Ice Skating

While in Utah for Christmas break we went ice skating with Dwayne's sister Dani and her hubby Steve, and Dwayne's other sisters kids. It was a ton of fun, we took Dylon for the fist time. He skated like a champ considering it was his first time on skates of any kind. It's become a tradition to go skating in Logan when we go visit. Dylon and Maya were done after about 1/2 hour, thank goodness the snack bar had popcorn to keep them occupied while the rest of us took turns skating a little longer. Can't wait to go the next time we go up and visit!

This year flew by in the blink of an eye!

Dwayne finished his first year of dental school, took and passed his first set of boards and is already half way though his second year. He has started his Public Health class which keeps him very busy, and they are now working on each other and assisting in the dental clinic. He is also now working with the Young Men in the ward which he is enjoying; he has already gone on two camp outs in the short time that he has been serving in the calling. (I guess that makes up for the lack of camping trips that we have been able to go on.)

Marie has been busy with Dylon and Malia and her new calling in the Primary. I'm lucky enough to be able to stay home with the kiddos right now. We try to get out during the week to spend time with friends. We have a play date almost every week with other Dental Wives and their kids and have been going to a Music Makers with other ladies in our ward.

Dylon is learning new things every day. He is full of energy and is starting to test his independence. He is adjusting to having a new sister; he loves her so much and hates it when he thinks she is being left behind. (which of course only happens if Dwayne is home with her.)

Malia joined us in June and has been such a good baby. She is a good sleeper and is such a happy little girl. She lights up with whoever is willing to give her attention. It's amazing how fast she has been growing, we wish time could slow down a little bit so she can stay small a little longer.

We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New year!!

Hiking in Arizona

Early November we went hiking here in the desert. Dwayne has gone many times already with Dylon but this time I finally went with. (I was pregnant and sick most of the previous times) Well, what you see in the pictures is what you get. I took a few landscape only shots but they pretty much all looked the same. Dirt, rocks, shrubs, and cacti. So for the first half of the hike poor Dwayne had to listen to me talk about how I miss the Utah mountains and hiking there. How there just wasn't anything interesting here to look at except for that which I mentioned before. Then I realized how annoying it probably was for Dwayne to hear me complain about the landscape. I started looking around with more positive thoughts in mind and started seeing the beauty of that around us. First off, we definitely would not have been hiking in shorts and short sleeves in Utah in November. Then I started thinking of all the creations around us and realizing that was all created for us and for our enjoyment. Although Arizona doesn't have the big mountains that the Wasatch Front does, it does have some smaller ones that are very diverse and beautiful. The landscape that surrounded us was exquisit in that each plant, rock and spec of dirt was put there by our creator, how blessed we are. I still do miss many things about Utah, but I look at things in a little different way now.

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas