Have you noticed?

Have you noticed my weight loss counter?

I've really struggled with keeping an exercise routine since moving to Washington. For one thing, there is no space in this house to exercise. Second, I'm not as good about getting out and exercising in bad weather like everyone else around here. And third, I was really spoiled with a great Gym in Arizona and can't find one around here worth going to. So I've gained 16 pounds since moving here. I now have a really good incentive to loss this weight. Mark has surprised me with a really good birthday gift this year. He is taking me to Hawaii!!! No we are not made of money...this trip will be almost free. Anyway, I have 3 months to lose this weight so I look and feel good in a bathing suit. My thought is, if I have this counter up where I can see it almost everyday and know that others can see it too, then maybe I will be more inclined to lose the weight. Time will tell...

Thanks Mark, for the surprise trip and giving me enough time to get back to the size I love. Here's to losing those 16 pounds and 1 1/2 pant size!

Finishing Up

Let's finish up this thing, shall we? The last days of our trip to AZ were a blur and I don't remember what order everything occurred. We went shopping, played Rock Band, volleyball in Goodyear and driving around to see how much things have changed. We went on a little hike with Jordan and Mandy and kids, dinner with siblings at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant (If you have never been there, then go. DELICIOUS!!!), more Rock Band. We watched the Cardinal's game at my brother's house. And we had lots of "hanging out" with family. It was truly a great vacation. We can't wait to do it again. The only pictures we took those last few days were of the hike...so enjoy!

Mandy and I took Tommy, Kenny and Lauren up a small mountain, while Mark and Jordan took Carley, Ashley and Clara on a path around this same mountain.

We made it to the top!

Either Lauren or Tommy took this picture. They did pretty good, huh?

We spotted the Dad's

From this far!

Reunion - Day 2 & 3

First off, I forgot to mention that on day one all the brothers went golfing in the morning. Apparently it was really fun.

On the second day we staked our claim at a church building. Along with eating both breakfast and lunch there, we had plenty of activities in between. The kids made some fun crafts, we tied baby quilts for a service project and then we played a ton of games like: dodge ball, crab walk soccer, sock ball, tree tag, we did a few dances to music like the hokie-pokie and so much more that I couldn't possibly name them all. Thanks Spencer for organizing all those games, it was so much fun!

Early that evening we ditched the kids and went to the temple to do sealings, which I have never done before. It was wonderful to have all but one couple there. This was probably my favorite part of the whole reunion.

Afterwards, we went to Joe's BBQ for dinner. Sooooo Yummy!

The women got together that night for games and such. We played, if my memory serves me right, a dice game called house of fire. It's a mix between Bunco and Cooties. It was allot of fun. Tif and Mandy served up some really good non-alcoholic drinks that were to die for.

Day 3

This day started off with the men going shooting in the desert while the women took the kids to the Museum of Natural History. Mark took the camera this day. Some of the mothers took pictures at the museum. I will have to add them later if I ever get some copies. Just know, great fun was had by all.

For lunch the kids were traded back to the dads while us women had lunch together at Rosa's. I haven't eaten there in a long time and boy have I been missing out. The food was absolutely delicious.

We ended the reunion with dinner at Mark's parents house. We reminisced about all the great fun we had the last 3 days. We then parted ways for our New Year's celebrations.

Mark and I kept with our old New Year's Eve tradition of going over to Spencer (Mark's brother) and Sara's house for games. Tim (cousin) also joined us. We had allot of fun ringing in the New Year.

Ray Reunion - Day 1

One of the main reasons we wanted to go to AZ is because Mark's parents were having their first Ray reunion with their kids. We kicked of the reunion with a bang. On the first day we went to a park and launched rockets. Each grand kid got their own and chased them down when they landed. It was a nice warm day and the cousins really enjoyed doing this activity together.

Later in the afternoon we had pictures taken. It went really smoothly and quickly which was surprising with the size of the group.

The wonderful couple who made all this possible - Dad and Mom

Brian, Erin, Hunter and Porter
Us
Spencer, Sara, Kaitlyn, Jacob, Annie, and Grace
Derek, Heather, Katherine, Brooke, Alison, Kimball, and Andersen
Jordan, Mandy, Tommy, Ashley and Clara
Michael, Bekah, Brynley and Aevyn
Tyler and Tiffany

Gonzo and Jennifer

We ended the evening by going to see the temple lights and then had hot chocolate and donuts at the Madsen's house.

Safe Arrival

We made it to Arizona without any trouble. We arrived pretty late but the kids just had to open their presents from the Rays so a very late night we had, which wasn't great with 9:00 AM church the next morning. Sunday afternoon we visited the Brown's. We celebrated Jason's 19th birthday. He will be leaving for his mission on the same day as Keeley in February. It was great to see them both before they leave. Keeley is going to Guatemala City Central and Jason will be serving in Calgary Canada. We were missing a few siblings that night but still managed to get a picture of the ones who were there.

By the time we left for the Ray's the girls were tuckered out!

Christmas

It has been daunting to get blogging about Christmas and our trip to Arizona. What got me going is reviewing everything that I have blogged about for the last 1 1/2 years. It was fun to relive the past. I've forgotten about allot of our "going-ons". So here we go with the update. Just know, this is more for me than you and it might be boring.

Since we didn't end up flying to AZ on Christmas day, we were able to have another relaxing Christmas. Our trip was our Christmas present to the kids and ourselves so there wasn't much to open Christmas morning. Thank goodness for Santa (did I really just write that?!). We also received Grandma Brown's gifts in the mail the day before (thank you). Here are a few pics.

For lunch we went to the same restaurant we went to last year. This time when it started snowing no one cheered. I might have heard a groan or two. Snow two years in a row!!! I also took some pictures of the snow when we got back. We had the biggest snowflakes. Some of them measured around 2" in diameter. It was crazy beautiful!

Well that is it for now, come back later for details on our Arizona trip.

Carley came downstairs yesterday saying,"The house sure looks different mom." Yes it does...I finally put all the Christmas stuff away. I don't think I've ever finished this job so late in January. We've been out of town and then really busy.

I guess this means it is time to blog about Christmas and all the events surrounding that great day. My problem is where to begin on such a task! I think I'm gonna get busy uploading all the pics and go from there. Hopefully you'll hear back from me sometime this week! Until then, just know we had a really great couple of weeks.