My Happy Birthday

This birthday was great! My parents are always really great at spoiling me on my birthdays and Sean does an amazing job spoiling me more. While in Utah, I played my parent's piano a little and realized how much I miss playing. I realized even more how much I have regressed. I haven't taken lessons since middle school, but I still played here and there as long as there was a piano around. I mentioned to Sean that I would like a keyboard for my birthday so that I could practice a little. Guitar Hero has done a great job filling the music void in my life and Guitar Hero is a fun game to play, but it doesn't really advance my music skills. Sean, of course, went out and got me a super nice keyboard! It's so nice that I have a hard time calling it a keyboard. The keys are weighted and have hammer action, so that it feels like you are playing a real piano. It also has a full 88 keys and a pedal. It has many features that are perfect for our lifestyle. It fits in our apartment, I can plug headphones in during Brandon's nap, it's not very heavy so we can move it easily with us, and it will never need to be tuned. I am extremely thrilled with it. I have also gone through my mother-in-law's music collection, so along with the sonata books I took from my Mom, I have plenty of music to play.
For my birthday, we went to dinner with our friends Ethan and Susie. We went to a Japanese grill. The chef was pretty good at entertaining us and Brandon loved when he flipped the eggs around and broke them. After dinner, we went bowling.Brandon was excited and felt prepared as he has played bowling on the Nintendo Wii a few times. Brandon soon realized it's a bit harder in real life. He got quite frustrated at first, especially because the racks do not shoot the ball very straight. Soon he understood that we all were quite terrible, and just had fun with it. Susie actually broke triple digits and outscored us all by a large margin. I did come in second and Susie and I were proud to beat the boys. They usually beat us when we play movie trivia games, so we not shy about rubbing it in.
Check out how far over the rack is from the center of the lane. It took some practice, but Sean was able to get the aim fairly accurate. Brandon did get a couple of spares! Thanks for a wonderful day!

Snow Days

We arrived in Utah late New Year's Day. We slept in a little after a fun day snowboarding in Flagstaff with Sean's co-workers and celebrating New Year's Eve with family. On our drive, we had a delay in central Utah. We ran over a small rock which got kicked up underneath our car, making a loud noise. Sean pulled off to the side of the road to see if there was any visible damage. After an inspection, we pulled onto some unpacked snow on the Uinta Flats to turn around. We sank to the bottom of the snow, placing our tires to the ground and the car frame on the snow. We tried to drive out (certainly all wheel drive could handle this!), which just put us down in the snow farther. We then got our snowboards out and tried to dig our car out. Realizing the task was almost impossible, we called the police for help. Before they arrived, a young man in a large red truck drove by and we flagged him down. He had a dog chain that we hooked to our frame and he pulled us out. We were so grateful!
The next day, Brandon was anxious to get out in the snow. Amanda, Lizzie, and Grace made a snowman a couple days before, so they just went out and played in the snow. Brandon loves having cousins here to play with all day. He especially loves their sense of humor. They find the same things funny that he does!
On Thursday, we went snowboarding at Brighton. The conditions were pretty decent, and amazing compared to Snowbowl in Flagstaff. I was happy to ride a quad and have a long run to make the ride up the mountain worth it. Will was our riding buddy and kept the day humorous. It was great to have a wonderful lunch in the lodge to make the day relaxing and casual. We're happy to be in Utah and looking forward to some more snow days in the upcoming week!

Christmas is in the Air!!

We went to see Santa at the mall this week and Brandon was elated! He practiced what he was going to say to him and was able to communicate effectively his desire for a cat! He was a little nervous (as you can tell in the photo), but he was very brave. He was extremely confused when we left empty handed. He apparently thought he was supposed to get his cat right then and there!
We went to the Phoenix Zoo for family night to see the "Zoo Lights". We went with Sean's mom and Sean's sister and her family. Brandon had cute cousins to play with and Sean and I had good company as well. It was a blast! There was so much to see and fun Christmas music playing the whole way through. One of the first things to see is this large tree completely covered in blue lights. It was truly a spectacle! Look for Brandon standing on the rock in front of the tree.


Brandon has always loved alligators and enjoyed the lighted alligators, too!



