West Yellowstone

This past weekend Brandon and I went to Island Park, Idaho with a group of friends for SUU's spring break. Don't ask me why we decided to go somewhere colder than Cedar City for Spring Break, but we had alot of fun. Our friends Bryan and Liz have a gorgeous family cabin there. Island Park is about 30 minutes from West Yellowstone. We didn't actually go into the Park because some parts are closed until April but we went into the small town just outside the park. It was about an eight hour drive from Cedar City to Island Park.. so we stayed about five days to make it worth the trip. We did alot of fun things but we mostly just relaxed. Here are a few pics of some of the things we did do.....

The Cabin

Melanie, Taylor, Bryan, Brandon, Me, Robbie and Shaylee.

This is us getting ready to Snow Shoe, I had never done it before and it was actually pretty fun. You can do some pretty cool stuff in the snow with the shoes on. Brandon and Bryan discovered their inner-child and were doing some crazy things, including flips off of some pretty high snow banks. Crazy Boys!! Liz and Brandon even found some tiny frogs! FROGS IN THE WINTER!! I hope we didn't wake them from their hybernation.

Me and Liz all bundled up

Snowmobiling!!!

Me and Brand tubing

Bryan and Liz.

Liz and I came home with some pretty wicked bruises!

Thanks to Bryan and Liz for a great time!

8 Things

I got this off of Haydens blog

8 Things Tag

8 favorite TV shows:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Jon and Kate Plus 8
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. Celebrity Apprentice
5. American Idol
6. Dexter
7. Biggest Loser
8. King of Queens

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Went to Work
2. Made Dinner
3. Cleaned House
4. Watched American Idol
5. Watched Biggest Loser (recorded on DVR)
6. Talk on the Phone with my Mom
7. Read my Book
8. Shopped for shoes on the Internet

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Going to Yellowstone tomorrow
2. Retirement
3. Having Kids
4. Brandon being done with school
5. Twilight Movie
6. Getting married
7. Marcee's Wedding
8. Seeing my nephews tomorrow

8 favorite restaurants:
1. Olive Garden
2. Pizza Factory
3. Rodigio Grill
4. Applebees/Chilis
5. Bajio/Costa Vida/Cafe Rio
6. Quiznos
7. Brick Oven
8. Lupitas

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. Go to Grad school and survive it
2. A Cruise for Brandons Graduation
3. To Own A Home
4. New Books to read
5. Twilight The Movie
6. A Blondie from Applebees
7. To Be Debt Free
8. To loose weight and then a new wardrobe

8 people I tag:
Amber, Carli, Whitney, Leslee, Stacey, Katie, Marcee, Nicole and whoever else that wants to

In Our Own Backyard..

Me and my friends Nanci and Liz are always meeting people from all over the world and country that come to Southern Utah to see its beauty. Last week we met a couple from Fiji that was here to visit Zions National Park and we realized that people that come from gorgeous places themselves are coming to see our "backyard". So us girls decided to take advantage of our close proximity (45 min) to the park and had an amazing "girls day out". I had been to Zions alot but this trip was really fun. We hiked Emerald Pools, Weeping Rock and the short trail right before you hike The Narrows. We also took sandwiches and had a picnic on the grass in front of the Zions Lodge.

Nanci, Liz, Me

Love these girls

This place is just breathtaking. Pictures do not do it justice.

We ran into this cute little squirrel along the way.. and I swear he posed for this pic. Nancy fed him the cookie and then.....

they fell in love. She named him "Theodore" (after the chubby chipmunk from Alvin & the Chipmunks) and seriously did not want to leave him. We had to make her keep walking. It was funny cuz she is originally from Arizona and I don't think she is used to seeing little critters like this. Afterwards she said she felt like Steve Irwin because she got to be so close to the little guy.

This is Nanci afterwards when she saw this sign. Oops! Hopefully little Theodore didn't die or get sick from the aspertame in those cookies!!

Here are also some pics from my birthday.. thanks to everyone who called or commented and wished me happy birthday.. it really lifted my spirits since I am now officially

OLD!!

Carli made me this darling apron for my birthday. Thanks Car.. love it!

BELIEVE

Friday, Brandon surprised me and took to me to Las Vegas for the night. It was a late Valentines/early birthday present for me. It was a quick trip but a much needed mini vacation for the both of us. We went to Criss Angels' Cirque Du Soleil show called BELIEVE at the Luxor. I think I liked it. It had a little bit of everything in it. The dancing was choreographed by one of my favorite dancers/choreographers.. Wade Robson. The magic and illusions were cool but it wasn't unique to him. In other words.. it was all stuff I've seen before. Overall I would rate it a B+ and recommend it to others. After the show we did a little gambling.. I'm a sucker for that Roulette table!! Since I'm a cautious gambler I didn't win or lose.. broke even. I'll take it!! Thanks for an fun weekend Brandon ;) Love U!

Here is a link to a video with some highlights of the show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7ZY5rBgQGI

Last year for my birthday we went to the Cirque Du Soleil show called Mystere, also highly recommended. Now that Brandon has taken me two years in a row.. I'm going to suggest that this be a new tradition. So if you have any recommendations on good shows (anywhere) let me know!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4eiZAVveNE&feature=related

Busy, Busy, Weekend

This weekend I was able to go home to Ephraim for a few days. Ty competed in State Wrestling at UVU. The matches lasted for three days, and its wierd how exhausting it is just sitting there watching all day. It was good to see my family and Ty did a great job! Congrats to my cuz Reggie who ended up taking second in his weight class!!!!

Me shaving Kyle's hair into a mohawk-faux hawk type style.. i never ended up getting a final pic of his finished hair but it ended up really cute

Me and Ty in the stands. Can you believe he turns 16 on tuesday!!!??

Me and cousin Malakai... chunker!

Rio.. too cute!

Fiesta Bowl!!!

So this year for Christmas, Brandon took me to the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ. The highlight of the vacation was definitely the game.. University of Texas vs Ohio State. I also got to see my friend Nicole and her husband (Erik) and baby (Owen). It was really good to see them. The trip was a blast and I did not want come home. We both loved Pheonix!! Thanks Brand and the Ibarra's for a fun trip!

Erik (Nicole's Husband) and I smiling for the camera.. too bad he had to leave before the game got really good :(