Thanksgiving

Greg and I had the chance to head up to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving. We loved every minute of it and wish we could always be close to our family.

We took family pictures

Prepared delicious turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Ate until we were stuffed

Played with tons of cute kids, Thomas was just one of many

Went shopping on black Friday

Put up Christmas trees

Took fun pictures

Spent time doing Christmas crafts, hung out with some of our favorite people, watched the U of U versus BYU football game and saw BYU kick butt, played games, etc.... we loved it and didn't want to leave.

Samoyed Puppy

I want this puppy so bad. Isn't it the cutest thing ever! Lori who I visit teach has one of these dogs and I love it. It is just like a huge teddy bear. I love dogs and have always wanted one, but this one melts my heart the most. Its just like a big ball of fluff that I could constantly cuddle with. I love it. They are suppose to be really good with kids and very loyal....sounds perfect doesn't it? Greh-eg :) its a perfect Christmas present.

Bucket List

Lately alot of my friends have been making bucket lists so I wanted to join the crowd and do one as well :) Mine kind of turned into a goal list, but here it is.... they aren't in any kind of order...
1. Go Skydiving 2. Learn how to sew and actually make things 3. Become a better cook and try 100 new recipes 4. Make a loaf of a bread from scratch 5. Ride a gondola in Venice, Italy 6. See the Sistine Chapel 7. Become a mother 8. Become a grandmother 9. Hike the Narrows in two days 10. Host Thanksgiving Dinner 11. Ride an Elephant 12. Obtain a year supply of food 13. Spend more time to get to know my In Laws better 14. Receive my Bachelors Degree in Speech Therapy 15. See the Eiffel Tower 16. Work on my Genealogy 17. Serve a mission with Mr. Conover 18. Send my sons on Missions 19. Spoil my nieces and nephews 20. Swim with dolphins...again :) 21. Grow a garden 22. Stay physically fit 23. Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary 24. Travel to Jerusalem 25. Go on a walk in Central Park holding Greg's hand 26. Serve in Zambia, Africa 27. Visit all 7 continents 28. Become a Photographer 29. Develop a new talent every year 30. Go on a service vacation 31. Receive my Masters 32. Work in the temple 33. See the Egyptian Pyramids 34. Go rock climbing 35. Start a College fund for our children 36. Tell Greg I love him everyday and show it. 37. Complete a half Iron Man 38. Take dance lessons with Greg 39. Stay out of debt (only for a house) 40. Pay off our student loans 41. Attend all my children's sealings 42. Teach Greg how to Snowboard 43. Learn to speak Spanish 44. Own a beach house 45. Make a quilt 46. Keep in touch with all our friends and family 47. Never talk bad about people or gossip 48. Stick up for my friends 49. Make my own Christmas cards every year 50. Learn how to ride a motorcycle 51. Make a book of our pictures every year 52. Go on a cruise 53. Have family home evening every week 54. Never suppress a generous thought 55. Share the Gospel with all my friends 56. Attend the temple once a month 57. Share my testimony of the Gospel often 58. Do more crafts 59. See the Broadway show Wicked 60. Sleep under the stars 61. Go on a date with Greg once a week 62. Own a Samoyed puppy 63. Take Greg back to see my old stomping grounds in Alaska 64. Own a House

The Next Step

My Asu experince is almost over. One more assignement, five more days of class and two A's accomplished, (cross your fingers the final goes well). It has gone by so fast. I have loved it. It was fun to experience a different school and to realize there are amazing people everywhere. I have made a few good friends and I'm so glad I did. Nothing can compare to my school buddies in Provo though, but they were good substitutes :). Miss you Janna and Mal!!

After ASU gets out I plan on signing up for two online classes, the ones I have been dreading to take, Biology and English and I'll be done!!! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. To be honest though I'll probably still work with my uncle and not do anything with my degree, but at least I got it. Its is my backup and one day I'll get my masters or PHD, but for now I think the next step is thinking about kids, saving up money, spending more time with my hubby, traveling the world and pursuing my dreams.

Marjorie Hinckley

Today I feel like I have really had my eyes opened up. This week I have felt very neglected by my loving husband. He has just been getting home late from work, going to scouts, having home teaching appointments, working out, going camping with the scouts. Of course I know if he could have, he would have spent every minute with me , but I wasn't thinking this at the time. I remember thinking in college sometimes that I would love to be single and just live in New York and have an awesome career all my life, but during this week I realized that I could have never lived that life. I love having someone to come home to and the excitement of one day having kids.
Greg and I went to stake conference today and one of the ladies talks really hit me. It was about supporting the priesthood and our husbands. I felt like it was totally geared towards me and how this week I really needed to stop being so selfish. Looking back on this week I should have been more understanding and grateful that Greg is so diligent in fulfilling his calling and that he is such a hard worker. I should have been more grateful for the time we did have because I know there are tons more women out there who see their husbands less than me.
I started thinking about Marjorie Hinckley, about all the things that I have read about her. She was such an AMAZING women. She truly is a great example to me of honoring and supporting the priesthood, of being an amazing mother, being patient and christlike. I hope to be even a tiny bit like her....and as cute :)

The Phantom

Thursday we finally saw the Phantom of the Opera with our great friends Tim and Mallory (Mal Pal). We had an awesome time. We even saw santa ..... :) I was so tempted to go sit on his lap and tell him what to bring me, but Greg wouldn't let me :) I probably could have gotten a better picture too. I was lucky to even get this one, the usher started walking towards me to tell me to put it away, hehe.

The play was amazing and we had great seats. Afterwards we went out to eat and caught up it was tons of fun. We sure are going to miss you guys!

Symbol of Love

Today I ran an errand to the bank and the teller complimented me on my wedding ring...it made me smile :) I started remembering how excited I was to get it. I would always shine it in the sun light so I could watch it sparkle and now there our days where I forget it is even on. I just wanted to say thanks babe for my gorgeous ring, for marrying me and making me so happy, for putting up with me, for working so hard, for bringing the spirit into our home, for making my dreams come true, I LOVE YOU!!

Weekend in Paradise

We finally went on a much needed vacation/anniversary celebration. Just the two us :) We took a couple days off work and flew to Kauai, Hawaii for a long weekend. It was PERFECT!! It was so nice to get away and just relax. Once we got home life sped back up and that is why I'm just now posting about our trip (sorry). Here are our beautiful pictures.....

ALOHA!

I'm about to fly over the ocean for the first time in my LIFE....but not the last.

Flying over the big island

Arriving to one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Wailua Falls

Kipu falls was our FAVORITE place. We had so much fun here, cliff jumping and rope swinging. It was kind of a hidden little local spot.

Greg rope swinging, I love this video :) He is so cute.

Kayaking on Wailua River, you are doing such a good job paddling sweetie keep it up ;)

Here is the river from a lookout point

The hike to Secret Falls....so muddy.

Secret Falls

That water was FREEZING!

After our kayaking trip we headed to the west coast for some AMAZING shaved ice. I crave it all the time now.

Queens Bath, my second favorite location

Waimea Canyon..." The Grand Canyon of the Pacific"

Kalalau Valley... the largest valley on Na Pali Coast. Na Pali Coast beaches are only reachable by boat or an 11 mile hike. We wanted so bad to go, but not enough time....next time :)

On our last day we went to the North shore and went snorkeling at Tunnels beach, we saw a seal :), no turtles :( and lots of fish and we played in the ocean (pictures are on our water camera). Afterwards we headed to Anini beach and ended up getting stuck there because the powerlines fell in the middle of the road...

A couple invited us into their beach house while we were waiting to get through the road. It was so pretty. The side of the house facing the beach was all glass! Hawaii was amazing I couldn't have asked for more and to be able to spend time with my hubby just made it even more amazing.

the end

Shailey's Baptism

My cousin SHAILEY got baptized on October 10, 2009. We are so proud of her and the big decision she has made. My grandma and great grandparents drove up from Pima, AZ. It had been a long time since we had seen them. It was wonderful to be with so many family members and participate in Shaileys baptism. This is definitely one reason we have LOVED LIVING in Arizona.

Here is the baptism girl and our GREAT Grandpa...

A majority of my Dads family were able to make it. There were FOUR GENERATIONS. Once Greg and I have kids we will make my great grandparents great great grandparents.
WE BETTER HURRY UP :)

Holiday Reese's Have Arrived!!

My favorite candy of all-time has arrived and its probably good it is only here six months out of the year.
Some of you might think, "six months out of the year? Reese's are always in the stores." Well these are not a regular Reese's these are a million times better. It all started when my mom put the Reese's Eggs in our easter basket and our relationship began. For Valentine's day a couple years ago Greg bought me a bag of the heart Reese's and I ate a whole bag by myself in less than week. Greg says he gave me two, but I hope to believe otherwise :) I'm so excited that the holidays have arrived it is the best time of the year....FAMILY, stockings, food, REESE'S :), Snow (somewhere), TURKEY, costumes, easter BUNNIES, love letters and ROSES.....