This photo below does not do the spiders any justice. They were so cool!! They had the large spiders up in the trees and one spider is about to eat a bug stuck in the web. I really thought of Lizzie and how much she would have enjoyed this little scene.



This rattle snake's tail changed to make it seem like it was rattling.


Some animals were still awake when we were wondering around. I guess this Zebra got used to his peace after dark, so he was snacking right next to the viewer area. He immediately ran off after the flash went off right in his face. Sorry, Zebra!


This is a video of the light show on the bridge. The lights corresponded to the song and was really fun for everyone. We will definitely be back to "Zoo Lights" next year. It was an impressive display.

Temple Lights

Tonight, we went to the Mesa temple to look at the lights. It was great to hear an A Capella group while gazing at the palm trees decorated in brilliant lights of all colors. Brandon's favorite was a light fountain that looked like water was actually coming down. Brandon saw it and excitedly asked, "Mommy, can I jump in it?" He's such an adventurous kid. He loved the lights, but was not pleased by the string of lights creating restrictions on where he could go. He asked if we could "open the gate" and go touch the lights. He was a bit disappointed in my answer.
My favorite was the display of lights floating on the pond in front of the Visitor's Center. It was really beautiful. I am still partial to the lights at the Salt Lake Temple, but at least my toes and ears weren't freezing! After the lights we went back to Sean's mom's house for hot chocolate and muffins. It was a great way to end the night.

Arizona Winter

I'm really getting used to the Arizona winter weather. I don't miss scraping off my windows, having to wear shoes and socks daily, or getting the bottom of my pants wet from dragging in the snow. I'm finally adjusting and able to get into the spirit of Christmas, even though it's not snowing. I think I like the warm winters! It is nice, however, to visit the snow.
Sean is starting to get really busy at work and I'm preparing to take my finals next week. This has definitely not been my best semester. It has been one of the easiest and I guess I got lazy. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks when my grades post.

Here are a couple of photos we took the other night, including a shot that Brandon took. He loves all of the Christmas decorations around, especially the lights. It's so great to get into Christmas with him; it makes the commercial aspect of the holiday more fun. Oh, and here's our elf dance!!!

http://elfyourself.com/?id=1187541279

Look out, Brighton!

My brand new snowboard is finally here! It is a super nice, state of the art board. It has something called magnetraction. It's a new design in the shape of the board that provides more control and ability to carve through rough conditions. I also have brand new Burton bindings that are a new design with a strap over the toe of the boot instead of over the laces. Along with my new dual boa boots that Sean got me last year, I have an entirely new setup! It's all top of the line stuff and the best part is, we didn't pay a single penny out of our pockets to get it.

Sean and I ordered our boards at the same time, but Sean got his board a few weeks ago. My board took longer because it was so new that they hadn't even made them yet.


I put my boots on and strapped in last night. I know it sounds crazy, but I was amazed at the difference! The technology has changed so much since I got my equipment years ago. We're really looking forward to our annual January Utah trip. We're also excited because Brandon is old enough to go with us this year!
All of you season pass holders and Utah residents, get your equipment ready!

Happy Halloween!

Brandon chose his costume very carefully this year. We looked online for a couple of weeks and after wanting to be a police officer and pirate, he finally settled on being a "bone dude". That's what he called the skeleton costume we found. He was really excited about putting on his costume and to get the face paint on. That is, until he saw himself in the mirror. He was really upset and said he didn't like the the face paint. I asked him if he wanted me to take it off, and he said no. He told me he was sad because no one would know who he was. I assured him that people would know. He remained a bit embarrassed about it all until we got to the church and he saw other kids in costumes. Apparently I never communicated to him that everyone dresses up for Halloween! We went to Sean's sister's trunk-or-treat (our old ward) on Saturday and our own ward's trunk-or-treat last night. He was much more laid back about the second one. Brandon loved the carnival at our ward's trunk-or-treat and didn't want to stop playing the bean bag toss to get candy. He would take his three throws and then quickly get back in line to take another turn. He has quite the little throwing arm and even knocked the clown face down once. He definitely impressed all the dads around.

He really started getting into his character and scaring everyone in sight. He's such a fun kid! We're already starting the countdown until next Halloween. I hope next Halloween I'll see some pictures of Bree and Audrey in costumes! I'm glad everyone had a great holiday!!