Matt and Brittany Mitchell

October Family Photo Shoot

2011-11-16T15:08:00.001-07:00

Here are my favorites out of like 150. Be sure to see the last one though, it is just so sweet!

Love this man!

Going in for the kiss.

LOVE. THIS. ONE.

Sooo Behind!

2011-11-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

In no particular order here are some fun pictures of the past few months! Should I share our fun news first? We found out we are having a baby boy! Due March 26, D'Anna will be just over 2. I have NO idea what to name this little guy so feel free to offer ideas!

These two lovely ladies both happend to be in Utah at the same time so we got together for breakfast (and a lot of chatting!) at Kneaders. Bethany and Jessica are two of my very closest friends and it was SOOO fun to see them!

Matt got to go on a rafting trip in Colorado with some co-workers.

Before our Biggs reunion my brother Travis came out early with his family. We spent some time with them and some friends at Cabellas...

and Thanksgiving Point...

Just a Sunday afternoon walking around the temple grounds.

Halloween season at Thanksgiving Point.

D did really well getting her face painted!

You can kind of see the pumpkin on her cheek here. We chose a pumpkin because that was one of her newest words.

Look at this girls long hair! It makes her look so old!

Some fun summer projects at our new home. Matt built these great planter boxes. This whole area was just weeds before, hopefully next year our garden will be a success!

More rock and a border. Nice job Matt.

Just cuteness. This girl LOVES water.

We thought we'd check out Lehi's Legacy Center and were not disappointed! Great fountains and slides and shallow areas for kids!

Happy Halloween! Matt and I didn't dress up this year but D'Anna was dressed appropriately as a monkey! She loved trick or treating and even said please and thank you...just not when the door was open. We went to about 15 doors and even gave her a little bit of candy!

Carving pumpkins and eating pumpkin pancakes!

Happy Holidays!

Timpanogos Caves

2011-06-29T12:56:00.006-06:00

Aren't we lucky to live in such a pretty place? This week Graham and Angie (Matt's brother and his family) are here visiting from San Diego! Yesterday we took a beautiful hike up to Timpanogos Caves. I've been wanting to take Matt there so I'm glad we finally did it!

D has been having SO much fun with her cousins! Wish they lived closer!

Lost

2011-06-26T14:37:00.008-06:00

We moved and I couldn't find our camera cord anywhere but we finally did! It was in Matt's laptop bag of course. So here is our new home in Lehi, Utah:

D helped pack too.

We are loving it! There's something special about a first home. We've already had some excitement with a leaky roof...welcome to home ownership right? We are just around the corner from the park and the neighborhood seems great. Lots of young kids. In church Matt teaches the 5 year-olds and I am with the Beehives.

But let's rewind a little bit...
We took a very fun spontaneous trip to Moab! Neither of us had ever been there before and we had a great time.

A little late...but here's our Easter baskets in our last place. Somebody looks excited.

We've been enjoying our "Pass of all Passes" (a season pass good for basketball games, baseball games, Seven Peaks water park, and Trafalga fun center). Here we are at Trafalga:

For Memorial Day week we got to go see my family in California!

This week we got some fun visitors! Matt's parents came to be our first house guests.

Our first "Lehi's Rodeo Days" where we watched the parade, walked around the boutique, and pet the animals.
And just for fun...
(This is my curling iron cover that she uses as an elephant nose, she even makes the sounds)

1 Year Old!

2011-03-06T21:08:00.003-07:00

One year ago...

Now...First taste of cake. Needless to say she liked it.

We SOoo love this girl! She is constantly entertaining and such a joy! Her latest tricks include:
-Walking a few steps
-Saying hi, bye (plus waves), mama (that's right), and uh-oh
-Folding her arms for prayer
-She has 4 teeth on top and 3 on bottom
-She is recently getting very picky with food and she wants to feed herself
-Basically we're both wrapped around her finger and she likely knows it!

Picture Overload

2011-01-16T13:29:00.012-07:00

Cute naps with Mom and Dad:
New toy (I have this running through my head constantly now! "D, D, D says Duh! Every letter makes a sound, D says Duh!")
My parents recently returned from the Bangalore, India mission and brought home all the grandkids a beautiful outfit typically worn at weddings. Here's D'Anna's:
Pigtails! It's so fun being able to do ponies now!

Family picture in the barn during Christmas.
Christmas morning at the Smurthwaites!
Christmas Eve Nativity by the grandkids.
Kirsten the shepherdess.
Carla and D'Anna as lambs.
Maya the angel and Trevor the shepherd.
Tyler the shepherd (with Tommy as Joseph and Jack the cow in the back)

Jack and D'Anna
Christmas dresses from Grandma Phyllis!

Just cuteness
Setting up the tree.

D watched us happily...

Thanksgiving!
My grandma playing with her great grandkids.
All of the grandkids with a cute Welcome home sign for the return missionaries!

Brittany's birthday to CPK and the Orem Hale Center Theater to see Scarlett Pimpernel.
Cousin Emily babysat for us and joined us for pizza.

At the restaurant
Wearing a dress her mommy wore as a baby. Matt calls it the Alice in Wonderland dress.
It's been a very fun past couple of months!!

October

2010-10-31T09:16:00.002-06:00

We had another great month! Here are some pictures albeit out of order.

Trunk or Treat with the Sanders.

Cubicle Trick or Treat at Matt's work. (Thanks for the adorable tutu Aunt Ester!)

