Dog Park!!!

So Jack loved Phoenix, partly because of the HUGE dog park they had.  He loved playing with the bigger dogs and swimming in the lake.  It was a little muddy because it had actually rained a few days while we were there, but Jack didn't care.  I wish we had a place like this near our house because Jack LOVED it!  

There were three parts to the park. One part had the lake in it and one with out it.  The third part was for "timid or shy" dogs - definitely NOT Jack!  

Arts and Crafts

Ok, so I am going to start putting our Phoenix pictures up, but it will take a few posts and I might not get them all done right away,  but eventually they will all be here.  These pictures are of cool crafts and stuff.  This post is for the girls.  

This first picture is of a couple of things my friend Crystal has made.  In the background there is the three squares that spell out JOY.  She used wood, Mod Podge, wrapping paper, and letters.  Isn't it cute!  

The next two pictures are of decorations that Crystal and I made while on our trip.  Aren't they awesome!  They were so easy to make too!  We used a board, Mod Podge, black craft paint, scrapbook paper, a wooden letter, and a picture frame.  We got everything at JoAnn's Fabric and Home Depot.  Enjoy!

Jack's New Haircut

Okay so this picture is not from too recently (November 25th), but isn't Jack so cute!  He needs to get at least a trim on his face and feet, but we are waiting a little while.  It is kinda cold outside!  We love how he looks after he gets his hair cut and they always put these cute bandannas on him.  

Way Home From Phoenix

So we went to Phoenix for Thanksgiving.  I promise to add those pictures soon.  These two pictures were taken with one of our phones while we were driving home.  Jack slept on my lap for the majority of the trip there and back, while Brent drove.  Look how cute Jack is cuddling with one of his favorite squeaky toys.  In case you are wondering, we keep his harness on so we can always keep a good hold on him in case something happens, and so he can't jump out the window when it is down.  

Isn't he adorable!!!!

Rubber Lizards

So I got these little rubber lizards for a project I was doing, but they didn't work out.  I decided to see what Jack would do with them.  So I gave him one.  He LOVES them!  These videos are from Dec. 4, but it was not his first experience with them.  He goes CRAZY when he plays with him.  This first video kinda shows the fun he has with them, but he gets camera shy and would run circles or do his full scale attack on the lizard.  You can get the idea though.  Letting him play with them works out well though when we have something we have to get done, but Jack wants to play.  He won't let you play with the lizard with him.  He snatches it from you and runs away and plays by himself.  If you come close to him, he runs away.  That is why in the second video he is hiding under the table.  

This video is a little calmer just because he is trying to hide from me.  

Snow, Snow, Snow, and Guess what, More Snow!!!

So it has been snowing a ton here!  These pictures were taken on December 16th.  The snow hasn't been too bad this year, probably because it started snowing later, and we don't have to shovel.  That makes life WAY easier.  This first picture is a look from our front door before the snow had been shoveled or plowed that day. 

This next picture is of Jack in the snow.  He is wearing his new coat by itself.  Now when it is really cold, we put another coat over this one.  Jack LOVES to eat the snow.  

Brent and Jack about to leave on a walk.  Look how bundled up they are!

They plowed soon after this picture was taken.  It looks so pretty outside when the suns starts to go down, even if the sun goes down too early. 

Beautiful picture.  You can see the mountains in the background.  

Below is a video of Brent and Jack playing in the snow.  Brent likes to throw snowballs at Jack, who will than attack or get annoyed.  

Christmas Eve

Okay, so I know these are out of order, but I wanted to make sure I got some Christmas pictures up first.  I am now going backwards in time, to try and update as much as I can.  I guess it is good because as you read down, you are reading in order.  Here are some pictures that Brent took on Christmas Eve.  You can see how much snow we have had, and yes it has snowed more since than.  Right now there is a nice little layer of ice too. 

This picture is of Jack ready to leave for a walk.  He wears two coats because it is so cold and it helps him from getting too wet.  In this picture he has his back leg sleeves on too, but we normally leave those off.  Doesn't he look adorable?  

These next two pictures Brent took from our bedroom window upstairs.  This is not the same neighborhood as ours, but our house faces it.  It is called Pemberly and they are in our ward.  You can see the snow falling in these pictures.  

