The Empty Sea (MTC)

What is "the empty sea" anyway? I know it's a mystery to me... All I know is that it's where Dave gets to spend the next 3 months of his life. :)
We sent David off last Wednesday and it was a great day. We were able to all go out to breakfast beforehand (except Dan) and spend some time with Dave before he left. Then we parked by the MTC and took some pictures together outside before the curbside drop-off.
Dave is going to be such a great missionary and to have been called to serve in Russia means there are some great things in store for him there. He will do awesome.
We love David so much and will miss him and his always smiling/laughing personality, but know that he is where he needs to be right now. We are all looking forward to his successes in the mission field.

Vegas Baby!

Last weekend we decided to take advantage of the Monday holiday and go to Las Vegas. I am always anxious to get out of the cold in January, so we've done this almost every year since we were married. Lindsey and Brett came with us and were apparently pretty pumped for the 6 hour car ride.

When we got there, we hit the strip running... it was a great trip as always.
When we weren't playing blackjack and nickel slots, we were walking our buns off. Here are a few of the places we visited:

The Fashion Show Mall- where we practiced our mad shooting skills- in honor of the new TV show "Human Target."


The Hard Rock Cafe


Maggiano's (my new favorite resturant)

The Coke Factory



Fao Schwarz Toy and Candy Store

The Bellagio


Paris


The All-You-Can-Eat-All-Day Buffet at Excalibur. (not pictured-unfortunately)

Coyote Ugly Bar (haha- no pictures from this, sorry!)

Mesquite Golf and Spa

Thanks Lin and Brett for joining us once again!!

Ice Skating

Last night we went ice skating with Lindsey, Brett, Annie, and Josh. We met Annie and Josh at the Gateway and had a bite to eat at SkyBox then we road Trax over to the Gallivan Center where we met up with Linz and Brett. Although it was a freezing 10 degrees, we had tons of fun. We all had some pretty sweet moves!! There was also moment when I truly thought I had gotten frostbite on my toes, but I guess I was overreacting, imagine that. :)

Christmas Times

We have had a fun filled Christmas/Winter break this year as always. We feel so blessed to live close to family and spend lots of our time with them over the holidays.
I know my mom took tons of pictures, but I guess my few will have to do.

Halloween Madness

Spencer and I decided to have a "little" Halloween get together a few weeks ago, but my plans just keep getting bigger and bigger. I kept wondering to myself...what do people do at Halloween parties besides sit in their costumes and talk? So I decided to come up with some festivities to occupy people's time: we decorated carmel apples, made spider cupcakes, and played pin the heart of the skeleton. Haha. Oh and ate a lot of good foot provided by everyone. Spencer also made some pretty impressive homemade root beer.

We ended up having an awesome turn out. I think we counted about 30 people. That is definitely the max amount of people we have ever had in our house at one time. It was so fun though and everyone's costumes were awesome. It was a party, that's for sure.
I'm not sure how pumped Spencer was to wear a 'dress' for Halloween, but when he came home from school on Thursday night and I had sewed him a Fred Flintstone outfit he couldn't really burst my bubble, so he wore it with a smile. :)

Heaven on Earth

We got an early Christmas present this year from my mom and dad and were able to go to Lake Powell for a long weekend as a WHOLE family. It was so fun to have everyone there now that Dan is back. I think Lake Powell is one of the best places on earth, but sadly I never seem to be able to get enough of it.

We stayed at the super comfy and convenient Wahweap Resort. We boated, jet skied, cliff dove, swam, and did all of my favorite things in this world!! We found some really nice beaches and were able to relax and have an awesome time together. Oh and I can't forget to mention the hot tub at the resort- that was the way we ended each day. The trip ended too soon and we were welcomed home by the snow, but hey... I'm not complaining. Thanks Mom and Dad for planning another successful family trip!!

I am still waiting to get the 100's of pictures my mom and Emily took, but for now my poor photography efforts will have to do.

Four Years

That's right, on the 21st we celebrated four years since the day we got married! It's crazy to think that we've known each other for less that one fifth of our lives, but having said that, I can't imagine another day of my life without Spencer. (mushy I know, but it's true).

This year was my year to plan our anniversary and from the beginning I have always said that when it was my year to plan it we would go on a TRIP, but that didn't quite happen because we got a better offer... Lake Powell with my whole family for a week!!

So instead of planning another big trip along with Lake Powell, I decided to do a mini trip to The Homestead. It was a blast. The leaves were beautiful and it was a perfect, relaxing, quiet getaway. We were able to do lots of stuff including swimming and snorkeling in the 96 degree water at the crater and golfing, of course!