Carving pumpkins

Peter Pan, Wendy, and pumpkin. Everyone thought we were Robin Hood and who knows what I must've been?

Daddy Daughter date in the canyon while I was at YW.

The Bradley's came to visit! I love these two pictures we got with them!
Uncle Jesse and Aunt Shannon

SEVEN months! Next week I'll take her 8 month picture already!

I got a new calling! I love it already--I'm in young womens and for our first activity we had a very fun and hilarious Minute to Win It night. My favorite activities from it: Shaking ping pong balls out of a tissue box tied to your waist, getting a cookie from your forehead to your mouth with no hands, and lastly moving cotton balls from one place to another using vasoline on your nose! It was a pretty funny night. We've got a great group of girls, I'm so excited!

Conference Weekend

2010-10-03T18:52:00.004-06:00

Matt had never been to General Conference until today! Thanks to my wonderful cousin's family who watched D'Anna for us, we got to go enjoy the experience together. I LOVE Conference!

Here we are just leaving, yes it felt very bright outside!

D'Anna stands by herself without even knowing it if she has something to lean against. cRaZy! She's rolling around a little more, but still no crawling!

Saturday morning before conference we took a nice walk to Bridal Veil Falls to see the changing leaves. We were not prepared for how cold it was! Here's D zipped up in Matt's hoodie and with her cloth to help keep her head warm! She's too cute.

My sweet sister-in-law Shannon sent us flowers for cheering up after Grandpa's passing. D'Anna loved them and always wanted to play with them.

There were several great talks I LOVED and I can't wait to read them in the Ensign, but here is one uplifting quote I enjoyed from a talk on gratitude: "While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways." -Thomas S. Monson

September

2010-09-20T19:45:00.008-06:00

On September 4th my Grandpa passed away. I am so thankful that I know he lives on and for the great reunions I'm sure he is having. I love my grandpa very much and I will miss him very much but I am also happy for him. Grandpa was always smiling with a great attitude and very giving-especially hugs and hard candies :0).

Here are my wonderful grandparents, taken August 7, 2010

This one was right after I had baby D'Anna in March

It was nice seeing friends and family in Holden.
Travis and D'Anna

Roy and Tamra
Charles and Lanea
Sisters!
The three youngest grandkids (of my parents) Matthew, D'Anna, and Trevor all within one year of each other--my parents will get to meet them in November when they get home from their mission to Sri Lanka!Travis holding a second cousin's baby and our friend Nate.

I love Holden and I love visiting on this porch! Lots of fun memories!
Ben, Travis, Brittany, MattNext are several pictures of D'Anna...again!
Here are some I love that my brother Nate took spontaneously for me. You can check out his link on the right hand side called Intrigue Photography. These were taken back in July when D was 4 months old.

Now my baby is SIX months old can you believe it!?
That means...we started feeding her solids! Here she is all cute and messy after her first meal of rice cereal.

Here she is with her measuring teddy bear. She's growing up! Ha, but she is only in the 4th percentile so we're working on fattening her up!

...compared to her at one month old:

And this is just adorable because she will sometimes just fall asleep playing with her teddy bear and hold it close against her face. She'll pull my face close to hers too sometimes just like this and I LOVE it!

Amy's Baby Shower

2010-08-14T22:22:00.005-06:00

Today I got to throw my cousin Amy a baby shower! She recently adopted an adorable little boy so we got to meet him--such a cutie!

Amy and I

Proud momma with her new little boy!

My first attempt at making a fruit bouquet! It was fun to do, not exactly what I had hoped but I think it still turned out pretty cute.Cousins! My cousin Kaylee holding D'Anna and Dakota (Melissa's daughter)--just 3 weeks apart in age.

My cousin Cheri and a friend.

Amy, a friend, Aunt Genni, Kaylee

More cousins! Nancy and Melissa.

Cousins Kathy and Liz (I know, practically a family reunion right! Loved it!)

Later on just playing around. Here's D'Anna playing superman with Matt. Ya, she's buff.

Wearing Daddy's hat. We love our little girl!

The Opera Festival and Cousins!

2010-08-08T20:07:00.007-06:00

My sister Tamra came out with her husband Roy and their youngest, Matthew, to the Logan Opera Festival--so of course we had to join them! It was so much fun! We got to meet Matthew for the first time who is 1 month younger than D'Anna and such a cutie! We saw The Sound of Music which was especially fun because Vanessa and Olivia were in it (Ester's sisters) and both were amazing. Elder L. Tom Perry was there too and I got to shake his hand (gotta love Utah)! I was really moved by some of the songs and as always the storyline. We stayed the night at Nate and Ester's cute little home and I had so much fun visiting with them! We even got to finally try Aggie ice cream for the first time--mmm mm!

Matt holding Matthew and D'Anna at a pizza/pasta restaurant (The Firehouse?)

Adorable Matthew!

My wonderful sister

At The Sound of Music. The picture behind us is the amazing cast.

Killing time at the park one day. D'Anna's first swing experience...yummy.

Another fun thing that happened this month--my oldest nephew, Brandon, went to EFY here in Utah and I got to drop him off and pick him up. It was so fun spending time with him! I can't believe he's almost as tall as me! We made a quick trip to my grandparents while he was here. We also got to hang out with Chuck and Lanea and their three youngest for a night. We went to Pirate Island for the first time (so cute!) and the spent the night at our house--SOOO fun!

Brandon Thomas with Grandpa Thomas

Helping out in the orchard. I LOVE Holden!

I sure love these two!

