Merry Christmas from Las Vegas

On Saturday, December 3 we went to see the Christmas lights at the Botanical Cactus Gardens here in Vegas. It is right by the Ethel M. Chocolates Factory. After we walked around to see all the lights, we got a complimentary chocolate.


It even felt like Christmas because it was actually cold outside.


Here's the happy couple. These lights are not quite as classy as the Temple Square lights, but we are definitely gonna go next year!


Merry Christmas!!


On Wednesday, Dec. 7 we had our Pre-K Winter Program. The kids all wore hats and scarfs. After months of practicing, they did a nice job for their parents!


On Friday, December 9 our friends gave us free tickets to go see 'Phantom of the Opera' at the Venetian. Wow, it did not disappoint. It was powerful. The Phantom hung from the spinning chandelier that was above our heads. It felt like we were in the actual opera house. Pretty impressive.


Then we walked around the Venetian and watched the awesome gondola rides going by. They even have people singing on them...pretty romantic.



On Sunday, Dec. 11 we made sugar cookies. Greg was very persistent that we make them this year. We had a really good time. We found out that the more cookies you make, the more you have to frost, and with only two people that can be a lot! I look fat in this picture...enjoy. Oh, and that's our Christmas tree...


On Saturday, Dec. 17 we went to the temple. This is the nativity outside of the Las Vegas Temple. Very beautiful.


On Saturday night we went to our Ward Christmas Party. They asked us to be Mary and Joseph. It was kind of special for us. I even got to hold a real baby (only a month and half old!) It was good practice.


One of our favorite parts of living here is seeing the palms trees with all the Christmas lights. We think they are so pretty. Merry Christmas from Las Vegas!

Sweet November

On Veteran's Day Greg went to his FIRST parade. He really liked it. The parade was complete with veterans, marching bands, and of course good ole Elvis. We definitely live in Vegas!



On Saturday, November 12 we went to Aviation Nation here in Las Vegas. This was Greg's dream come true! He is so obsessed with airplanes. He knew the name of every plane and could tell me everything about it. He's a man of many talents. FYI: The captain of the Thunderbirds is the dad of one of my students.



On Saturday, November 19 we went to the Mormon Fort Museum. It was very interesting to find out how Vegas came about. Here I am by the entrance of the fort.



Greg is standing by the part of the fort that is from the original. Pretty cool. We even touched it!



On Tuesday, November 22 we had a Thanksgiving Feast at school. The girls were pilgrims, the boys were indians and I was...awesome!



For Thanksgiving weekend we drove 8.5 hours to Socorro, New Mexico to visit my sister Bethany and her husband, Paul. On Friday they took us on a walk by the Rio Grande where we found mistletoe. It was a really nice day outside. Here we are with their daughter, Grace.



I touched the Rio Grande!



We also saw a really old Catholic church...maybe we'll convert (j/k). Grace and Alice are with us in this picture. This is what we'll look like when we have two kids some day...



Here's the New Mexico Thanksgiving gang: Paul, Bethany, Alice, Haley, Greg and Grace. Good times with the Gabrielsens!



Grace and Alice hanging out with their favorite aunt one last time.



On our long way home we stopped to see the telescopes of the VLA. You can barely see them behind Greg, but isn't he cute??



We drove through Pie Town, AZ on our way home. Who knew it even existed?! It seemed appropriate with it being Thanksgiving and all...



We also stopped in Snowflake, AZ on our way home. The Snows and the Flakes colonized the town. William Jordan Flake is the tall man holding the hat. He is one of our great ancestors that helped found Snowflake, AZ.



We also stopped by the Jame M. Flake home, yet another one of our ancestors. Too bad we didn't get to go inside though...it was Sunday.



Lastly we saw the amazing Snowflake Temple! We had to drive up a huge mountain to get to it. Take a look at that waterfall! We should have our family reunion in Snowflake next year! It was very cool.

Baby Burr

On September 14 I took a pregnancy test and found out we are pregnant!! We almost couldn't believe it. It was such a fun and exciting day! We decided that we wanted to keep it a secret and tell our families in person. Unfortunately my family lives 12 hours away, so we had to wait for a long weekend to drive the far distance. It turned out to be Nevada Day weekend (Oct. 27). We had to wait 6 weeks to tell everyone. It about killed us and I don't think I've ever lied so much in my life...



Since we live close to the M&M Factory, we decided to print the news on M&Ms. We bought them like a month in advance and just kept them in our refrigerator. Every time I saw the M&Ms, I just wanted to get in the car and make the long trek to Idaho, but I knew it would be better to just wait the LONG 6 weeks.



FINALLY, on Thursday, October 27 we made our first stop in Provo. We told my younger brother Dillon the news. He was excited for us. (I look scary in this picture because I just got out of the shower and Greg has a bed head...not a flattering picture).



