Independence ward Christmas party--to the Washington DC temple!

Our inner city ward chartered a bus to the DC temple for our Christmas party. It was great!

These are 2 of Brandon's young men--Basheer & Baseer

The bus stopped to pick up Santa on the way...

The Wissahickon-our Philly refuge!

We love to go on walks and bikerides in Fairmount park, along the Wissahickon river. Brandon found out there were climbs underneath this massive bridge (in the top left hand corner.) He did a great job, although it scares me to belay him!


Khylo likes the Wissahickon too! The leaves were INCREDIBLE!!!

Our family away from Family!

We have been really blessed to have wonderful friends in our neighborhood & ward! They make living 2,148.7 miles away from home much easier! These pics are from our Halloween dinner (Heather & Jared, I really promise that we didn't know you guys thought you had to wear costumes! We're glad you did though :)

Kaitlyn & Preston, Danny & Maretta, Heather, Jared & Taegan; Amber, Taylor & Zoe

Kelley & Marshall hosted Thanksgiving dinner, it looked beautiful and tasted wonderful! There was definitely an abundance of food!

Visitors to Philly!

We've been lucky to have several visitors since we've moved to Philly!

Brandon's Mom and brother, Chris, helped move us out here...although unfortunately I don't have any pictures from their visit--they were busy helping! Kathy painted pretty much our whole house...thanks Kathy! Here's a pic of Brandon and Kathy along Kelly Dr, the river by our

house. I love the old fashioned bridges!

My Mom and Kenzi came out too. This is Kenzi and I on our street. It doesn't matter which house is ours...they're row houses, and all look the same! We love the curbside parking and the 18 steps leading to our front door!

We tackled the basement--ignore the mess! Kenzi ended up with a black face from trying to clean off the beams...100 years of dust, yuck! The basement is a definite work in progress...actually, it's more work than progress!!

We went to Manhatten to see Wicked. It was AMAZING! We loved Wicked, and being in New York was a blast....something I definitely plan to do more often!


My brother Tosh gave me the best birthday present--he came out to visit too! This is us at Valley Forge...ignore the fact that my eyes are closed...this is the only picture I have of the 2 of us!

Bj and Tosh eating in the kitchen...yes, that is our ridiculously small kitchen table!!

By the way---we love having visitors (hint hint!)

Goodbye Arizona!

After 4 fabulous years in Phoenix, it was time to move on. We had amazing experiences in Phoenix, and we really miss it. Now that we've moved to Philly, we're realizing that Phoenix had come to feel like home!

The top10 things we'll miss about Phoenix?

10. Wearing flip-flops year round

9. The constant clear blue sky

8. Living in a brand new house

7. The closets, bathrooms, bedrooms, carpet, kitchen, backyard, garage, and space of said house.

6. The sunshine!

5. Knowing what direction I was driving in, and where I was going!

4. Did I mention closets and carpet?

3. "Cold" meaning anywhere from 50-70 degrees

2. Teaching at Pena Elementary, and learning at Midwestern University

1. Our wonderful friends!!!!!

Happy Graduation Brandon!!

Our house in Arizona!

Our wonderful house! Now that we're in Philly, I fully appreciate the extravagance of a garage!!

Entryway...Brandon spent hours on the slate mosaic!

Backyard...another Brandon masterpiece!
He made the fountains too.

Kitchen...how I miss the countertops and cuboards!!














Family room...