Go Utes!

Utah dog sir, Utah dog am I!

Finn is all ready to support the Utes as they start their journey in the Pac 12 (matching leash and all). Are you?

Second Job Anyone?

Doesn't he look good? :)

Michael now has a second job at Lagoon. This past Sunday was his first day there, even though he'd been scheduled to work the past 2 Sundays as well (but due to weather, the park had not opened either day).
I managed to get a picture of him in most of his uniform, although I've been told I need to go get a picture of him while he is working because he has a badge and a radio and looks much more official in the park. :)

I'm bummed...

I'm super bummed.
I have never been good at coming up with good April Fool's day jokes, and with this being the first year that Michael and I are married, I want to do something good. The only problem is that I have no clue what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Random

I recently decided to make it a goal to have at least one post on the blog per month, whether I write it, or Michael does. I don't have anything in particular to write about right now for the month of March (maybe in a week or two I will), but wanted to share my goal with you and also share some recent pictures of whatever is on my camera right now. So enjoy! :)

Current picture of Finn

 Hiding under the chair

Recent Adventures

*WARNING:* This is a marathon post. It didn't originally start out that way, but there was just too much to say and I didn't want to cut it into a bunch of little posts. Read when you have more than 2-3 minutes. :)

This past weekend we went down to Albuquerque for a last family vacation before my parents leave on a mission for freezing cold Russia next month. It was a very fun trip filled with many memories and lots of fun family time. We drove down on Wednesday, February 9 with Jeff and Becca and their kids. It was a lot less stressful of a drive than our last trip down over Thanksgiving (driving through a Blizzard was oh SO fun!), even though it took longer because we had a 4 year old and a 14 month old, both of who have much smaller stomachs and bladders (although one was contained in a diaper) than 2 adults. We took 2-3 more stops each direction (for food or bathroom breaks) than Michael and I did in November, but we still made decent time and had a good trip. Most of the drive included views like this (and we saw a few trains too):

With the occasional view of something like this:

We arrived down in Albuquerque about 7:30 (only an 11 hour drive!) and spent a little time with family and then headed over to the hotel with Mom and Dad.

Thursday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed over to Brad and Heather's house to discuss what we were going to do that day. Brad had worked the night shift, so he slept while everyone else went and hiked a short little trail and saw some petroglyphs. (Sorry, some of these events I don't have pictures of. We don't have kids yet, and therefore haven't gotten into the habit of taking our camera with us everywhere)

Friday morning, everyone came over to the hotel and went swimming in the indoor pool there. We spent 1 1/2 -2 hours there and then those with kids headed back to Brad and Heather's for naps and showers while those at the hotel just had some relaxation time until all the kids woke up. Then that afternoon we all went on the Sandia Peak Tram and experienced some snow in New Mexico (it doesn't stay on the ground for too long unless you're up high in the mountains!)

Albuquerque in the valley behind us

Saturday morning Michael and I and Mom and Dad went to the Rattlesnake Museum in Old Town and spent some time there. We had heard about it from Craig Ferguson (The Late Late Show host on CBS), and when we found out it was in ABQ, we decided that while Brad and Heather were living down there, we wanted to go sometime when we were down visiting. It was actually pretty cool. We saw quite a few different kinds of rattlesnakes (even an albino one that was constantly shaking his rattle), saw some turtles and other reptiles, and an insect I didn't even know existed, a whip scorpion (are scorpions even insects? I don't know what to classify it as). Then that afternoon, we all changed and got together for our last family picture before my parents leave. It was a little cold, and the kids weren't all cooperating, but we managed to get a few good pictures, thanks to our amazing photographer and her friend who came and helped us out.

The final product! We look good, don't we? Heather's pretty talented too. :)

Sunday started early for us. We had to wake up before O dark thirty  (ok, it was really about 5:00) to make sure we were on the road in time to be home by 5:30 for Jeff and Becca to have Sunday dinner with her family. We left Albuquerque just after 6:00 and drove to Gallup where we stopped for breakfast and a change of clothes (we kept Emily and Jacob in their pajamas in the hopes that they would stay asleep in the car. It didn't work). We stopped for about 45 minutes and then continued the drive. Michael fell asleep for a little bit before breakfast, but stayed awake the rest of the drive. I fell asleep after Gallup, Michael woke me up to show me something after we drove through Shiprock, and then I fell asleep again until we stopped for gas in Dove Creek, CO. We played some car games both directions (I Spy, My Daddy Owns a Store, etc.) and had some snacks to keep us from starving and to keep the kids from yelling and screaming when they were hungry (which made the car ride much more enjoyable!) We stopped at Subway in Green River for lunch (the same place we stopped on the way down), and then started on our way again. We arrived "home" about 5:00, with just enough time for Jeff and Becca to unload the van, do a bathroom run and pile into the car again to head over to Newman's for Sunday Dinner.

Michael and I hung out at Mom and Dad's for a little bit, waiting for them to get home (they flew home and their flight landed just after we arrived at their house). We told them thanks again for the wonderful trip and then we went to Michael's uncle's house to pick up Finn (thanks again for watching her while we were gone!). After spending some time there visiting, we headed home and arrived there about 8:30. We were both exhausted from the long drive and Finn was exhausted from spending the weekend with her mom and brother (and Michael's 4 little cousins). We postponed the unpacking and just pulled out what was needed so that we could go to bed.

The next morning, Michael and I were both grateful that we had requested Monday off as well because, while it was a vacation, it was super busy and we didn't really get a weekend (our house needed some attention too). We spent the day unpacking, playing Mario Kart, cleaning the house, and Michael surprised me with some flowers for Valentine's Day. I was really surprised because we had gotten Mario Kart as an early, joint gift, so I was not expecting anything. Isn't my husband the greatest?!

My beautiful flowers

We both were dreading work the next day because we knew there was a pile of work waiting for both of us, but I think we're making it through everything (I can almost see my desk again!).

It was a very fun trip and we look forward to having more, both while Mom and Dad are gone and after they get back!

Mario Kart

Michael bought Mario Kart for us yesterday (as an early joint Valentine's day present) and he has pretty much been playing it ever since then.

It is quite a bit of fun. I played it for a little bit last night with him, and I'm sure a lot better at it on the Wii than I ever was on N64 or the DS. I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun with it in the days to come.

Let the BITING commence!

We first noticed about 2 weeks ago that Finn had begun teething. Since then, she has been biting on everything she possibly can, including milk jugs and plastic bottles (all empty of course), cardboard boxes, towels, my jacket (especially while I'm wearing it. She doesn't care about it much if it's just hanging on the chair), shoes, our legs as we walk by, in addition to all of her chew toys.

Michael bought her a 2 foot rawhide bone which has been a big help at times (when she'll just sit and chew on it), but she hasn't made much of an impact on it yet. I think it hurts her mouth to chew too much. It looks like most of her teeth have come in, or at least started to, so hopefully we'll be through with the biting stage before too much longer.

Some teeth have grown in, but others are still baby teeth or have come out, but not grown out past the gums.

Surprises...

So we've had a couple surprises the past few weeks, some much more pleasant than others. We got a check from the bank saying 'We over-budgeted on your property taxes, and here's some money back from what you have already paid.' We also received a few (fairly) late wedding presents that helped us to get some more items that we have wanted, but had not received for our wedding.
However, one day after we hadn't seen Finn for a few minutes, we walked down the hall and discovered this:

She stepped in it and tracked it around too

Luckily she's been very good since then...

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas 'Tree' this year

This year our Christmas was pretty small. We spent some time with family on Christmas Eve (we went and saw Tangled) and opened our presents from Mary Ann and Tod (Thanks for the hoodies!) in an effort to make the next day a little less crazy. We ended up going to bed about 2 AM after we'd opened our presents to each other. Michael gave me Toy Story 3 and The Sorcerer's Apprentice on Blu-ray and The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I gave him Prince of Persia on Blu-ray and a U of U dog collar and leash to use for Finn.

Christmas day was spent going from one family to the next. We started out at my parent's house and Michael received a tool chest from Mom and Dad (Holbrook). We also got a much needed blender (thanks Jeff and Becca), since we had not received one for our wedding, and a very cute ornament, our very first one, from Stan and Melanie for our tree. We spent a little time with my family and then proceeded to Grandma Simmons' house for some more time with family.

We had a good time there, and even got a present 'from' Grandpa Simmons, who passed away in September. Grandpa loved woodworking, and before he passed away, he had been working on a little shelf that we were fortunate enough to receive.

Then it was off to the Decker Party for more family time. We got trivets that Grandma Decker had knit for us, and we got a game from Elizabeth and Corey. We then went home and spent some much needed time with Finnalyn since she'd been locked in the room all day.

All in all, it was a good day, even if it was exhausting going from place to place. Next year we will at least have an actual tree to put our presents under!

Our tree, fresh out of the box and unfluffed.

Our Year in Review

Wow. A lot has happened to both of us this year.

We had out engagement pictures taken:

 

Michael was released from his calling as Vice President-Brotherhood for his chapter of SGC (which is good because he was "graduating" in a month anyway, whether he was released or not)

I had my Bridals taken:

We got married:

Went on our Honeymoon (to Sunny California):

We went on a family trip to Busch Gardens and Outer Banks, NC:

We built a house (or, more accurately, had one built for us):

We got a puppy:

who has grown up quite a bit:

and survived out first 8 months of marriage! 

Wow. What a year! I hope next year is just as great as this last year was. We wish everyone a Happy New Year!