Christmas Morning

I love Christmas morning... I always wake up early and can't fall back asleep because I get so excited. This year I was told that I was not allowed to wake everyone up early. So I didn't... I was up for about 20 minutes before Mom Peterson decided to wake everyone up, I was okay with that. Here are Scott and I on the stairs waiting to come down.

Here we are in front of Mom's upside down Christmas Tree.

Here is Scott with his sisters.

We had lots of fun opening presents and here we are with all we opened today. Merry Christmas to everyone! I love this time of year and we have had so much fun! We also watched Mr. Krugers Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, and the Forgetton Carrols either last night or this morning and we have enjoyed remembering the birth of the Savior. We hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and happy day. We love you all. Merry Christmas!

Twas the Night Before Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we had the Peterson Family Christmas Party! We had tons of fun and started the night with some activities before dinner. We even found Christmas Crackers, those are favorite memories from Scott and I from England.

We had a gift exchange game and that was awesome. Kevin, Scott's stepdad, was joking as he opened his gift that he was hoping it was a right arm... and he opened a Mr Potatoe Head so he got his arm. Here he is trying it on.

We also did the nativity. Here are the wise men

and the angel

and you can't forget Mary, Joseph and the donkey. Since Dan wasn't here to play the donkey I decided that I would have to fill in for that noble role!

Next it was time to open gifts.

I was really excited for all the scrapebook stuff DaNae got me!

Wedding Bells

Congrats to Eric and Melodie!

They were married on Tuesday in the Mesa Temple. I think it was an emontional day for everyone involved. Scott and I started the day by picking up my brother Dan from the airport. We then went out to breakfast before going to Eric's house to hang out for a bit before the wedding. The ceremony was good. I felt like my sister was there. This is the women that will help to take care of her kids. I was happy and sad all at the same time. I miss Michelle alot, but I also think Melodie will be a great addition to the family!

Here is the Goodman family.

Here is the whole group... there were a lot of kids there.

We finished the day with dinner at Eric's parents house. That was really good and fun. Eric's family got them this picture of the temple! It was a good day.

New Haircut

So I got my hair cut yesterday... Here it is

Phoenix Zoolights

Scott and I had a really fun date night last night. We went to the zoo! There weren't very many animals out, instead we wondered around the park that was all decorated with Christmas lights! We did get to see elephants. Here is a picture of me and if you look hard in the background you can see the elephant! There were also zebras and flamingos amoung others.

There were sets of lights that showed animals moving, like a monkey swinging through the trees, or penguins sliding across the field. I like the baby elephant shooting water at his mommy.

Here is Scott with his dancing gorilla! He sure does know how to party!

There was also an area of trees that lite up with the music. We stopped and watched that a few times. I tried to take a video of it, but our camera doesn't record sound... so it is a bit lame, but it is in the post below!

The night was just perfect... a little brisk so we were just a tiny bit cold... which felt good while looking at Christmas lights! We had a really fun night!

Carol of the Bells Tree Lights

Christmas is Coming

We had a fun week last week. On Wednesday Scott's family joined us at Outback where we went to celebrate Michelle's life. My family thought it would be a fun tradition to go out to eat and remember Michelle on the anniversary of her death... I can't believe that it has been two years. After dinner we went to Bookman's, a used bookstore and I found a ton of romances that Michelle got me hooked on. We bought some for Christmas and some for me to read before Christmas. I'm so glad that Michelle taught me how to find clean romance novels.... they are so much fun to read.

On Friday night mom had a party for her work so Scott and I went with her and we met Brian and Meija there. We had a good potluck dinner and then Santa came and brought presents for the kids. Amelia got a webkins stuffed animal and then they drew names for the adults to get gift certificates to resturants. I got one to Olive Garden! That will be a nice date night!

After the Christmas party Kevin met Mom, Scott and I at the temple to look at the temple lights! They are so pretty! It was weird, but fun to look at Christmas lights in sandles and a light jacket!

