Tornay-dos

Almost heaven, West Virginia....

Earth World

Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

Eclipsed

Q: How awesome was the solar eclipse on Sunday? 

A: Really awesome. 

"I know what I'd do without you, but..."

Yesterday, Bradford was leaving for work and he said to me, "Be safe", like he normally does. Instead of just leaving it at that and walking out the door though, he went on...

"I know what I'd do without you," he said.

I guess he saw a puzzled look on my face because he clarified this by saying, "You know how people say, 'I don't know what I'd do without you!"?"

I nodded.

He went on, "I mean, I know what I'd do without you, but it wouldn't be as great as it would be with you."

Thanks?

Disneyland

When my sister told me she was coming in to town with Parker, Natalie and Dylan, I had this yearning feeling to spend some quality time with them. So often when they're here, I only see them for an hour here and there because I'm juggling work and other responsibilities. So, I decided to take a day off work and spend the day at Disneyland with them. Such a good decision. Being at Disneyland with kids is much different than running around the park with adults, but it's still just as fun.

When we first walked into the park, about eight different characters were walking around Main Street. It was so fun to watch Natalie and Parker fearlessly run up to all of them and give them giant hugs. Other highlights of the day included: meeting Princess Belle, eating giant ice cream treats at Paradise Pier, taking all the kids on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (and not realizing that it's actually kinda scary!) and just hanging out with everyone.

Here are some more pictures from throughout the day:

(Notice how wide my smile is in these last two pictures. Every picture I've ever taken on a carousel has me smiling like I just won the lottery. I can't help it. I love carousels!!)

Ice Skating

 Back in January, Brad and I joined the youth in our ward on an ice skating activity. Even though this was technically a youth activity, I think the adult leaders may have had more fun than the kids.

Exhibit A: Bradford trying to slide through my legs and knocking me over in the process:

Exhibit B: Bradford successfully sliding through Chad's legs.

Here is the whole group. I'm so lucky to have so many of my good friends serving with me in Young Women's. We have such a great time. I bet you can't tell who the "kids" are and who the "adults" are. 

PS.. Thank you Whitney for the pictures!

FEST

You may be wondering what Brad and I have been up to for the past 2 months since we I have not been updating this blog as much as I used to. The reason for the silence is that I've been busy with a new project called FEST. (Click on the link to find out more.) It's a new blog about three things that I love: food, style & travel. If you'd like to see regular outfit pictures of yours truly, recipes I love, and inspiring posts about travel, then head on over to FEST.

I will do my best to continue to post to this blog regularly with the goal of keeping this blog focused as a diary of our lives.

Baby Shower

Late last year, I had the opportunity to throw a baby shower for my best friend, Katie. The moment I found out she was pregnant I pretty much told her that she needed to schedule a trip to LA because I was going to throw her a baby shower. I loved every second of the planning. And of course, the shower itself was a blast. 

 I love this picture for many reasons. The light is great. It includes many people I love. But for photojournalistic reasons, I think it captures that PV ladies get-together scene that I experienced so much  growing up (Ticktockers, church functions, etc.). Sometimes I love these types of "ladies" get-togethers and sometimes I hate them. In this instance, I loved it.

 Elise, Jenna, me, Katie. Elise, Katie and I were roommates at BYU. Jenna was an honorary roommate: the official hair stylist.

 Several of my best friends from high school. Emily, Kathleen, Cat, Katie, me, Jenna. Thank you, volleyball, for bringing us together.

 I made a Baby Bingo game to match the whale theme on the invitations. It was the perfect, casual game to keep people connected while Katie opened her presents: lots and lots of adorable, girly, ruffly baby clothes.

And thanks to my Mama for co-hosting the shower with me. 

I didn't get pictures of the food, but it was delicious and gorgeous: Eggs with Cheese & Salsa, Raspberry-Yogurt Bundt Cake, Whole Wheat Apple Muffins, assorted Doughnuts from Mayer's Bakery, Sparkling Cranberry Punch, fruit and vegetables.

Katie is just a couple weeks away from delivering her little girl and I am beyond to meet the little sunshine. Katie, just a couple more weeks. You can do it!

Boomerang Beach

This week, we randomly found a boomerang on the side of our house. We decided to test it out this evening as the sun was setting. Neither of us fully got the hang of it, but we did show some improvement by the end of the night. We definitely had fun chasing around this odd-shaped toy as it chose its own direction through the air. Oh, and the sunset wasn't bad either.

We have decided to re-name the beach in front of our house "Boomerang Beach". 

♥

2011 in Review

I stumbled upon this lovely zeitgeist video, which recaps news-worthy and culturally-relevant events of 2011. I love the optimistic and emotional feel it exudes, especially at 2:35. This is a great way to reflect on the current events of the last year and a time to re-commit to staying "current" with the news in 2012.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was a great time this year in Highland, Utah. Bradford was a saint, driving through the night so we could get to the Browns' house on the morning of the 23rd and allowing me to get a good 7-hour sleep in the car. Many good memories were shared as we did lots of good cooking, drove around to see Christmas lights, ate a delicious dinner with a smoked turkey AND honey-baked ham, performed a Christmas Eve program, acted out the Nativity with kids in costume, had a white elephant gift exchange with the adults (I ended up with this), watched the kids open up gifts on Christmas morning, helped the kids learn how to ride their Power Wheels that Santa brought, attended church, lounged around, watched Mary Poppins, Cars 2, and The Help, lounged around, ate Christmas leftovers, played with the kids, lounged around, and visited BYU.

It was a great break and a wonderful time to spend with my family.

Utah sunrise, just outside of St. George on I-15; Natalie helping me make the rolls for Christmas Eve dinner 

Driving around to see the neighborhood Christmas lights

Clockwise from top left: Me and Natalie on Christmas Eve; Dad alone at the dinner table with a napkin on his head; Natalie trying to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as the boys collapse on the floor; Natalie and Brian

All the kids ready for the Nativity

This picture does a great job depicting the actual chaos of the Nativity: Natalie & Parker taking the whole thing very seriously as the adults try to contain their giggles and keep Chace & Dylan from running wild.

MaryClaire & Dyan; Chace & Dylan (it is so fun to watch these boys who are just 3 months apart in age play together)

On our last day there, we took Parker & Natalie (and Dylan) to BYU. We're looking forward to re-creating this picture one day when they're both attending as students.

Feast of Lights

Clockwise from top-left: Christmas Tree @ Hermosa Beach Pier, Fireworks Show @ Manhattan Beach Pier, Christmas Lights @ Sharynne Lane in Torrance (aka Candy Cane Lane); the Big Wheel @ Irvine Spectrum 

December is a crazy, busy month. It happens to be one of the busiest times at work for me so to combine that with all of the holiday festivities, it gets to be a little overwhelming. But I still love it. We seem to have a theme of lights with the things we've done to celebrate the season this year. Since the darkness of winter tends to get me down sometimes, I'm really grateful for the invention of Christmas lights to brighten up our evenings. I'm also really grateful for my church calling with the youth as it's allowed me to enjoy some other great Christmas activities like caroling at a convalescent home, wrapping presents that were donated for a family in need, and enjoying white elephant gift exchanges.

Tonight, Bradford and I are headed to Utah to spend the holiday at my sister's house and I'm so excited to finally put my focus 100% toward Christmas and family.