November

This Thanksgiving we decided to go with a couple of my aunts and my mom to the Macy's Day Parade in New York City before we ate our Turkey Dinner. We took the train from Edison, NJ. It was a lot of fun!

Coming home was crazy!!! If you could imagine everyone standing in a room waiting for a TV monitor to tell us what escalator to take to get to our train. They announce and a billion people start pushing toward the escalator. IT reminded me of funnel! Wouldn't you think they could think of a better/safer way?! One of my aunts got separated from us in the madness. Luckily we had cell phones! We were able to ride on a double decker train. It was really cool.



We saw many balloons such as Shrek


A pirate (this picture is for little Casey-Arrrh!) lol


Buzz Light Year


Dora and Santa and many more cool stuff!


The downside? It was sooooooo cold! I was very thankful for warmth that day. I had on 5 layers of clothes, with thermals and everything! My hands were really cold. I recommend if anyone goes, they should wear ski gloves. Actually, a guy at school told me an even better idea. He took his girlfriend to the place where they blow up the balloons the day before. He said it was fun and there wasn't a huge amount of people there.



It was fun to have my mom here for Thanksgiving! Ty and I had a lot of fun with her.


Mom wearing a temple dental beanie at the parade


Two weeks ago we decided to buy a new car! Tyler's little car wasn't going to make it through the winter. Thanks to the economy we were able to get a really great deal on a great car. It's a TOYOTA Matrix. We weren't planning on getting a car until we traded both our cars in after I graduate, but it was too good of a deal to turn down.




A few weeks ago, my little dental singing group was able to sing for a welcome party for our new dean. The party was held in a dentist's 6 story mansion. He has his practice on the two bottom floors. His house is located in Ritten House Square in Philly. They had all of this ritzy food. I am all about the food! It was soooo good!



Could you imagine getting your dental work done in this fancy room next to a fireplace? It was a pretty awesome office.

AZ Fall Classic

Last weekend, I got to go back home to Arizona for the annual Arizona Fall Classic. My parents (and the rest of the fam) have been putting on this tournament every October since 1995. My parents told me they needed workers and I definitely needed a break from my students, so I flew down for the weekend. We had a great time in the nice warm sun like usual. The tourney was bigger than ever, with 50 teams and over 400 pro scouts and college coaches showing up to see the players. It was like a family reunion and it was so much fun to see the whole family and Craig (cousin). We had a lot of fun playing games and battling on the Wii at night. I definitely want a rematch with Summer playing Smarty Pants and Trev playing old school Tecmo Bowl. Craig and I got to share (and stink up) Trevor and my old bedroom. We even decided to jump in the pool at night after a long day in the hot sun. It was definitely cold in the pool in October. Not as cold as New Year's though. Anyways, I am just listing some of the fun times from last weekend. Good times as always. Any other stories to add?

We Stink!

On Wednesday morning, Ashley and I woke up and quickly found out that we had no hot water. I checked the water heater and it was leaking all over the place. We decided that since we will be moving in the spring anyways, we should buy a new water heater. So we went Wednesday without showering and Thursday morning. By Thursday night, I felt so dirty that I decided to take an ice cold shower when I got home from work. It was terrible. Ashley didn't want the same experience, so she called the Broadbents to see if she could use theirs. Austen was nice enough to let us come over and Ashley was able to shower up. We went without showering on Friday. On Saturday, our new Water Heater was supposed to be delivered so we were sitting around all day waiting for it. Let me tell you, we were starting to get a little ripe that day. Finally, we got a call from the installer who wanted to let us know that the Water Heater we ordered would not be in until Monday and we would have to wait. So, now we had to start a new search for a shower on Saturday afternoon. We didn't want to bother the Broadbents again, so we started calling around. The problem was, most of the people we called either had family over and were busy or were not home. We were eventually able to get a hold of the Carrs, who let us come over and shower at the Colony. We never, ever, ever thought that we would go back to the Colony to shower, but the Carrs were so nice to let us come over in the middle of their dinner. Thanks guys. You saved us. We couldn't have made it through another day.

Blogs get really long when you don't post in a while, sorry

We were finally able to go camping this last weekend with friends and use our tent we got for Christmas. I sure miss going camping with my family. I missed having my step-dad help set up the tent and cook yummy camping grub. Luckily we had some great cooks with us last weekend so I didn't have to try everything for the first time. I just made sandwiches for lunch so it wasn't that hard. We went to Rickets Glen and saw some pretty neat waterfalls. I highly recommend going there and hiking down hill the whole time (that's what we did). We had a ton of fun especially hearing the funny noises coming from a neighboring tent during the night :).







