Christmas greetings from Arizona!

Since we were not able to make it to Arizona this Thanksgiving, and we wanted to spend time with Brody's parents before the holidays flew by, we took a little road trip out there this past weekend to see them! It was so much fun and we are so glad we were able to go!

On Saturday after we all took a very successful shopping trip, Brody and I went to the near by Golf course and were able to get in 12 holes starting at about 3pm! Well Brody played 12, and I snuck in 3 (since we didn't pay for me that's all I did), It was my first time hitting on a course and I LOVED it! It was so much fun!---but I didn't give up the other thing I love to do on the course....take lot's of photos! Golf courses are so beautiful, and I just love taking fun shots! (Bare with me, this post has a lot of photos)

Rainbows, the official footwear of golf! =)

On the last hole Brody hit it so hard it got stuck in the grass on the side of this little hill right behind the flag.

The nice dent it made!

The Mesa Temple---We set the timer. I think it worked pretty well! We set it on one of the walkway lights =)

After we walked the grounds we spent some time in the visitors center and they had this neat display of Nativity sets from all around the world....they must have had over 30 of them.

(London, England)

Sunday night after dinner we did a little early Christmas---and we were (totally) surprised with a Wii Fit! Brody had already gotten a nice new suit and I got pampered with Bobbi Brown make-up, so it was such a fun surprise to open this up!---And we have already played with it! It was so much fun!! .....Thank you again!! =)

....We also go to be there when the Slot Cars were opened! =)

After we opened presents we went to the Mesa Temple to look at all the Christmas lights!
It was like Temple Square in Salt Lake...there were lights everywhere! It was so pretty!




We all stepped into the visitors center....to....I think get warm (But maybe since I was cold, that's why I was excited to go in) =) And while we were in there, we saw a Sister missionary struggling to speak with a small group of men who only spoke Spanish (well VERY broken English). Brody offered to help her out, and she was so happy to have the help! They all ended up talking for several minutes, and I just loved it! Hearing him speak Spanish to them, it gave me a little glimpse of what his mission was like! One of them was a member and the other two were investigators, and very enthusiastic about it too! It was so fun! They did a lot of laughing...but somehow I did not capture those moments....=)

This morning before we left, we got to set up the slot cars! =)

The cars went so fast, they are a blur! =)

This street on the drive....some where in AZ, 'Sore Finger' always makes us laugh...

It was such a fun trip & a great way to kick of the Christmas week! Thank you again for everything, we love you! =)

With Christmas this week (it snuck up SO fast), we hope everyone has a fun and safe Christmas!! =)....Merry Christmas!!

F.r.i.e.n.d.s

This past Thursday us girls had the rare opportunity to get together for lunch! With Malia living in Hawaii, we were so excited to finally spend time together! I love these girls! I love that we have been best friends since we were in the single digits and now we are slowly creeping up on 30 (I still can't believe that!), married and starting our families!! We have been through elementary, high school, Girls Camps, Youth Conferences, countless dances, so much boy stuff, driving, weddings and so much more together! We have had some priceless-ly fun times (I'm sure that phrase makes sense) =) I could not have asked for better friends to grow up with, and I am so grateful that we have remained close for all these years! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for all of us, and all the fun memories we will continue to make! =)
We had an interesting time (Full of laughing so hard it was hard to take a photo at times) trying to take photos of ourselves, and since Malia is now such a pro she did a little photo shoot with Camille and I...and then Brody and I. If she posts them on her Photography blog I will post a link to them! =)
Love you girls! Thank you for a fun day!

Also, That night Brody and I went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner, and got to watch some of the boat parade! It was so much fun, and such a great way to watch it! =)

Celebrate the small things

Yesterday was Brody's last day of the semester....and we decided to celebrate!

I surprised him with 'Congratulations brownies'

And where do we go to celebrate?.....Disneyland of course! =)

We got to see the new firework show "Believe in Holiday Magic", and to our surprise we finally got to see it "snow"! Every year we miss it (we are normally are on rides while everyone else is watching the show)---and we were sure we missed it last night too---but after the show it was a blizzard back by Small World! We loved it!!

The snow, with "It's a small world" behind it

Here is a little video of the Christmas firework show!

It was a fun night---we will take any chance to go to Disneyland this time of year! And we are all so proud of Brody's hard work! =)

A little of this & a little of that....

Brody is a busy guy, and this weekend I just happen to catch some of those moments with my camera. With all he does at school and work, I love that he get to play soccer every Sat (sometimes with the guys from the ward and his league). Now with school ending for the semester, the goal is to work in some golf before things get busy again! =)

This week his team won their game, something crazy like 18 to 3! They ended up taking 3rd in the league. Which is really good! They had such a great team this time around! We still think they could have gotten first if the whole team was able to be there last week---they went into the finals the best team in the league! It is so fun to watch them play!

My parents asked him if he could go up on the roof to put up the Christmas lights...and of course climbing around on the roof sounded pretty fun to him.

