Our First Christmas

This was our first Christmas as a married couple and we got to experience all of the firsts that come with it. We bought and decorated our first tree together and Derek put up his first set of Christmas lights.

Our Christmas was spent with both of our families which I did a horrible job of documenting. We spent a wonderful Christmas Eve in Deer Valley with Sandie, Alisha, Trina, and the gang then we went to my mom's house for Christmas Eve/morning.

The remainder of our time has been enjoying the new snow fall with some of our new Christmas gifts. Me, some new snow boots and Derek a helmet camera. All the crazy stunts he pulls can now be enjoyed from his view.

St. George

On our drive back from St. George Derek and I were forced to spend our first night in a seedy motel...in Fillmore of all places.

OK having a natural gas car has been amazing for us so far. When we first bought the car we were warned that finding fill up stations can be a bit of a hassle but we had yet to have any issues with it. On our last drive to St. George we made it there and back with no problems and with a total of $10 spent on gas and $22 on gas station treats. So, we decided to venture back down south for a second trip and on our way back we stopped in Fillmore at our natural gas pump and realized that the gas station was closed. It was 12:15 p.m and the station closed at 12:00 p.m - come on! There was no credit card payment method at the pump and our gas light was on so we knew we were spending the night, either in the car-which Derek suggested- or at the Comfort Inn that was right next to us. However, we were both up for a bit of an adventure and I wanted one that consisted of a bed, so we drove into Fillmore to support the local Motel.

No worries we slept in comfort mixed with dirt but we had a fridge and a Microwave! Other than me forbidding Derek to walk on the floor without shoes on it felt quite homey and we considered the Motels wonderful month long rent option before realizing we wanted to be home for the Holidays.

Don't forget if you ever traveling through that there is always a place to stay in Fillmore! We reccomend room #2.

New York

It was another wonderful Thanksgiving in New York this year. Thanks to Sandie we were able to enjoy the Holidays with the whole family and enjoyed spending time going to museums, stores, broadway shows, and Twilight!!! (Ok maybe only the girls enjoyed that). The only ones missing where Jed and Alisha and their soon to be three boys.

We kicked off the trip with a visit to Radio City to see the Rockets perform their Christmas show. We also woke up early to catch the Macy's Day Parade Thanksgiving morning and to our enjoyment were able to watch the parade sail by in warm weather. We were able to see a lot of stars such as Miley Sirius, James Taylor, and David Archuletta! These were a few of the float highlights for us.

This is the view of the Parade passing through Columbus Cr. from Sandie's apartment, pretty impressive!

Next we hit Broadway with the show Greece which we also got a backstage tour (thanks to our new friend Natalie Hill who also stars in the production) and were able to meet former American Idol contestant Ace Young who played Knickie in the show. We also had a dress up night out to the show South Pacific, which was Fabulous!

Our last day there Derek and I were able to go to one an amazing brunch together (complements of Gary) in the infamous Rainbow Room. You can tell Derek started with chocolate dipped strawberries which where amazing. Also note that our water glasses are the only beverages that we have drunk out of...yeah we are not in Utah any more.





The end highlights of the city are the street side hot dogs, the sqiurrels in Central Park, and the cold weather which was cold enough to make little Pheonix wear what he could get.