Ugly Sweater Party

We went to an ugly sweater party that a couple in our ward was hosting.  It was SO much fun!! As we were looking for sweaters we had terrible luck and went to a few 2nd hand stores and couldn't find anything.  My cousin had one that she said I could borrow and the one Bryson is wearing we found in the women's section at Good Will!  And it sure did look like a woman's sweater, but he rocked it and was a good sport.  He also HAD to wear his wool hat, I begged him not to because he looked hideous, but he said, "It's an UGLY sweater party, what do you expect?" After that comment I couldn't complain any longer and he did indeed wear the hat all night long.  He got comments from all the other husbands at the party on his hat, it must be a guy thing? We took couples pictures, ate delicious dinner and desert, then made gingerbread "houses" but not really houses.  It was a contest to see who was the most creative/the best. I don't think we ever decided on a winner. 



Our first pose, Bryson is supposed to be Rudolf but the antlers are in my face and he is using the red nose as an eye patch and has a creepy mustache with a creeper look on his face... He was being crazy all night, I blame it on the hat!!!




Bryson again Rudolf, without the eye patch, but with a mustache?




One without the props, don't know what that white spot on my face is. 




Close up of the sweaters and of course the hat!




We decided to do a helicopter, I think it turned out pretty good for using graham crackers and frosting! Bryson came up with the idea and constructed most of it, I mostly helped by eating frosting and decorating a little, haha




The finished project!




Finally a pic without that dumb hat, I begged him!




The Whitings made a roller coaster! It was awesome!




Trenton and Ashley made a swimming pool, it was so cute!  There is a bear on a noodle,diving in, laying out in the back, so creative!




The Mullenauxs made a Trojan horse, pretty sweet too!

 We had a ton of fun! We ate a ton of food and candy and laughed till we cried.  Thanks again Whitings for hosting such a fun party!! They went to a lot of work for it and it turned out great!

Thanksgiving

So once again, as usual, I didn't take any pictures during Thanksgiving so I had to steal some from my cousin Sommer's blog.  We went to Thatcher and spent time with my family.  It was so much fun and we ate non-stop!  I am so grateful for such a wonderful family, I love being with family! We were sad we didn't get to see Bryson's family during our short break, but no matter whose family we are with we always love it and hate having to leave and go back to real life. 

During our weekend in Thatcher we ate, played lots of games, watched movies (Dumb & Dumber, one of our favorites), went to the ranch to see the new bunk house, and of course just sat around and talked.  It was a blast. 

McKay, Chandler, & Spencer with the horses at the ranch

The new bunk house, we are so excited to use it!! It has a bathroom and running water which I am really excited about! And to top it off a projector for some good movie watchin.

The beautiful fall leaves along the river on our way out there

Lounging around on my parents new couch watching a football game. It is huge as you can see there are 8 of us on there and we could've fit a few more very comfortably.

Playing Taboo, one of the many we played over the weekend.

It was so good to see everyone and get away from work and school for a few days.  We wished we lived closer and could spend more time with our families!

Our new calling



Sorry for the post overload! I've been bad about updating!  But anyway......

When we first moved into our ward we were called to be the 16yr old Sunday School teachers.  We loved that calling and had some fun kids! It is a good calling because there are no meetings involved, you just show up every Sunday with your lesson prepared and you're good.  So we enjoyed this for about 7 months.  Then we got a call to come in for an interview.  We left the interview with new callings, Bryson the Priest advisor and the Mia Maid advisor for me.  We were so excited! We love working with the youth and we were excited that both of us got the opportunity! Mutual is fun when we have combined activities because we get to be with each other!

A couple weeks ago our YM & YW had a 8 mile backpacking trip and Bryson and I were one of the sets of leaders that went.  Let's just say that may or may not have been my first and last backpacking trip! haha. It was a very tough hike with an extremely rocky trail.  My feet were killing me! And I was worried about my knee a lot of the time, going downhill is tough on it! But I hung with the "fast group," the priests, because I wanted to be with Bryson so I guess it's my own fault. I was the only girl that went with them so I didn't want to complain, I just complained when we got home! Bryson was a good sport for listening to me. We did have a fun time though and it was a good experience for the youth.  We were so proud of them. No we do not have any pictures for proof, thank goodness, I probably wouldn't have looked too happy in them.

