Happy Birthday, Sam!...27 YEARS!

Marrying this man was the best decision I have ever made. Life is never boring with Sam! He finds ways to make me laugh everyday. He is always planning fun things to do and even with all of his homework makes sure to make lots of time for us. He is always setting goals, always trying to improve, and knows how to work hard and play hard. I love you Sam!

Another Fun Weekend

Saturday evening we went up to Powder Mountain and it was so much fun! It had been snowing tons and when we pulled into the parking lot our poor little corolla just sank. After an hour and a half of digging ourselves out we finally made it out, thanks to Sam and all the guys that helped push. Once we were actually on the mountain it was AMAZING. There was a few feet of fresh snow. We spent the whole time with Lacey and Todd, weaving our way in and out of trees, finding new trails. They even tricked me into going on a black diamond trail and I made it! We spent a lot of the night on "The Dark Side", it was an area of the mountain that lit at all so no one else was on it, so it was a bunch of fresh snow all for us. And it was fun and freaky because it was pitch black! We stayed until they kicked us off the mountain and then loaded up on double blueberry donuts (soooo good) and had fun daring each other to jump off the balcony. We had a blast.

Let it Snow!

Here's what we've been up to lately.... Skiing, snowboarding, snow mobiling, tubing, and sledding! We have the best friends who love to be outdoors. Monday we went sledding and snow mobiling. It was a fun (but rough) day! Dave went up (yes, up!) a small cliff and completely flipped the snow mobile, somehow breaking only the tail lights. We popped four tubes and cracked the saucer! But we had tons of fun trying out new runs,which usually included some kind of drop off thanks to all the husbands :)

We are so lucky we have so many mountains close by. We usually go up at least 3 times a week. It has made this winter so much fun.

Can you tell it's me? Even when it's not that cold I insist on wearing ALL my layers. It makes the falls not hurt so bad! Night boarding at Wolf Mountain

Monday was Sam's first time on a snow mobile. He LOVED it. He did a great job taxiing us all up the hill after sledding down.

Two of my best friends, Lacey and Melissa

Todd and Lacey

David and Melissa

Our Short California Trip

For Christmas this year Sam and I decided we wanted to take a little vacation rather than buy gifts. So the week after Christmas we headed over to Califonia and went to Disneyland, Huntington Beach, and Six Flags. Tim and Lindsey watched Matt and Jill's kids so they came with us. It was a blast. A couple of highlights: -We shard a room with Matt and Jill at the Marriott that inclided breakfast. We went down expecting donuts but they had the biggest breakfast feast you ahve ever seen, along with a chef that was there to cook up whatever you wanted. We (ok, maybe just me) would get so excited to go to bed so we could wake up to the amazing breakfast. My favorite: Shrimp Omelete. -Disneyland was CRAZY! There were so many people you could barely walk. There were lines to get OFF of the rides! But somehow we worked it right with fast passes and riding the big rides during parades and we never had to wait long. Even though it was so crowded, it was still so much fun and still felt like the happiest place on Earth :) -Tuesday we went to Huntington beach and Sam skim boarded while I walked in the water and searched for sea shells. It felt SO good to be back at the ocean. My Uncle Don has a house right around the corner from the pier so we went to dinner with them and spent the night at their house. -We met up with Matt and Jill again at Six Flags and had the funnest day ever. Those rides are a blast. Our favorite was the Tatsu, where they lay you down and you face the ground during the entire rollar coaster. It feels like you are flying! At midnight we headed over to Sam's aunt and uncle's house in Tehachapi where we visited, spent the night, and then headed back home the next day.

Matt, Jill, Me, and Sam at the Six Flags New Year's Eve Party

Jill and I at Disneyland!

Me trying to pretend that I like this ride!

Sam and I with the millions of other people who decided to go during Christmas break!

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tammy

White Elephant Party

Every year our family has a white elephant party with my Aunt Laraine and Uncle Mark's family. There are no limits and the gifts are always pretty funny and gross. This year's was pretty tame compared to most but it was still a blast.

Ethan in his Do-Rag

Uncle Mark with his Menopause book

Kade- looking great in his candy bikini

Christmas in Arizona!

All the girls going to see The Nutcracker for Brittany's birthday (Christmas Eve). Everyone was very ticked off that I didn't like it! I was bored, sorry. They are trying to convince me that it is our new Christmas Eve tradition, but I think I will make it my tradition to watch the kids while they go :)

DDR never gets old at our house! Even though we can only pass a couple of soungs we still love it!

The traditional "jump off the couch for a picture in new Christmas pajamas" picture.

I took off school a couple of days early and we headed down to Arizona. We spent a week there and it was a blast! I love being home. Sam did well being the only boy with a million girls. He even went on the traditional all day shopping trip and helped me pick out clothes, he's a good sport. I could only talk him into going because we went to Oregano's for lunch. Oregano's has the best pizza, salad, and of course, the Pizzookie (Chocolate chip cookie pizza with ice cream on top - it's the best). The rest of the week consisted of making gingerbread houses, playing tennis, best meals ever, more shopping, Twilight, eating way too much junk food, DDR, and just hanging out. We had so much fun playing with our nephews and seeing the whole family.

Salt Lake Temple Lights

Sam and I went to see the Slat Lake Temple lights with a bunch of friends from our ward. It was snowing hard and so beautiful. We had fun seeing the Joseph Smith movie and then walking around getting pummeled with snow falling off of the buildings. We got dumped on 3 times! It was pretty funny.