This is a picture of our house, from the front.  At least we don't have to shovel the snow!!! 

The next two pictures are of snow creations that some of our neighbors made.  This is an igloo that one family made.  It is still standing too! 

This is a snowman family that another family made.  There is a snowman for each person in their family.  In this picture you can only see three of them, but there are six all together.  The others are a lot smaller and the smallest two you almost can't see anymore because of all the snow we have had!  Oh! The first snowman is a little taller than me.

Jack on Christmas Morning!

Ok so Jack LOVED Christmas! I don't think he actually fully understood what was going on, but boy was he excited!  He couldn't wait for daddy to wake up and get out of bed.  He was running and jumping in circles.  Jack knew that there were presents under the tree for him (we had kept them up so that he couldn't smell them and get into them before Christmas).  Here is a video of him waiting not so patiently for the festivities to begin.  

As you can tell, Jack was too excited to wait for Daddy to get the Christmas music playing.  This next video is of Jack opening his first present (with Daddy's help).  

Needless to say, Jack had a WONDERFUL Christmas.  

Christmas!

As most of you know, we stayed in Utah for Christmas this year.  Also it was Jack's first Christmas!!! We loved all the presents we got and we had fun spending the time together with our little family.  Here are some of the highlights of our day. 

This first picture is of our Christmas tree on Christmas Day! Jack was really good and left the tree and presents alone.  

Brent handed out the presents so he got to wear the Santa hat.  

So we had presents just for Jack.  Jack had  a blast opening them, ripping the wrapping paper up, and playing/eating his presents! Below is Jack helping Angela open one of his presents.  This one in particular is treats for him.  

This picture is of Jack being impatient while I tried to get the treats open. 

This next picture is of all the presents we received! Thanks to everyone!

We hope everyone had a Merry Merry Christmas!!! 

I don't mean to brag, but....

I aced the Praxis II exam!!!! For those of you who don't know what this is, it is the first Praxis test that elementary teachers take as part of becoming certified.  It is the general content knowledge section.  I can't believe how well I did!  I have always been good at taking tests, but I wasn't expecting to do as well as I did.  I was tired and more worried about teaching than about the test.  But I was able to still kick butt!!!! I score a 195 out of 200!!! Can you believe it!!!!  

Sorry I haven't added any pictures in a while, but that is coming...this just warranted a post before I try and catch up on everything else!!!!! 

Winter is Here!

Hello All!  I know, I know, it has been forever since my last post.  Things got busy in the month of November and still have not calmed down!  I am hoping to catch the blog up during this winter break.  Finals are over this Thursday and I will have lots of free time since we are staying in Utah for the holidays.  

While I am here though, I thought I would tell everyone that it SNOWED!!!! Yes, even I was excited.  It doesn't seem like Christmas in Utah if it doesn't snow.  This year has been nice for Brent and I because it stayed warmer than normal up until now.  Hopefully we will have a white Christmas!!

Jack's Winter Coats!

I know I haven't added anything for awhile.  We have been busy with school and going to Disney World (those pictures are coming in a later post)  Anyways, we got a new laptop and it has most of the new pictures on it and Brent currently has that computer.  So I am doing a post with pictures from two weeks ago!  

Jack got his hair cut two weeks ago.  The day he got his hair cut, the temperature dropped and it got really windy!  Jack was SOOOO cold we decided we needed to do something about it!  We went and bought him a sweatshirt to wear in the house, a jacket and a winter coat!  Here are some cute pictures!   At first he didn't like wearing the coats, but he understands now.  Sometimes when he gets cold, he will walk over to wear we keep his sweatshirt and will pull it down and whine until we put it on him!  He is so smart!!!

Daddy and Jack wearing their matching coats!  This is actually Jack's jacket.  It is sleeveless.  

Aren't they cute!  They took a nap on the love sac.  This is Jack's sweatshirt.  It has a hood too.  Sometimes it will fall down when he is walking or playing and he will just stop and wait until we come an uncover his eyes!  On the back it says Harley Davidson.  

These two pictures are of Jack in his coat.  This is the one he likes the least because he only wears it when it is REALLY cold.  It has sleeves to cover all four legs.  We have taken off the back ones for now, until it snows.  If we are carrying him and he is wearing this coat with the hood on his head, from the back it looks like we are carrying a baby!!! 

