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?