Here's my cute little one.

FIVE months old now!

Brandon at EFY

He stayed in Kimball Halls--that's where I lived my freshmen year and so did his dad during his 1st year! It was fun to be there for a few minutes--it brought back a lot of fun memories!

2010-07-10T12:38:00.004-06:00

We love summer! Here's what we've been up to...

Our friends took us to the outdoor Scera Theater to see "Funny Girl". We had a lot of fun and will definitely have to go there again sometime! Thanks Lawtons!

D'Anna turned 4 months old! She is growing even though she is still in the lower percentiles for all of her stats (height, weight, head). We have so much fun with her! She has started laughing more, playing with her toes a lot, and rolling over regularly.
Posing in her @Task shirt so she can be added to the baby board at Matt's work.

Fourth of July Weekend we went for a small day "hike" (turned out to be a very short distance!) to the Payson Grotto. You can't quite tell in the pictures but D'Anna really loves being in her baby carrier so she can see what's going on and she loves being outside!

Freedom Festival in Provo. Lots of interesting people watching! We also went to the parade this year but didn't take pictures.

Oh and for Father's Day this year I took Matt shopping for some new clothes the day before (how does an adult wear through his elbows so fast? I thought only little boys did that!) and we had a yummy fondue dinner on Sunday.

Our Goings On

2010-06-20T08:31:00.013-06:00

Lots of pictures today, not all in order and mostly borrowed! Thanks! They make me want an SLR camera someday!

D'Anna's first bike ride.

Relaxing...this is how she sleeps too. So cute.

We spent a fun Saturday with my grandparents working on their history.

For Mother's Day Matt got me a new frame! This is a beautiful painting of the Oakland Temple where we were married. It was a gift from my in-laws and I was so sad when the frame broke so Matt replaced it. The flowers were sent to me from my in-laws for my first Mother's Day! I was so surprised and excited that when the delivery person came to my door I literally asked if he was sure he had the right house (how cliche I know). And the manila folder was also from Matt--it is D'Anna's birth certificate finally! She was the best Mother's Day gift by far!

On June 5th Matt's sister, Shannon, was married! We got to spend a wonderful week and a half in Virginia and had a really great time! It was fun to spend time with family.

Congratulations Shannon and Jesse!

Notice Henry sleeping on the couch--so cute!

Ron and Phyllis

The grandkids. Love them!!

Sightseeing! While we were there my cousin Emily came out for the last 3 days to do some sightseeing. We went to 3 places I've never been this time on top of the other typical places. I had never been to Ford's Theater where Abraham Lincoln was shot, Mount Vernon where we toured George Washington's Estate, or the Holocaust Museum.

Arlington Cemetery. I always tear up during the Changing of the Guard. It was also neat to see flowers presented to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier--I had never seen that done before.

At Mount Vernon. From left to right: Me, D'Anna, Matt, Jamie (Emily's roommate).

In front of the Estate. Matt, Emily, me. It was so beautiful there! I love that it is placed right by the Potomac River too. I can't believe how many house guests they had constantly coming through and also how self reliant they were. George Washington is an amazing man to me. It was neat to learn more about him and how young he was when he was first recognized. I love the painting, "Prayer at Valley Forge". I am so grateful for the good and religious men who founded this great country.

Showing off her cute little butterfly bum! These are all in the backyard of the estate.

While we were in Virginia we got to do sealings for Mitchell ancestors. It was so wonderful (minus the traffic getting there!). Matt stayed out to watch the baby and I got to join the Mitchell brothers and Ron and Phillis. It was fun being the only non-Mitchell there, it made me really feel grateful that they are my family now too.

On one of the days we went to White's Ferry with most of the family to go boating. It was a very pretty day and like everything back there, there is some Civil War history to this area I got to appreciate. Afterward a group of us had lunch in a little town close by on the Maryland side.

At the zoo! I have been craving a zoo trip for a long time now but Matt wanted me to wait until we went back to Virginia since the National Zoo is free! (Except parking). We had a fun time with just us and D'Anna.

Flamingos.

Family picture in front of the elephant statue. D'Anna fell asleep in the stroller.

Lions.

D'Anna's 3 month picture.

2 months old.

This was our first day in Virginia at the yummy BBQ dinner provided by Jesse's family.
All the siblings. Matt, Graham, Megan, Shannon, Jason with Aaron and David in the back.

Cute little Henry. I'm shocked he left his clothes on the whole time! Just teasing.

The grandkids

The happy couple

D'Anna's blessing day. Aaron, David, Ron, and Graham. David and Ron said she was smiling the whole time during her blessing.

Girl cousins!
Not enough pictures of D'Anna? >sarcasm< Here are two more from the wedding.

About to sneeze.

2010-06-20T08:31:00.001-06:00

Superman!

