Last minute trip to Utah

Last Friday we decided we needed to bring all of our stuff that is in Utah in storage down to California, Chad has had a few job offers and we feel that very soon we will finally be getting into a place of our own! So we booked a flight for Saturday and headed up to Zion, aka Utah :) It was really fun we got to see some family, and were able to stay with some GREAT friends of ours, Jamie and Leo. Without them this trip would not have been possible, and without us they could have avoided being pulled over 2 times, sorry guys! We hit up some of our favorite spots to eat: Cafe Rio, Hires Big H, Bandits, and Jason's Deli. We went up to Park City for the day, saw Dear John, had a Super Bowl party, went out with my brother and sister, saw Chad's sister and her family-we had a great time! There are definately some things I miss about being in Utah, the family we have there, and our friends are two big things I miss, but the weather is something I do not miss at all!

Leo, Jamie, Me, sister, brother, Chad at Hire's Big H in SLC

Me and sister getting our ice cream after lunch at Jason's Deli, miss her!

Chad and Leo after church clearing the driveway, one of the benefits of living in Utah :)

My cute niece Claire showing me her biggest smile!

Chad and our friends Leo and Brigg who helped us move all of our stuff, thank goodness for good friends!

Need something to cheer you up?

If you are at all like me then chocolate always does the trick. I got this recipe from a lady in my ward and these cookies were DELICIOUS! Here's the secret, there is a Rolo in the middle of each cookie! I know SO GOOD! I attempted taking a few pics, didn't turn out so well because I had the batter on my hands and didn't want to ruin my new camera but you get the idea right!

And here is the recipe:

1 box Devils Cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
2 T. flour
1 bag of Rolos
Sugar for rolling

Mix the first 4 ingredients together first, then roll dough into little balls, press the rolo into the center of the ball and wrap the dough around rolo, so its no longer visible. Then you roll the ball of goodness in sugar and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 min @ 350. Makes approx 24 cookies, Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

This past Saturday was my moms birthday and we went out as a family to celebrate. She loves Cafe Rio and they just opened one in Lake Forest, Ca. so we knew that was definately going to be in the plans. We first went to the Orange County Market Place, then headed down to Cafe Rio, then we went to a park and rode tandem bikes and just enjoyed the day with my mom. I love my mom so much! SHe is such a great example to me. If there is ever a joke in the family or if someone is trying to be funny and start a rumor, we all know that we can go to my mom and she will tell the truth, my mom cannot lie!!! (Except to tell Landon that Santa Clause is real, and she still has a hard time with that) She is one of my greatest friends and I am so glad we live closer by so we can go out and spend the day with her!

Here are some photos from our day!

Pictures with my Family

We went down for a day in Huntington Beach with my family and it kind of turned into a photo session. My mom LOVES to take pictures and since everyone was in town she decided we needed to take some pictures. So here are a few of the ones she and I took! I love being with my family we had so much fun together over Christmas I was really sad to see my sisters go back up to Utah/Idaho!

The whole gang!

My sisters and sis-in-law

Me and Chadwick (he really loves when we take a LOT of pictures...not)

My brothers, dad, grandpa and husband

Christmas with the Davenports

We had Christmas with the Davenports a few days after so we could have it with Chad's sister and her family. It was really fun because Christmas lasted for more than just the one day! We also got to do a lot of Christmas festivities with Chad's parents which we really enjoyed.


We went out together and picked out the perfect tree, this was our first time getting a real tree since we have been married so I was really excited about this!

Of course we had to go look at Christmas lights, I thought this was really funny, it is Santa in the space ship. (Remember the boy they "thought" was in the bubble)

The Grove was all decorated for Christmas, at night they had snow (soap bubbles) fall from the sky! Its kind of nice only dealing with fake snow this year, since we have been in the snow for the past 4+ years!

After Christmas we went to the Wild Animal Park with the whole family, I have more pictures but didn't have them on the computer and I am on a roll right now posting so I will add them later.

Christmas with the Wilsons

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my parents this year, we had a lot of fun with my brothers and sisters and enjoyed having my grandparents over on Christmas Eve. We had dinner on Christmas Eve, then played games and sung Christmas songs. One of my favorite parts was when my brother, husband, dad, and grandpa all sang for us. If you know Chad you know he doesn't EVER sing so this was a treat for me! I also got a new camera which I am so excited about, I love taking pictures but had a basic digital camera, I got a Canon so hopefully my pictures will improve!

We gave Landon a big tub of licorice, he was confused how he is supposed to eat all of it! I love his face in this picture.

We went to a park and played volleyball and ultimate frisbee with my Aunt and Uncle and their family, it was a gorgeous sunny day!

And of course we watched the Laker game!

Vegas Trip with Security 1

After Thanksgiving we went to Las Vegas for a company trip/end of the year banquet. We had so much fun! A lot of our friends were there and it was a great way to celebrate all of the hard work that Chad and the other guys did over the summer. We went shopping, saw a Cirque de Sole (spelled wrong I'm sure) show Ka, which was pretty cool, had a dinner at a nice restaurant and we stayed at the MGM!

Some of the couples the first night

My brother and his wife Meggan

Some of the guys that work for Security 1

Here are some of the wives!