Recent Events

Sooo...what's been going on with us, you ask? Well, we've done quite a bit of things!

This summer we took a week and a half trip to Alaska with 1 week of it being on a cruise! It was so awesome and loads of fun...many pictures to come of it!

After we got back, we had 2 days to catch up on our work and we were off to California for a beach trip. I mean, after Alaska, we had to do an opposite trip, right? We went to Dan, Danielle, the girls, Darren, Steph, and their boys. It was a lot of fun....pictures to come of that too.

Before school started, I got all 4 of my wisdom teeth out. I was super sore for a week and am still a little sore now...being like, 3 weeks later. But at least it's done!

Our computer crashed...it really sucked. That is why the pictures are to come because, luckily I still kept all our recent pics on the camera, I just need to upload them again. Basically the only stuff we really lost was all our music/books on iTunes, and all our pictures. The pictures are online on our Flickr site, but it's going to take a ton of time getting them off!!! Note: if you know a quick way to do it, that would be GREAT!

School started. I'm taking 14 credits, which isn't too bad, but they are all finance classes, so that's fun. I plan on graduating in May 2010, and I'm super stoked! It's exciting. Dave's still not sure what the heck he's doing with school...

And finally.....WE ARE 90% SURE WE'RE GETTING A HOUSE!!! We are supposed to be signing loan papers and closing papers this week and then we'll have it...if all goes according to plan. We are super excited and already have a ton of things planned for it! Again...pictures of the house are to come. We have some "before" pics of what we'll be doing and then we'll take some "after" pics so you can comment.

So, that's a short update. When I have more time, I'll put some pics up! Love ya!

Dave's many faces and St. George

So, Dave wanted to experiment lately to see what his facial hair was capable of....

He first decided to try a mustache...we think he looked like either a used car salesman...or a pedofile...

 

 Dan decided to get in on the excitement and shave his facial hair into handlebars... and Damon joined in on the "manly" picture.

  

 

  

 A few weeks later, Dave decided he wanted a neck beard, like Brigham Young. I don't think it suited him well. At least I didn't have to go into public with this look like I had to with the mustache!!!

  

 

  

Dave's mission buddy, Johnny Shaw, and his wife, Angela, were visiting family in St. George (they actually live in Salt Lake), so we decided to make the short 2-hour drive up there. On the way up, driving through "the gorge", it started raining SO HARD that we could barely see!! It didn't last for very long, but it was a bit scary to drive in! People were pulling over until it passed!

While in St. George we got to see the outside of the temple there. It was so pretty. We went to the visitor's center and also stopped by to see where Brigham Young's winter house was.

  

Do you see me on the steps??

  

 Dave's friend, Johnny, and his wife, Angela. We went to a hibachi house where they cook the food in front of you at a grill on the table. So fun!

  

 

  

California

So Me and Dave, Steph and Darren and their 3 boys, and Dan and Danielle and their 2 girls all went to Los Angeles, California for the weekend. We had a really fun time just basically hanging out and going to the beach everyday! We did make a stop at Downtown Disney, as well, and had a fun time looking around there!

When we first got there, we went to California Pizza Kitchen to eat. Ali and Aubrey were posing great for us!

 

 

  

Before leaving, Dave had to get a pic of me on the CPK delivery bike.

  

 While at Downtown Disney, we stopped at the Lego store there. Dan and Dave, of course, had to pose with the Darth Vader.

  

  

  

 This is a classic "Dave" moment. While browsing through the stores, Dave decided to try on Snow White's outfit and wig. Doesn't he just look adorable?

  

 While at the beach, Cameron, Cole, and Caden all wanted Dave and Dan to bury them and form it into something. I don't have a picture of Cameron...I forget what he was. Cole wanted to be a buff man and Caden wanted to be an octopus. So, their wish was granted...

  

 

  

 

  

 The boys all surprised us with these bike/cart thingys. We had 2 of them and got to ride around the streets on them. It was lots of fun!

  

 On the last day, Darren decided he wanted to start digging a HUGE hole in the sand. He was just digging. Then Dave and him decided it would be cool to dig a tunnel. It turned out to be really awesome! They were able to get all 3 boys through a couple of times. Even Dave and Darren crawled through!