2010-04-30T12:59:00.002-06:00

So for a long time now I've known that I'm married to a superman, but two weeks ago Matt's company also acknowledged this. For the second time in under 4 years Matt has been awarded the Employee of the Month Award! Way to go Matt! There are over 300 people who could have received it but no, Matt was singled out. The first year he got this it was called the "Above and Beyond" award and this year it is the "Saved the Day" award. What does this mean? It means he was given a (very prestigious) Superman bobble head, a gift certificate, and the privilege of using the best parking spot at work for a whole month. Here are some of the things his coworkers said about him:

* Matt Mitchell has done an amazing job at putting together the courses we teach in Education.
* He never seems to get tired of improving the courses and coming up with new ideas that will help us as trainers and the AtTask customers we teach.
* He goes above and beyond in digging into otherwise unknown areas, like valueexpressions in text mode views, to provide even more reporting value to AtTask customers.
* His experience, expertise, and extra efforts have combined to form the core of our education offerings.
* Matt is exceptional on all professional levels. He is dedicated to what he does and puts in 110% everyday.
* He is probably the most invaluable resource the education team has and I view him as indispensable.
* He knows more about @task than anyone here that I am aware of (and quite possibly anyone at AtTask period) and he is always more than willing to impart that wisdom on others and help out as best he can.
* He also never complains about the line that forms on a daily basis at his desk when myself and the other educators come to him about questions we cannot answer.
* In addition to the extra things he does for our team, he also manages all of the standard responsibilities he has. The classes and curriculum he has designed have been fantastic and yet he continually looks for ways to improve and is never comfortable with where things are at.
* His efforts have impacted our clients for good more than any other single person in Education.

I am so proud of him and just had to brag a bit. Love you Matt!

And We're Back

2010-04-15T15:25:00.007-06:00

About two months ago Matt changed the system of how we import our pictures from our camera onto the computer. It isn't very hard but it is different from the nice routine I was used to before and as a result I haven't been blogging at all! But luckily Matt has posted twice (a record for him I think) so you could see our sweet new little girl. And yes, she has a name! We named her D'Anna (after my wonderful mother, pronounced "DeAnna") Rhea ("ray"--a family name on Matt's side...in fact it's Matt's middle name). Poor girl, I know we gave her two difficult names but at least she has Mitchell....for now! We actually had a different name picked out but when we met her we knew D'Anna was the right fit.

So today I'll be posting a million pictures of her. Sorry if it's overload but she's just so so cute! It's truly been amazing having her in our home and we feel extremely blessed. Also thanks to all you for the sweet well wishes and for many who have helped us with our new adjustment!

PS Sorry to disappoint but we actually will NOT be going private quite yet! April fools? We just were unsure when we started posting pictures of our baby girl if we needed to take extra precautions and perhaps we do but for now it is on hold so feel free to enjoy at your leisure without logging in yet!

PPS I warn you, I really did put up a ton of pictures! My favorites are at the end so be sure to scroll all the way down...

Family Picture

Her 1st week home.

Proud Mama
Proud DaddyPutting Matt's bassinet to good use.

D'Anna just got a new baby cousin two days ago named Matthew Ron. He is my sister Tamra's 6th. It was funny when she called to ask permission to use this name because Matt's dad's name is Ronald so she wanted to make sure we weren't planning on naming one of our boys Matthew Ronald! haha. We also recently found out that on Matt's side Aaron and Melissa are having a boy! D'Anna will have 3 fun boy cousins her age--that should be interesting!

Here is one of the three. Trevor came with my sister Lanea while she was out here. This boy is such a cutie and has the cutest giggle! I was so glad he came too!D'Anna's 1 month picture.

My cousin Amy came by.
I like this picture because I think she looks like Matt! You can see she inherited his pointed ear and also his hair. But where did that chin come from? My in-laws said it's also a Mitchell trait--it sure is cute though!Grandma Phyllis and Papa Ron (Matt's parents) came for a visit! It was great having them here, they really spoiled us! Besides just hanging out they got to see a lot of friends and family and do family history work (they are amazing at this and found some pretty neat stuff while they were here!). We also took them to BYU campus and ate out at yummy restaurants including the Mayan. Ron really liked the divers, they were amazing. I think he especially liked the loin cloths--just teasing!

Taking a nap with Papa Ron

Trying out the Bumbo for the first time. She's getting pretty strong but doesn't like to stay in it for long yet.I also got to throw a baby shower for one of my besties! Bethany is having a boy (of course...D'Anna is surrounded) in May. It was my first shower I've held and it was a lot of fun! We played the candy bar game where you match a term with a candy (i.e. Baby giggles with Snickers and hospital bills with 100 Grands) and then the person who found the match got the candy that goes with it.

These next several pictures are from today. I was having fun playing with my camera and practicing my (lacking) photography skills! Enjoy.

Warming up...

This picture is my favorite! I caught her smiling! It's so fun that she smiles for real now, although it's still not very often. This is her blessing dress that I was trying on her. All of her girl cousins on my side were blessed in it except for Lilly. I'm looking forward to that day! We are going to wait until we go out to Virginia for Matt's sister's (Shannon's) wedding because his whole family will be there so it will be very special! Congrats Shannon, we're excited for you!

My beautiful baby girl...sigh...I just can't get enough of her!

Trying on her dress that Shannon got her for the wedding.

And lastly...what are baby pictures without a few of these?

We're Going Private

2010-03-12T15:44:00.009-07:00

We have decided that we want to make our blog private. This means we need your email addresses to add you to the reader's list.

If you would like to continue to read our blog, please email brittanyjmitchell@gmail.com.

And here's some more pictures of our little girl because she's way too cute.

We REALLY appreciate Lanea who took such good care of Brittany this last week. (Sorry Lanea if you didn't want to show up on our blog).

This is all Brittany and Lanae did all week -- sit around and nurse.

That's not completely true; they also sat around a smiled at their babies.

Sometimes, the kids took naps together.

And sometimes Lanea had her arms full.

Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson popped in for a surprise visit.

Shirlene and Jeanette were with them.

Uncle Nathan made this lovely hat for her that we wanted to show off.

