The 24th of July

This year for the Holiday weekend we went camping with Ryan's family. Jessica was able to bring up the boat so we enjoyed two full days on Deer Creek Reservoir. It was really cold in the mornings, then all of a sudden it would heat up. The water was pretty cold, but it was fun anyway. We went tubing and wake boarding, then spent Saturday on the jet ski's. We all got SUNBURNED and right now Ryan and I are peeling like crazy! This was our first time wake boarding. Ryan was never able to get up, and every time I got up I would fall, but I did get up.

Enjoying a swim and getting Janessa on the wake board.

Jessica and Ryan on the boat ready to go!

Brianna


Aaron

Alyssa

I had never been fishing before and wanted to go so we went fishing Friday night. We didn't catch anything, but I learned a lot!

Notice Ryan's taped finger. That's from when he cut off the tip of his finger while slicing an onion. Probably needed stitches, but we just super glued it instead...

Thanksgiving Weekend

We got a new laptop a few weeks ago, and now our other one is completely broken. It doesn't do a thing. It's pretty frustrating. Speaking of frustrating, i failed my life insurance test again...
We drove down to St. George Wednesday afternoon, and after a whirlwind Thanksgiving with both families, drove back Thursday night to get back to work Friday morning.
Saturday night was my company's Christmas party at Grand America. They had entertainment by Andy Gross; the comedian, ventriloquist, and magician. He chose me out of the audience to help him with a magic trick. It was very embarrassing, especially when he had me keep my hand on his thigh, it was a fun night altogether though. They had performance and instruction from a Latin dance company. Ryan wouldn't dance with me, so my friend and I tore it up, but we didn't win the dance off or any raffle prizes.
Sunday we went to my best friend's homecoming and spent most the day with her. I'm so excited to have my Sydney back!

Thanksgiving

We're headed here! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Chicago day 3 &4

Enjoy the last pictures!

Chicago Day #2!!!

The 2nd day we went to the top of the Sear's Tower. It was very cool to see out to Lake Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Not to mention our audio tour told us what lots of the buildings were.

WiNdY CiTy: Day 1

When we landed in Chicago it was pouring rain. We took the subway to the stop by our hotel. Ryan was sure he knew which way to go. We started walking, in the cold rain, with our luggage for blocks. After awhile he said "we should be there by now." So, we turned around and walked all the way back. He asked for directions and we had been going the opposite way! A few blocks later and we were safely in the hotel. We had to wait for Ryan's dad to check in, so we just sat in the lobby and tried to warm up and dry off.

You can't tell in this picture, but my legs were soaked from my knees down. Oh, and it was about 50 degrees outside.

The view from our room.

We walked to the Navy Pier after drying off. Here's a view of the coast from Lake Michigan.

That tall building is the Aon building, the 2nd tallest in Chicago.

There were boats up and down the pier that offered lunch and dinner cruises.

From the pier we walked across town. This is the Chicago River.

Looking across the drawbridge.

We walked through the park and there was a huge amphitheater.



Last stop of the day was the Art Institute of Chicago. It is one of the nation's top art institutions, with one of the world's largest collections-more than 225,000 works in all, shown among ten departments. Two of American art's most recognizable paintings are here: Grant Wood's American Gothic (the artists dentist posed for the pitchfork-holding farmer, and the artist's sister for the spinster daughter at his side) and Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, his famous all-night diner scene. This museum has the largest membership of any U.S. art museum.

Going to the windy city!

This is where we'll be in less than two weeks! We're in much need of a long vacation. Can't wait.

Coyotes vs Flames

Not only is Ryan's job great, but he also has great friends who give us lots of free stuff. (We just got a Playstation 2 with about 25 games) He got 4 more tickets to the Phoenix Coyotes hockey game. Ryan went last month with some friends from work, and this time I was able to go. The tickets were in the luxury suite, the owners suite to be exact. They played the Calgary Flames which happens to be a favorite team of one of Ryan's co-workers. He took his dad and together we had a wonderful time. We saw "Cloverfield" and I'm still not sure how to feel about it. Any suggestions? An added bonus was that I got to meet up with my friend Shantell who lives there. My favorite part was of course, the warm weather. Enjoy the photos:

This is Shantell. I didn't get a picture with her in AZ, but that's her. She's holding her little girl Raylee.

Don't mind Ryan's baby face...the University of Phoenix Stadium is right next to the Jobing.com arena. (For those clueless folks out there like me, that's where the superbowl was.)

Here it is! The Jobing.com arena. (It's pronounced jobbing, I found out.)

Wasting time before the game.

Here are the fans! Ryan, Matt and Clark. (Matt's dad) They used to live in Calgary and love the flames; they won BTW 4-1

A picture of our suite

A view from the "Owners" suite. Ryan got to talk again with Jerry Moyes who is the Owner of the Phoenix Coyotes and part-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also owns Swift trucking company, is from UT and is an active member of the church. One very cool guy. I wanted to get a picture of them together but Ryan wouldn't let me.

This week we took a short trip to Tennessee to look at the plane we're buying. The plane was actually in Kentucky, about a two hour drive from Nashville. We were very impressed with the plane, and can't wait to have it to fly. After putting way too much money into Ryan's flight school, we calculated that we'd end up saving about half the money if we bought a plane to train with. Ryan's going into a partnership with a few other guys, so they'll share it. A mechanic is doing a pre-buy inspection on it this week, then hopefully next week Ryan and a buddy will fly down again to fly it back to SLC. We have a hanger at airport 2 in West Jordan. While we were there we saw the Grand Old Opry House in Nashville, went to a movie and played at the arcade. It was a nice trip!

Pigeon Island

We hiked to the top of Pigeon Island. Here's the view!

Saint Lucia

We're back...! Our trip was so nice. We relaxed, hiked, swam, and slept in.
We are both really sunburned and freezing back in Salt Lake.
It's good to be home, but we miss the beautiful weather!

Finally!

We are going on vacation. We've tried going to Hawaii twice, and have never been, so we're determined. No, we're not going to Hawaii, we're going to St. Lucia! Everything's planned, it's really going to happen. We're leaving tomorrow morning...early. I'll post when we get home. Have fun in the snow everyone!

This is what it looked like when we decided to stop.

Thawing out out lunch

Snowmobiling!

Let's take a break from all the sadness this year has brought to us so far and reflect on one of the last days of last year. Our long awaited snowmobiling trip came and went so fast. The company was great, but the weather, not so much. It snowed the entire time, and although we stayed warm, at one point it was a white out and we couldn't see 3 feet in front of us. Luckily we had a guide and he led us safely, and slowly back to the lodge. We ended up quitting about an hour early. Ryan was bummed because he didn't get a chance to "play." He hopes to go again next month.

My sisters and me



Toni and Evan