On Saturday morning Mom and I went to a Arts Festival Fair in Tempe right next to ASU. We walked around the booths for hours and had so much fun. There was some really cool stuff, but most of it was really expensive. I did find our family Christmas ornament for this year... we decided to do a Cactus to represent our year of traveling and living in so many different places, since we ended up in AZ. We had a ton of fun.

When we got home it was time to prepare to have a picnic and go to a light parade in Pheonix. We went early to get a spot and had dinner there. We took Amelia with us and had tons of fun watching all the floats and lights come past! It is fun to have the Christmas season here. Last night we watched It's a Wonderful Life. That is a fun movie to bring in the Christmas season and to think about how lucky we are with so many wonderful friends and family. We love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have had a great Thanksgiving weekend here in AZ. Scott's sister DaNae came down from BYU and it was great to be together with the family down here, even if I did miss the family get together in Utah.

DaNae came in on Tuesday night so we hung out a bit then... watching the finale of Dancing with the Stars! I was glad that Brooke won and Warren came in second! I worked on Wednesday, which was a bit crazy. Then we stayed up late hanging out and watching movies! We also get a turkey ready to fry the next day. We made the injection and it was SOOOOO good! On Thanksgiving morning it was my job to make rolls... That is what the above picture is. It just isn't the holidays without Grandma Perround's rolls! The whole pan was basiclly gone that day, they were so good. Between me, mom, and Meija we got to spread out the cooking and it was a fun day with food, naps, and games. I got to watch the parade in the morning, but the rest of the day the TV was on the 3 football games... it was a little disappointing that all three were pretty much blowouts.

Besides the fried turkey we had a Hawaiin turkey with rice bowls, that Lanae and DeNae love! Here are those two with Meija shredding up that turkey.

And here is our Thanksgiving spread!

I worked on Friday which was a little disappointing. There wasn't really that much to do, so we didn't really stay busy since they are updating the equipement again, but there was enough to stay so I was a bit bored most of the day. I was glad to play games when I got home. Scott, DaNae and I even decided to make a midnight run to Walmart and do some Christmas shopping... that was fun, there was almost no one in the store!

Mostly I am excited that the Christmas is really truely officially here. Now no one can complain about listening to Christmas music.... even if I have been doing it for a month now.

I'm glad to remember the meaning of Christmas at this time. 19 years ago today Scott's Dad and brother passed away and on Wednesday it will be 2 years since Michelle passed. I still remember the morning drive after I found out about Michelle and the overwhelming love I felt from the Savior. I am grateful to know that God has a plan for us and that the ones we love never really leave us because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is really the reason for the season!

I miss Scott

So Scott drove up to Utah today... and I miss him. But I am grateful that he is safe. He comes back to AZ on Saturday, in the middle of the BYU UofU game.... that was poor planning on our part. Opps! Scott is having fun with his sister... her birthday is on Friday and he totally surprised her today and took her to dinner! I can share for a little bit... I get to stay here and work...... wow that sounds like fun. But I am grateful to have a job and I am not looking forward to job hunting once we get up to Utah.

Wow Another Week Gone By

Well it has been a busy week. Work has been a bit stressful for me, there is just so much to do. A new person started this week so it was nice to have some help on most days. We had fun roasting marshmellows in a firepit outside. We enjoyed celebrating Veteran's Day on Tuesday. I was excited while watching Dancing With the Stars to see Len, the had judge who is British wearing a Poppy. I wore one both years that I was in England. We are starting our Christmas shopping. Yep I think that pretty much covers the week!

Today I am thankful for our freedoms and those who have faught to give us those. Well that was a post I was gonna make on Tuesday... but time ran away from me. I am reading the Prince and the Pauper right now and it is making me thankful for my life, even when it is up in the air. As the two boys switch places they feel lost and want their lives back... I am grateful that I get to be me and have my family and friends around. Well that is about it for now... Hope everyone has a great week!

Giving Thanks

So it has been an interesting few days. Today I think I should be grateful for change that makes life so exciting. At church today someone bore their testimony about how they have learned that change always comes or something and Scott and I just started to laugh. Well this week we realized that things aren't going to get more organized in this office with the new year so it would be a better use of our time to move back to Utah and for Scott to focus on school, rather than working and taking Independent Study. So to stop from paying double rent for this month Scott's parents were wonderful to let us move back in with them for a few weeks. We are still deciding how long we will stay here.... it depends on how the job search goes in Utah.

