One year already!?

First of all, I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas! Todd and I were so happy to be able to celebrate our first Christmas as a married couple and had so much fun! It was so nice to spend so much time with our families and be able to create memories with them as well as one another. I can't wait to do the same with my own family! We have been having lots of fun being off of work and spending time with one another and our families this week. We are VERY excited for this upcoming weekend because on the 3rd we will be celebrating our 1 year anniversary! This year has gone by super quick and we both can't believe its already been ONE YEAR! We are celebrating by going to California and going to Disneyland (of course, its a must!!), spending some time on the beach (I know its cold, but it sure is beautiful) and we are planning on doing a session at the San Diego temple. Neither of us have been so we are very excited. I will be sure to take lots of pictures of our trip and post them when we return. I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Years where-ever you are, whatever you're doing!

I know I know, its been forever, but I've been busy! This past week I worked everyday and needless to say I am tired! But it feels so good to work, and I am having such a good time! Last night we were able to go to the Suns game with Todds family and had a blast! It was a great game and very intense, the final score was 113-112.  Very very fun!

Little Miss Brynn and I (my niece)

 Tonight we are headed to a homecoming party for my friend Nathan who just came home from his mission in Colorado. (He is my sister-in-law Tammys younger brother.) Afterwards we are meeting up with my sister Liz and her boyfriend for dinner and a movie.  I hope everyone is having a great weekend and getting ready for Christmas! We are so excited for this holiday season!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent our Thanksgiving in California at Disneyland! It wasn't as busy as we thought it was going to be and it turned out to be a lot of fun! We went with Todd's side of the family and there ended up being about 30 of us altogether.  I forgot my purse though, at the house where we were staying, so I didn't have my camera which was such a bummer! We were able to spend a ton of time just hanging out and having fun with our family which was so nice, especially for the holiday.  Funny story, we went shopping on Saturday night and I saw my cousin Emily, who I haven't seen in like, at least 10 years.  Anyways, turns out she is in the same ward and neighborhood as Todd's aunt and uncle! Crazy stuff, it really is a small world! I am so excited that it is finally Christmas time! It is my absolute favorite time of year!! P.S If you get a chance, go to Starbucks and order a Carmel Apple Spice with extra carmel, it is DELICIOUS!

We're Back...

From California! We had such a fun time.  We got in Friday night and headed straight to Disneyland to meet Todd's cousin Tanner and his friend Bri.  We have so much fun with them and it was so good to see them! We were there till about midnight and then we headed to the apartment which is about 30min. away to meet up with my sister and her boyfriend.  On our way there I looked out the window and I see this orange thing out of the corner of my eye, and I looked over and it was a huge FIRE! We could see the wildfires going from the freeway.  It was nuts and a little freaky/scary that they were going on and couldn't be stopped because of the wind that night.  It was cool to see though thats for sure! The next day we went to the fashion district, my new favorite shopping spot, and while we were there we got rained on by ashes from the fires.  It reeked of smoke and it was getting a little annoying! We had planned to meet my sister at Disneyland and I called her and she said it was even worse over at Disneyland.  We got there around 4 and on the way we saw the orange sun like in the picture below.  It was crazy and it was super cloudy and smoky but there weren't any ashes falling so it wasn't too bad.  Church was next where we saw Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder) AND his twin brother.  We have never seen them together so that was cool.  We had a fun weekend and it was jam packed! The only bad thing was the smoke and ashes, but we got used to it.  We are headed down to California again on Wed. to spend the holidays there so we are excited!

Liz and Ryan on Autotopia

Getting on the Matterhorn

Bri and I

Tanner and Bri

I also have started a new job! (Hence the reason for the late post!!) I am working for a podiatrist and I am loving it! I have been working everyday this week so I am a little tired but other than that it has been so fun.  I am learning lots of new things and it is fun to interact with so many people everyday.  I think its going to work out great.  (And I get free massages every other Thursday, including today.  It was wonderful!) Have a great Friday everyone and a great weekend!!

Off to...

With my husband, my sister Liz and some of her friends.  We are going for a quick trip because the lease on the apartment we always use is up at the end of November, so we had to get in a trip before we no longer had the apartment! We are also going to Disneyland so I'm very excited! Have a great weekend everyone!!

