Real Season Opener

Uncle Ben and Jodi have season tickets to Real Soccer in the new Rio Tinto stadium. Spencer and Diana were also able to join us. Although the weather did not cooperate, we really didn't get soaked until the end of the game. It was fun! Real took this one 4 to 1. Thanks Ben and Jodi!

Sister Fun!

Since moving back to Utah I have been able to enjoy lots of good sister bonding time. We've been 80's dancing, where getting ready for the dance is half the fun. 

The Real Salt Lake soccer team had a free exibition game. We went early, got great seats and have a sun burn to prove it. It has been fun to be close to family again. 

A New Job! And Looking Back...

We have been blessed and our circumstances have been very fortunate. One week after moving back to Utah I was able to get a job as the dietitian for Jordan School District. We moved on a Saturday and I interviewed that Monday! A week later I was working! It was a quick turn around, but it was just what we needed. We are so grateful. It's confirmation to us that we are in the right place at the right time. So while I am enjoying my new job and learning a lot, I miss all of my friends from good old Glendale Elementary School District. So here is a shout out to them. I miss you guys! 

We Moved!

Josh was able to get the last portion of his internship in Utah! So now we are back in the motherland! The move was a little stressful at times. I don't know how we would have done it without the help of friends and family. 

We made the drive here in great time, thanks to our good old rental truck. Unfortunately it took us two trucks to get here! Truck number one died shortly after we picked it up! Once we got here, we had so much help that we unloaded the truck in just over an hour! It was like a human conveyor belt. 

Jess and Trav are also our neighbors, they are practically next door in the complex! A week after we arrived in town we came home to find a washer and dryer in our kitchen! Jess and Trav, through some miracle, had a friend that was upgrading to a new set. We had been washing cloths in the comfort of our own home ever since. 

Organ Pipe Natl' Monument

From Organ Pipe Natl Monument

We had a three day weekend with MLK day and decided to spend a night camping by the USA / Mexico border. The Organ Pipe Natl Monument was created to preserve the Sonoran desert. The park is full of saguaro and organ pipe cactus. Pretty much every plant, tree and shrub in the park has thorns or is poisonous.  

So of course we both got stuck a couple of times. With so much cacti, it's just a matter of time before you become a human pin cushion. I got up close and personal with a cholla (ie jumping cactus) while josh got tangled up in some catclaw. 

Some don't really care for desert landscape but we have grown to love it. We went on a 21 mile scenic loop that took us the foothills of the Ajo mountains. While on the loop we took in a classic sunset with silhouetted cactus all around us.

Most of the park can only be accessed now by day hikes. They had to close the backcounty camping because of the drug smugglers and banditos that make border crossings there. We stayed the campground and even though we could see the border fence from camp we felt pretty safe. 

While there we went to a ranger fireside chat. We were the youngest couple there by far. Any one of the other campers could have passed for our grandparents (mostly RV campers). It was fun, kind of like being invited to a traveling senior citizens meeting. 

We are very excited about moving back to Utah in February but as it turns out moving can be pretty stressful.  Josh has been working / interning 55 hour weeks for a few months now. I have started the job hunt and tried to get things set up for us to move. So it was nice to leave all that behind for a couple of days and just relax and enjoy the scenery.

A White Christmas

For Christmas we traveled back to the motherland where we could enjoy the snow and time with our families. We went through Vegas to avoid winter storms and were glad that we did. Vegas is quite a place during Christmas, not to mention the stellar room rates. This year we did Christmas with the Treasure's. We wrapped presents while watching Christmas movies and had our traditional reading from Luke and Christmas Eve drive to look at Christmas lights. With 9 of us all packed in the Honda Pilot it's sure to be a good time! We had a wonderful white Christmas morning with everyone in PJ's, opening presents around the tree. Later we went up to WJ to celebrate with the Bastian's. It was fun to spend time with everyone but we missed not having Russ in town. 

The rest of our break was filled with family time and Winter festivities. We went ice skating at the Galliven's Center down town and sledding up by Ben and Jodi's house on the East side. Josh's cousin Jenna had her mission farewell so we got to see a lot of the Bastian clan.

We are very grateful for our families and we were glad we could spend the holidays with them. 

October / November: Kanab, North Rim, Halloween, a Wedding, our Anniversary, and Thanksgiving.

So to catch everyone up, the past couple of months have been busy but enjoyable. In October we met up with the Treasures in Kanab. Why Kanab, well why not? For one thing it's about halfway between Phoenix and Springville. It also happens to be two hours from a handful of National Parks. From Kanab we visited Bryce Canyon and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and seeing the sights. We really made some great memories, like Jordan and his hat, and Ryan and Josh's discovery of "the caves".

Once back home in Glendale we wrapped up the month with Halloween. We didn't have great costumes (kind of the norm with us), but we did carve pumpkins with Russ which has become a tradition. The Lemons were in town for John and Amica's wedding. It was fun to get together and see everyone. The weather was beautiful and it was a great day for a wedding.

We started November out with our 4 year anniversary. It's unbelievable how fast time flies. We are so greatful for each other and our marriage. We look forward to many more.

Jessica came to visit over Veterans Day weekend, Trav couldn't make it because of work. Josh was so excited for me to have some girl time. We had lots of fun shopping, laughing at really old inside jokes and just doing girlie things. With Jess even traffic is loads of fun - that's its own story.

Thanksgiving was funny because we didn't know who was coming until right before. It all worked out though. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house with Russ's help. Brad, Katie, and Spencer made the long drive for turkey, and we had plenty of turkey. We had a great meal, we missed Mom and Dad, but it was great to have all the siblings together. While they were here we did a little bit of everything; a little rock band, a little hiking, a little bit of "rock Frisbee", and of course a little bit of crazy black Friday shopping. We also fit in some movies in too. All in all, it was really great to have everyone here and sad to see them leave.