Thanksgivingly

Holy Smokes! 29 More Days until the wedding!! I can't even believe it. My parents will be here next Friday! My mom is staying until the wedding but my dad will be back and forth from Philly.

I had such a fun Thanksgiving with Cory's family yesterday! Even though his mom did Thanksgiving, Cory and I still wanted to make our own turkey for leftovers :) Here are some pictures!

We were trying to take a picture with the bowl but it didn't quite make it in!

Cory is really excited about the Blueberry Sky Pie!

Every year, since I was little, my mom held our Thanksgiving turkey up over the sink and made a funny gobbling sound. She would shake the turkey and pretend it was dying. It was terrifying! I told Cory about it and so... as not to ruin tradition... Cory took mom's place this year :)

And here's Cory concentrating on cleaning it out.

It was sad to not spend Thanksgiving with my family... but as my mom keeps teasing me, "We won't be your family anymore, Cory will be your family." Haha, how mean!

We also made a Thankful Box. When my family lived on Bainbridge Island we used to spend Christmas with two other families, the Thue's and Wingets. Deb Thue would always make a turkey box and bring it over on Thanksgiving. All of us would write down what we were thankful for and put it in the box. After dinner we would read out loud everything that was in the box. I remembered how fun it was. Some of the things were hilarious and some were really sweet. Anyway, I carried on the tradition to the Clayburns! I'll soon post a picture of my thankful box!

WEDDING UPDATE!

I can't believe we are getting married in 40 days! It's been difficult planning everything with my mom living in Philly... but Cory is a trooper tagging along and helping make decisions. I'm super excited though because my parents are coming December 5 and staying until the wedding! I thought we would have so much to do once they came, but I honestly almost have everything planned! I have always been a planner and very organized. I found my dress and reception place 4 days after he proposed, I started the invites in September, and I ordered my cake the first of October. The only things that will be left last minute are the flowers and the favors. The favor boxes are on back order til Nov 29. We have all the flowers for the centerpieces ordered... we just have to wait until December to order the bridal bouquet, boutonnieres, etc.

The one thing that has been somewhat stressful is the invitations. I decided to hand make all of them. All 400. Cory and I started in July, working on them every week, and we are finally almost finished. I absolutely love how they turned out, but I would be okay if I never saw them again!

I love the place where we are having our reception. It is a bed and breakfast in Logan called The Riter Mansion. My dad rented the whole thing out the day of the wedding so my family can all stay the night there after the reception.

This is the front...

This is called the Carriage House. It was just built on to the back of the mansion. It is where we'll have our reception. However, that isn't the door guests will walk through. They will be entering from the front door of the mansion.

This is the inside... I love the fireplace...

This is a shot of the whole carriage house. My only rule for the wedding is that I didn't want it to seem Christmasy or that people were coming to a Christmas party. I have been very strict on no red, green, poinsettias, etc. I wasn't a huge fan of the Christmas tree but it has grown on me.

Another thing I'm excited about is my cake! My colors are brown and gold and when I found this cake at CarriesCakes.com I fell in love! I made a few changes though. There will be no bow and they aren't putting the swirls on the middle layer. They are also putting spaces between each layer and filling it in with white roses as well as a bundle of white roses on the top. I am VERY excited to see how it turns out!!

More from Bullhead, AZ...

While we were at my Grandma's the Phillies were in the World Series. My parents live in Philly so my dad showed his team spirit the week we were there.

My silly mom...

We were also able to celebrate my dad's birthday while we were all together...

My favorite sister Brookie...

Brendan with our cute little cousin Emma...

This is my Grandma's dog Bella. She was so sad while we were all there. You could tell she was confused and really missed my Grandma Joy. It was so cute because she was in heat so she had to wear a little diaper.

Funeral

On Tuesday, October 21 my Grandma Joy died. It was one of the saddest days of my life. She was so young and she was even survived by her mother, my great-grandma. Cory was so sweet and got things taken care of at work so we could drive down to Arizona the very next day. Even though it was so sad at times, it was also very exciting to see my family. Since my parents live in Philly, Brooke in Hawaii, and Brendan and Chet in Seattle, I only see them all at Christmas. So it was a treat to be with them. I was also happy because my family was able to spend more time with Cory before the wedding.

I love this picture because my mom and I are making the exact same faces!

Real Salt Lake

Cory loves soccer. Of all the sports my family is into, soccer is definitely not one of them. And my two brothers like to let Cory know. Anyway, since the MLS season started, we have gone to almost every single Real Salt Lake game. We live in Logan and it takes us about an hour and a half to get down there. I actually enjoy going to the games. I don't particularly like watching them on TV... but any sport is fun live. The season actually ended last night, sadly, to the New York Red Bulls. I am excited though for next season because we bought season tickets with 3 other couples. Here are some pictures of us at one of the games at the new Rio Tinto stadium...
This is Cory, Chelsie, his nephew Jaxen, and his brother Kevin...

This is Cory and Jaxen in the "Bunker." The tickets we got were on the third row in comfy padded seats. The tickets also come with dinner before (and throughout) the game and the players walk by from the locker room to the field.

Enjoying the comfy seats :)

Our Story

The first time I met Cory was May '07, when he came to help me move. If any of you know my family, I'm sure you are not surprised! I knew his roommate and had asked him to bring over some friends to help me... and Cory was one of them. I barely even talked to him that day. The only time he said something was when he laughed that I packed my clothes in a refrigerator box! The next time I saw him was when he helped me move again three months later! That time I insisted on taking him and his roommate to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. Although it was supposed to be my treat, Cory paid.

We started hanging out a lot in December. My family went to Yellowstone for Christmas. I remember texting him that day and said, "Did you get everything you wanted?" And his reply was, "Yes, a Red Ryder carbon-action, 200-shot range model air rifle BB gun" and I replied "I got a pink bunny suit" (for those of you don't know its a reference to A Christmas Story movie). That movie is by far one of my families favorites... so I knew there could definitely be a future :)

I returned home from Christmas and I spent New Years Eve with him until I had to leave for work at midnight. Our very first kiss was January 12 and there hasn't been a single day since then we haven't spent together. He proposed July 18 and I have loved planning our wedding! It is December 27! I know it is a crazy time of year but it just seemed liked the only date that would work :)

I named our blog "The Claybums" because when I practice writing my soon to be last name... the r and n run together making it look like Claybum instead of Clayburn!