Thanksgiving 2010

We travelled to Arizona to commemorate the pilgrims and indians this year. And boy are we glad! We escaped record cold temperatures in Salt Lake! We left the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and barely got out of town before a massive blizzard hit.

We spent time with Mindy's two sisters, Autum and VerRona, and their families. Mindy's mother also made the journey with them. Wednesday was spent hanging out, making pies, and enjoying the warm, perfect weather. Mindy made her first ever cheescake (pumpkin cheescake, that is). She didn't realize it was supposed to take a total of 9 hours unti she'd already started. It only took about 6, total. Nothing too fancy, just lots of time in the oven, in a water bath. Yes, it was more than amazing!

Derek spoke his "animal talk" to Autum and Dave's dog (this consists of high-pitched squeeling/babbling). Tyler played video games with Jake and Brian, and we had a grand ol' time.

Thanksgiving morning, CariAnn, Autum, VerRona, Mindy, and their cousin Amanda, all ran the Turkey Trot (10K that's been around in the area for decades and was the first race the 3 sisters ever signed up for). Mindy finally beat the guy running in the turkey suit (she'd been dreaming of for about 15 years) with a time of 44:38. Everyone did well and had a great time. Tyler played in a turkey bowl and showed everyone that he's not slow and/or old! He's a natural athlete, to say the least.

Thanksgiving dinner was scrumptious! We tried some twists on the originals, like chipotle yams, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, the pumpkin cheesecake :), and many others.

Friday we spent time with VerRona and her adorable 3 daughters. Derek and cousin Laura had fun playing outside on the swing set. We ate lunch at Joe's Farm Grill (a place featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" on Food Network). It was to die for!! Tyler said it was by far the best burger he's ever had- ever!

We drove back to Utah on Saturday. Again the weather was in our favor. Early Sunday morning a huge snow storm hit Salt Lake and dumped 1-3 feet of snow on the valley floor! We were grateful to be home and safe.

Our fall has been wonderful, full of fun, and entertainment (thanks to Derek). Tyler's semester will be over soon and we are excited for Christmas- especially since Tyler's brother Justin will be home from his mission.

Fall 2010

It has been a very exciting and interesting fall for the Canova's. Tyler is still at the University of Utah and is enjoying his classes- as much as he can. :) Mindy keeps working and enjoys every moment at home with her 2 boys.

Derek is learning more every day and we are amazed at how much he understands and responds to. He loves to cook with Mommy or Daddy, play in the pantry, do laps around the kitchen table, and climb up on the couch and yell at people out the window (well, even if there's no one outside).

Just the other day, Tyler and Derek found a gardner snake in the kitchen. Tyler thinks it was under the kitchen table and Derek whined wanting to play with it. When he grabbed Derek to put his shoes on, they walked back through the kitchen to the garage, and there was the snake making a break for it. Tyler caught it and let it go. He kindly thought about saving it so Mindy could see it when she got home from work. What a gentleman! Needless to say, Mindy is grateful he didn't act on that thought.

Tyler continues to enjoy being scout master and is working on a physical fitness merit badge with the boys. This means he himself is going to be exercising more. His motivation?- the leaders are competing against the young men. Tyler HATES losing. And Mindy thought she was competitive. She learned quickly in their courting that Tyler wins in that arena, hands down.

Mindy ran a half marathon Labor Day weekend and then the St George Marathon on October 2. She qualified for the Boston Marathon with a 3:38:33 finishing time. Needless to say, she was ecstatic! Hours of hard core training had finally paid off. However, when she went to register for Boston, due to a computer gliche, since thousands were all trying to register at the same time, it filled up before she could get in. Major bummer, but now she's on the rebound- looking for another race, or perhaps a new hobby. Believe it or not, a race with a cap of about 25,000 filled up in 8 hours. Running is taking over the world! It's great that so many are getting off the couch, but they're in Mindy's way of fulfilling her agenda! :)

That's our latest. Enjoy the pictures!

Vacations Galore

So, the end of July and the beginining of August, it seemed we couldn't stay at home. We went to Boise for a wedding on July 24, on a hike in the Tetons on July 31, and then to Flaming Gorge the first weekend of August. It was all loads of fun, but we were ready to be home and stay there by the end.

Boise was fun. We saw Dustin (a mission friend of Mindy's) get married. Him and his new wife Kortney are good friends of ours. We also saw Mindy's sister Melanie who had recently moved there. They were in the final stages of a major saga in getting a lovely home.

The Tetons, well, how can a trip there not be completely fantastic?! Minae and Wayne along with Andrea and Jeremy went too. We all stayed at Aunt Janice's and then went on a big hike. WE went to Sunset Lake and had a marvelous time. Wayne and Minae were worried they'd slow us "young ones" down. Um, that was NOT an issue whatsoever! They are animals! We were all dead at the end. That night we went and ate at O'Rourkes with Andrea and Jeremy and ate some REALLY amazing sweet potato fries with our hit-the-spot buffalo burgers.

Flaming Gorge was a trip with Tyler's family. We enjoyed the beautiful views, riding the wave runners on the lake, and watching Derek chase the little bunny around the KOA Kampground.

The summer is almost over and Tyler will start Fall Semester at the U soon. Back to the grind!