Sugar Cookie Christmas

Siennna was so proud of her self!

Yummy!

My sister Becky and her family finally made it here from California for the Holidays.. We have to share time with the in-laws which kinda sucks but we understand. Luckily they all had to go to the Temple on Saturday for a sealing so me and my other sister Heather were able to have the kids. I went up to Heathers house so we could hang out and make Sugar Cookies...yummy! We had Heathers 2 kids Sienna (2 1/2) and Lincoln (3 wks) and Becky's 2 kids Korinne (7) and Tyson (4). When I first laid out the cookie cutter and told them to choose which ones they wanted to start with Tyson was a little confused because he thought the cookie cutters all connected somehow like building blocks or Lego's (such a boy).. but once we showed him what to do he was all over cutting them out. Once we were done and started to decorate he was again a typical boy didn't want much to do with decorating but as you can see the girls went all out and loved every minute of it. We are a little unusual that we like to decorate our cookies with gummy candies but we think they are delicious...even though I hate sprinkles I did buy some to decorate with but forgot them.

Fun Pic's

My sister in-law was in the mood for a little photo taking on Thanksgiving. All of the girls looked so cute!!

7 Years!

It is crazy to think that 7 years has gone by already. We have had so many late nights, adventures and so laughed our butts off too many times to count. He has given me more than I could have ever asked for. He is my best friend and the love of my life and I can't wait for many more adventures to come. Love you babe!!!

~USA SOCCER GAME~

My sister Heather was able to get us some sweet tickets to the USA vs El Salvador. We had not yet been to the Rio Tinto Stadium yet and it was awesome. The game was really cool to see and we all had a blast.

*BUNCO NIGHT*

Bunco was at my house last month and we decided to spice it up and dress up but only 3 of us did (everyone else were party poopes). We still had a lot of fun and I won 1st place so thats always a plus.

*HaPpY BiRtHDaY tRaV*

Travis was able to have two birthday parties this year. On his actual birthday we were down at a cabin in scofield with my sister Heather her husband Brandt and there little Sienna. It was so nice to get away and relax. Thanks to Brandt we were able to bring his 4 wheelers down and had a blast on those. Sienna loved being on the 4 wheelers, her helmet was so big she looked like a stick with a pumpkin for a head. She also loved being the big helper and helping Trav open his presents. Trav's dad's birthday is just a week after his but my in-laws have been doing a lot of traveling this summer so we weren't able to get together until last weekend. Trav's first cake that he wanted was "Better than Sex" cake so I made that down at the cabin. For his second cake he didn't have a preference and neither did my father in-law so with football season coming up I decided to do a football theme cake. As most of you may know my husband is overly obsessed with the Denver Broncos and my father in-law is a big Minnesota Vikings fan so put them together and that's what they got. I decided to do a milk chocolate layered cake with chocolate mousse and fresh strawberries in the middle. The frosting varied on the cake and was either milk chocolate or cream cheese. I was actually surprised at how good the cake tasted. Darrin and Cindy were also able to come into to town and it was nice to see and catch up with them. Trav's not looking forward to the big 30 next year. I hope he had a great birthday this year, love ya babe!!!

~Water Log~

When all these logs kept floating up by our boat it was driving us crazy having to move them so they wouldn't be in our way and damage our boats. But when this huge one came it was a blast. Travis and my brother in-law Brandt were pretty good at it but all of my cute little nieces pretty much dominated everyone. It was won of the most entertaining things we did and the best part was that it was free.

~LAKE POWELL~

We had another great year at Lake Powell. We went all the way to Iceberg Canyon this year with the house boat so we would be closer to Rainbow Bridge since most of us have not been there for so many years...but it was worth it. Aside from my brother Troy making us get up at like 5:30 am to get there it was a very fun trip. We had a great spot with a beach for the kids and also a big area to go hiking in. It was pretty hot but I wish we were going back already.

Scofield Cabin

Here are our cabin photos from the end of June. I know I am a little late on getting these posted. We had a great trip down at Scofield again and we were so lucky to have Trav's aunt Mary join us from Seattle. We don't get to see her very often so it was great to have her in town. I know it is pretty sad when I am blogging about my dogs first time swimming but he is our spoiled baby. As you can see from the photos he didn't really want to jump right in so Trav decided to push him and then he decided he wanted out of there fast. Trav ended up jumping in and had to try to teach him because he would move his front legs pretty good but he wouldn't move his back legs so his butt would just sink. He eventually caught on to the idea and was doing pretty good. After that he went on his first boat ride which he loved and then he caught his first fish. By the end of the trip he was very tired and snoozed pretty good all the way back to the dock.