But we did have a cool experience for mutual this Wednesday. We were able to go to the Temple and help with the Christmas lights.  I have never done that so I thought it was a cool act of service.  The Mesa temple looks so amazing with all the lights up and it is rather big attraction during the holidays and a good missionary opportunity.  We were excited to play a part in the transformation.

This was some of the section we were in charge of.




The hottie on the left is Brother Bendall, the YW have a mini crush on him...



This picture was supposed to turn out like....

THIS! Cool huh? Bryson's idea.



I love to see the temple!




Two of my cute little Mia Maids!



The newest addition

 Lottie Camille Stevens was born on Oct 20, 2011. She is Brigham and Jenny's 2nd daughter.  She is so sweet and cute. We love her so much already.  She was a little thing when we first saw her, 5lbs 10oz. Much smaller than Brightyn was. She is such a good baby and adorable as ever.  I bought the girls matching outfits so we tried to have a little photo shoot, but it didn't turn out so well.

Every time you tell Brightyn to smile she squints her eyes, it's so cute. Lottie wasn't liking it too much. Brightyn 2yrs, Lottie 3 days

Once again, Brighty's squints but a better one of Lottie.

I couldn't resist this one, I think she looks cute, but Bryson thinks it weird that I like taking pictures of crying babies. She isn't like this very much so I had to snap it.

Brighty just turned 2yrs old a week before Lottie was born and she learned how to do it with her fingers.

Back to school, 3months ago...

Let's just face it, we are HORRIBLE at taking pictures.  Before school started this Fall semester we decided to do a little "staycation" in Scottsdale.  We got a 5 Star resort in Scottsdale for 3 nights and had such a good time.  The resort was sooo nice and relaxing.  We felt really pampered.  We debated on going to California for a few days, but decided we could have just as much fun staying here and would be able to spend less time driving in the care and more time enjoying our vacation. Our destination was about 40 min away rather than 6 plus hrs. 

Our "staycation" consisted of...

#1 Sleeping in

We had those black out curtains in our suite, it was very easy to sleep all day long, they can be dangerous. And the bed was very comfy!

#2 Eating delicious food

We decided to try all new restaurants for every meal.  We could not eat at any chain restaurants either.  We found some delicious places, we did eat at the same place for breakfast everyday because it was super good and cheap! So if you are ever in Scottsdale you'll have to check it out, Randy's Restaurant, it's a cute little diner that's family owned.

#3 Movies

We watched a few movies just in our room, but we did go see The Help one of the days at the theatre.  It is a must see! We absolutely loved it!  I would have bought it then and there if it was available to buy.  I plan to buy it the day it comes out, it's that good!

#4 Shopping

We went to Scottsdale fashion square one night after dinner and we each got a new outfit! Or maybe I got a few.... haha

#5 Swimming

There were a few pools at the resort, and one of the pools was kind of hidden in the back so there was never anyone there.  We checked out the others and they were packed with people. So we had fun having a huge pool to ourselves every time we went. Very relaxing!

 #6 Last but not least

 Just being together with no school or work to worry about!  That was honestly my favorite part of the whole thing.  Just being together and doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, without a plan or schedule to stick to.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing man in my life!! I'm a spoiled girl... wish we could have a staycation once a month!

And sadly, the only picture we got the whole time was when we got Taco bell right before we went into the movie.  We were both starving and had to grab something quick, not that I'm complaining because Taco bell is my favorite! We had the camera with us everywhere we went too, that's just how bad we are at this stuff. One is better than none, right?

Our first camping trip!

Mountains

Cool weather

Trees

Rain 

Tents

Campfire

Dutch oven dinners

Smore's

Hiking

Farkle

20 questions

2 truths and 1 lie

Monopoly Deal

Car troubles

=

Our first camping trip!

We went camping for our first time since we have been married with our friends the Donaldson's.  We had such a great time! The food was amazing.... we ate SO much! We made lots of smore's, talked around the fire, played games, went on a hike, and had so much fun!  We loved it!

We have a few car troubles. Our jeep got overheated going up the mountains due to a cracked pipe.  Luckily Bryson had the parts to fix it! It pays to have a handy man around!!! So while we were waiting for the jeep to cool down, the boys decided to make the most of it and go on a little hike, while Sydney and I just sat on the side of the road in lawn chairs!

You can see Clay and Bryson on the top of that rock.

This is a close up of the same picture.

This is the view from our hike when we reached the top, it was beautiful!! So amazing!

Lookin good in the ASU hat!! I think he's converting...

Of course he had to bring these so he could "glass"

A horrible attempt at a picture of us together.

This squirrel was just chillin by us the whole time we were up there.  Wasn't scared at all!

Meet the Donaldson's!

We go rabid when we are in the mountains??

We had such a good time! Wish we would've been better about taking more pictures.  Thanks to the Donaldson's for such a great time. Even with the car troubles.  Their car broke down on the way home from the mountain.... and 5 hours later the tow truck finally arrived!!! Good times sitting on the side of the road!

HaPpY bIrThDaY my Love!

Happy Birthday Bryson!!

We made a fun weekend out of his birthday. We went to Vail to hangout with his family and his aunt Gena and had some tasty food and homemade ice cream!  He was pretty spoiled on the presents! He came out with $75 Red Lobster gift card, a homemade ice cream maker, $25 gift card to the movies, and about 5 of his favorite movies!! Thanks to everyone who made it a special day for him!

For his birthday dinner he chose Red Lobster (of course) and some friends came to join us. We had such a fun night and played some Farkle afterwards.
(Left, the Donaldson's, us, the Bailey's)

Catching up and being sick

I'm still trying to catch up a little bit on some of the past since I just started the blog.  I didn't want to leave EVERYTHING out, although I'm leaving a ton out.  On Saturday we went to the movie and before we went Bryson said he wasn't feeling very well, but I really wanted to go so he said we still could.  So we went and he started feeling worse throughout the movie.  He has been in bed with a high fever, throwing up, and the rest the comes with it.... Poor guy.  I have felt so bad and just tried to use my nursing skills to help my husband for the first time.  He finally is feeling a little better today so we were looking at some pictures, here are a few...

A day trip to Flagstaff to watch my cousin Haylee play volleyball ( don't know what the whole tongue thing is all about, but this is the only picture we had)

We went on a cruise for Spring Break, or so we thought!  We booked the cruise and were so excited until we realized we booked on the week AFTER Spring Break, haha.  Everything worked out and our professors were helpful and understanding and we had an AMAZING time!

Us on the top deck of the ship at sunset

(Shanda, Lacey, me)
We went with my whole family and my uncle Marks family, along with a few other family friends from Thatcher. 

 

The last dinner on the cruise with my whole family, minus Mckay on a mission and Brightyn who had to stay home with her grandma Call





 As we were looking through the pictures, we looked at most of his mission pictures.  I am so grateful he served such an honorable mission! I love his stories and the things he learned that you can only learn on a mission.  He went to Sydney, Australia, lucky!! Such a beautiful country.

So green!

He is very proud of taking this picture, he is known for taking sunset pictures

The day he went home, with his mission President and his wife

And this is of my birthday last month, it was during finals as usual, which always stinks, but he took a break from studying and we went to dinner and went to the mall to get me a new outfit.  Such a good hubby!

Hard at work! Studying for Ochem final

Before dinner

 And last, my birthday present!! I had been wanting one, but they are so expensive I didn't think I would get one for a while.  But I was surprised with this from Bryson, my mom, and his mom for my birthday.  I love it!!! Thank you!!