Zoo Lights

After Christmas Jake and I invited my sister-in-law Jayme and her kids Bennett, Carter, and Ava, along with my mom to 'Zoo Lights' at Hogle Zoo. The lights were amazing and it was so fun to see the nocturnal animals come out that you usually don't see during the day.

The trees and elephants were very detailed and so pretty!

These Gorillas' arms were moving. It was so fun!

Here is the under the sea exhibit. I look like Ariel with all my under the sea friends at winter :)

Bennett rode the carousel all by himself. He is growing so big! He picked to ride the praying mantis all by himself. :)

The tigers were out and pacing the fence. Kinda eerie...





Mom, Carter, Jake, and Bennett hanging out by the Dragon.






The last animal we saw was the Snow Leopard. He was so cute! He even rubbed his head against the glass and also put his paw up to the glass. I think he was trying to play with Jake.

Zoo Lights was so cool. It is definitely a yearly tradition. I can't wait for next year!

Christmas Extraveganza

This Christmas was a total success! Jake, Phillip and I had a great time with all the family! We traveled all around town, starting with Christmas at our house then off to my mother-in-law Dianne's, then my father-in-law Jeff's, Then off to Christmas with my mom and my brother's family. It was a total blast!

Christmas Morning at home:

Here is Phillip surrounded by his Christmas gifts. He loves his tent and blanket!

These are my lovely Christmas PJs that Jake gave me. They are super comfy.

This is my stocking carnage. Stockings rock!

Off to Dianne's. Here we are all together. Oh how sweet!

Jake's dad Jeff gave us this awesome present, a new super cool camera, Wahoo!

I was so excited to give Jeff this awesome telescope from all of the kids. He looks pretty happy too.

Christmas with mom began with the traditional scavenger hunt

My mom is holding my niece Ava while my nephews Bennett and Carter run to find each clue.




We then opened presents. My brother Scott with his beautiful little girl Ava while she holds her new hippo pillow pet.



The boys were so good that they even sat down long enough to read a book with their mom :)




We finished the day off with cleaning up all the wrapping paper. Carter is racing Bennett to see who can clean up the fastest. Notice Phillip's sweet face in the bottom right hand corner :)

This Christmas was so fun and I loved relaxing and being with family. Oh, and I also liked getting presents :)

Seattle Or Bust!

Last week my sister-in-law, Angela, and I went to visit our cousin Jane and her husband Mike in Seattle. We were only able to stay for a few days but we definitely spent our time wisely. We saw all the sites, and even fit in some much needed Jane Austen movie watching. Jane's husband is in residency so most of the time it was just us girls. It was so fun to have a girls trip! Jane is also 37 weeks pregnant, it was so fun to see her pregnant belly and talk about babies :)

First we visited the world famous Pikes Place. It is an awesome Fish/Farmers Market. You can buy everything there from lotion for a pregnant belly to hand painted hats to the best mac n' cheese ever! Jane and me in front of the market

The famous bronze pig in front of the fish "throwing" market.
Jane, Me, and Angela having a blast at Pikes Place. I really loved this place!

The water is beautiful, those girls are pretty good lookn' too!




Our second night there Mike was able to go out with us, so we hit up the best Indian Food in town. Yummy!




Here was another highlight for me: Trader Joe's! I love this place. I wish Utah could have one :(

Angela and me at the space needle. It was so cool!

We were sooooo lucky to be in Seattle at the same time as the Harry Potter Exhibition. First I got the privilege to be chosen to volunteer by the sorting hat. I then was sorted into Gryfindor (of course) We all then saw almost every prop and clothing item used in the movies, including the Hogwarts Express! I even got to pull on a mandrake and play Quidditch!!! I was like a kid at Christmas skipping from one thing to an other. It was amazing!


The Monorail at downtown Seattle was even decorated for the occasion. I was so excited, Can you tell?

At the end of our trip we went shopping at downtown Seattle. Here Angela and I are at the food court. We are so excited because Angela finally found the Hello Kitty watch I had been looking for at McDonald's. I know that its silly but I LOVE Hello Kitty and I have the best sister-in-law ever! She was on the search the whole trip for this watch and she found it the last day :) Thanks Angela!!

This was a really fun trip and I hope we can do it again soon before Jane

and Mike move.

Zion's Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year Jake and I went down to Zions National Park with my family. We ate dinner at the Zion Park Lodge and just played around. It was a fun trip and a nice get away.

Here are three generations on the trip down to Southern Utah. grandma Zona, mom Christy, and me.

Zion Park Lodge. This is where we ate our Turkey Dinner buffet. :)

Grandma Christy with Ava

Bennett and his favorite uncle!

My brother with his boys :)

The views were beautiful!

It was so nice to get away for the Thanksgiving Holdiay with the family. I am looking forward to next time.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Finally!!

This past Thursday night Jake and I went to the Harry Potter movie premiere. We went with a few Harry Potter nerds just like us. We spent a few months preparing for this premiere, It was so fun to dress as a bad character, Bellatrix Lastrange! Jake was also an other menacing character, Severus Snape. Everyone else was decked out in there Gryffindor clothing provided by moi :).

Here is about half of us getting ready before the movie. From left to right: Angela, Me, Nick, Jake, Abbey, and Shayla.

It was so fun to be the bad guys! I stayed in Character most of the time.

Here Jake and I are about to see the movie. It was sooo fun!! People in the theatre would stop us and tell us our costumes rocked and take pictures with us. :)


We loved the movie and can't wait for the last installment!! Left to Right: Me, Jake, Nick, Dan, Trish, Angela, Abbey, Shayla, Stacey, and Brandon.

Harry Potter 7 Days!!!

I just wanted to inform the masses, if you don't know all ready, the first installment of the last Harry Potter movie comes out in exactly 1 week! Jake and I are very excited and of course we are going to the midnight premier along with a few friends. Below is a picture of my alter-ego, Bellatrix Lastrange j/k :). I will be dressing as Bellatrix Lastrange for the premiere. I will definitely post pictures of the whole thing! I can't believe it's only 1 week! Yay!!!

Halloween 2010

This Halloween was especially fun. The highlight was definitely Jake's, Angie's, and Dan's costumes. Below you can see the original picture taken about 20 yrs ago on Halloween. Jake was a cute pirate, Angie, the California Raisin, and Dan is a sweet little bunny. On the right is their re-enactment of that Halloween. Angie even found a California Raisin costume on EBay. It was so fun!!

I was Little Red Ridding Hood
Me and my Baby Pumpkin :)

I can't wait till next Halloween. It is by far my favorite holiday. I love being with family and friends, the crisp fall weather, dressing up in fun costumes, the smell of jack-o-lanterns lit up out on the streets, children laughing and playing, trick or treating, and sometimes getting really scared!