Lucia Davina- July 23, 2008

My beautiful niece, Lucy, was born today!! It is crazy to think that she was inside of Meradith's belly not that long ago. Life is truly a miracle! Lucy is an angel. I love her so much. It is crazy to think that this little one is finally here! Years ago Mera and I would talk about the possibility of her and Jason getting married and having babies and it was so hard to believe back then... and now look at this! Here we are! I am so excited for the both of them. Lucy is one lucky girl. Congratulations Jason and Mera! Love you both!

Here are some pictures from this evening with the little one...

I'm pretty sure that I have seen Mera do this face before....... :)

Summer 2008

Where do I even start? As everyone knows already, it has been a few months since my last post. I wish I could say we have been out of the country traveling the world and that is why I haven't been able to put on a new post.... but unfortunately that has not been the case. I think it is pretty safe to say that I am just not a good blogger. But I will do my best to keep this thing up.

We have kept busy this summer with fun activities but mostly I have been working each day and Brandon has been busy balancing school, work and keeping me happy. Here are pictures of some of the fun things that have happened.

Bear Lake for Memorial Day WeekendWe had a great time in Bear Lake for the weekend. It was a little cold but it was fun to be able to hang out with Brandon's family and friends.

Lagoon! Remember how fun the Screamer use to be? I was pretty excited to go on this ride.. this picture was taken before the ride began. I hate to admit it cause it makes me feel old, but I was so sick when it was over. I don't know if I could do that ride again.

Brandon was able to take these pictures while we were on the terrifying classic White Roller Coaster. I love that ride. You just can't go wrong with roller coasters.

Together Again!

We were finally able to get together with Jenn, Crystal, Broc, Crew, Shunae, and Travis! It had been so long since we last saw Shunae and Travis so it was fun to get together again with everyone. We were able to reminise about the good old days. Also, Shunae topped off the night with sharing some exciting news. :) Which I still can't get over.

Fourth of July We spent the 4th up in Park City. We rode bikes from Sheila and Brent's house to Main Street to watch the parade. I don't even remember the last time I was on a bike. My legs were burning before we even got out of the neighborhood. But I am happy to say that I did make it and I had a lot of fun. We then watch fireworks that night with Brandon's cousins. Brandon loves this gangster pose that we took, so I had to put this picture on. :)

4XL=4 PeopleAnother rough day at work....Baby, Ally, me and Sheryl were all able to fit into this 4XL shirt!

Brian Head with the Christensen FamilyMy parents rented out a cabin in Brian Head for our family for the first full week in July. My entire family was able to come and most of us were able to spend the entire week there. It was really fun to be able to spent so much time with my family. Above is a picture of my nieces and nephews.. minus a few that are missing. I love this picture... Sister and I always do this pose. This time Mera's shining face is between us. :)

One night we went down to Tuacahn and went to the play Les Miserables. Of course Cathy and I had to get a picture with this funny couple. It really was an awesome play.

Brinley and Kenzie

Aren't these two just so cute?! My family went to a lake one day and had a picnic. Kenzie is loving whatever she is eating!

Brandon's Birthday! Brandon turned another year older on July 11th. We celebrated by going on a hike that afternoon to Cascade Falls. The hike was kind of scary at parts so Brandon was really great at helping our nephew Jaxon get around safely.

Jaxon and Mikayla were great helpers and did the "heavy, heavy hangover" and gave Brandon his amazing presents.

Yes this cake was amazing :) Overall the day was great!

Bryce CanyonOur last hike we did that week was Bryce Canyon. It was beautiful and it was perfect weather for a hike. Here we are heading down for our adventurous hike

Brandon and my Dad

Church in Panguich Lake

Our last day in Brian Head was Sunday. We all thought it would be fun to head to Panguich Lake and attend their Branch. They had a great service. We had a great week at the cabin. Thank you Mom and Dad for making this all happen!

Weekend Getaway

I guess it is about time to post something somewhat recent on our blog. I have actually been meaning to post this a few weeks ago so it is not that recent but I am just getting around to it. :) Anyway, Brandon has worked so hard this last semester! It was a great feeling for him to finish finals so we decided to take a little break before Summer classes started and go down to St. George for the weekend. Brandon's Dad recently bought a house down in St. George, so we were lucky to have a great place to stay. Thank you, Bill, for letting us stay in your house!

We actually didn't rest much at all when we were down there. We were consistantly finding things to do. Our first stop was the Temple...

I love to see the Temple This was both Brandon and I's first time to go inside the St. George Temple. Just a little heads up to everyone, if you are feeling a little down on yourself and need someoone to make you feel good, just go to the St. George Temple. Brandon and I walked away with our confidence completed boosted. I could not believe the amount of love that was shown to us while we were there, in the Temple and on the grounds. People were so kind!

