First week of school.....

Well, the winter semester started this week....hooray....(not so much). Actually both of us are really enjoying it so far. We are taking a lot of science, health, and math this semester, which leaves little time for classes we might enjoy a little more, such as underwater basket weaving but guess that's the classes you have to take when you wanna work in the medical field. Also, we just got some great news, after fighting with the U for a couple months, Jenn in now officially classified as a resident. If you are not aware of the situation, she was declared as a non-resident for some reason, and we had to turn in pretty much every document from our lives to get it changed....but it's all good now, and we can go back to only being partially hosed when it comes to paying for school. Another good thing we just realized is how close we are to finishing degrees! Turns out being grown ups is closer than we thought. Well wish us luck, because with the schedules we have right now we probably wont see anyone for a while. Also GO UTES!

Hello 2009....

Out with the old, and in with the new, it's now 2009....holy cow where did the year go? Well it's been another eventful year for us. We are still going to school in Salt Lake City, but spent another summer working in Skagway to pay for the obscene tuition bills. We moved into a new apt, we now live in the student housing at the U of U. It's cinder block walls, elementary school carpets, and the smallest kitchen ever....but we love it. Its perfect for us because it's close to school and not too expensive. Brian's parents exceptionally love it because they lived here like 25 years ago, and feel everyone needs the experience. Up in Alaska both of our parents finally came to visit us and see what we've been doing the last few summers. We had a great time with them up there! We became world record holders by participating in the worlds largest egg toss. Also, we got a new nephew this summer, Jenn's sister Krista had another baby, named Kyler. We dont get to see them a lot since they live in Arizona, so him and the rest of her kids look totally different every time we see them. We went on a road trip/camping/hiking trip with the Quackenbushes to Arches and Mesa Verde this fall, which was amazing! It's great to live in Utah and be close to all those awesome sites. Some other things that we are excited about, our favorite football team, the Utah Utes we undefeated this season, and whompped on Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. We loved going to the games this year, and are excited to finally get in on the family's season tickets, so we dont have to camp out in the freezing cold on 5th south for tickets anymore! (thanks Brian's mom and dad). Another big win this year is our new President. We both supported Obama, and are excited for the changes that are in the new administration! Well 2008 is long gone and it's time for another great year....bring it '09.

GO UTES..........

So for those of you who did not watch the University of Utah dominated Alabama in the sugar bowl on Friday......you missed out! Unfortunately we were unable to make it to New Orleans so instead we threw our own sugar bowl party in Arizona with a few football players!

Happy New Year......

This New Year we were able to spend it with Jennifer's family in Arizona! The night consisted of 70 degree weather, a fancy dinner of steak and lobster (on paper plates), and a never ending game of rock band. We almost missed the new year being so into this game -which is funny because Brian and I have NEVER been into video games! (we found our new addiction).

Happy Birthday Lauren.....

Yesterday was Lauren's 25th birthday! The girls and their hubby's and baby cooper all got together to celebrate! The night was not same without Megs (feel better soon)!

Christmas 2008....

This year, it was our year to stay in Utah for Christmas with Brian's family. We usually go up to their family's cabin, and this year was no different. This year it was us, Brian's mom and dad, and his brothers, Eric and Riley. His sisters live out of state and couldn't come in this year. We got up there to a couple feet of brand new snow, so much in fact that we had to shovel a path from the snow mobile trail to the cabin. On Christmas eve it started snowing around 8 o'clock and didn't stop until the morning after Christmas. On Christmas morning, Riley was so excited that he texted Jenn from the next room at exactly 7 am to see if she was up and wanted to open presents....she was! We got lots of great stuff this year, but more importantly we had a great time together for the holiday. Plus its always nice to get snow on Christmas. We got so much snow in fact that we had to dig our car out of the parking lot. Unfortunately once we dug it out, it was stuck and after 2 hours of getting more and more stuck a nice family and their snow cat pulled us out to the road. So now, Christmas is over, now we just have New Years and then back to school and our "real" lives.

Brooke is in town....

Well it's Christmas time again, and with that it means that people come in for the Holidays...mainly one of Brian's best friends, Brooke. She is too cool for SLC now, so she's freezing out in Buffalo these days. Him, Her, Blake and Eric all got together for lunch to catch up on old times. Good to see ya Brooke come in more often!!

Family Pictures....

So in addition to Thanksgiving, and hiking, and shopping, we also took family pictures while we were in Phoenix. It's been the first one since Jenn was in high school...before Alex, Brian, and the house full of kids. We got the pictures back the next day and quickly realized that the four little kids are way more photogenic than the adults. Here are some pictures of the event (don't worry Linda we wont put up the one's of the whole family so you can look).

Camelback Hike....

Now that the cold weather and snow has hit the mountains in Utah, Brian hasn't really been able to hike in a while so...The day after Thanksgiving Brian and Jenn's brother Eric decided to avoid the shopping festivities and go on a hike. They chose to hike Camelback Mountain, it's a 1 1/2 mile straight up hike on a mountain right in the middle of the city. They had awesome weather and were able to make it up to the top for miles and miles of picturesque Phoenix views. It was also a great opportunity for Brian to try out his new trail shoes he got for his birthday, (he had thought they would sit in the closet till spring), and they worked out amazingly! The trails were so steep at points that there were rails on the trail that you had to use to pull yourself up at times. They had such a great time that they are already planning hikes for the next time Brian is in town.

Thanksgiving in Phoenix

Well it's that time of year again, the holidays. We've got a system where we trade off on holidays between the Harts and the Larsens, and this year it is Thanksgiving in Phoenix. With gas being so cheap we decided to load up the jeep and drive this time. Not only do Jenn's parents live there, but so does the rest of her family, so we get to see them also! And new to this year is Krista and Alex's new baby, Kyler, which Brian met for the first time. We had dinner at Krista and Alex's house. After stuffing us the way we can only imagine the Pilgrims and Indians did we spent the rest of the day watching football and playing with the kids.