Our Baby Girl

2010-03-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures... I won't bore you with words other than mom and baby are both doing well. 6 lbs 11 oz; 20 inches; born on Friday, March 5, 2010.

And you can judge for yourself, but I think she is pretty cute...

Everyone has made home safe and sound.

Special thanks to Lanea for helping out.

Matt.

40 Weeks and 1 Day

2010-02-28T17:44:00.004-07:00

I know I haven't posted anything for a long time but we have had a fun month, I just haven't been taking pictures! Well yesterday was our due date and it came and went...but we're being patient and I thought we'd better get some pictures of us together before she comes. I feel pretty chubby to be honest so I didn't really want to post any pictures, but I guess I'll be glad one day right? At any rate, we're still here and still are doing great! Matt and I made guesses for when we think this little one will come and Matt thinks it'll be Tuesday. I'm not quite as optimistic since I think she's taking her time and won't come until Friday...we'll see!

Oh and how cute is this! Matt's company (Attask or @task) gave us this cute little onesie and blanket, kinda fun!

For Matt's birthday we went to Texas Roadhouse with our friends the Sanders. YUM. Matt even "got" to sit with a cowboy hat on a saddle propped on a saw horse while we all gave him a big "Yeeeehaw!". I thought it was cute, can't say the same for Matt.

Baby Shower

2010-01-20T13:48:00.003-07:00

Warning: there are a lot of details in this one you probably don't care much to read about but I wanted to record it for myself, enjoy!
I had the best baby shower last Saturday (Jan 16th). I felt SO loved by so many wonderful friends and family! This baby girl is already spoiled! It was held at my Aunt Denise's home in Provo where we had yummy Magleby's Fresh French Toast with fruit while visiting and then played some girly baby games of course. It was a wonderful day, thank you to my two hostesses Marybeth and Aunt Denise!Friends and Family
Ashley (freshmen roomy), Janine (co-worker), and Callie (wife of Matt's co-worker)

Adrianna (cousin in-law), Girls from the ward: Heather, Julia, Melanee, Loni

Cousins Emily and Amy

Playing games. They had to guess what traits I'd want our girl to have from either Matt or I. For example, would I rather her have my ears or Matt's? (Mine by the way but hopefully she'll get her daddy's feet!). When I got home I had Matt fill it out and surprisingly we agreed on all but three--he likes his eye shape and color better!

Two other games we played: "Matthew" and "Brittany" were written on a paper and they had to use the letters to spell a girl name...this was helpful since we still don't have a name picked out yet! A few were Tanya, Ana, Atty etc. Some people got real creative like Brittany, good name! The last game was Bingo where they filled out a bingo card listing items they thought I'd get and while I unwrapped gifts they marked their bingo cards for a prize: chocolate, can't go wrong there! I was very spoiled with lots of wonderful gifts and I feel so much more prepared now to have this little one!
Girls from dental hygiene school: Danielle, Emily, Brittany (and her cute baby Jax), then there's Bethany (from home), Tana (church, she's due two weeks before me!), Rachel and Jess (co-workers), and Aunt Genni. Some others that came but not pictured: Melissa (cousin), Aunt Dolly, Desta, Michelle (home), Natalie (church), and Hayley (from home). Thank you all for coming and for your love and support! It was so fun seeing everyone!

Measuring 42 inches and only 6 more weeks to go!

Christmastime!

2010-01-12T18:15:00.006-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year! Here's Matt putting up our tree. After cutting off the strings the tree still stayed skinny like this! But we just pushed down the branches which was perfect because then we got them right where we wanted them.At the @Task Christmas party this year each department did a short skit or something to provide for our entertainment. They were hilarious! One group did the on-stage synchronized swimming routine, another group played a song with bells, and one did interpretive dance relating to their work (probably my favorite one, I laughed pretty hard...had to be there I guess). One group made a video of "elf yourself" and "jib jab" that was pretty funny too! Here is a picture of Matt's department with Matt on the very right playing the base. They did the Saturday Night Live skit, "Cowbell" with Will Ferrel. You can watch that one on You Tube to get the idea. After all the funny entertainment it was obvious to me that Matt works with a lot of little boys! There are a few women there, but @Task is mostly men...or like I said, such boys!

We got to meet up with Nate and Ester in Salt Lake where we went out to Macaroni Grill and then walked around to see the lights on Temple Square. We also saw Nate's good friend, Alan and his girlfriend, while we were there. I love Christmas and as always the lights there were beautiful!

Christmas Eve was very pleasant. Matt and I stayed home in Provo and went for a drive up the canyon, did Christmas puzzles, watched Christmas movies etc and enjoyed a yummy dinner.

On Christmas day we woke up around 6:30 to open gifts and then decided to head out to California a day early so we packed our bags, took down all the decorations in the house, and headed out to my sister's home in Auburn, CA. It was definitely a different Christmas day but actually a lot of fun! We enjoyed our drive together just visiting and listening to the last Narnia book. We stopped for Christmas dinner in Boomtown which was PACKED (how sad!) so we got "dinner" at the gas station! It was a fun day though! We stayed at Tamra and Roy's for almost a week and enjoyed every second! So much so that we didn't take a single picture. Some highlights of the trip: visiting the Nevada City Ward for church, playing with nephews and nieces, karaoke, temple trip etc. What a great Christmas break!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T22:25:00.004-07:00

We had such a great Thanksgiving! We drove out to California and stayed at my sister, Lanea's house. We had fun playing games, doing puzzles, visiting, watching Christmas movies, playing with nieces and nephews etc.

