I know this is almost a month late but here is the rundown of our holiday vacation and just to warn you...its really, really long.
The first item of business was to get in one more Six Flags trip before our passes expired. If you read Rex's 12 days of Christmas posts, I actually went through with the 6 seconds falling.
Here is a video of what we did.
These are the guys that went right after us. I thought $20 was too much to pay for the video they take for you. The whole time they were pulling us up I kept saying to Rex, "Why am I doing this? I don't want to do this!" Luckily we chose him to pull the ripcord or we might still be hanging there. The first fall is super scary and then when the rope catches and you start swinging its super fun. Rex had a blast so I'm glad we did it.
After riding a few of our favorite roller coasters we kept driving to my mom's house in Nevada. While we were there we had fun chatting, playing wallyball and just hanging out. We had a white elephant gift exchange with my new step siblings. We didn't do silly gifts but it still ended up funny because my mom and Steve picked the gifts they brought hoping one of us would steal it from them. None of us did so they ended up with a pull-up bar and a cookie jar full of chocolate. It was pretty funny to see their reactions.
The next day we had an early Christmas since Rex and I were headed to Arizona for the big day. Mom and Steve spoiled us with a fancy video camera. I had no idea that they made them so small now. Thanks Mom and Steve!
He headed down to AZ on the 23rd so we could be there the morning of the 24th for Rex's mom's birthday brunch. He has 5 siblings that live near his parents so its quite a party when everyone gets together. Happy Birthday Mom! We spent Christmas Eve with Kitty and Kevin's family and we even stayed up late enough to help Santa!
On Christmas day went to go see what Santa brought Becky and Aaron's family and then had a big family dinner in the afternoon. Rex got to give his siblings his gift after dinner. He made a game show for everyone out of TV showtunes from the different decades. Rex was the host and I was his "Vana White." It seemed to me that everyone had a great time.
Rex already explained what our anniversary date would be in the previous post but I have to add a few details and pictures of the actual thing. Our anniversary was on Sunday so we went out to dinner at Carrabba's on Saturday with all of Rex's siblings and their spice. It was also Rex's sister's anniversary that day as well. We were going to go to a movie but then decided we would have more fun playing games instead. We played Imagine If and Ticket to Ride. After the games ended Rex and I headed to our gondola ride at the Hyatt. It was late and super cold but our gondoleir was awesome. After chatting with him we found out that his son was in the same mission as my sister in Tennessee. Small world eh?
Our gondolier sang Silent Night for us. It was beautiful.
I was so glad I had my camera because the first time we went my battery was dead.
After our ride we left the hotel and got pulled over because the little lightbulb that lights up our license plate was out. Our next stop was the lake where we had our first kiss on my birthday. We did take a bite of our year old wedding cake and it actually still tasted prety good. It was freezing so we kissed (much better than the first time) and drove back home. It was such a fun anniversary date. Thanks Rex! I love you!
We spent the next week with more family get togethers and fun. We drove down to Tucson and visited more with Tammy and Mike's families. We went on a quick hike with Anna and her kids on New Year's Eve. She posted about it on her
blog. Here is my favorite picture from the hike.
Rex and Ali with Sombrero Peak in the background. It really looks like one huh?
Finally, we drove back to Tempe and celebrated with the family in that direction for New Year's Eve. Rex got a new game for Christmas called Carcassone which we played a lot that night (and the whole trip). We also played Settlers and Ticket to Ride. Fun times...
The kids celebrating at midnight (Eastern Standard Time...sneaky parents!)
Cari and Blossom
A little tired...but excited for the New Year!
WELCOME 2009!
My brother Scott's mission papers came yesterday! He has been SO anxious to know where he will be serving his mission. He will be serving for two years in the...
There were seagulls everywhere. Rex hates it when they fly over his head. It was pretty funny!
The view to the north and some of the sailboats. My friend Melissa lives on one. Isn't that awesome?!
Rex and Oakland to the South.
Our gondolier sang Silent Night for us. It was beautiful.
I was so glad I had my camera because the first time we went my battery was dead.
After our ride we left the hotel and got pulled over because the little lightbulb that lights up our license plate was out. Our next stop was the lake where we had our first kiss on my birthday. We did take a bite of our year old wedding cake and it actually still tasted prety good. It was freezing so we kissed (much better than the first time) and drove back home. It was such a fun anniversary date. Thanks Rex! I love you!
Rex and Ali with Sombrero Peak in the background. It really looks like one huh?
A little tired...but excited for the New Year!