The other news of changes this week came in an email from my brother-in-law. Eric announced his engagement to Melodie. They are getting married here in AZ right before Christmas. We are excited to be able to go to the wedding since we will be spending Christmas here. I will admit that emotions are all over the place with this announcement... but it really is almost completely happiness and excitement. One of the things that I remember Michelle saying in the last few days of her life was how Eric needed to find someone who would be good to her kids. I haven't meet Melodie, but I got the feeling as I found out about the wedding that she is the right person and that Michelle is happy. So Melodie, if you read this... welcome to the family!

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I should be grateful for change... life has been so up in the air the last few years, but I have what is important around me. The gospel and my family. Change gives us the opportunity to grow and accept different things. It also teaches us to be happy no matter what, if we let it. It is like the moto from Meet the Robbinsons Keep Moving Forword! That is what we will do. We will keep going and smile as we do it!

Thanks day 3

Scott says that I am thankful for him today.... because I am blinded by his pure awesomeness...skadush (watch Kung Fu Panda if you want to understand that last part!)

Well as silly as Scott is... it is true... I really am thankful for him. He makes me laugh, even when I don't want to. He knows when I am done and don't want to make dinner so he'll take me out or try and help cook. He also gives amazing hugs. So there you go... another entry in the month of giving Thanks!

So I was looking for a picture and Scott said I should post this one because you can see his pure awesomeness. These are just the first place trophies that Scott won from playing chess... yep, he is a nerd.... and I still love him!

Thanks

So I am not having the best day.... I just feel down and work was stressful. I just got home from work and decided to get on the computer and I remembered my thankful list. I totally did not want to do it... but isn't that when you need to do it even more.

Okay so lets see... yesterday I was all serious, that is not happening today. Today I am thankful for the fact that time continues and the work day ends so that I can go home, even when it seems to last forever. I'm also grateful that I can come home to a pretty clean house and relax before I make an easy dinner.... whatever that will be.... Hopefully this internet connection will work and I can also be grateful to watch last week's Dancing with the Stars... I love that show and I am a little behind, so it will be nice to catch up.

Well I have to admit that I do feel a little better and a little less grumpy now that I've done that... I guess it is a good thing to do.

The Best Time of Year!

So I am getting really excited as we move further into fall and in the beginning of winter. (It helps that I am in AZ and I don't have to deal with the cold, I love the first snow fall or two... but I am not a big fan of cold weather.) I have just always looked at October as the start of the best holidays... probably because it starts with my birthday and goes to Halloween (who doesn't love a holiday surround by candy!), and continues with Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I want to take some time to think about the many blessings that I have in my life. This is a time to be grateful for all that we have been given. Hopefully I can add to this each day... or at least close to it... we'll see how our internet connection goes.

Today I want to start my grateful list with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had stake conference today and were able to listen to a prophet of God testify of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to know that I am a child of God and that Christ is my older brother. I know that Christ guides our lives. Our lives in the last few years have taken many twists and turns and I am grateful to know that God is directing us and that He knows what He is doing!

Basketball Season Has Begun

Our fun continued this week when we Suns opened regular season play on Wednesday. After we both got off work we headed to a sports girl type place to have dinner and watch the Suns game since we don't have a TV connection. We went to the Tempe marketplace... an out door mall near our house... which is also close to ASU campus.

Anyway they were having some sort of rally outside the place and right as the second half was starting a bunch of people walked in and started handing out spirit towels to cheer with. A guy walked up to us and asked if we were Suns fans.... well for Scott just calling him a fun is an understatement. Then he asked if we would like free tickets for the game the next night. We were so excited! We had a blast watching the rest of the game and eating our dinner... we were both on cloud nine. After dinner we went and played some games in the arcade! It was a really fun night.

So on Thursday after work we headed towards down town to the arena. We got there early and enjoyed wandering around the stadium for a bit and getting something to eat. Our seats were up high but it was still amazing to be able to watch the game. The Suns lost which was sad. They started down and then that margin stayed for the rest of the game.