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

  

 Well, the tunnel eventually collapsed...so sad. So we then decided to bury Cameron, Steph, Caden, Darren, and Cole. It was pretty funny. They actually ended up using this picture for their Christmas cards, adding Santa hats and saying, "We've been buried up to our necks this year". Funny stuff.

  

 We had a fun time in Cali. We try to go every summer! This next summer we are going to try to rent out a camping spot that's just a walk away from the beach! It would definitely change things up!

Ship Moments and Anchorage, Alaska

Ship Moments
We had a lot of fun memories from being on the ship! Here are a few for ya!

On the last day, we had a dessert called Baked Alaska. It was really good! I forget why the waiter brought out a FREAKING TON of it later, but he did, and so we got some pictures trying to get Dave to eat it! Dave wonders why he's always in pictures trying to eat enormous foods (we do have quite a bit of pictures with him like that!)

 

 

On one formal night, Dave and I dressed up, and we matched! We didn't intentionally do it, but we did look so great together when we realized!

 

 One awesome part of the ship was the FREE ice cream! Here we are enjoying it with my niece, Natalie, and my nephew, Zack.

 

Kyle is a little cutie. He loved my hat and kept trying to get it!

 

On a couple of occasions, there were kareoke nights on the ship. Cheri, Heather, and Jenny sang on the first night, and Laura and me sang on the other night. It was funny when I sang because the theme was "love songs". If you know me, you know I like to make things interesting, so I decided to change up the mood (there was too much slow songs and not enough action). I sang a Dixie Chicks song, "Goodbye Earl". If you haven't heard it, I recommend listening to it. It's a pretty silly song to sing, especially on love song night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The ship had a mini putt-putt course that we decided to try out. It was fun! We didn't do too bad! It was difficult with the strong wind blowing our balls off-course, though!

 

 

Dave and I brought our "Settler of Catan" game to play. Heather and Todd (pictured) introduced us to the game, and we've since introduced it to others. It's a great game!

 

Another formal night...

 

 

 

 All the sisters together! I love getting together with my family!

  

 Anchorage

Anchorage was an awesome place to see! We got to see a bit before Dave and I headed back to Las Vegas. We did miss out on the rest of the family then going to North Pole, Alaska, where my sister lives, but we cherish the memories we made when we were together!

At the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where they show you the different tribes that lived, and some still live, in the area. They had these huge whale rib bones in the ground, too! Crazy.

Walking around Anchorage, we took pictures at a picture spot after eating lunch at a fish place behind it!

I think this was one of the last meals we all had together. Then we all started going our separate ways = (

 

 We found a glacier that we were able to hike to! It is called Byron's Glacier, and it was an awesome site to see! The hike was a nice one, and the end result was amazing, as you can see from the pictures. The glacier is at the very back of the picture with the blue. The melted water from it ran down into a river (which the water was FREEZING cold!). You can see the tunnel the water carved out of the snow to pass through it. All the boys hiked over to it and later, Heather, Jenny, and I decided we wanted to see it! It was so massive!

In this first picture, Jenny is about to cross part of the water-strewn path. We were hopping along rocks the whole way to get back and forth, it was pretty difficult at times. Well, I believe, right after this picture was taken, Jenny was crossing to Dave and lost her footing and stepped in the water (only ankle deep, if that). Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but this is ICE COLD MELTED GLACIER WATER! Jenny said her foot felt a bit numb, but she just trucked on! haha. It was pretty funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I know someone took a picture of all the sisters...whoever did, I couldn't find the picture anywhere, so please email me it!!!)

In this next picture, we stopped along a lookout-type point to try to see a different glacier, but it was too foggy to see it. It was also sooo freezing cold and windy that we only stayed outside long enough to take the picture and then ran back in the car! Gracie, the little one without a coat, is obviously more used to the Alaska weather from living up in North Pole!

Another stop we made was to an Alaskan wildlife conservation center. They had wolves, deer, moose, bears, caribou, and reindeer (which are just domesticated caribou!). The animals had huge spaces to roam, some of them having a few acres to do so! It was cool when we got to see them up close though!

 

 

 

Our Alaska trip was so amazing and such a blast! Thanks mom and dad for planning everything and for making it all happen! We love you so much! I love being able to spend time with my family! Thanks for all the great memories everyone!!!