Conference Weekend

For conference weekend Greg and I decided it would be a perfect weekend to go and visit our families since we didn't have to worry about finding subs for primary/nursery. We had tons of fun, but since we fly standby it didn't turn out to be such a great idea. Overall we missed six flights. One on Friday trying to get there and five trying to get back. On Monday morning we were at the airport from 6:30- 1:30 until we ended up making a flight. It was a long day. We loved spending time with everyone though.

We...

• Spent some time with my Aunt Katherine and Uncle Joe


• Saw the cutest kids...my cousins Caleb and Eliza. Ugh I wish they were mine.


• Saw Fame with my Mother in law and Sisters


• Celebrated Cortney's birthday!


• Watched conference...slept through conference


• Visited my Dad

Autumn in AZ

So its Autumn in Arizona and it doesn't look anything like this......... :(
and it is slightly depressing. It still feels like summer and looks like summer, the only thing that is different is I'm in school. We are missing the beautiful colored leaves and the cool weather where its not freezing yet, but nice to cuddle up in a sweater and a blanket next to your hubby. Ugh just talking about it makes me smile :) It is getting a little cooler here in AZ though which is exciting. It is still pretty hot from 11:00am-4:00pm but at night it feels good. I'm also so sick of my summer clothes. I realize that I need to stock up on more short sleeve clothes because my closet is half summer/half winter and since there really isn't a winter here, well lets just say I'm getting sick of summer clothes. Tonight I'm wearing my first long sleeve t-shirt since probably April and oh do I love it. Hopefully I don't regret it when I walk outside.

Happy Birthday Cort!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORTNEY!!!

Today is our lil sis, Cortneys birthday. She is the big 21!! Thanks for being so amazing.

We love you Cort!

Hope you have an awesome birthday, don't party too hard ;)

Mom & Dad Weekend

Greg's parents came into town last weekend to spend some time with us. We are so grateful for Greg working at US airways, we get to see our families so much more because of it. While they were here Greg's dad, Kim helped us fix our cars since one was hiccuping and the other caught on fire. :) He is our HERO!
While the guys were fixing the cars Greg's mom, Karen taught me how to make some amazing pizza dough and use my kitchen aid for something besides just mixing cookie dough. We had tons of fun. It motivates me to want to cook more.
My auntie Kathrono :) plans what she is going to cook for the whole month and gets all the non perishables in one big swoop and then each week goes and gets veggies and stuff. I think I'm going to start in October. It is going to be a big step because as of now Greg and I eat Mac and Cheese, microwave soup, cereal, you name anything that only takes two minutes to cook and we probably eat it. So I think its time my poor husband deserved a decent dinner on a regular basic. I always make an excuse that I will do it more often when I'm a stay at home mom, but I don't think that will happen all of sudden :)
Here is our beautiful pizza we made, it was delicious and tasted tons healthier than a normal pizza.

On Saturday we wanted to go hiking so we headed to Payson to go hike fossil springs. We drove the two to three hours to get there and it was RAINING!! I love the rain, but not when you want to go hiking. So we turned back. That is the second time that has happened to Greg and I so I think we will be avoiding Payson for a little while. When we got back into town we didn't want to go home because we had been driving for over four hours and without a destination it just didn't feel good. So Greg's mom really wanted to go to this place called Nordstroms Last Chance, it is where everything goes AFTER Nordstrom Rack it has crazy good deals on designer products. So we plugged in "Last Chance" into the Garmin and headed to the store. Well we ended up here....


Haha we were getting a little skeptical when we were driving in farm land. So all that driving and we finally just ended up going home jumping in the pool and showering for the day :) We decided to google the store this time cause you obviously can't always trust the Garmin. We finally found the store and got there an hour before it closed. It was fun. I found a cute belt for only four bucks. I think the trick though to finding more stuff would be to go early in the morning, I can't wait to go again. To end the night we ate at a great Mexican restaurant across the street.
We decided that every time Greg's parents came into town we would make it a tradition.

Sadly before we knew it they had to leave. Weekends are never long enough. We love you guys!! Hope you come visit again soon.