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!

My Provo Past

1. FARRER ELEMENTARY- I started working at Farrer Elementary the summer I returned from my mission, in 2007. I started off as an intern teaching 2nd grade. I loved it! That following year I taught 1st grade and ended up teaching 1st grade for 3 years. I really enjoyed working at Farrer. I got along great with the faculty and I really felt like I made a difference. After working at a school that was 80 years old, they knocked it down and started building a new school in its place. The building was finished this summer. I was so sad to not be a part of the new school Provo Peaks Elementary. Farrer will always have a special place in my heart. (I am standing in front of Provo Peaks in this picture).


2. FAMILY- It was so fun to live close to family while living in Utah. I moved to Utah right after I graduated from high school in June of 2002. I feel like I'm from there. We really enjoyed driving to West Jordan often to hang out with Greg's family. Here I am with Greg's sisters: Aubry and Malerie.


3. TEMPLE- It was a tremendous blessing to live so close to the Provo Temple. I started working at the temple in August of 2008. My last day was two weeks ago. I can honestly say that it not only changed my life, but also my marriage. We are very happy. The Provo Temple was where we got married and served as workers for 3 years.


4. FRIENDS- After working at Farrer for 4 years, I became very close to my co-workers. Here are two of my favorite people: Lisa and Marissa. They got me through some of my hardest times.


5. WORK- Greg worked at Brick Oven Pizza for 6 years. He pretty much knows how to make and do EVERYTHING in the restaurant. For the past year and a half he worked in the bakery. He usually went to work at 6am...but some days it was before 5am. Here he is in front of Brick Oven on his last day. Notice how dark it is...



6. PROVO PALS- We made many friends while we lived in Provo, but the very best ones were Ashley, Ben, and Cheyenne. Ashley and I were roommates for 2 years, neighbors for 2 years, and sisters for life. We sure miss these guys a lot. (This picture was taken by their house).

It is amazing the impact people and places can have on your life. We look back on our time in Provo with really fond memories. We had a wonderful time there. I decided what to study, to serve a mission, to do an internship, and who to get married to while we lived there. We are so grateful for our growth and learning experiences, but know the Lord has a plan for us here in Vegas. We are excited for the times we will have here. Thanks for the memories!

A Wonderful Week

Last week we had a family reunion in Nauvoo. Greg and I decided to drive there to save money and to visit as many church history sites as possible. Greg took a week off work and we got to spend tons of time with our family. It was totally worth it. I have listed 15 highlights from our trip!

#1. LIBERTY JAIL- We stayed with my brother Justin and his family for a couple of days before we headed to Nauvoo. Our first stop was Liberty Jail. The church has built a dome around the actual jail. I can't believe that Joseph Smith spent over 4 months there. Here I am with: Greg, Cassidy, Bethany, Alice, Paul, and Justin.


#2. INDEPENDENCE- We stopped by Independence and saw the temple site. It is on a pretty crazy street, but it is so green! The RLDS Temple is right across the street.



#3. KANSAS CITY- Justin took us to the top of a WWI museum to see Kansas City. It seems like quite the place. No wonder there are so many songs written about Kansas City. Here I am with Cassidy, Justin, Bethany, and Paul in the background. I think that me and Cassidy are the only normal ones in this picture... too much time in the car I guess...



#4. DEAF SCHOOL- My little sister is hard of hearing, so we decided to head to the Deaf Museum in Kansas City. It was way cooler than we thought it would be. We stayed at the museum for over an hour and asked one million questions during the tour. The coolest part was that across the street was the Deaf School. Here are Justin and Cassidy posing in front of the school.



#5- FAR WEST- The day of the reunion we met up with more family for more church history. Here we are at Far West. It is so beautiful and peaceful there. I'm excited we'll have a temple there some day. In the photo: Dad, Paul, Greg, Haley, Whitney, Cassidy, Dillon, and Mom.



#6- ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN- We also stopped by Adam-ondi-Ahman on the way to Nauvoo. Once again so beautiful and green, but extremely humid. IN PHOTO: Greg, Cassidy, Alice, Grace, Paul, Bethany, Dillon, me, mom, dad, and Whitney.






#7- NAUVOO TEMPLE- At last we got to Nauvoo! The first place we went to was the temple. Here we are with my mom.



#8- BENCH PRESSING- During the reunion we had a bunch of different activities. One of the activities was seeing who could lift the most. I thought it was pretty creative that Bethany and Paul came up with the idea of people bench pressing Greg. It was hilarious!



#9- NAUVOO PAGEANT- I'm sad to say that I didn't take any pictures of the actual pageant. Right before the pageant there were tons of pioneer games. One of them being wagon rides. Here is Greg pulling me and Cassidy. It was a bumpy ride!



#10- CARTHAGE JAIL- We traveled to Carthage and visited the jail. Here is Greg and Cassidy right in front of the door with the bullet holes.



#11- SONGS- At the Carthage Jail Visitors Center we had a little program where family members sang songs or quoted scriptures about Joseph Smith. In this picture Greg and Matt are singing a song called 'Brothers' about Joseph and Hyrum.



#12- BROTHERS- This statue is of Joseph and Hyrum right outside of Carthage Jail. Here I am with my brothers (except for Derek). IN PHOTO: Dillon, Justin, me, and Joel.



#13- MISSISSIPPI- The whole time we walked around Nauvoo, we could see the Mississippi River. It was so beautiful. This particular day (Saturday) it was exceptional.



#14- WINTER QUARTERS- Once we left Nauvoo we traveled through Nebraska to get home. Here we are in front of the Winter Quarters Temple. It is right next to the cemetary. On the temple windows you can see the Missouri River and the mountains. I wish we could have gone inside, but we just didn't have the time.



#15- WINTER QUARTERS VISITORS CENTER- Winter Quarters was way more interesting than we thought it was going to be. We also had a lot of questions for the sister missionary showing us around. In the downstairs they had this cool bronze exhibit. Here we are by the First Vision.

We had lots of fun and learned so much about church history by going on this trip. It was a TON of driving, but totally worth it so that we could be with our family.

Viva Las Vegas

We left on Wednesday, July 20 to check out Las Vegas. We plan on moving there in the middle of August. We were happy to find out that it only took us 5.5 hours to get there from Provo AND Vegas is in a different time zone.



We stopped by UNLV to see where Greg will be going to school for the next two years. He's getting his Masters in Music Composition. Here he is in front of the Lee & Thomas Beam Music Center. I'm sure he'll be spending a lot of time in there.



Here is a better view of the building. Pretty cool. That's me, by the way.



Here is Greg in front of the concert hall where I am sure I will watch him perform.



We walked around campus for a while and ran into the Institute Building! My dad would be so proud. We went inside hung around. Every institute building looks the same.



This picture is for Joel. When he found out Greg got into UNLV he couldn't stop talking about the Thomas & Mack Center. It's under construction so we couldn't get very close. It is HUGE!! To think, Jimmer played there. We're practically famous...



We got there around 6 or 7pm and it was so hot. It is truly a desert. BUT, look at those awesome palm trees. We're excited for this adventure. Doesn't Greg look smarter ALREADY??



We were in Vegas for less than 12 hours because Greg had to go back to work. We stopped to eat at the Brick Oven in St. George on the way home. There is our awesome car beside me. We've become pretty good friends with our car after all the traveling we do. We'll become even better friends when we drive all the way to Nauvoo next week!!!