We voted!

Did you?

Free Apron!

My amazingly talented sister, Jane, is giving away an apron for her birthday tomorrow.  Now, most of you are probably thinking, uhh, an apron? What's so good about an apron? WELLLLL...my sister is an amazing seamstress and makes these aprons herself! And they are so so CUTE! See, for every girl birthday in our family, (Moms, sisters, sister-in-laws, etc.) she makes a cute apron and names it after them.  Well, her birthday is tomorrow and she is giving away an apron AND she is giving you 3 entries. Just visit her blog HERE, and follow the directions.  Its that simple! Seriously people, these aprons are so cute, and if you win you even get to pick the color of your apron...AND she will name it after you. Check it out people!! And, Happy Birthday Jane! I am so lucky to have you for a sister! You have taught me so much and I look up to you more than you know! Thanks for being such a great sister!

Posh And Becks

We spent our Halloween handing out candy and taking my nieces around the neighborhood.  We also had a trial run of our costumes.  We were David and Victoria Beckham.  My wig that I wore was driving me nuts, it was the last one at the store so it was kind of smashed back on a rack and it had gotten a little messed up.  This was what our costumes looked like on Friday...and this is what they looked like on Saturday night, when we went to a Halloween Party hosted by our friends the Erbs and the Wrights.  Thanks guys!! We had a lot of fun and I think our costumes turned out pretty good! (After I fixed my wig!!)I'm so sad I didn't get more pictures, but there's always next year! Any costume ideas?!

Ruby

My niece Ruby slept over at our house the other night and we made a video with her on my Macbook. We thought it was pretty funny so I thought I'd post it on here. Enjoy!

Happy Sunday!

It feels nice to sit down and blog, we have been doing things all weekend so I've hardly been able to get online!  We started out the weekend on Friday by going to meet my sister Jane and her family watch my niece, Ally, run in her final cross country meet.  She did great! It was fun to see her run, and she is good at it! My parents were also there so it was fun to hang out there and cheer Ally on.  Afterwards we ran over to Az Mills mall to get Todd some new shoes for work, and then we headed to the Az State Fair to meet our friends Jessica and Josh, as well as my parents, my sister Liz and her boyfriend Ryan who were there watching the demolition derby.  We were there long enough to walk around, get some fried goodies and head out.  We had saved up some money about a month ago and bought season passes to Disneyland, so we decided it would be better to ride the safe rides at Disneyland rather than the ones at the fair, so our trip to the fair was pretty short!  Saturday I went to Jessica's baby shower.  It was decorated so cute and they had great party favors, and the most darling cake! I wish I would've gotten a picture.  After that, Todd and I drove over to the temple to meet my family for my parents 40th wedding celebration.  We were able to have all 7 kids and spouses and my parents be in the temple, and it was such an amazing sight! Afterwards we headed to Dave's BBQ for a celebration dinner and then to Jane and Todd's for some fancy cake and a fabulous DVD made by Jane! (Great job on that Jane!!)  After that we headed home to BED! It was such a good weekend and packed with so many things to do! (Which I think is the best kind of weekend!)

   

My Parents and sister Jane&Husband Todd

(Thanks for the pics Jane!!)

1 year ago today...

My sweet and loving husband asked me to marry him.  

Of course I said yes and I couldn't be any happier.  We are going out to dinner at Red Robin, since that is where we ate before he asked me to marry him, and its also where we had our first date.  I love you Todd!

Hollywood!