MONTEREY BAY

We decided last minute to take a quick trip to my sister's house in Fresno and then headed up to Monterey Bay. We got there on Thursday night and stayed until Tuesday morning which made a great trip. The only thing I like about my sister living in California is that I am able to get away and take a break for a little while. We stayed in town until Sunday morning and then headed up to Monterey Bay until Monday. The drive was nice and we couldn't pass up on stopping by all the fruit stands to get some nice fresh fruit. You can't get any better fruit then from the local fruit stands. Once we got to Monterey we went strait to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My sister and her kids have already been there but they had opened up a new Sea Hoarse area that they were really excited about. We had a great time at the aquarium. There were so many things to see and learn about. I have to say that seeing all the different types and sizes of jelly fish was probably my favorite part. After the Aquarium we drove around town and then went to a good BBQ place in town, by the time we got our dinner the two kids were already asleep on mine and Trav's laps needless to say they we were all tired from a fun long day. The next morning we drove down 17- mile drive and saw all the mountains on the beach and off of Pebble Beach Golf Course that we could only dream about. Trav was pretty excited to be that close to Pebble Beach Golf Course he had to get a pretty sweet hat for his souvenir, it's too bad we won't be making back there next year for the U.S. Open 2010. It was a little chilly but that didn't stop the kids from having fun on the beach and seeing Trav get bitten by a crab. After that we stopped at a really good Mexican restaurant for dinner and then headed back to Fresno. I hated having to come home the next day it was so much to get away for a while. Thanks Becky and Tyler for a great trip we had a lot fun...Miss you guys!!

*StAdiUm Of FiRe & LaKe PoWeLL CoUnTdOwN*

My family loves the month of July. We usually always go to the Stadium of Fire and are family trip down to Lake Powell usually falls in the month of July as well. My sister and her family always make the trip out from California to go and we love having them in town. Here are a few pictures of Stadium of Fire from last year with Miley Cyrus and the Blue Man Group. The kids were so excited to see Miley, they screamed so much they all could barley talk the next day. We had never seen Blue Man group either and I thought they were great. The kids are even more excited this year to see the Jonas Brothers I can't wait to see how excited they all we will be. I am actually looking forward to seeing SHeDaisy I think they will be awesome to see as well. I have also posted a slide show of our Lake Powell trip from last year as well. We always have a great time down at Powell.

ZoO!

Here is our fun rainy day at the Zoo for my niece Sienna's birthday. She is growing up so fast I can't believe she is already 2. We all came mostly prepared trying to keep us dry but by the end of the day no matter what we were wearing we were still pretty wet. It was great to get the whole family together and overall is was a fun day in the rain.

BIRTHDAY

It was my birthday last week and my loving husband made me a cake. My sweet mother in-law made me a very fun Easter cake a few days later. We have been watching Ace of Cakes lately so Travis decided to be a little creative and make a 3 tier yellow cake with chocolate frosting, my favorite. He was so funny not to let me see it until it was completely finished. I was also so lucky to have my sister Becky and her two kids, Korinne and Tyson, in town from Cali for my birthday. They were such big helpers blowing out my many candles on both cakes. Travis gave me "The Family Man" DVD that I have been looking for forever and some new running clothes. I guess that's a hint to get my butt back in gear at the gym. Thanks to everyone for all the great gifts. I had such a great birthday and loved having all of my family there.

OTTER CREEK

I am a little late posting our trip to Otter Creek. Me, Trav and our good friends, Kyle and Misty, decided to brave the cold and head out. We are dying to start the camping season. It was a great trip over all, the weather wasn't too bad. It was a little chilly, as you can see from my 6 layers of clothing. We all had a hard time catching fish at first, the little suckers would whip so much they would fly off the hook before we could reel them all the way in. I do believe I ended up catching the most fish and the biggest fish (sorry guys better luck next time). Over all it was a great trip I hope we can go on at least a few more camping trips before Misty has her baby. Thanks guys for a fun trip!

*VALENTINES WEEKEND*

We were able to go to a friend of mines awesome cabin down in Scofield for our Valentines weekend. We invited my mother and father in-law, Grandpa Lou and my brother and sister in-law were able to come up from Vegas too. We rented 2 snowmobiles which were a lot of fun, we did have to transport everything into the cabin on the snowmobiles and we got there when it was dark the first night so that was a little hard and Travis kept missing the turn to the cabin (love you babe) but it was still a lot of fun. The picture with the four of us in it is kinda hard to see who is who so from the left we have Travis, Kristi, Cindy and Darrin. And then of coarse we could not leave the dogs home, Champ and Foxy had a great time especially since Champ has caught up to her in size. We ate a lot of food and and a great time playing Mexican Train. I think we will make it a yearly family tradition to make a trip during the winter.

**HELP**

Champ is getting bigger and a terror. He is not doing too bad on the potty training but he keeps eating the wall. If anyone has any amazing ideas, PLEASE HELP!!

*CHRISTMAS*

We hope everyone had a great Christmas this year. We were able to get together at my in-laws for Christmas day and my brother in-law and sister in-law were able to make it up from Las Vegas. We all had a lot of fun opening all of our awesome presents (thanks Lynn & Linda) and spending time with each other. As you can see we all just have dogs no babies. But we love them just the same. Champ and Foxy met for the first time and they love playing with each other. Foxy really wears Champ out. It's going to be interesting when they get to be close to the same size. It was sad to have Darrin and Cindy going home so soon, we hope they can come back for another visit soon.

Me and Trav had a great Christmas this year and are looking forward to a fresh and new 2009.

Here are a few photos of my family on Christmas. We all had a great time, it's a lot of fun when we can all get together. My sister was not able to make it this year from California, we all missed them very much and hope they will be able to make it here next Christmas.