Winter Trip to the Zoo!!

On February 16th, Shaun and I had to chance to go to the Hogle Zoo with my parents. It was honestly a lot of fun. I really like going to the Zoo in the winter, because there seems to not be as many people and that is always nice. Plus I think some of the animals are more active.

None of us had been to the zoo since they added the Rocky Shores area and I gotta say that I am REALLY impressed with that new area! My favorite part was Rizzo, the polar bear. I could have watched her for hours (I really could have!!) She was swimming all over her enclosure and when she was tired of swimming she would go walk around on the shore. Then she would repeat. She was just really entertaining.

Another thing I enjoyed seeing was the baby giraffe. It was so cute!

After we got done at the zoo we headed to Ruth's Diner for lunch (YUMMY!) and then continued up the canyon for a nice little drive! (The reverse of the drive we took a few weeks earlier)

It was fun getting to spend sometime with my parents! 

Here are just a few pictures (and I really do mean a few. Shaun took over 800 pictures while we were at the zoo)

Drive to Park City

Shaun and I got sick of the air quality in the Salt Lake Valley this winter so to escape it we decided to go on a little drive one Sunday afternoon. We ended up driving up past Park City and then entered
Park City from the backside and then headed back down the canyon. We got off at the East Canyon exit and headed the rest of the way home by going down through Emigration Canyon. It was a really nice drive. It was nice to be able to see for miles and to actually be able to tell that the sun was out! Breathing the clean air was also really nice.

December 2012

We began this month by heading downtown for date night. We ended up going to Tuchanos for dinner and then walked from the Gateway to Temple Square to look at the lights! We were also able to check out the candy windows that Macy's has brought back. That was a lot of fun. I miss seeing those from when I was a younger.

The First Presidency Christmas Devotional was on the 2nd and we headed over to our friends house to have dinner and watch the devotional. I love listening to the first presidency. They are amazing men. The same week as the devotional we had our ward Christmas party and Shaun's work party. Both events had great food and good entertainment. 

An event I have been waiting awhile for finally happened. I became completely self employed as of the 19th of December! Since Shaun got a job back in September and now has benefits we decided that I no longer need to be working at the hospital and that I need to focus on building my massage practice. This will definitely be a big change for me. I am not used to being home so often, but hopefully things with my practice will pick up and I will be able to stay busy with that.

This year Tom, Chelsea and Jake came in town for Christmas and stayed with us. It was a lot of fun to have them here with us. Our Christmas celebrations were spread over a week this year. The Sunday before Christmas we had a dinner party at our house with Shaun's parents, Tom and Chelsea and our friends Kenric and Sona. It was a lot of fun. On Christmas Eve, Shaun and I went to my Grandpa's house for the annual Christmas Eve party and then head over to Shaun's parents house to hang out. On Christmas Day we got up and opened presents with Tom and Chelsea and then got ready and headed up to Shaun's Grandpa's House for a little get together. After that we headed to Shaun parents to do Christmas with them. While there we were able to Skype with the Indiana Krugers, which was fun. They kids were definitely excited about Christmas. After spending time with them we headed back to our house were we had Christmas with my parents, my aunt Brenda and my Grandpa. It was a busy day, but it was definitely fun.

The following Saturday we had a Christmas party with my Mom's side of the family. It was fun getting to see family members I don't see very often.

To end our year we had our annual New Years Eve fondue party. It was fun. There were ten of us the spent the evening eating yummy food, watching TV and playing a huge game of Ligretto. It was a great way to ring in the new year!

The year 2012 definitely had its ups and downs, but I wouldn't take back any of the things we have gone through. I am grateful for all the lessons I have learned during 2012 and look forward to the many things I will learn during 2013.

Candy Windows are back!

So pretty!

Christmas Morning

I love this picture!

Cousin's playing

Shaun & I with his Grandpa Christmas Day

Ligretto! It was funny with some many people!

Happy New Years! (We are a little tired in this picture)

November 2012

November started out with being crafty! I love being crafty! On the 3rd it was our ward's Super Saturday activity. They had some fun projects, but I decided to go simple and just do a couple of necklaces. They turned out pretty cute.  Also on the 3rd was the annual niece's activity that my Aunt Brenda does, only this year all the mom's were invited too. We went to Color Me Mine!! I LOVE COLOR ME MINE!! It was fun to be able to hang out with my mom, cousins and aunts and just be creative! I really like how my piece turned out!

November wasn't a very good month for us as far as health goes, especially for Shaun. At the beginning of the month he had a cold. He started to feel a little bit better and then ended up with strep. After taking the penicillin for that he still wasn't feeling 100% so decided to go into the doctor again and found out the he had a little bit of bronchitis. I also had a cold and sinus infection during November. With being pregnant there is very little you can take and I was pretty miserable, but at least I wasn't sick most of the month like Shaun was. I will take that!

On Thanksgiving this year I had to work, but Shaun's Mom was willing to schedule dinner after I got off work so we went to his parents house and had a small Thanksgiving dinner with his grandpa, Uncle Stewart, Aunt Marie and her friend Louise. It was different than most Thanksgivings I have had, but it was still an enjoyable evening. Shaun made green bean casserole from scratch and it was really tasty. All of the food was good in fact.

We ended the month by going to our first Christmas party of the year at a couple of our ward members house. It was fun. The food was good and we had fun watching The Grinch (the animated version). It was a great way to begin the Christmas season!

My Mom being creative

The kids painting 

Dawna & My Aunt Brenda

My Aunt Shirlynn & Angie

My completed project

I love how it turned out

October 2012

October was a pretty crazy month for us. On the 10th we were able to go to the Temple and doing sealing for some of Shaun's ancestors with his parents, aunt, uncle and some cousins. His cousin Angela has been working on genealogy for the family and had a bunch of names that were ready to have sealing done. It was really neat.

In September our lease for the place we were living ended and we really didn't want to sign a new lease there. As much as we are not fans of moving we decided we should look and see what else was available. We really didn't want to move from our current ward, because we really think it is a great ward and I had just started my calling in the Relief Society Presidency and have really enjoyed it. Luckily we were able to find a new place to rent within our ward boundaries. On the 20th we loaded up a moving truck and moved the 1.1 miles to our new place. For this move we decided to do things a little differently. On all of the boxes we packed we placed a colored star on it. This star designated where that box would end up. We put signs on every level of our new place that showed where that colored star went. For the most part this worked out great. We definitely will be trying it next time we move.

Also in October I was able to go to Time Out for Women here in Salt Lake with my Mom, Aunt Cory and my friend Christie. It was a really fun weekend! I am so glad I went. It is such a spiritually uplifting event! I can't wait for TOFW 2013!

The last fun thing we did in October was have our annual Pumpkin Carvenival. We did it as a family home evening activity instead of a Friday night activity, but it was still a lot of fun. Two other couples came and we had dinner and carved pumpkins. I am not sure why I find it so fun, but I do!

TOFW with my Aunt Cory, My Mom (gotta love her face) and Christie

Ginger & Kent and their spider pumpkin

Shaun & I tag teamed this pumpkin

Christie's pumpkin