A New Job, New State, and New Adventure

 There was a time that I was pretty good about keeping this thing up-to-date, but that time has come and gone.  This post is just to let you all know that we are still alive and well, while giving you a very brief update on what has happened with us since the last post.

Alyssa and Ambrey got their ears pierced.  I don't have a picture of Ambrey because she was with Janna when she had it done.  From what I heard she did great with it.  For Alyssa this was the second time that we've had her ears pierced, and just like last time she dealt with some swelling afterwards that prompted us to take the earrings out and let the ears heal.

Summer was horribly hot again, which was really no surprise.  The biggest shock was when we got in the pool near the end of June and found that the water 95 degrees!  That would be awesome during the wintertime, but when it's 115 degrees outside a 95 degree pool doesn't do a whole lot of good.

In part because of the heat, as well as some changes with my schedule at work we decided that it was again time to move our family elsewhere.

 But since the move wasn't until December 14th, some within our family insisted that we had to have a Christmas tree up before the move.  So we got a small one.  But that's not even the most troubling part.  Before we got this tree we had already put up two other Christmas trees.  Yes, there may be some insanity within our family.

 While dealing with about two weeks worth of delays on the close of our home in Arizona, Janna and the kids moved to our new place in New Mexico.  Moving sucks.

 This is a picture of my trip from Arizona on the 21st of December.  Janna didn't take any pictures of her trip.  When I asked her why she didn't take any pictures she said something about screaming kids, icy roads, a blizzard, and stress.  I don't know what that has to do with a camera, but whatever.

 We were supposed to leave for Utah the day after I arrived in New Mexico, but when I arrived I found a house full of sick invalids.  After considering cancelling our trip to Utah for Christmas, which was to be our first Christmas there in about five years, we spontaneously decided to leave on the afternoon of the 23rd, equipped with trash cans to catch any overflowing sickness that might appear.  We stopped in Moab after about six hours of continual screaming from Westley.  In the morning we traveled the remaining three and a half hours with a little less screaming, but this time in dense snow that at times provided as little as 75 feet of visibility.

Though the trip was difficult, it was well worth it.  The kids got to spend time with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, and we got to see what Christmas would be like if we had never left.  The picture shown above is of the girls receiving gifts that my mother asked my grandma to make.  The girls were very excited to receive the handmade dolls.

 Since returning we have settled in nicely here.  The picture above is from something that came out of the bathroom sink in the master bath.  We're not sure what it was, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that the Loch Ness Monster may have tried to escape down the drain.

 The Two oldest have settled in with school.  Alyssa is in Junior High, and Ambrey will soon be finishing third grade.  Anna is excited about starting school after the summer.

 This is my birthday gift from Janna.  I confess it's pretty awesome.  I'm spoiled.

And this is a picture of Westley eating second breakfast this morning.  I think we may have a rather large hobbit on our hands.



Staycation

I had vacation time in February that we were having a difficult time deciding what to do with.  We were debating about whether we should head to the beach in southern California for the weekend or drive to Utah to visit family.  In the end we decided that we didn't want the girls to miss any school we decided that we would stay here and discover our own town.

The first night we went camping... in our backyard.  This was the first time that Anna had ever slept in a tent.  Alyssa and Ambrey have actually camped (for real) on two other occasions.  Once while we were in Buffalo, and the other time was up at Payson Lakes before we left Utah.

After our camping adventure we went to the Phoenix zoo.  Ambrey, Anna, and Janna all got to ride on camel's, which they thought was pretty cool.

I have to honest, I thought it was a pretty hot day.  And it was only February.  I don't know how people can stand to visit this place later on in the summer.

We also went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix.

Now this place was pretty cool, and not just because it was indoor.

The girls spent most of their time at the play market.  They spent time playing as a shopper, as well as a worker.

This was Alyssa playing with one of the vacuum things.

This was my favorite part.  It was like a HUGE jungle gym.

This last picture was on Lucky Charms Day.  I mean St. Patrick's Day.  Don't they look magically delicious?

Trip to Utah

The third part of our trip included a few days with family in Utah.  As much as any other reason, being able to visit family in Utah a little more often is what lead us to our current home in Arizona.  The first two pictures were taken at Cabela's, which is where we went with my Mom for my birthday.  I had never been to Cabela's so I have to admit, I  was impressed with the what the store had to offer.