Here are the sisters: Tamra and I with our bellies and Lanea with her 6 week old.

Tamra, Roy and family

Matt playing with the kids.

And of course singing around the piano.

I should have taken more pictures of the grandkids...they are so cute and were so fun to play with! I was so grateful to spend the holiday with family!

Temple Square

2009-11-01T12:39:00.004-07:00

This weekend we got to see Tamra's song, "Rejoice!" performed on Temple Square. This is the second year in a row that one of her songs was selected to be performed at the Relief Society Music Night. It was all wonderful music and it was very special to listen to a song my sister wrote, I'm very proud of her! Plus it was so so great to see family, I confess I have been feeling a little homesick lately! Before the performance Roy took us to The Roof Restaurant where we had a gorgeous view of Temple Square, live piano music, delicious food, and super fun company! It was so much fun, thanks Roy!

Sisters! Ester, Tamra, Me. Tamra is due just over a month after me! (Roy is also on the right)Aunt Denise, Tam, Aunt Shirlene (Nate and Ester are to the right in the background)

Grandma Stephenson and Tamra (the McCauley's are to the right)

I had to include this picture, Grandma kept talking right when we took the picture so here they are giggling because we had to take so many before Grandma finally smiled! They are just too cute.

As far as Halloween goes, nothing too exciting this year. We got to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters and we didn't dress up...sorry to disappoint. There's always next year!

What We've Been Up To

2009-10-25T13:33:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday we took a hike to Big Springs (5 miles there). It was beautiful and we met a nice family along the way. This is near where we went snow shoeing last Christmas Eve so it was fun to see what it looks like in the Fall.

A couple weeks ago my cousin Tammy was in town! So she and Amy came over for lunch and we had fun just hangin' out and playing with this cute boy.

The adventures of Cub Scouts continue...we took our two cubs to the BYU Planetarium. It was great. We got there early so we could look at the fish in the downstairs of the Widstoe building and played with the cool science experiments in the lobby of the Eyering Science Center.

And lastly, the baby continues to grow! Two weeks ago Matt could even feel her kicking! That was the neatest feeling ever! I am so excited!

Other exciting news in the family:
Matt's brother, Graham, was recently called as Stake President in San Diego!
My sister, Lanea, had her little boy! Trevor Scott, #6 for their family and the fifteenth grandchild (which will make ours #16).
My other sister, Tamra, wrote a song titled Rejoice! that was selected to be performed this coming Friday night at Temple Square.

Oktoberfest

2009-09-20T20:23:00.006-06:00

Each year my cousin's husband (Joe) plays polka music at the Oktoberfest at Snowbird so this year we thought we'd go check it out! It was really fun music! There are also booths set up and several activities such as a rockwall, Alpine Slides, a zip-line, face painting etc. Oh, and lots and lots of beer apparently. Still, we had a good time with cousins and the mountains were absolutely beautiful!

The boys. Here is Matt and Joe (in costume)

The girls. Amy, Brittany, and Emily.

Matt and I showing off our baby bellies.

Matt and I

Joe and AmyAmy and Joe again.

Dancing! I had to convince Matt to polka with me but we had a good time trying once we got out there.

The girls in front of the band. There was an amazing girl on the accordion, Joe plays the tuba, a guy on the trumpet, and one on the clarinet.

We had so much fun! I love hanging out with cousins!

Other stuff we've been up to...

Matt is continuing his woodworking hobby and is learning more cool tricks. Here is our baby bassinet he designed and built!

We LOVE our garden! Here are our first carrots. I'd never seen a fresh-pulled carrot before!

Matt got to go boating with some co-workers and went wake surfing for the first time.

My first belly shot! We can both tell it's bigger but it's still not very noticeable without my help.

AND...this just in: My sister Tamra JUST told me that she is also expecting! How exciting! My other sister Lanea is due in three weeks so all three of us will have babies within a year of each other! So fun!

Three More Weeks...

2009-09-17T14:43:00.002-06:00

...until we find out if it's a boy or a girl! So exciting! Any guesses? Matt constantly refers to it as a he, and I'm always saying she so I guess so far it's a tie.

Mitchell Family Beach Trip

2009-08-30T13:41:00.026-06:00

Yesterday we got back from a great vacation to Nags Head, North Carolina with most of Matt's family. The water was perfect and we had so much fun hanging out with the family!

The beach on the last day

Brandon Skim Boarding. We had two toe injuries from this activity! Watch out for those skim boards!

The Lost Colony. This was the very first colony settlement in North America but mysteriously all of the people disappeared! Matt is standing in front of some ruins with an English flag in the center.

The outdoor stage at the Lost Colony. It reminded me of a small scale version of Tuacahn, it'd be fun to see a play there or the reenactment of the colony's history.

Hanging out in the beach house.

This is how close Matt--completely unknowingly--parked our rental car to this stand! Scary!

We did lots of this...

At the Wright Brothers Monument. I really loved going here and listening to a presentation that taught me more about the Wright Brothers. It truly was inspirational!

The white markers are the distances from my camera to the first 4 flights! The first was up for only 12 seconds and the last was (I think) 59 seconds. Only about 60 years later would man land on the moon! Incredible.

Bowling night!

Megan, Jesse, Shannon

Megan and Brandon

Jason, Brandon, and Aaron

Matt, Aaron, and Dad

Mini Golf!

Jockey's Ridge

Lounging at the beach.