Here is Steve Nash making a Free Throw. They pulled really close in the last quarter, but then New Orleans made a bunch of three pointers... oh well... we still had a great time at the game and really enjoyed spending time together! Now that the season in begun I know what Scott will want to do most nights... and we will both have fun with it! Go Suns!

I was excited that the Cougars pulled off a win against CSU yesterday. there games are getting close.... hey all that really matters is that we beat Utah right? We were listening to the game on the radio over the internet while we were cleaning the house... Our neighbors may have gotten a bit freaked out when they heard randamn shouts when the Cougars scored! GO COUGARS!

Happy Halloween!

We have had a fun and exciting week! These things really fall under two categories... Halloween and Suns basketball.


On Monday we asked Scott's family to join us in carving pumpkins for family home evening! We had a blast! We got pumpkins from Sams club and then enjoyed hanging out, eating food and carving. We watched a food show network pumpkin carving competition right before we carved ours... well we didn't compare, but we sure had fun trying. Scott and I shared a pumpkin... Scott let me get all of the gook out.

Then we worked together to design our masterpiece!

On Friday for Halloween we ended up at Mom's house and we all played games outside while handing out candy to trick or treaters. The night was slightly dampered when some stupid kids decided to drive by and shoot paintballs at us. Scott ran after the car to try and get the license plate number but they had covered it up. Some people are just rude and inconciderate... but we didn't let that stop us. We stayed outside and finished our game. We had a fun Halloween.

Another Birthday Party

So last Sunday we had a family birthday party with Scott's side of the family. We had a wonderful cheese fondue meal! It was so yummy! I got some more really cool gifts... I love the shirt... okay I picked it out like a month ago and made Scott hold it since he said it was for my birthday.

The whole family went in together and got us this picture. Scott and I have been looking at it for awhile! We were so excited!










Here is Amelia giving me a special birthday hug... she made me the cutest card too!














Here is the brownie with the candles in it... The candles even had some that light back up after you try and blow them out! I got really spoiled when it came to dessert. We had brownies, creme puffs, and chocolate to dip strawberries in! The chocolate was so good!

The rest of the week has been pretty normal. We both worked a lot. We are starting to get into more of a routine. I cleaned the house on Saturday... that is when it is really nice to have a small one bed one bath apartment... it is the smallest place we've had since we've been married, we have been spoiled. I even went out shopping and exploring the area. I have picked out some of the scrapbooking stuff Mom is getting me for my birthday... they are just on sale next week so I am going back in the next few days to pick them up. So that is our week in a nutshell! It has been fun. Mostly we are just having fun together. Some things have made us really think this week about how much we love and appreciate each other. It is nice to have moments to really treasure each other even when life gets busy!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Sorry I've been a slacker lately... that is what I get for working too much. I was going to update earlier but I couldn't get the internet to work!

reunion and being in our so many of our friends and family. We had a great trip up to Utah last week. It was so fun to see everyone. We had a great time at the mission reunion and it was wonderful to be in our condo for the weekend. On Sunday we had a party with the family! My niece Addy's birthday had been the day before so we had a fun joint birthday. Betsy made the cutest monkey cake!





Scott and I enjoyed playing with the party toys!













DaNae gave me the coolest birthday present! Here is the BYU football shirt for the year! I was so excited... that is one thing that I really miss about being in AZ during the football season... I don't even get to watch most of the games since they aren't broadcasted down here. DaNae got Scott a shirt too! As much as I miss BYU football I have to admit that I am glad that I am missing the snow storm that is supposed to hit Utah today! It has cooled down here this week and I am enjoying a cool breeze through the windows!

So we drove home from Utah on Monday and we have just been working all week! On Thursday we had dinner with the family and I got Sleeping Beauty for my birthday! I was so excited! Scott and I love that movie... when he was little he used to pretend he was the prince and fight the tumble weeds outside... he is MY charming prince! On Friday I got to sleep in a little and go to work about an hour late! That felt good! My co-workers even get doughnuts to share. Scott took me out to lunch and the family got me a mickey bag full of treats at work! After we all got off work we headed to the opening night of the state fair! We had fun eating food and riding rides. I had a birthday headband that I had to wear all night so I got lots of happy birthdays!