Wedding Receptions

In the last few weeks Brent and I have gone to a few wedding receptions....Here are a couple of pictures from those! 

This is from Diana and Steve Pyper's reception and the one below is from Bre and Brian Woods' wedding reception.  

Conference Weekend!

This weekend was nice and relaxing.  We were able to watch every conference session at home, well Brent had to go to a building to see the Priesthood session.  It was nice to hear from the Prophet and apostles.  It was uplifting to hear what was said.  

Jack, however, did not enjoy this weekend too much.  It rained and rained this whole weekend.  Jack does NOT like the rain!!! Not only was it raining, but it was also pretty cold!  At first, he would only venture out into the cold drizzle to pee for just a second.  He looked sad and stayed under the covered little front patio.  By the end of the day, Jack couldn't take not going on a walk, nor could he hold his pee any longer!! So we ventured out on a little walk. I stayed under an umbrella but Jack did not.  He was so excited to be out of the house that he just wanted to run and use the bathroom!  It was the same again on Sunday, but since it wasn't raining as hard, he went out more often.  He was so bored this weekend he started to rip up his favorite toy, froggy!  

We also got a Wii this past weekend.  We got it on Friday night when our friends Cam and Emily came over.  This was a nice break during the conference sessions.  We were getting a little stir crazy too!  With the rain, it also cooled down the temperature too.  I think fall is here for good.  

Our Mississippi Boat Ride!

When I was in St. Louis, before we went to the top of the arch, we went on a riverboat "cruise" along the Mississippi. It was very relaxing and cool to hear about some of the history along that part of the Mississippi. Here is a little slide show of some of the pictures we took.

St Louis Arch

We are going to take a trip back in time... In July, I was able to go and visit my family in St. Louis, MO and than we went to Arkansas. Brent had to work, so I went by myself. I thought I would start putting pictures on here from that trip. So to start with, I am going to put up a few of the pictures we took while at the St. Louis Arch. I went with my sister Asha and her husband Grant. We were going to go on Friday and showed up there but the lines were WAY too long for us to get through before we had to be at the temple for an endowment session. So, we decided to come back after my cousin Emily's wedding, the next day. 

Asha and Grant in front of the Arch.  

Asha and I in front of the arch. Aren't we so cute!!

From the side, it kinda looks like the Washington Monument, only taller!

We also went up to the top of the Arch.  Here are a few pictures of that! 

This is the tiny cart that you go to the top in.  Yes, it is smaller than it looks.  It holds five people and it is only about three feet tall or so.  You have to be careful cause you hit your head if you aren't!  
Here is Asha and Grant at the top.  Sorry it is a little blurry.  The arch slightly sways when it is windy when you are at the top.  It isn't really noticeable at all.  

Asha and I at the top of the arch, and yes we are really 630 feet high!!! Here is a slide show of some of the pictures I took from the top of the arch!  

Where I have been!

This is kinda random but here it is anyways!  These are the states I have been too and several of them I have actually lived in.  Brent has also been to Hawaii and a couple other places that I have not been too!  Enjoy! 


visited 30 states (60%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

My sister Athena

For those of you who don't know, my sister Athena joined the Army National Guard.  She has been at basic training and AIT ALL summer long!  Actually she is still there at Fort Leonardwood (sorry I don't know how to spell it) until November.  Here is a picture of her at her basic training graduation.  Isn't she cute?!?! She is the one on the right.  The other girl is one of her battle buddies.  

Strike's 1st Birthday!

On Friday, Sept 26, Strike had a little birthday party.  He turned one the day before.  Jack, Rico, and Strike all had a great time playing together, hating the party hats, and loving the treats!  Here are some pictures of all the fun we had!

Jack is not too happy about the party hat.  This is the only picture of him facing the camera!

We kept trying to line the three up to take a picture of them, but they wouldn't stay long enough for us to get a picture! Jack is the dog in front and Rico and Strike are sitting next to each other.  

They decided to try and help each other get the party hats off!  Teamwork gets the hat off faster!

This is the closest we ever got to getting a picture of the three of them in a line.  Rico is standing in front of Strike!  Yes, all three are Yorkies.  Rico lives next door to us and Strike lives the next house over.  

This last thing is a video of Jack trying to get his party hat off.  This was before the party started!