Our trip to San Diego

Ryan's brother, Aaron, invited us to go to San Diego with them. I've never been before and am not one to turn down a vacation. It was short notice so we took Hannah with us. Although we would've loved to leave her with a sitter, we didn't have time or means to do so.They were getting away for their 5 year anniversary and Ryan had just turned 30 a few days before . We'd been told it was only a 3 or 4 hour drive from Phoenix but it ended up being 6. They fly for free since he works for Delta, so they flew in Tuesday and we met them Thursday Aug 22. Once we got there we ate at Cafe Coyote then drove straight to the Zoo. We had a bunch we wanted to see and only 3 days. The zoo was huge! We didn't get to see everything before it got dark. Hannah did so well. She was out way past her bedtime each night but she didn't even get fussy. She'd fall asleep in the car on the way home. It took quite a bit to get her back to sleep at the hotel, but we survived. The animals were all out and it was fun to see the hippos in the water.

The next day we spent all our time at SeaWorld. I'd never been there and don't quite know what Iwas expecting, but it was awesome. We planned out the day so we could see all the shows we wanted. It was very hot, which was a surprise for me. I was expecting a vacation from the heat. We all got sunburned, even Hannah. I felt so bad. It was a lot of fun and the animals are incredible. It's amazing what they can do.

The next morning we went to the USS Midway and took a tour. It said to plan on 3 hours, but it could definitely take longer if you listened to all the audio. Ryan and Aaron loved it, but Jessica and I were trying to hurry them along. It was too narrow for strollers so we had to carry Hannah the whole time. At 20+ pounds it was tough. She didn't like being in the Bjorn most the time either and was pretty fussy. The ship was cool though and it would be hard to be in there for so long. I wonder what the ships nowadays are like.

We met up with Aaron's mission companion afterwards and ate lunch at Seaport village. We enjoyed the stroll and the amazing views.

We went inside several stores and bought a commemorative Christmas ornament. Aaron and Jessica bought these for us and they were amazing. So tasty.

From there we drove to Petco Park and watched a good game of baseball.

They handed out free hats which was helpful since our seats were looking directly into the sun for the first hour or so. We were on the first row though which was great for Hannah. She could crawl around on the ground and was happy just chewing up the program and eating her snacks. It got pretty cold after the sun went down so we had to pull out our sweaters.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites and they had the most amazing breakfast. We really looked forward to eating our made-to-order omelet every morning. Like any vacation it wasn't long enough, but we had a blast!

My Walmart commercial

A few months ago our Relief Society president was on a local Walmart commercial. She said that if anyone wanted to do it they were looking for more Albuquerque moms and she'd give them our numbers. It's a price comparison and they give you money to shop and you also get a gift card. I gave her my name and they called a few weeks later to interview. I met the producer and her cameraman at a Starbucks and they recorded our short interview. They asked me a few questions like where I shopped, if I use coupons, and what makes my daughter laugh. She told me they shoot commercials all the time and the next one was the middle of March and asked if I would be available, I said yes. I got a call on March 17 that they wanted me as an "alternate mom" for the shoot on March 19. Basically, if either "shopping mom" didn't show they would call me in. I was on call from about 8-11 until they called and said I didn't need to come in. They said because I was an alternate that the next time they shoot I would be moved to the top of the list to shop.

They called back the 1st week of April when I was in Utah and asked if I was available the 9th. I told them I would be on vacation so they said they'd call back. On my birthday they called and asked if I was available on the 23rd, finally I was. They went over a few details with me and then the producer called me the Sunday before to talk some more.We met at 7:45 Tuesday morning at Starbucks with both producers. The other shopping mom was actually Chris Bushman, a lady in our ward. They gave us an envelope with $250 to spend shopping at Albertsons. They told us to limit our shopping to about 40 items. We were supposed to buy what we normally would; however, they could only compare the items that Walmart carried. so, produce, meat, and generic brands wouldn't count. I had two trainees shop with me and one of the producers went with Chris. I had my grocery list already prepared so it didn't take long. They had a clicker and would count every item I put in my cart. I ended up with about 43 items and my total was $220. Chris said she spent less than $100 so I kind of figured I would be the one on the commercial.