We spend the weekend in Hollywood with my parents, my sister Jane and her family, and my sister Liz. (Click on either of their names for more recaps of the trip!) We were there to celebrate my parents 40th anniversary! We had so much fun and crammed in so many fun things! We got there on Thursday night and were finally able to make it to Pink's Hot Dogs, which I had mentioned in an earlier post.  However, I was not impressed and don't know why anyone would wait in like 2 hours for what we got.  You can try it if you want though, tell me what you think.  Anyways, all weekend we spent running around to the Fashion District, Pitfire Pizza, Starbucks for hot chocolate and my favorite carmel apple cider, Hollywood Blvd, Portos Bakery (a must when you're in Hollywood), and Universal CityWalk.  Todd and I were also able to go down to San Clemente to see his aunt, uncle and cousins, and we were able to make a stop at my favorite place, DISNEYLAND! Sunday morning we went to the Studio City Ward and saw Jon Heder, aka Napoleon Dynamite, yes the real one, and we also saw one of the characters from High School Musical.  If you have seen the movie, she is the girl that wants to hip hop dance, and do the pop and lock.  (I have no idea what her real name is or who the character she plays is.) We had such a fun weekend and we always do especially with our families! Thanks for coming everyone, we will have to do it again very soon!

Date Night!

Saturday night, after the broadcast, Todd and I met up with one of our favorite couples to hang out with, Jessica and Josh, to hang out and see a movie over by the Cardinals Stadium at Westgate.  We walked around and had dinner, and then met up with Jess and Josh to see this...

It was very good and I highly recommend it! It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I had high expectations though, because I had seen the preview for it in July and could not wait for it to come out! While we were walking to our movie, we noticed that the AVP tournament was taking place at the same time.  We had wanted to get tickets but just forgot so when we saw it we were bummed that we forgot about it because it looked so cool! Well, luckyfor us, after our movie the last set of the game was just starting so they let us in for FREE! It was so cool! We were able to see Gold Medalist Kerry Walsh, and I sort of got a picture of her below.  Misty May-Treanor wasn't there though because she is doing Dancing with the Stars.  These ladies are so tall and muscular! I wouldn't want to play volleyball with any of them competitively, thats for sure! It was amazing to see how they just transport the sand anywhere they want and then pick it up and move out.  It was so fun and next time the tour comes we will definitely be getting some tickets.  Hope you all had a great weekend!

I was blog-hopping the other day and found this quote.   I thought it was really good and hopefully I'll remember it when my own boys go on missions!

Wii Fit!

So, Todd and I have been searching for a Wii Fit for a couple months now.  We had heard what it was for and how fun it was for awhile, but couldn't find one anywhere! We looked at Best Buy and Target, and every time with no luck! We finally talked to one of the guys at Best Buy who said they don't even know when they are going to get them or even how many they are going to get, it may be only 1 for the whole month.  So, its pretty hard to find one, unless you look on Ebay or Amazon. Anyways, the other day Todd called me while I was babysitting for my sister and told me to ask him why his arm was hurting.  I did, and he said it was because he had finally found a Wii Fit, and carrying it to the car was making his arm tired! 

I was very excited and he said that he had been out in El Mirage at Wal-Mart and bought the last one there! We have been playing it non-stop and it is SO FUN! It is such a great workout believe it or not! It takes awhile to start playing the game, but each person has their own profile that tells your weight and BMI, as well as your "Wii Fit" age.  Mine was 36, haha, guess I have some work to do.  Anyways, after you get through the body test you get to the games.  They are so much fun! We have been playing them with Todd's family and with Mom.  They have skiing, ski jumping, soccer, tightrope walking, strength training, step aerobics, running and yoga. 

My favorite by far is the Hula Hoop! I have the record which is 415! It is very addicting and really works out your lower half.   The weird thing is that I didn't know the Wii Fit board was all about balance and posture, which is very good for me since I have a slight degree of scoliosis and some bad disks in my back.  Anyways, it has been helping my back so much and I have had little back pain since I have started working out on it! So, if you have a Wii system and you ever find a Wii Fit, buy it because it is totally worth it!! P.S Again I still have yet to find my camera, but when I do I will post some pictures of the fun! =)

Happy Birthday Todd!

Happy 23rd Birthday to my wonderful amazing husband!  I am so lucky to be married to such a fun, caring and loving guy! He is so great to me and I am so thankful for him each and every day! He is so good with the family and especially all the little ones, they all just adore him! I am thankful for all he does for me and for his happiness all the time! He is just the best and I can't express how much I love him. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODD! I love you! (His Birthday is actually today, the 9th, but it says I posted this yesterday.)

Cal-i-forn-i-a!

We just spent the weekend in L.A/Hollywood and had such a blast! Todd's mom has a super nice apartment in North Hollywood, or NoHo, and so we went for Labor Day weekend with Todd's mom, sister and a couple of her friends.  The apartment is located so close to everything! We were able to do a lot of stuff in such a short amount of time.  There aren't a lot of pictures though because I lost my camera and can't find it anywhere!  We got in Friday night around 10, we hit traffic so it took a little bit of time to get there, especially L.A traffic on a Friday night! The next morning we went to one of our favorite breakfast spots, which we go to every time we visit, called Porto's.  If you are ever in Hollywood, you HAVE to check it out.  They have amazing sandwiches and the best pastries, including a huge pastry case that is filled with everything you could imagine, and its cheap!  After that, we headed down to the fashion district.  This was by far a place that everyone needs to go! It isn't very clean and it kind of reminded me of a swap meet, but it was so cool! It is miles and miles long of clothes, purses, shoes, accessories, and fabric.  We went on Friday and I got 7 shirts, all for $6 each! I will post a picture of them, they had a ton of cute ones and they were everywhere! I also got a cell phone case, some sunglasses and a backpack/purse.  Todd was able to find 2 new church/business suits, both for under $200! They are super nice and he is excited to wear them! We went back on Monday before we left and still weren't able to see the whole district, we didn't see any fabric at all because we got tired of walking.  We had such a fun time and I would recommend it to anyone! I will post a picture of all the things we bought as soon as I find my camera!  That night we went to Hollywood Blvd...which is where the Chinese Theater and El Capitan Theater are located.  We saw some of the stars handprints at the Chinese Theater and then the stars on the walk of Hollywood.  This is an interesting place to go because there are many different types of people.  The funny thing is that people dress up as famous people, such as Batman or Marilyn Monroe, and if you take a picture with them you have to pay them.  I guess you have to make a living somehow! We also got to go to the Guinness Hall of Records and the Hollywood Wax museum.  Both were cool but I don't know if I'd go again, it was kind of a one time thing! We ate at California Pizza Kitchen on a 2 story and were able to see all of Hollywood including the Capital Records building.  On Sunday we went to a ward in Studio City and were able to see Jon Heder, aka Napoleon Dynamites' twin brother! He is in the ward there and I was going to get a picture, but we were at church and we were sitting in front of him so it wouldn't of worked out.  What was funny though was that he was speaking that day! We couldn't stop laughing because he sounds exactly like his brother...its a little freaky actually.  After church we went down to Venice Beach...WOW...if you haven't been there, you want to go just to experience it!  There are so many different types of people, vendors, and places to eat.  It was fun just to see all the weird things people were selling and wearing.  Todd got to be part of a street act, he was in a group of about 7 people and some guy jumped over all of them! It was very cool to see.  That night we stayed inside and at midnight we tried to go to this famous hot dog place called Pinks.  We had tried to go there on Saturday but we got in line and someone said it was a 2 hour wait, just to get a hot dog, so we left.  So we thought on Sunday/Monday night at 12:30 it wouldn't be busy...NOPE! Still a 2 hour wait.  We'll have to try it some other time! Monday we went on a tour of Warner Brothers studios! Also a must see if you're in Hollywood! It was so cool and we were able to see a ton of sets from Friends, Gilmore Girls, Pushing Daisies, ER, and the original Bat Mobile! We went into sound stage 16, which is the worlds tallest sound stage, and it is HUGE! They have filmed tons of movies in it, including Goonies and the Perfect Storm because it houses water easily to film water scenes.  It was amazing to see all the sets and props they use.  We were also able to go to the WB museum, where we saw the costumes and props from the Dark Knight, Miss Congeniality, Willy Wonka, and a TON of Harry Potter.  It was a lot of fun and I would love to do it again! After that we headed to the fashion district again and then headed for home! We had such a fun weekend and packed in so much! I did borrow my mother-in-laws camera for the WB tour so I will post those as soon as I load them!

Swimming and Slip N Slides!

We have been doing a lot of swimming lately! On Monday, we went out to Janes house to see the family after they had been in Utah! We were able to swim for an hour or so and I was able to get some pictures with my camera before it started dying! Also, last night we babysat for Brigham and Tammy and did the Slip N Slide! It was so fun and the kids were so cute, but I am feeling the pain today from sliding on my stomach! I have some nice bruises to match as well! 