After he was done with the lights, he decided that while he was up there he would clean all the leaves off the roof as well (you know how they can pile up)! When our neighbor came home, he even offered to sweep their roof too! =)

And to finish it all off....he took a flying leap off the roof....twice! He had a lot of fun up on that roof! =)

Sunday after church he will usually cook up something good for lunch, and this week he out did himself! We had some pork chops that he rapped in bacon, seasoned with some BBQ sauce! It was so good! It was like something from a restaurant! If you like chops, you should diffidently try them with some bacon wrapped around them and your favorite sauce! MMmmmm MMmmm! =)

This weekend we also saw Disney's 'Bolt'! It was such a cute movie!! It makes you laugh and cry---it's has everything you want in a movie! The hamster is such a funny little guy--and it just makes you wish you could take little Bolt home with you! If you haven't seen it yet, you should (or at the very lest, rent it, or see it at the dollar theater)! =)

Justin bobby cracked me up tonight on 'The Hills'---always looking to help, he suggests that Stephanie should post some missing-person fliers around town to help find Spencer and Heidi, when they secretly ran off to Mexico and no one knew where they were ----Just another priceless moment brought to us by Justin Bobby! (I wish I had a clip of it)

Also, I get to see this girl this week!!!! I never get to see her (with her living in Hawaii and all), so it is pretty exciting when we get to spend some quality time together! =)

Happy 4 years!! ♥

Yesterday was our 4 year anniversary! I can't believe how fast the time has gone---it feels just like yesterday....well maybe not yesterday, but last year maybe....time goes fast! =) We just love having our anniversary around Christmas, it is already such a romantic time of year with all the beautiful lights, music and cozy weather! It is our favorite time of year and we love that on top of all that we get to celebrate our anniversary as well!

Last night we had a such nice dinner at Pomodoro , where I branched out from my usual Fettuccine Alfredo, and tired the Tortellini Soup--it was SO good! I highly recommend it! After dinner we grabbed some hot chocolates and headed to a neighborhood in Fountain Valley that goes all out every year decorating their houses to the max for Christmas! We ended up calling it 'Christmas Lane'. It was so much fun to explore the streets and walk around looking at all the fun displays, some house's even have music playing (it is also amusing to see how many people pile into this neighborhood to see the houses)! =) If you would like to check it out as well, you can type into your GPS or Map Quest the corner of 'Heil' and 'Sycamore' in Fountain Valley, and turn right on 'Sycamore' into the neighborhood. It's simple fun, which we really enjoy! =)

I came home from work to these--2 dozen long steamed roses! They smell amazing! I LOVE flowers! Brody laughs at me becuause when ever I get flowers I usually take them with me into another room, if I know I am going to be there for awhile =) I told Brody awhile back that for my Birthday, Valintines Day and Anniversarys all I want are flowers!

Here are just a few photos of the neighborhood: (it was a bit toned down this year, then I remembered it from years ago--we thought that some people didn't want that big electric bill this year with things the way they are.....) This tree was blinking and flashing! We liked this drive way covering =) It was all LED's

I loved the little puppies all tangled up in the lights
Us looking at the lights---Brody took this, and I thought it came out really cool! =)


It has been such a wonderful and fun 4 years....and we are looking forward to many many more great years ahead! ♥

It's beginning to look (and feel) like Christmas!

I have been decorating like a little elf the past two nights, and still have ideas on how to fill the apartment with Christmas cheer! We are not getting a tree this year...it is just not something we were super excited to do this year! But that didn't stop the decorations and villages from coming out! =) I can't even tell you how much I love our little apartment---it is just so warm, cozy & homey (we love it), and around the holidays it seems to glow and more cozy! =) Here are a few of our favorite decorations.

I set up our village from Dep.56, our stockings (with gifts) and this year I put our wreath on our coat closet door, so we can enjoy it more!

Garland, lights and ornaments over our sliding glass door.

Here is part of our 'Charlie Brown village' (sorry Charlie Brown was cut out) =)---and our room with lights and ornaments! It is so fun to decorate!

Also, it has been pretty cold lately---I heard it is supposed to warm up for a bit, but I hope the warm up does not last long! It has been cold enough that we are in sweatshirts around the apartment, using more blankets and it just might be time to get out the cozy flannel sheets. It was nice & cold tonight and Brody came home with peppermint hot chocolate....mmmmmm....I ♥ this time of year!

Viva Las Vegas!

Yesterday the guys had to go to Las Vegas for a Juno (a lighting line they rep) meeting at the Rio Hotel, and my Mom and I decided it would be fun to come along and explore the city while they were in the meeting. We are not big fans of Las Vegas, personally it is just not our scene or any where we would vacation---but it sounded fun to check it out for an afternoon. We started our road trip at about 5:30am and got to Las Vegas at about 9:20am, just in time for the guys to find out where they were supposed to meet in the hotel. Then my Mom and I headed out to explore the city! (you can click on the red text for more info!)

Our first stop was the Mandalay Bay Hotel to check out their Aquarium and Shark exhibit. It was such a beautiful hotel---those La Vegas hotels are pretty amazing. It was a really cool Aquarium (I love them, it is so fun & peaceful), with different themed rooms---you go though a palace, a jungle and a sunken ship!

The photo to the right is of a group of Piranhas. The water was a bit murky so it's really hard to see---I think that was the first time I have seen them at an aquarium! This was the sunken ship room! It had large sharks, fish and sea turtles swimming around and it looked like you were walking around in the hull of a broken up pirate ship. They even pipped in sounds of the ocean and a creaking moving boat. it was so cool! Also you could see through large parts of the floor and to the right you can see my feet and a shark underneath (I had to use the flash because it was so dark) This I think was our favorite room!
After the Aquarium we hit the streets and explored "the strip" by car. We came across the cool retro sign welcoming you to Las Vages......aaaannndddd we came across the "A little white Chapel", where the likes of Britney Spears &...I can't remember who she married....and Bruce Willis & Demi Moore (and more) where married. It was also featured in our favorite TV show F.R.I.E.N.D.S!
(The Stratosphere and the New York, New York hotel) We also drove by the court house that O.J Simpson was sentenced today!
We also drove by the Las Vegas Temple! While it was amusing and fun to explore "the strip" in Las Vegas it was such a nice peaceful change to drive by the temple, up against the beautiful mountains! =) We ended by trying to find where in the hotel the guys had there meeting. Once they were done, we all got back in the car and headed home! It was such a fun day & it was really fun to see more of Las Vegas! I am so glad we tagged along with Dad and Brody! =)