First day there. Brittany, Dad, Mom, Megan, Brandon, Jason

The first and last day had thunder storms come and go but it was still pretty.

We had a great time! Among other things we played games, tossed the frisbee, Brandon had a very cool controlled kite, ate seafood (I ate my first crab legs where I even had to break it open etc, very cool and yummy too!), read, shopped, etc. Thanks Mitchell's for letting us join in on the fun!

Sailing

2009-08-30T13:25:00.005-06:00

Our friends took us sailing out on Utah Lake recently. So much fun! Plus we got to try out our new camera which, by the way, is water proof! I also learned all sorts of fun sailing lingo such as sheeting in the jib, which side is starboard and port etc. We're pretty much pros now.

Marybeth and Mike

Our News!

2009-08-30T13:23:00.001-06:00

Yes, the rumors are true! We're expecting our first little baby in the end of February!

No Posts?

2009-08-03T15:25:00.002-06:00

Sadly, our camera is officially dead so I haven't been adding to our blog. I think Matt is secretly glad it's broken so we can finally get a new one! Any suggestions? Let me know if you have one you've liked! We'll still want a small one though. Thanks!

Random Pictures

2009-07-05T13:43:00.006-06:00

Here is my attempt to fill you in on what we've been up to! I didn't take any pictures of our first trip to California for Mom and Dad's farewell but it was a wonderful weekend and I'll have to grab some pictures from my sisters later...but for now here's what we've got:

A few weeks ago we had a fun picnic in the park with several friends from home. It was so fun to see everyone!
Me with Seth and his wife Giouvi

Before Mom and Dad left on their mission we got to visit Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson. Look how cute they are with their name tags!

I sure love these two!!

Matt with the BBQ and taking good care of our garden.

Just thought I'd post a picture of our lovely rental home we've lived in for the past 2 years now!

Two of Travis's kids with a friend eating ice cream at our house. They were in town for a wedding (Steysi's brother). Maya and Tommy...they're so cute!

For the week of the 4th of July we took a road trip to California for a Biggs Family Reunion. On our way we stopped in Tahoe for lunch and a bike ride. It was such a fun road trip! Next we got to see Travis at work then headed for Tamra's where we went swimming and spent the night.

Thursday morning one of my best friends, Joslin, went through the temple for the first time and we were so lucky to be there! Joslin will be serving in the Salta, Argentina mission and I'm so excited for her and so proud of her!

Sacramento, CA temple.

Joslin "Sister De Martini" and I

The group who was there (except Ali and Donna Ivey). Brian, Nancy D., Katie and Danny D., Joslin, Enos, Me, Matt, Dave D., Donna Dahle, and Leslie Goddard.

Photography

2009-06-10T16:22:00.003-06:00

My brother Nate and his wife Ester have started a photography business! I love it! Check it out: http://intriguephoto.blogspot.com/

New York City!

2009-05-17T21:20:00.013-06:00

Last week I got to tag along with Matt to New York City for my first time! It was a great experience and a lot of fun. For the last couple days Aaron, Melissa, and Jason (Matt's side) joined us! These aren't in any particular order but...enjoy! A lot of these were taken by our excellent photographers Aaron and Melissa, thanks for letting me use your pictures since Matt and I clearly have issues...

Times Square

Me, Jason, Matt, Melissa

Serendipity

Aaron and Melissa

I really liked the HUGE menus

Ray's Pizza...as you can tell we hit up all the yummy places to eat. We also ate at Stardust Diner where all the servers sing! I loved it...I am such a tourist! I was also sure to have a pretzel from the street vendors (they're EVERYwhere!)

The beautiful view from our hotel room:

Jason's sleeping tent under the curtains

Inside the Empire State Building. We didn't go up it because we were told it was better to go on "Top of the Rock" at the Rockefeller Center instead. But of course to pay proper respect to An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle I felt the need to make a stop here.

Rockefeller Center

Trinity Church. Matt's ancestors owned the land all around this area which is pretty cool.
Here's Matt, Aaron, and Jason

We walked A TON this trip! It was fun though! I was so grateful for Matt and his iPhone to get us on the right Subways!

We took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (it's free!) to get a better look at the Statue of Liberty.

Jason

Central Park...this place was crazy! So many people doing so many things! I kept thinking of Enchanted and Elf. Somehow this guy got Matt to do the hula hoop! hahaha!

It's hard to see but that's Batman doin' a little dance. Every weekend roller skaters (and anyone who wants to join) have a dance...there were some interesting free spirited dancers to watch! Batman may have been my favorite.

Another difficult-to-see picture but there were these men doing crazy tricks with frisbees

The boys showing off some of their own mad frisbee tricks.

On a side note here...Todd and Adrianna (Matt's cousin) were married this month in the Salt Lake Temple! It was a beautiful wedding, we were glad we could be there. Congratulations you two!

Dental Hygienist!!!!

2009-04-27T23:26:00.001-06:00

My huge supporter:

All 5 of the Brittany's (Brittanie, Brittney etc) in our Class

I am SOOO excited to be graduated! I won't be an official hygienist for a couple more months though while I wait for exam results to be licensed (I hope I'm not jinxing myself!) but it feels so great to be finally finished with school! It's been a wonderful couple of years! I LOVE what I do and I love the girls in my class! I'll miss them. I'm so grateful that I was able to finish school and I'm especially thankful for Mom, Dad, and Matt for so much support and help and patience! And for so many friends and family that volunteered to be my "ginea pigs."

