Zions

We went down with the Hudsons to Zions for a family vacation. The weather was pretty warm and we really had a lot of fun.

While hiking around in Zions, Sam was running along this little cement curb. We warned sam that he shouldnt run there, and that he might fall. Sure enough a few seconds later... faceplant. Within a few minutes he had a decent goose egg.

One of the funniest parts of the trip was when Bryce and Noel drove 2 hours way up to Goosebery mesa to do some mountain biking, but when they got to the top they realized that Marcia actually had Bryce's keys so they couldn't unlock the bikes from the car and just had to turn around and come down without doing their bike run. Bryce was kicking himself for doing something so stupid. Thankfully we extended the trip another day so Bryce and Noel could get their biking fix in.

Bryce took our Hyundai Sonata up the rough 4x4 roads to the biking spot at Gooseberry Mesa the first day, and didn't want to inflict further damage on our poor sedan for the next trip, so when Noel's brother Kellen met us for lunch driving a cool 4x4, Bryce tried to convince Kellen to join them. Kellen's first reaction was "But I don't have a bike..." To which Bryce responded that they would procure one. After digging around a bit, they found this old bike in the garage that hadn't been used in a decade. After replacing the tire tubes and putting a little grease on the chain, the bike was pronounced "ready for some intense slickrock action". Sure enough, the bike held up for the first few miles, and on the way back the seat broke clean off. Have you ever rode a bike one tricky trails with no seat? It is harder than it sounds.

Dallas

For the superbowl Bryce had to work on a project for Under Armour. It was this photo booth that was on display at the NFL experience event just days before the big game. After that, Marcia flew down to meet him to look at houses, since at the time we were looking at moving down to Dallas for Bryce's job. The first part of the trip was a very miserable experience for Bryce since he had to write some custom software for the big event and he only had a few days to figure it all out, including writing code like crazy while on the plane, in the hotel, and during the event to get the software just right. In the end the client didn't like it, and they pulled it all out anyways.

Things got a lot better once Marcia arrived, and we were able to enjoy one another's company and look for places to live. The houses were ok, and in hindsight we were really glad that we came to NYC instead:)

Lucas is 3

For Lucas' 3rd birthday we went to one of our favorite kid spots: Pirate Island!!! We had a blast letting the kids run wild and eating greasy pizza.

10 Virgins

Marcia starred in a great production of the play "10 Virgins". This was a great chance for her to showcase her fantastic voice. She was a bit nervous, but no one could tell, since she pulled off her part amazingly. One special thing about this version of the play was that the group translated the original song lyrics into Portuguese.

The spirit was very strong, and the powerful analogy was really brought to life. One of the interesting points was that Marcia's character was someone who loved God, and prayed every once in a while, but because of apathy, ended up being one of the "unprepared". It was a wise reminder to seek out the Lord.

Barry's reception

Bryce's old college room mate Barry from freshman year at BYU in Heritage Halls got married (cough finally). It was a great reunion of all the crazy college boys.

Here they were all doing "Blue Steel" since Zoolander was a bit hit with this crowd.

In the Picture is Mitch Manley, Pat, Marshall Manley, Barry Nelson, Wally Roskelly, Bryce Barrand, Ryan Lennberg and Ty Wilde. Its probably for the best that these guys only get together every few years.

Salt Lake Children's Museum

Our boys love these kids museums! Look at the smiles on those little faces :)

New Years 2011

Diego and Melissa, from our Portuguese ward, were awesome enough to invite us over to hang out with Melissa's family. It was a wild night of Bunco! (a crazy dice game that the whole extended family played)