Brian Head was AWESOME!

Here we are Sunday night enjoying our hot chocolate and a fun game of Settlers. Jon and I won, by the way!


Monday we all went tubing in the snow storm. It was cold, but so much fun!


Aahhh, aren't we cute? Tuesday was perfect ski conditions--look at that blue sky!


The whole group getting ready to conquer the mountain! Okay, Darice and I were heading to ski lessons on the bunny slope, but the rest of the group did a pretty good job conquering anyway.

This Trip was AWESOME!!

Okay, according to our new resort friend, Bob, everything in Brian Head is AWESOME, but, ya know, he was right! Our 4 day/3 night adventure with the Roses and the Bosleys couldn't have been more perfect! Thanks to some great grandparents all around (and Darice's sister, Vanessa), we enjoyed a kids-free vacation filled with lots of games (where everyone won enough to make sure no one felt too jilted), great food (we brought most of our own food and made meals together, including delicious spaghetti and pot roast with Ranch mashed potatoes, yum!!!), and absolutely perfect ski conditions!

Monday morning we took a resort tour (with Bob) that gave all three couples $100 vouchers for the ski resort (nice!), and then we headed off to do some tubing. It was pretty cold and snowy, but the conditions certainly didn't diminish our great time racing down the hill, narrowly avoiding being launched over the barrier below. We actually did see one man catch some serious air and disappear in the snow drift behind the barrier, but since such antics got him kicked out of the tubing area, we decided to play it a little safer, thoroughly enjoying seeing how close we could get without actually touching the end of the ramp. We headed back to our resort after to warm up in the hot tubs and saunas, and then enjoyed playing games the rest of the night.

Monday's cold snow storm gave way to perfect blue skies and 8 inches of fresh powder on the slopes for our ski day Tuesday. Not only were the conditions unbelievable, but the resort was practically empty, leaving us to enjoy the day almost undisturbed. PERFECT!!!! Darice (who had never gone skiing before) and I (who had only been twice, quite some time ago) took some ski lessons while the others headed up the mountain to conquer the black diamond slopes. We hear Ryan is quite the daredevil, but it sounded like everyone was able to at least kinda keep up, minus a few face plants. (Just so you know, I only fell once the whole day, and that was only when I had stopped to help another ski class member.) We met for lunch, then I headed to the second level of slopes while Darice practiced her newly-learned skills closer to the lodge and the others ventured back to the top of the mountain to carve their way through the untouched powder above. After we all got back to our resort, we headed back for another dip in the hot tub to soothe our achy bodies. All in all, it couldn't have been a more perfect time!

I just have to say...I love the Roses and the Bosleys! Our trip was so much fun and having them with us just made it all the more AWESOME!!! I can't wait to get all of our pictures posted! We'll just have to start planning for next year!

Shooby Dooby at our 50's Sock Hop!

The one nice thing about being released from Primary is the opportunity to try out some other exciting callings in the ward. With Rebekah and Derek being called as the new Activities Coordinators in the ward, it was a given the Jon and I would be a part of their team. Our first great event? A 50's Sock Hop, complete with a real soda fountain (and my own Jon as a "soda jerk" serving root beer floats and Orange Cremes) and make-your-own ice cream sundaes, and of course, plenty of fun dancing to classic 50's tunes. I got to be the emcee for the events, which included a hula hoop, limbo, and costume contest, and a "drag racing" competition. Even Sarah got into the limbo contest. The event was a huge success and tons of step-back-in-time fun. Stay tuned for the rest of the pics--they're classics, too!

Happy RockStar Birthdays To Us!!

Jon's Costa Vida Birthday!


My Rock Band Birthday Bash!

January and February are always fun months for us because we have both our birthdays to look forward to. It helps ease the post-holiday letdown a little. =) First, we celebrated Jon's birthday in January. It was kind of a low key event this year, but we did go to Jon's favorite restaurant, Costa Vida, with all our friends to celebrate. Maybe we'll have to do a bigger Shin-Dig next year.As for my birthday, it was anything but low key! I told Hilari and Rebekah that I wanted a Rock Band Party for my birthday, and boy did they deliver. Hilari hosted the entire event and we had about 25 people there, all rocking out upstairs to Rock Band or competing downstairs on the Wii. It was a great night filled with delicious food, fun people, cool decorations, and all the celebration a girl could ask for! I LOVED it. I'm sure we'll have to throw another similar party soon, so if you couldn't make my birthday party, make sure you stay tuned for our next big bash! Thanks Hilari for making my birthday the best!!!!

Two Causes/ Two Runs

This year, Jon and I both participated this year in London's Run at Schnepf Farms to support Pediatric Cancer (January 31st) and in the 2 Sisters/1 Heart Run (February 14th) benefiting 2-year old conjoined Bailey twins.

London's Run was super fun because the entire Atkinson family joined us--Mom and Dad; Kristin, Greg, and Emily Moon; and of course, Rebekah and Derek. I ran the 10K with Becky Kleen, who helped keep me motivated enough to beat my time from last year (1 hour 4 min compared to 1 hour 5 min last year!), while Jon and the Atkinson clan, who were all running it for the first time, ran the 2 mile fun run. After the run was over, we headed over to the Roses for some of Bro. Atkinson's famous whole wheat pancakes--mmmmmm..... What a fun morning!

Then, 2 weeks later, we both did the 5K 2 Sisters/1 Heart Run at Walker Butte Elementary. Half our ward showed up to support this run since a lot of people know the Bailey family, and our friend Jamie Kieta was actually one of the organizers. It was GREAT! Not only was the run super fun (except that my MP3 player died on the last mile! I hate running without music!), but they had a ton of fun activities in addition to the run, including a little train and a petting zoo for the kids. My time on the run wasn't my best (33 minutes), but I still had a great time running and I wasn't too tired to enjoy all the other activities afterward--or my fun Valentine's date with Jon later. =)

Both Jon and I love doing these runs, other than the fact that my knees swell up to the size of an elephant's when I do. I did get new shoes before the 2 Sisters run (my belated Christmas present from Jon), and that did help. I don't get elephant knees when I just run on my own--maybe it's the stress of wanting to beat my time when I do timed or competition runs. But I still love them, so I guess I'll just have to put up with the swollen knees a couple times a year. It's all worth it!