Birthday, California, and Movies

 

My Birthday Balloons from Todd

My birthday present from Todd, this is the front and then it opens to a full keyboard, like in the picture below.

So, we had my birthday dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in our own room.  All of the sudden it starts POURING rain, and then the roof starts to leak.  There was so much water coming down, mind you this is on the INSIDE! Also, we went to look out the window and the window was leaking also! Most of the little kids were soaked, but they didn't mind one bit! This picture shows all the buckets they used to hold the water.

All the nieces and nephews posing for a picture, they were all looking out the leaky window.  They also got their own "kids table" which they thought was awesome, but I didn't get a good picture of it.

Shamu! We went to San Diego with Todd's family the day after my birthday.  We went to Sea World at night for about an hour to see the Shamu show and we got to see the whales before the show.  This little (HA) guy was just bobbing in the water for about 10 minutes, he just would stay in this position, and poke his head up every once in awhile.  It was cool!

We had a birthday dinner for me with Todd's family down in San Diego at Tony Roma's.  It was very yummy but I ate too many appetizers and could barely touch any of my dinner.  Afterwards we walked back to our hotel and Kellene and I were attempting to get a jumping picture and this was the best we could do.

  We have been seeing SUCH great movies lately! We went and saw "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and it was AMAZING! If you go see it, make sure you see it in 3D! We took Brigham's girls overnight for a sleepover and then took them to see it, we had a lot of fun! Also, we decided to see "The Dark Knight".  It was AMAZING.  It was such a good movie, and so unpredictable.  I would totally recommend seeing it! And there is some violence, but no bad language or anything like that.  We loved it and are still talking about how great it was! 

Thats it for now! Sorry it took me so long to post! Oh and last night, I go into the bathroom and find a HUGE scorpion, probably the size of my index finger including his tail trying to climb up our wall! Todd got some hairspray and a match and burned him, only because he is a pyro.  Needless to say I am still freaked out and don't want to walk around my house! AND...we have to move out this week so I am freaked out about packing boxes because knowing my luck I will find another one while packing up all my junk! Goodness!

Hellllo!

Sorry, long time no posts! I need to get better at this and not get so behind! Anyways, I am sad to admit that we just got back from California and I have no pictures to show for it! We spent the day at the beach on the 4th and I didn't want my camera to get all sandy so I didn't take it with me, and then we went back to the beach to watch fireworks and I didn't bring it then either! But, we are going to San Diego this weekend so hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of that!! I hope everyone had a fun 4th of July!! Also, thanks to Mom, Dad, Sam and Janae for hosting Bella's party, Todd and I had a lot of fun, but it is really hard not to have fun with all of our family!! I will post more throughout the week and when we get back from Cali, I just wanted to update everyone quick! P.S. My birthday is in 3 days!! Todd is very excited because I will no longer be a teenager!!

Photo Booth and Sleepovers...

So, the other night Todd and I were playing around with PhotoBooth on my Mac and these pictures are the outcome of our crazyness.  We took a lot but these have to be some of our favorites.  I love my Mac! It is so fun and it has such cool features, thanks again, Todd!! Last night after softball we took Brooke, Brig and Chase back to our apartment for a sleepover before they head to Utah.  We are sure going to miss them!! I usually see them twice a week because I watch them for Jane, so its going to be different not seeing them, but hopefully time will fllllly by!! On the way home, we stopped at Circle K (its a tradition) for Icees.  I wanted to try this new kind of Mountain Dew, so I bought one and the kids all got huge Icees.  We were in the car driving away and Todd tried my Mountain Dew and said that it tasted like gushers.  Brig wanted to try it but we told him no because it had caffeine, and then Chase pipes up in the back, while drinking his Icee, "Well, its not like these are any better than drinking that!" It was so funny. They have been watching movies and playing on the Wii,which is good for us because they can unlock all the games so Todd and I can play them.  Their favorites have been the two games below.  More later, have a great weekend everyone!!



           This one is definitely our favorite!!