Favorite Picture Friday: 2011 Holiday Special

What a busy holiday season it has been!  Jason and I are still on vacation and are loving some time alone, even though we have been with each other 24/7 for the last 3 weeks.  You would think we would be sick of each other by now, but we are both dreading going through withdrawals on Monday.  Looking back at this holiday we are extremely grateful being within a driving distance from our families in Utah.  Here is a quick summary of our Christmas and New Years minus the cruise.  

Here is Jason at the airport in Florida taking a drink in the sky club lounge.   We are just waiting for our flight to Las Vegas after our lovely cruise.  Doesn't Jason look so relaxed!

We first arrived in St. George on Christmas Eve.  It was so much fun to wake up the next morning and have our little nephews greet us with smiles and hugs.  We enjoyed a huge Christmas breakfast with my family and spent the day eating and resting.  

We did do a couple of hikes while in St. George, since the weather was beautiful.  

Here is a picture from the Temple Quarry Trail.  

Uncle Rick, Aunt Bonnie, and Mom on the Temple Quarry Trail.  

This is what you look for on the trail.  These are drill holes from the pioneers in St. George that used these rocks to build the foundation of the St. George Temple.  

We loved seeing our newest baby nephew, Ben.  

Ben eating solid food.  He does enjoy it, despite the face.  

Sweet Ben being just so adorable.  

We did the Chuckawalla hike as well.  

Mom and Dad looking out at a beautiful view at the top of the hike.  

Jason and I finished the hike while Mom and Dad went back to get the car and pick us up on the other side.  Here is Jason in front of the map of the area.  

Once we had spent a few days in St. George we were off to Price to spend New Year's there.  

Jason looking smokin while driving us to Price.  

We stayed up late on New Year's Eve and played games and laughed till midnight struck.  

Jason sporting his New Year's apparel.  

We did some fireworks for the kids before they went to bed that night.  Some were fine with the fireworks, but others weren't too sure with the loud bangs.  

Jeni and Alex watching the fireworks.  

One of the fireworks.  

The girls and kids watching the fireworks from a safe distance.  Obviously the boys were out running the show.  

Here is Patrick wearing my watch as a headband.  So cute.  

We got to watch Alex practice going up and down the stairs in the hallway.  

We had a great time in Price but had to jet because it was Matter's birthday party.  

Here is Matt's Optimus Prime birthday cake.  

One of the things that we gave Matt was this lightsaber.  He had so much fun waving it around for me to take a picture.  I love this picture because you can tell we just had the cake so he has some blue frosting around his lips.  Yum!  

Overall we had a wonderful time visiting families and seeing all of the grandkids.  We hope we can make it back soon.  

One last bit- some people were asking about Disneyland and if it is decorated for the season.  Well of course it is!  Here are some pictures so you can get an idea of what it looks like.  

The Christmas tree at the front of the park.  

A close-up of the tree and the ornaments.  

In New Orlean's Square they have everything decorated for Mardi Gra.  

More Mardi Gra decorations.  

It's a Small World is decorated for the season as well and is so amazing!  Each country is decorated appropriately for the holiday season.  

The castle is decorated as well, but it looks so much better at night.  

We hope everyone has a great 2012 year and that it brings you many surprises, adventures and joy.  

Candy Canes + Sandy Beach= Christmas Pictures

I realized that I never posted the rest of our Christmas pictures from Newport Beach.  We had so much fun playing with the candy canes and our surf board for these pictures.  This is the beach that we go to every Thursday for dinner and swimming, so we are very comfortable here and it seemed appropriate to put this place in our Christmas card.

Favorite Picture Friday: December 30, 2011

We have had so much fun visiting Jason's family in Price. Here are a couple of pictures from our adventures.

Video from Universal Studios Backlot 5K

Favorite Picture Friday: A Walk in the Backlot (Say that 5 times fast)

Jason and I were able to have a really fun and unique experience this last weekend.  We have been looking at doing a 5K for a while now, and since California has so many diverse places to do so we had fun trying to decide which one to do.  When we heard about one where you walk the backlot at Universal Studios we knew we found one.  Normally at Universal Studios you can go on the backlot tour, but it has to be done with a tour guide and a group on a tram.  But this walk allowed us to wander the backlot at our own pace and take pictures and even go into some of the sets.  It was so relaxing because it is a 5K walk, which was perfect for us since Jason almost had to go in for surgery and I still had a nasty cold.  We were amazed how popular it was because there were over 2,000 people there to see the backlots.  

Here we are getting ready to start the walk.  Can you see the Mystery Bus and the Gang behind us.  There were a few characters cheering us on the walk.

All of the roads here are named very appropriately.  The road that leads to the prop department is Steven Spielberg Drive.

This lake behind us is where they did some shots for Jaws.  Dun duh.....dun duh!  

Since Jason is a Back to the Future fan, we had to stop and walk around this set.

Phone Home

The backlot roads even go past some well-known companies.  Here is DreamWorks.

This set was used in Angels and Demons.

Here we are on "Wisteria Lane" that is still being used on the show Desperate Housewives.

This picture is so bright because there is white smoke all around us.  It is the set from War of the Worlds.

Here is a better view of a crashed airplane and several destroyed vehicles.

Here is Jason still on the torn up set.  It is pretty amazing because there are noises that still come from the crashed plane, along with car noises, and the crackling sound of electricity lines.  It is neat here but so eerie that we walked pretty fast through that area.  

Welcome to Whoville!  Here we are on the set of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  

Another view of Whoville.  Here is the Christmas tree in the middle of the town.  

We thought we would spend some time that evening walking around Universal Studios.  

It was so much fun to spend a day walking around famous movie sets and enjoying the lovely weather.  We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again next year!