a beautiful view?  This is where I grew up my whole life.

This is my immediate family + spouses + kids.

My sister Emily at our family reunion making a delicious s'more!

S'mores @ the Family Reunion in WA

Sadie (my niece) with Grandma Minnie and Banks.  Just out for a stroll during the Family reunion.

(I think thats Spencer in the background on the 4 wheeler), and Grandpa with Danny, Mikey, and Tanner. (At the reunion)

I LOVE this picture!  I think its SOO precious!

Look at those two cute twinners!  Banks "cooking" with his cousins Mikey and Ashlyn.

Jeff at the finish line of the Echo Triathalon.  He did SOO good!  Way to go Jeff!  His 1/2 mi swim I think was 16 mins, I dont remember his bike time, and 22 mins for the 3 mile run.  AWESOME JEFF!

Kinda in the back, on the red bike is Jeff (wearing a white tank) coming in off his 13 mile bike leg at this triathalon...

I ran the American Fork half Marathon the Saturday before we headed up to WA for my family reunion.  It went AWESOME!  Its a beautiful, fast course.  I set a Personal Best: 1 hour 38 mins..which is a 7:30 min per mile pace. 

In WA, my mom and dad have mastered pizza on their Traeger Grill.  MMM this was some of thee best pizza I've ever had!!!

In WA, my dad bought Banks this lil pool to swim in.  It was 100 degrees several days when we were there, so it was perfect to put it under their covered deck.  Banks logged many, many hours splashing and playing in this pool!

my sweet, sweet boy!

BOTH my sweet boys! 

 

 

 (this one of grandpa's mudpits for the 4wheelers to fly through at the reunion)

Meet: The Ultimate Breakfast Burrito.  A crispy corn tortilla layered with bacon, eggs, fresh pico, avocado, cilantro, and tater tots.  Is your mouth watering yet?  Yes, its just a delicious as it looks!  Created by: my very own sister, Emily Sycamore! Two words: LIFE CHANGING!!!  MMM MMMM MMM!

Banks LOVED riding the tractor with Grandpa!  Grandpa was nice enough to let Banks stear and press all sorts of buttons! 

This picture is up at Justin Lynch's parents cabin in Midway.  If you look closely, you'll notice a REAL pizza oven in the background.  Justins parents recently returned home from Milan, Italy (serving a mission).  They of course fell in love with Italian pizza over there and decided to have a REAL outdoor pizza oven put in at their cabin.  We were lucky enough to have them make us pizza.  It was really good.