Hiking the Red CliffsAfter the Temple we headed straight to the beautiful red rocks to do some hiking. Brandon supposedly had been on this hike before and knew what he was doing but when the trail ended and Brandon started boosting me up the huge red rocks, I started to question it somewhat. We eventually found another trail after we climbed around on the huge red rock mountain for awhile. We had some pretty scary moments but I don't dare write anything down for the fear of our parents (ok my dad) being worried about us. Brandon led us both back to safety and we now have some great memories. :)

Brandon showed me how to get across this seemingly impossible part in our hike...

My amazing husband showing off some muscles.... he is so strong. :)

Golfers Many of you may not know this but Brandon and I are extremely good golfers. Well not really, but isn't that the thing to do when you are in St. George? We decided to give it a shot and hit some balls on the golfing range... that is what it is called isn't it? I have to say that my form is looking pretty good. My knee is slightly turned in and I look very focused. Plus I have plaid short on, just like a real golfer. :) Knowing that, it is going to be a shocker to find out that Brandon's golf balls actually went a lot further than mine. I guess he is the better golfer. Surprised?

Viva Las Vegas Brandon and I decided to head down to Las Vegas for a night. The last time that Brandon and I went to Vegas together I realized that I was in love with him.. it is just such a romatic place. :) Ok I don't know how many people really fall in love in Vegas but for Brandon and I, that is where it all started. It was fun to go back for just a night. I decided that Circus Circus was my favorite place to go. We saw some great free shows there and were able to get an idea of what our future child will look like. Not sure if we wanted to know after we saw the results... you are looking at some pretty messed up ears, a mohawk, and something is wrong with her lip... yes it is a her. :) If you look at her long enough though, she can start to look pretty cute. We are actually the ones not looking too good in this picture.

Our last adventure in Vegas ended on the Stratosphere. We did some of the crazy rides on the top and I thought I was about to throw up on "The Insanity" ride. Brandon loved every second of it, but I couldn't stop screaming. I didn't realize what I was getting into. People were staring at me, loving the show that I was putting on. We should have bought the picture captured on the Big Shot. My face is screaming with terror and Brandon is just looking at me laughing. Good times. Not sure if I will ever need to experience that again.

The Crack Before we headed back to Salt Lake, Brandon took me to a place called "the crack". As you can see, that is exactly what it is. It was pretty crazy. There were some points where I wasn't sure if Brandon was going to make it through. This was actually probably one of the safest activties that we did.

Making ArchesCheck out Brandon's flexibility! I was very impressed. I of course had to copy him and make my arch as well....

Overlooking St. George
As you can see, it was a great weekend!

Catching Up

OK apparently there are a few people that have been checking our blog each day to see if we have a new post. Well today is your lucky day! :) So far I am enjoying this blog thing. I have been going through all of our pictures (we have hundreds!) and reminiscing about all of the things that have happened in just the few short months since we have been married. I have just a few more things that I wanted to post and then I can move on with some more recent things we have been doing.

Brothers Don't Shake Hands... Brothers Gotta Hug!

We were able to see Brandon's brother, Robby, in AZ for a few hours on our layover back from Cabo. It was for a really short time but it was great to see him.

Go Utes!

Wait... I am not really a big Ute fan, but I need to support the hubby. He is an avid Ute fan! It is all good.. till they play BYU. I usually don't have any options when it come to football since I can barely even figure out what it going on in the game, but something from my childhood comes out when BYU plays the U and I become a huge BYU fan. Brandon and I learned this was the case this last year when we watched the game together. We don't plan on watching the U vs. BYU game together ever again :)

Frecks Frecks was a great Snowman. We made him on one of the first snow falls of the season. We actually had a lot of fun making him. You can kind of see the great detail we put into him. Check out that fang tooth!

Hotel SheilaHas anyone ever gone to their in-laws to crash for the night and you find a basket of goodies, a little bubbly, flowers and book on their bed to welcome them? I can't say I have ever received that kind of love until I met Sheila! She is amazingly loving! I have a lot to learn from her. Thank you Sheila!

St. Patricks Day I have to say, in the past I did not think twice about St. Patrick's day but now that I am a Patrick... this day seemed to mean a little bit more to me this year. Since it is our day, Brandon and I decided to do a litte celebrating. What better way to celebrate than to go Classic Skating! Brandon had some pretty sick moves on the floor. The 14 yr old girls apparently thought so as well, one was bold enough to put the moves on him! I had to lay down some lines! I guess that is what we get for going Classic Skating.


Ian's Day On March 30, 2008 Ian was baptized! This was a special day for all of us. Brandon was honored that Ian asked him to baptize him. Ian had amazing support from his ward, friends and family. So many mentioned how impressed they were at his decision and the great example he has been. Below is a picture of Ian with his parents, Sheila and Brent. Congratulations Ian!


Lions, Tigers and Bears.. oh my! I just love this picture! And I figured I would spice up our blog with some children on it :) This is my adorable niece, Brinley Jean (named after me!) and Brandon's parents dog, Noofy.

She is the cutest thing! She did this face just for the picture. :)