This is a picture of Alyssa and Ambrey in front of one of the displays.  There's just something about animals with sharp teeth and fangs that fascinates Ambrey.

These pictures were taken at Janna's Grandparents house.  We were there to celebrate her Grandpa Johnson's birthday.  Grandpa Johnson is picture above in this photo.  To his left in order is Janna's Farmor (Danish for father's-mother), Grandma Johnson, and Scott's wife Candace.

Another picture of Farmor, Grandma Johnson, and Candace.

For my birthday Janna got me a new shirt and a new hat.  The hat has given me another excuse so that I don't have to do anything with my hair.  As for the shirt, I'm still hopelessly addicted to the Utah Jazz.  Unfortunately it doesn't look like they're going to be very good anytime soon, so I guess that I shouldn't be too bummed that the NBA is experiencing another lockout.

This is always the best part of traveling when we are on the road.

When we were at the beach we found a coconut washed up on the shore.  Ambrey wanted to bring it with us, so when we returned home we decided that we would buy one at the store, thinking that at least we would have one that would taste well enough for the kids to try.  Well one of them did taste really good, it just wasn't the store bought one.

Disneyland

Part two of our vacation at the end of February was spent at Disneyland.

The night before visiting Disneyland we took the girls to Downtown Disney District. We walked around and looked at the shops, and got the girls the little souvenir that you see them wearing on their heads.

Janna taking Anna on the Astro Orbitor.

Alyssa and Ambrey getting themselves ready for the astro orbitor.

The last ride of the day was "It's a Small World." Sadly, Anna really liked this ride so I guess that we'll have to ride it again when we go next time. I also have video of Janna and the girls riding in the tea cups, but for some reason blogger isn't letting me load it.

Before leaving Alyssa, Ambrey, and Anna were able to meet Minnie Mouse and get their picture with her. Anna was a little apprehensive about this at first, but eventually she warmed up to the idea.

The family in front of Mickey Mouse and Disney's train station.

Now here is a scary thought, Ambrey on the road.

Huntington Beach

So it has been a long, long time since we last posted anything. Sorry. Over the next few posts we will be updating you on what we have done since we left Buffalo. There will probably be no rhyme or reason to what we post until we are caught up to what we are doing now.

At the end of February we took our family to the beach for the first time. The girls loved the ocean. It was probably about 65-70 degrees, but they felt a lot colder after they got drenched.

We only spent about an hour at the beach because of the weather, but the kids had a ton of fun playing in the water and collecting shells.

Anna spent about half of the time that we were there running out to the water, and then running away from the surf as it came in.

We also went to Disneyland on this trip, and to be honest, I think that the girls actually preferred the beach.

Apryl, Tyler, Renee, and Jayda's Visit to Buffalo

The first two pictures were taken at the Palmyra, New York Temple.
These three pictures are from the Hill Cummorah. The first was inside the visitors center, and the second two were from the top of the hill in front of the monument.

This picture is of the Smith family cabin on their farm in Palmyra. Directly 50-100 yards behind the cabin is the Sacred Grove.

The picture above, and video below are both of Anna and Jayda in the pool on what was the warmest day of the year so far. Sorry that the video is sideways, I tried turning it but couldn't get it to work right.

Images From Christmas 2008

Since we did not get a chance to put pictures on the blog from this last Christmas, I am doing that now.The first two pictures were taken at the Build-a-Bear Workshop in the University Mall of Orem. This was a gift from my mom that the girls absolutely loved. They were each given a gift card and then taken with their cousins to the mall. With the help of Grandma and Grandpa they were able to build and dress the stuffed animal of their choice.

These three pictures came courtesy of a surprise visit to Grandma and Grandpa while we were in Utah. They were very excited to see Janna and the girls.

Okay, so the pictures are not in any particular order. This one was taken at our house after we had returned home to Williamsville. This was our traditional Danish dinner. The picture you are looking at was taken just before we ate our rice pudding desert.

These three pictures were taken in Utah at what I believe is the India Palace restaurant on Center Street in Provo. The food was quite tasty, and the company was even better. The top picture is of Alyssa and Bryony. The middle picture shows Ambrey sitting next to Victoria. The last image is of Janna's father Gunnar with his lovely wife Farah. Thanks for the memories!