This was my walking buddy, Ethan Greggerson.




Here's a couple pictures from when we went to the D.C. zoo, where I had one of my best moments in my life to see my favorite animal in the whole world (a Giant Panda) in real life! Thanks for the pics Searles!




A couple weeks ago, we got a text from our friend Matty, who had just been called up to AAA with the Tampa Bay Rays. He told us he was going to be playing in Scranton so we decided to make the trip up there to watch him play. He was the catcher the whole game and did awesome! It was really fun to be at the game, but Ty said it wasn't the most exciting of games because it was 0-0 for thirteen innings. Brutal! We were also not smart enough to wear warm clothes (Scranton is up in the Poconos) so it was really cold and I got sick. I am still coughing, but it was totally worth it to go and see him play. We would do it again in a heart beat. What an adventure!




A little while ago my aunt Diane, my cousin whitney and her friend Madi came up to visit us and go to NYC for the girls' senior trip. It was sooo much fun to be with them. I love hanging out with just "the girls" sometimes. We were able to see the Little Mermaid on Broadway which was a great play. Congrats on graduating high school you guys. They were so fun! I am the oldest girl cousin on my mom's side and all of my little cousins I babysat for growing up have all been starting to graduate high school. It makes me feel old.





ummm....we had to go to the Hershey Chocolate store. I was kinda obsessed with making chocolate milk with this syrup growing up and this is what I felt like doing many times.


I thought it was pretty cool that we saw Michael Phelps racing while we were in times square. It was pretty sweet to hear a bazillion people watching the big screen and cheer for him all at once.


One of our fun vacations this summer was to go to Boston with some friends for a weekend and see the Red Socks stadium. Unfortunately my grandfather Bob Pike died of Pancreatic cancer and so I was able to fly to Pasadena to attend his funeral. My grandpa Sheffield (my maiden name-my biological dad's father) died when I was like 2 years old and my grandma re-married when I was around four. My grandma and him came out to visit my brother and me every year in Utah and we were able to visit them a few times. I felt like I should go visit them with my brother earlier this year and I'm so glad I did. We were able to spend our last time with grandpa. He was a great person and had a great love for the gospel! Everyone will miss him so much.

The great thing about going to Pasadena was that I was able to see my dad's side of the family who I don't get to see all that much. There is almost 50 grandkids and over twenty great-grand kids. I saw my dad there and his wife Jean. It was fun to see the whole fam. together. Here is a picture of almost all of us.




While I was in California, Tyler went as a fifth wheel and rode up and stayed in a hotel in Boston with the Searles and Carrs (and met up with the Flinders). He didn't want to miss out on the Boston trip so the Carrs were nice enough to let him go up in their car without a wife. Ty wanted to write about Boston:

Alright, I am squeezing in a little into my wife's blog and telling about my trip to Boston. It was awesome! It was Labor Day weekend and I hitched a ride up with Greg and Jenna Carr to Boston. We had some traffic, so it took a lot longer than we thought to get there. We got to the hotel late and crashed, ready to see Boston the next day. We started out Saturday with a trip around Boston's historical sites on the Freedom Trail. We took a lot of pictures and had a lot of fun. Along the way, we were able to see a bunch of old churches, buildings, cemeteries, and sites from the American Revolution. I loved seeing the Old North Church ("One if by land, two if by sea"), the U.S.S. Constitution (Old Ironsides), and the Bunker Hill memorial. Along the way, we stopped to take a break at the famous Mike's Pastries and I had a cookie and a cannoli. Good stuff. When we went to Bunker Hill, we decided it would be a good idea to climb to the top of the memorial (like 350 steps to the top) and I was dead. My legs were seriously hurting and I was regretting that decision the rest of the weekend.






After our tour of the city, it was time for the highlight of the trip, going to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park! I don't even know how to describe how cool this experience was. I have been to a lot of stadiums and watched a lot of baseball games, but none can come close to the experience of going to Fenway Park and watching the Red Sox. Now, I am not necessarily a big Sox fan, but after going to Fenway, I think that I have become one.







The trip to the game started with us trying to find a parking spot. We were so excited to get in the park that we probably did not take the cheapest route, We ended up parking about a block away from Fenway for like 30 bucks. Then, we had the task of trying to get tickets. Believe me, there are plenty of scalpers at Fenway that are more than willing to sell tickets to out-of-towners like us. We found a guy who told us he had 6 tickets together, so we met him in an ATM entrance and bought the tickets for like $70 a piece. We probably could have waited and gotten tickets for cheaper later, but we just wanted to get in there. Next, I went to the Red Sox store to buy myself a Big Pappy shirt and a Sox hat. The game was great and the atmosphere in Fenway is unbeatable. Pedroia had a big game and the Red Sox beat the White Sox. It was also fun to see my favorite player of all-time, Ken Griffey Jr., playing for the White Sox.