We also told my sister Ashley. She said I looked fatter. Thanks a lot!



On Friday, October 28 we drove up to Idaho to tell my parents. Everyone cried. Our baby will be my parents' 22nd grandchild. My mom is already planning her trip for when the baby comes. That night we went to their Branch Halloween Party where we told my brother and his family and the whole branch, practically.



On Saturday, October 29 we drove to West Jordan, Utah to tell Greg's family during a murder mystery dinner. We couldn't hold in the good news for long. It was a fun evening. The LONG trip was so worth it to tell our families in person. Plus, everybody got M&Ms out of it!!


On Wednesday, October 19 I went hiking with some of my co-workers to Red Rock. Here I am with my buddy Christine. We both teach Pre-K. You can definitely see my belly in this picture.



On Thursday, October 20 I drove home from work and saw a huge fire. When I got closer to our complex I noticed it coming from our side. I was worried, but it was actually in the building next to ours. Crazy day! We were so grateful it wasn't our building.



My Pre-K class on Halloween. Happy Halloween!!!

Good Times

I know, I know, we live in a desert...but there is a lake here. Ever heard of Lake Mead? It is beautiful. The lake is as blue as the sky. Last Saturday, October 8, we decided to check it out. We were really pleased. See... Vegas IS pretty!



Right after we visited Lake Mead, we stopped by Hoover Dam. It was pretty awesome and it was SO HOT! It still feels like summer here.



What did the fish say when it hit the wall? (Get it??)



Here I am in front of the Hoover Dam Bypass. Pretty remarkable.



Hoover Dam



This past week we FINALLY got visitors. My brother Justin stayed with us for the week. Poor guy had to sleep on an air matress all week. We had a blast though. We showed him around UNLV, ate a lot of food, and played some games. Here we are on our patio. The weather right now is so perfect.



Yesterday we had Rachel (Greg's sister) and Mom Burr here visiting. We showed them Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Mom Burr took us out to Olive Garden and we played lots of games. I am getting really good at Authors and Ticket to Ride. Maybe we need to invest in more games.

98 Degrees and Rising

On Thursday, September 8 we visited the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory. It was pretty fun, especially since they let us sample some chocolates at the end of the self guided tour! We'll have to go back more often!


Here I am behind the factory, where there is a Botanical Cactus Garden. Yeah, we definitely live in a desert. Since it was in the 100s, we didn't walk around the entire garden.


Greg just keeping it real on the rocks at the Botanical Cactus Garden.


So happy together...


On Saturday, September 10 we met Terry. My brother is serving a mission in California and taught Terry for a few weeks. My brother was pretty devastated when Terry had to move to Vegas. Terry got to Vegas about the same time we did, so we hooked up. We stopped by for a visit and had a great time. Crazy and so cool that we got to meet him.


On Wednesday, September 21 we went to M&M World. Greg had never been. It's on the better end of the strip (if there is one). It is amazing how much money they make off those little candies. They sure are good though.


After walking around a little bit, we watched a free M&M movie in 3D. Greg's first 3D movie...I know, right?? I didn't know that M&M's had so much personality and pizazz.

Living in the Desert

We have lived in Vegas for almost a month now. It's been interesting to live in a new place. One of our favorite places so far is the temple. It is so massive and pretty. The landscaping is particularly beautiful.


On Saturday, August 27 we decided to check out this free aquarium. There were tons of fish and we even saw Ariel the mermaid. Ariel kept kissing all the fish and did some really awesome tricks. I guess mermaids really do exist...



Greg was there too.



On Thursday, September 1 we made a stop at the Bellagio. It was Greg's first time there. He was so excited to check out the water show, but first we looked around the Botanical Gardens. Doesn't this tree look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book???



This looks like a painting doesn't it? Well, it is actually made completely out of flowers. Awesome!



Viva Las Vegas



The amazing fountain show in front of the Bellagio. Pretty impressive. I am amazed that it looks like my hair is blowing in the wind...it was so hot!!!



Here is our home. I am sitting in our living room. We don't have a lot of pictures on the wall. We are still working on that. BUT we do have a nice patio off the living room.



Here is our kitchen with TONS of counter space. We even have a garbage disposal and a dish washer. We're moving up in the world!



This is our bedroom. The best news is we haven't found one spider. We recommend living on the second floor.


We were the most pleased with our bathroom... the bathtub actually drains and we can take HOT showers whenever we want!!! It's like a dream come true!


Here is our patio/balcony. That is Greg's bike that he rides to campus. We really like our place. Come visit!



On Saturday, September 3 we met up with Greg's Gunderson cousins at the Vegas temple. We all did baptisms. I haven't done baptisms since I was 20 years old, (that's seven years ago). We were the only people there so it was especially fun. Afterwards we watched BYU beat Ole Miss! Go Cougs!