We all went on the Ferris Wheel and it was fun to see everything from up high. Scott and I also decided to go on this ride. It was awesome! We were spinning around upside down for while.... we were going everywhere... it was a neat sensation. We are in those cars... upside down!

This picture is right as the ride finished... My hair is all in my face cause we had been upside down... It was a cool ride.













Later that night Lanae, her friend Liz and I all went down the big slide. Lanae won the race and here we are arriving at the bottom! We had so much fun. I ate funnel cake for Dan and Fries for DaNae... they asked me to! We also all shared Kettle Corn, Carmel Apples, Turkey Legs, Fresh Lemonade, and Fry Bread! I think that is all we ate... but there could be more.... we also found some nice jewelry! I had a really fun birthday!

Week In Review

So I'm sitting here in front of the computer and listening to the BYU Football game online on the radio and getting ready to think about this past week. We have had a great week!

I started a job on Tuesday and I have been working alot since then. I can work overtime so that means I often stay until Scott is done working too. My job keeps me really busy. I am working for a guy from church that recently started a new business. Alot of what they are doing right now is transfering old home vidoes to DVD. I get to record all of the videos. I usually have 6 machines going and am cleaning another project at the same time... and usually when one machine is done that means that at least one more will finish a second later. Right now there is another guy working with me but that won't be for long. I stay really busy and it is pretty fun.

Scott has been going out this week. The office from Texas came out to join the office here after the hurricane last weekend. This is really good news for us because it means the office here will have more structure and that techs will be avaible. It has been hard for Scott the last few weeks because the other people here weren't really excited to go out and were only out for like an hour on some days.... it is nice for us to feel like we are getting into a normal life. We even should be able to move into our own place in the next week or so. Its been fun living with the parents but it just isn't the same as having your own place.

I also wanted to wish some of my sisters Happy Birthday... Betsy had a birthday on the 11th and Meija's was on the 15th. The 15th would also have been my big sisters 38 birthday! I love and miss Michelle and I am grateful for the example she was to me. She was my role model all growing up! I am forever grateful for those months I spent with her and the family while I was engaged. I learned so much from her....... Happy Birthday to those I love

Scott and I now have plane tickets and we will be in Utah conference weekend, the first weekend in October. We fly in Thursday morning and will drive our other car down here on Sunday or Monday. We are excited to visit with family and friends and be home for the weekend.

Well I guess that is the update for now... I'm still listening to the BYU game... They are winning with 10 min to go in the first half... Hopefully it will stay that way. GO COUGARS!

Fun Times

So we have had some fun times since we arrived here in AZ... Last week we went on a date and were walking around the mall. We went into the Disney store and found T-shirts for $5 and we each got one! We also spent last weekend with Brian and Meija and had tons of fun. We stayed up late playing video games and then the next day went and looked at model homes. Scott and I are starting to get ideas of what kind of floor plan we want in our dream home in the future. We also played Mother May I. That is what this picture is... we let the boys call it out and they got a little weird.

Scott and I had a really fun date night this last week. We decided to go on a progressive dinner. At first we let the flip of the coin determine which direction we would turn.

We started out at Burger King for drinks, we got shakes.

Then we went to Applebes and got Potato Skins! We even brought our shakes inside with us! Our waitress thought it was such a cute idea! She said she would steal it for her and her boyfriend. We said that is okay since we stole it from Scott's mom.

That was where our following the coin ended. We wanted something a little more healty for the main course so we went to Rumbi and shared a chicken and stake bowl. It wasn't too hot so we even ate outside... (it is still over 100 here everyday, yesterday our car thermomother said it was 115)

We then went to the dollar store and picked out something funny to wear. We had fun with the glow necklaces and the bucket hat!

Then for dessert Scott wanted a blizzard from Diary Queen. I wanted a snow cone so we made two more stops for dessert on our way home. When we got home we watched a movie. It was a really fun night and we enjoyed spending the time together!