The next day, we went on a Sunday trip up the coast of Maine and got to see a bunch of lighthouses. It was beautiful. We didn't have enough time to eat at the Lobster Shack (I wanted to bad) because we had to make it back to Boston to pick up Ashley flying in from California.






(Ashley again) On Sunday I decided instead of flying back to Philly, I would meet everyone in Boston to have a little fun. So on Monday we took the duck tour of Boston (a must see) and took the road trip home. So including my two layovers I was able to go to 9 different states in one weekend trip!!!! I have not been able to do that before.

I don't want summer to end!

That's right. I have had such a relaxing summer. It's been so great. I haven't felt relaxed like this for two years! So that's why I don't want it to end...
Seminary ended the last week in May. It was such an amazing experience! I taught the Old Testament five days a week from 5:45 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. to four students at first, but then ended in three. I loved my students. They never fell asleep, luckily! Although I received 4-6 hours of sleep a night during the week, it was definitely worth every second of it! I have a greater love for our Savior and all he has done and what he is doing for us. And I just love the Old Testament and the doctrines it teaches and the prophets and the many principles in the Old Testament that we need for our day. I am just in awe that the Lord wanted me (who has never taught anything before) to learn and teach and have the opportunity to be a part of the Seminary program. I have always loved to learn truths of the Gospel and to read my scriptures and stuff, but I never knew I could have such a passion as I do for learning the gospel and becoming better every day. It's very humbling to say the least. Anyway, I could go on forever, but I loved Seminary and am sad that I'm not doing it again this year. The bishop prayed about it and felt I should be in the primary instead. So I'm teaching the six year olds now. I had my first class with them today. They are great! Here is a picture of my seminary students. They look a little tired...

Ty's uncle and aunt, David and Delynn, came out and visited us this summer. They are such great examples to us, especially in golf! hehe. They took us golfing and since David teaches golf, he taught me a few tips. Is was too bad that some 16 yr. old worker backed a golf cart into the rental car that day. Luckily the golf course payed for it. Thanks for coming you guys! This is Delynn and I at the Liberty Bell. Good times.


My older brother Chris came to visit his girlfriend Gloria here in Philadelphia. He lives in SLC. She is from New Jersey and is in her fourth year of dental school with me. I set them up on a blind date in SLC and they ended up liking each other. Gloria was baptized a member of our church a couple of years ago. My brother and her are a cute couple and have been dating for a year. They were nice to spend July fourth with us.



Ty and I went to Penns Landing to see some fireworks and hear Boys II Men sing. I used to love them! We couldn't ever see them up close so we stood to the side of the stage and saw them from the side and had a great view of the fireworks.



I promise I could see them from this view! One of them turned and waved to us. What a great view huh! haha...not so much.


A couple weeks ago, Ty and I went with Bryce and Miranda Searle to Washington D.C. and stayed over at Miranda's cousins house so we could go to the Washington Zoo and see the GIANT PANDAS before we went to the temple. We had a blast and loved hanging out with them. We'll post more pictures later.


Last week Ty and I went to Arizona to visit the Fam. We had soooo much fun swimming in the pool every day and playing games. Thanks for letting us come! We wish Trevor, Summer and Madi could have been there too! We love all of you!

We were also able to hang out with our dental school friends Craig and Sheree Cardon and Kyle and Heidi Jackson. We wanted to feel young again so after dinner we went laser tagging. I am proud that I was ranked number 26 out of 28! I shot Tyler like 12 times. I haven't played since I was in Jr. High, so I thought that was pretty good-hehe. We all were the worst out there except Kyle. He was ranked 4 out of 28. Who knew he had such talent! Maybe it's from bending all of those ortho wires in ortho school?


Our teeth were glowing with the black light. I wanted to take a picture, but forgot to take off the flash-haha. Good smiles by Craig and Sheree below.


We decided to go into one of those picture booths...haha...it was so much fun to hang out with these guys! We miss you!




This is Tyler's sisters Tiffany and Tiana with little Sophie. We were only missing Summer and little Madie.



Our cute niece Sophie. She is hilarious with her bunny face and cute smile.


Casey and our brother-in-law Derrick. Derrick and Tiff were so nice to hang out with us almost every day we were there. They are so fun! It is said that Casey looks a lot like Ty did when he was young. I sure hope my boys look as handsome as Casey does!