Next, we drove to Walmart and took all our groceries inside. They had us go in the back while they did their accounting and price comparison. They had a scanner that told them whether Walmart carried that particular item or not. The process took about an hour. Meanwhile we got hair and makeup and snacks and a tour and just chatted with the crew while we waited. Around 10:30 the producer came in and said I was going to be in the commercial and they sent Chris home. I got miked up and just as we were going to shoot the first item she came and told us there was a situation and we needed to wait a bit. Later I found out that the situation was that I had saved so much money that they were worried it would look unbelievable so they called in another mom to shop. We kept shooting just in case they could go with mine. They didn't tell me how much I had saved total or on each item until they shot it because they wanted my true reaction on film. We did 5 or 6 takes for each item and we filmed 5 items plus a bunch of extra stuff at the check out and just walking around the store and my interview. It was a lot of fun and the guy doing the commercial was great and made me laugh a lot.

We had lunch break at 1:00 and that's when they got the go ahead to continue shooting and airing my commercial.  The other mom did come in and shop and they just sent her home with her groceries. We wrapped around 3:00. I got my groceries and they gave me a $250 Walmart gift card. It was a cool experience and crazy to see my commercial a few days later. They ended up comparing 27 items and I saved $33.66. I really do shop at Albertsons for my groceries. Walmart is closer, but I just hate going there. It was really eye opening to see how much I can save each week though. The commercial only shows 3 of the items we actually shot. Chris and I both got compensated the same, but I just got the commercial too. It's funny because I'm the 3rd one in our ward that's been on these commercials. I don't know how much longer they're going to do them in our area.

Here's the link to the video:
http://walmarturl.com/14evCpD 

A Day Off

Guest post from: Denver Stephens

It was one of those rare occasions when my husband actually took a day off in the middle of the week. I could probably count on one hand the number of times he has actually surprised me by staying home in the middle of the week over our 15 years together. Usually he doesn’t tell me, just wakes up and surprises me. I find it to be very sweet of him to take a spontaneous day for just the two of us. Sometimes, we take a day trip somewhere close to home and other times we just snuggle up in the family room and watch Directv Cinema. It’s a great way to reset our buttons and reconnect with each other. Fortunately he is the boss of his own company so things like this aren’t really frowned upon. And other times, he works for weeks on end with no time off so he is just making up for his workaholic tendencies. I’ll take whatever I can get and make the very best of anytime we can steal away.

Jared's birthday

We went up to the Everett's on Jan 28 to celebrate Ryan's brother, Jared's birthday. The whole family was there minus Brianna. We even had some extra guests, some foreign exchange students from Brazil.

Sampling the snacks

Janessa putting her cosmetology classes to good use

She sprayed so much water on Ryan's hair that it was running off his face. We all thought it was funny, him? not so much.

Family pic

You can barely see it but the flame on the candles was colored

Ryan actually volunteered to hold Kyler, that's a first folks! Baby steps.

Ragnar Relay Las Vegas

Back in July Ryan was challenged by some friends to run with them in the Ragnar. They were just getting their group together, so feeling confident and in need of a challenge to get in shape, he agreed. He ran off an on but really got serious last month. I trained with him towards the end and we've both really gotten bit by the running bug. I was so glad I got the opportunity to be there at the finish line and cheer him on. I'm extremely proud of him and all the hard work and dedication he's put forth. He had a great time and did so well! He was runner #11 Their team name was The Impersonators so they had the "flasher", a biker, Marilyn Monroe, Richard Simmons, and others. Ryan was Dustin Pedroia from the Red Sox. The course was from Lake Mead to Las Vegas 188 miles. Ryan ran 11.8 miles total. The team finished in 29 hours, 12 minutes.

Here are the pictures I got from the finish line:

These next pictures are from Ryan along the way: