We're Gettin' Our Game On!

Brandon in his "intense" playing position...

Matt Ricks (his opponent) is pictured in this photo. Matt played tennis in high school and let's just say he is much better than all of us. However, Brandon and I did beat him and his wife Sara in a close match of doubles!!! Thanks Matt & Sara for making us feel good. We had a good time.

Sarah & her son Lance.

This kid seriously cracks me up. Every time I would go to serve, he would start making loud spitting noises with his mouth and it totally distracted me! He is a pretty cute kid though.

Spokane, WA Temple Trip

Brandon and I had the chance to go to the Spokane, WA temple last Friday night. It is such a wonderful place to be. We sure feel blessed to have temples that are few hours away.

Check out that gash about his left eye... that is from church ball. Poor kid!

This picture is super blurry but is the only one we got of all of us. Some friends in our ward were so nice to let us hitch a ride with them. Thank you James & Missy!!

"The nearer we get to God, the more easily our spirits are touched by refined and beautiful things."

~Elder Douglas L. Callister

Spring Valley Fishin'

Saturday we were able to make it out to Spring Valley to do some fishin'. It felt great to get out!! The view out there is so beautiful.... to me the view alone is worth the trip. It was so nice to take some time to enjoy the beauties of the earth.

I just love this picture of Brandon because I think he is so cute when he watches the fish bite on his bait. He watches the top part of the pole... he gets so focused nothing can distract him- not even me taken all sorts of pictures of him!

I am so glad that Brandon has the patience to let me come and fish with him. I am definitely not skilled at it but I do enjoy it.

So brave!!!

There is one thing I WILL NOT do when we fish and that is, touch the worms! I will not put worms on my hook... just watching them squirm around while Brandon squeezes their bodies through the hook makes me get chills and I usually squeal... the sissy side of me comes out I guess.

I am so sad that Brandon's head got cutoff of this picture. It is hard to take pictures when it is just the two of us but we had a few that I like.




The highlight of the day was Brandon's wide mouth bass!! He didn't think that there were any bass in the lake we were fishing in but he certainly was wrong. I think he probably caught one of the bigger ones too.... that's my boy!
P.S.- I know I sound pretty silly in the video. You will have to ignore all of my squeals and laughs.

I did not want the fish get close to me but Brandon kept saying closer!!!


This picture of Brandon fishing on the side of the lake is my favorite... I don't know why. He just looks so content I think.

Brandon thought this would be a pretty funny picture because the fish is so small. I don't get it... I was happy about all of the fish I caught!!!!! I think we each caught about 4 or 5 fish. It was a great fishing day. Too bad we returned all of them to the lake!

Straggling Pictures from the San Diego Trip

I don't know where my dinosaur neck look came from but I just love Brandon's face in this picture so I had to choose this one to post. This is when we were sitting in the airport in Spokane, WA ready to take off for our trip to San Diego. I wish I would have taken a picture of me almost crying as we were coming home to compare it... I just can't wait for our next vacation like this.... years from now!!!

This was our first morning at our Holiday Inn in Miramar, CA (a city just outside of San Diego). I thought their breakfast table setups were really cute but I don't think I really captured the beauty in this picture. There is a pink rose behind that big green leaf in the vase in the middle of the table.

After Sea World on our second day, we drove over to the San Deigo temple just to look at it before going out to dinner. We actually ended up eating dinner at a Hawaiian restaurant just across the freeway from it. When we came out of the restaurant after dinner, we saw this view... beautiful!

Where do you think this picture was takin at? By the look on my face, I would say it was definitely taken at OLIVE GARDEN! It is not that great of a picture of Brandon since his eyes are almost closed but how could I do all this posting without mentioning that we did eat some heavenly Olive Garden the last night that we were in San Diego.

This is also a bad picture but I thought I would mention the Chinese foot massage that Erika (Brandon's sister-in-law) and I got after Olive Garden that last night. At first we couldn't stop laughing because they took us into a dark room and laid towels on us. There was Chinese music playing and they brought in a bucket of water and poored them into what we thought were garbage cans but apparently they were not. They put our feet into these baskets (they had bags to line them and then the water was inside of the bag)... the water was very warm and felt great on the feet! They massaged our hands, neck, back, and face while the feet soaked and then afterwards did a 45 minute foot massage. It was WONDERFUL!! The only reason we went in the first place was because we saw a sign for it that was really big and it was a really good deal anyway... I am glad we did go because it really ended the vacation on a spectacular note (thanks to my husband who is so selfless and let's me do those kinds of things every so often when I feel that I really need them).

Day 3 - Downtown San Diego (Part I)

Isn't this statue pretty crazy?! I think it is awesome... it is located close to the U.S.S. Midway navy station from World War II that we got to tour.

The U.S.S. Midway

The U.S.S. Midway is very fascinating. We definitely could have spent the whole day touring the ship had we had all day to do so... but we didn't so we just toured as much as we could in the short amount of time we had. The cool thing about the tour is that they give you a headset like the one you see in the above picture that is on Brandon. They also give you a control (Brandon is wearing it around his neck) and you can go your own pace... it is an audio tour with over 60 stops... the coolest part is the top because there are lots of fighter jet planes and helicopters there. They were all once used in war so that is pretty cool. Some of them they even let you sit in... The one I am sitting in a few pictures down was not on the top level but still it is incredible just to sit in it and look around. I can't believe that they used to land those things on the top of those large ships!!!

By the way... I am sure that the bulging square in my pocket is driving you crazy (at least it is driving me crazy!!!)... sorry, it is my phone.

Those are bombs that Brandon has his hand on top of.

These are the nicest and I mean seriously the nicest bunks on the ship... so I am sure that the officers of highest rank had them. Most of the sleeping areas have bunks stacked with four beds and hardly no breathing room... you can't even sit up in them. Do we ever have it good or what

We did not tour the Midway with Brandon's brother and sister-in-law so it was a bit harder for us to get pictures together. I am glad we got some of each of us though. Sorry for the red eye (I know it drives me crazy so I am sure it is bugging whoever is reading this).

Day 3 - Downtown San Diego (Part II)

When we were in downtown San Diego on Saturday, we decided to take a ride on what is called the "SEAL." It is a bus that can turn into a boat. It is pretty neat but kind of spendy.

Here we are as we are leaving dry ground.

This is what we look like out on the bay.

Here is our group. Left to right: Brandon, me, Erika (sister-in-law), and Brandon's brother Mike holding their littlest one, Gabe.


It is too bad that we didn't get a better picture of this ship because it was pretty sweet!! It looks like a pirate ship from Pirates of the Carribean to me!

Beautiful views. Brandon and I both love seeing all of the sailboats out on the water.



One of the partial stops we made while we were on the guided "SEAL" tour was near a floating deck of sea lions... I guess that they get fed really well in that area too... There is a big shed that the keepers put down in the water with food in it for them... so pretty much all they have to do is eat and sleep... what a life!!!



One of the things you will notice from this video and the sea lion pictures is that the sea lions develop a furry skin cover as they dry out... that is to keep them warm and then they become slick once they are in the water... cool, huh?!

Day 2 - Sea World

Funny thing- we took a picture next to this ship right after we entered Sea World... and good thing we did it early! As we were leaving the park later that day, we noticed that a worker at the park had stacked a bunch of drinks and snacks in it that were for sale. So I guess we hit it at the right time.


Here is a cute cave near the polar bear exhibit. I am sad that the first picture of Brandon and I in it is so dark. Anyone know if there is a way to fix that?

My favorite part about Sea World was definitely "dining with Shamu." We signed up for a special event where you can eat next to the pool where some of the whales hang out during their free time. The lunch that they provide is beautiful! I was so disappointed that I got full fast because I wanted to just take it all in. Then the desserts... that is another story... they were Heavenly. As you can see from the pictures and videos below, we pretty much were able to get right next to the whales as we ate. There were multiple times that I could seriously reach down and touch them... It was pretty cool and I would definitely say that the experience and meal was worth the money.








We found a stable full of Clydesdales. Those horses are HUGE!!


This is a view from underneath the big pool where the whales hang out during their down time and sometimes training time. It is also the same pool that was right next to us during our "lunch with Shamu."

This is the big pool that they do the Shamu show in. I wanted to post a picture because I wanted you to be able to see the big TV screens above the water and between the giant whale tail. Those screens come apart during the show and make four individual screens.. then they can combine into one big screen as well. It is pretty cool. The whole show is choreographed to music and the video... It was spectacular!

This is us right before the big Shamu whale show was to begin. We saved it for the end of the day and I am glad we did :)

This is Brandon and his oldest brother Mike. Mike & his wife Erika met up with us on day 2 and we got to hang out with them during the rest of our vacation activities. They brought their newest and cutest addition, Gabe (far right).

Flamingos - I love the heart shape.

This is a really bad picture of us but it is the best one we could get of us riding on a sky ride that takes you across a large body of water and back.

This picture was taken as we were on a sky tower overlooking Sea World. Can I just say how much I love the fact that my husband is never serious... it sure makes trips like this so much more entertaining.



During the dolphin show we sat in the upper half of the soak zone... thinking we had a slim chance of getting wet... yeah, we got soaked instead. It was great!









These are some fun videos from Sea World. We recorded so many videos while we were there and it is so hard for me to choose which ones to post. These few (haha) will have to do.