Here we are right outside on our room balcony...it was an amazing view. There was lots of pool volleyball, you might not be able to tell but Shawn is standing far right on the closest side of the net. The APX guys ruled the pool volleyball, they were not that welcoming to others that wanted to join in.

Shawn and I going down the rapid slide. This hotel was incredible, there were probably 10 different pools all connected with slides, and little rivers and waterways, it was so fun, it even had the only water elevator in the whole world! Shawn and I just spent a day playing in all of the different pools and going down all of the slides and pretending that we were little kids again.

And Shawn got his favorite (dippin dots) everyday at the poolside restaurant, the food was all so yummy. We got free lunch everyday at the pool cabanas which always had fresh fruit and pineapple...I ate so much of the pineapple that I got sick my last few days.

Here we are at our private little beach, it was so nice and the water warm. Shawn went out on the kayak one day with a couple other guys from APX and then Shawn and I went out snorkeling one day too.

And then we had to get ready and go home. Here I am with my backpack ready to head out to the airport. Before I went I had to make sure that everything was taken care of between us and the hotel.

Shawn with our luggage, waiting to head out and take a long flight home.

What an amazing opportunity we had to go to Maui for a week with everyone from APX, although I stayed busy working; Shawn and I had the times of our lives. This is defiantly a trip we will never forget!

Thank You APX for a wonderful week in Hawaii!

APX Sub-for-Santa

I work for the best company-I truly love my job! They are very good at giving back and helping other people. This Christmas we did a Sub-for-Santa where we raised over $114,000 to help out families in need. On December 10th we all met together at the APX basketball court and got into teams and got lots of cash and went shopping. We each had a few families to buy for with lists of the kids names, sizes, and what the kids want for Christmas.
Here is Shawn and I with 3 carts full of warm coats, gloves, and lots of toys and books for 2 families. It was so much fun buying for these families. Shawn and I were running around everywhere, it was great thinking of each of the kids and trying to pick out just the right thing for each of them.

The on December 11, the next night, we all met at the APX basketball court again and we put all our gifts together and put them in big Santa bags and then we got to go out and actually deliver all of these gifts to our families.

Here is Shawn stuffing a big full of clothes and toys. Shawn and I will all of our bags for 1 of our families with 1 boy and 4 little girls.

And here is a shot of some Santa bags all filled and ready to be sent out to families all over Utah county.

I think we ended up helping out over 600+ families and thousands of kids.

This was such an amazing experience for both Shawn and I, especially since we got to bring the gifts we bought to our cute little family that we got to help. I am grateful for my job and the opportunities it gives us to give back and to impact the lives of so many people.

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas...

I grew up in a home that was always decked out for the holidays, and I loved it and I miss it. Although, I do not have that many Christmas decorations yet ( I am slowly increasing my collection) I still wanted to decorate with what I got. So, right after Thanksgiving we put up our happy little tree and then I added some Christmas fun around the house. I got this Nativity from my Grandma Ellingson, she painted it herself and I love it and will always cherish it.

While in St George with my family; my mom, Amy, Savannah, and I made cute Christmas banners out of felt and fleece material.

I am very excited to go home for an Oregon Christmas this year so I can hear the Christmas music my mom always has playing, smell all of the delicious holiday smells, and see a very beautifully decorated Christmas house.

Our first Christmas Tree!

We did not get a Christmas tree last year, so I made sure that we went and got a nice little tree picked out early this year so we could adorn our home with some Christmas spirit and the piney smell of a Christmas tree. Shawn and I went to a little tree stand and picked out a cute little tree that would fit perfect in our little home. I was very excited to have our first tree, but Shawn was alittle embarrassed when I asked the Christmas Tree stand man to take pictures of us with our tree.

We brought our little tree home and set it up and Shawn put the lights on and I put all of the decorations on...and although it is alittle bit scrawny and lopsided everytime I walked by it and looked at it, it made me smile.

Lights on Temple Square

We decided to go and check out the millions of lights on Temple Square, we went the day after Thanksgiving...and it was so crowded (I will never do that again). But it was still so beautiful, it was fun brining Brock and Kyle too since they had never seen them before.
I dont think I had ever been in and out of Temple Square so fast-the crew that I had consisting of Shawn, Kyle, and Brock were very fast walkers and light lookers. We walked in, did a very quick loop around the Temple and then we were out, I was lucky to get a picture or two before we were out of the gate and headed to the car and then out to dinner.

Thanksgiving in Provo

After our fun time in St George my parents were planning on flying home and Brock and Kyle were planning on staying another week with us...but we were able to talk my parents into staying with us until after Thanksgiving, since all of us would be in Utah. So, we got to have a fun and crowded Thanksgiving at our little house. We had Brock and Kyle and my parents at our house and then Jared and Amy drove down and spent the day with us too.
We had a good time all together (we were missing Blake and Savannah who were with Savannah's family in Rexburg). The boys all watched football, and we ate a very yummy Thanksgiving feast- thanks to my mom, and then we just hang out and ate pie and played games.

I love Thanksgiving, it is all about: football, food, and fun times togheter!