Thanksgiving, Mount Olympus, and a Christmas Tree!

We have really enjoyed our 5 day weekend for Thanksgiving break! It's been nice to relax, spend more time together, and get ahead on some work (for one of us, at least).
We spent Thanksgiving with friends from Church.  Everyone brought a dish or two to pass and we enjoyed delicious food, football, and talking together.
Yesterday, we decided to hike Mount Olympus. It's a 4000 foot climb. The peak is over 9000 feet high. It ended up being very slow going because the snow towards the top had turned to ice. We were slipping and sliding a lot. We used a lot of trees to pull our selves up. Since we got a late start (we had to see the end of the Michigan vs. Ohio State game---GO BLUE!), we weren't able to make it to the top. We turned around about a 1/2 mile from the top to avoid going down on the ice in the dark. Going down was interesting. I crouched down and slid down on my feet for a lot of the icy parts. Todd  had a few good wipe-outs! The last 40 minutes of the hike were in the dark with headlamps. It was really pretty to watch the sun set over the mountains and see all of the lights in the valley.
Today we got our Christmas tree. We got a small one--about the same height as me! It smells wonderful.

On our way up

Taking a break towards the top

The view of the valley

On the way down--sun is beginning to set

Salt Lake in the distance

DARK!! Using the head lamps.

Our first Christmas tree!

We can't wait until our Christmas travels! We excited to see friends and family!

Oh November

I haven't posted in quite some time. We've both been busy--too busy to take weekend trips.
Since I last posted:
1. We celebrated my birthday at the beginning of November. Todd and I went to a dinner I was invited to through my program. It was put on by the food science association in Salt Lake City. There was delicious Hawaiian food and chocolate tasting. We both discovered that chocolate liqueur (the most unprocessed form of the cocoa bean) is disgusting! Todd got me a painting for our living room. I attached a picture below.
2. We played lots of board games and card games with friends. We are so thankful that we've met so many great people here. We are also thankful that they love to play games as much as we do!
3. I gave my graduate seminar presentation. Glad that's done! Each first year graduate student gives a seminar based on primary literature to all of the department of nutrition.
4. We went to IKEA and came home with a new living room chair (picture below). Todd likes to put it in the middle of the room to watch football, and I've done lots of reading and homework in it. It's perfect! Thanks Jeff and Bonnie!
I think that's it. As I said, we've been busy with school and work. We are really looking forward for a few days off for Thanksgiving!

Our new living room chair

Painting from Todd for my birthday

Some new pictures on the wall--all scenic shots from places we've gone since we got married