Brittany Is Graduating...

2009-04-26T21:36:00.004-06:00

Brittany has been going to the Utah College of Dental Hygiene (UCDH) in Orem, Utah for the last 2 years, and will be graduating tomorrow, Monday, April 27, 2009.

This is pretty exciting for both of us, but mostly for her. It has been a long-time goal to be a dental hygienist and it is actually happening now. Let me outline the hurdles overcome so that you may start to appreciate the trial this has been and how happy we are that we are finally at this point.

Fall 2002 -- Brittany started at Brigham Young University (BYU) to take prerequisites for dental hygiene schools
2005 -- Brittany applied to several schools with no success
2006 -- Brittany graduated from BYU with a BA in Home and Family Living
2006 -- Brittany applied to UCDH with no success
Fall 2006 -- Brittany started attending UCDH's dental assisting program (she was told that everyone that passed this program so far was accepted into the dental hygiene program)
Winter 2007 -- Brittany starts working for a dentist in Orem, UT
Spring 2007 -- Brittany applies to UCDH again and finally gets accepted
Summer 2007 -- Brittany takes a final statistics class to qualify for the UCDH bachelor's program
April 2009 -- Brittany graduates from UCDH with a Bachelors of Science in Dental Hygiene with Honors

Oh, and she got voted Best Attitude in her class of 54 students.

Congratulations Brittany!!!

Matt's Accident

2009-04-25T18:10:00.003-06:00

Well, we had a little excitement late last night. This week Matt was on a business trip in New Jersey and last night I was patiently waiting for him to get home when around midnight I got a phone call from him: he had been in an accident! Luckily it was relatively minor and no other cars were involved. The roads were horrible with all the rain and when he began hydroplaning he turned to avoid an accident with another car when he over corrected and hydroplaned more on I-15. His car spun backwards and the front corner skimmed the cement divider.

Damages: front left headlight is smashed and the bumper cracked a bit. A mysterious cut on his left thumb. Oh, and Matt's face got in a fight with the air bag. He luckily thinks it's as hilarious looking as I do. Our favorite look-a-likes include a duck and Jane from the movie Fun With Dick and Jane where she has a reaction to the cosmetic experiment! hahahahaha

Firsts: Matt's first time with an aggressive air bag. Matt's first time in an ambulance (they didn't drive him anywhere they just checked him out and took his vitals etc. When they asked him if he'd had anything to drink he hesitated because he thought they meant it literally to see if he was hydrated!). Brittany's first time in the back seat of a police car (while she waited for Matt to fill out paperwork). Our first time staying out til 2am in a really long time!

We're sad that our beautiful newish car was hurt but luckily it's not very bad at all. I'm just grateful that he's ok!

Here's a lovely picture after 2 am to try to show Matt's puffy face! It doesn't quite to it justice but you get the idea!

Bethany and Christopher Barnes

2009-04-24T13:41:00.003-06:00

One of my very best friends got married today in the Salt Lake City Temple! It was a beautiful day and Bethany was just glowing with happiness. I was so glad I could be there and I am so thankful for temples that seal us to our families for eternity! Congratulations Bep and Christopher! (Sorry I didn't get a picture of the groom very well)

Hodgepodge

2009-04-23T17:50:00.003-06:00

Just a couple of random pictures...

Matt at Antelope Island at my Great-great-great-great Grandpa Garr's Ranch

I really loved seeing the Bison!
Matt planting our new garden! He expanded it a bit and put a nice wooden boarder along the edges. This year we're being brave and planting strawberries, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, garlic, celantro, tomatoes, cucumber, and zucchini! Whew. We'll see if any of it grows! Notice that several of those are delicious ingredients for salsa! ...Matt went out of town this week and already I think I killed the cucumber...

Easter morning in our aprons (my sister made this one for me for Christmas). This year we had a blast with Joe, Amy, Uncle Guy and Aunt Patty and enjoyed a very yummy Easter feast!

Wearing Matt's hats to do our Saturday activies...

Matt built a work bench! A convenient place to keep his adored new saw as well as to keep our food storage tucked under.

I warned you it was a random hodgepodge...but at least I finally posted SOMEthing! Hope all our friends and family are doing well, we are loving the nice warm weather!

Mom and Dad Biggs Mission Call!

2009-03-18T21:41:00.004-06:00

I've been extremely busy with school the last few weeks, so I'm sorry if I've been off the grid for a while. Sorry if I've missed some fun invitations to go play, but I have my National Boards written exam next week that I've been studying for since Christmas break! It's a very big thing for me but I promise after it's over I'll try re-join the human race! ANYway....My parents received their mission call to the Bangalore India CES mission!! They report to the Provo MTC on July 13 and I am just SO excited for them! They've always been such great examples to me and I am so proud of them!

Meet Matt

2009-02-14T13:06:00.004-07:00

Here's a tag to see how well I know my husband. It was fun and since it was Matt's Birthday Sunday, I thought this could be fitting. I wrote my answers and put Matt's answer in parenthesis if it was different than mine.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? soccer (nothing, he’s on the laptop)

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Only ONE? tomatoes (vegetables)

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? Raspberry lemonade

5. Where did he go to high school? Snap I can never remember this one and I’ve asked him like five times! (Park View)

6. What size shoe does he wear? 8 (8 to 8 ½)

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? tools or computer stuff (movies, but he likes my answer)

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Subway = cold cut. In general = ham. (Roast beef and cheddar with bacon from Hunter Mill Deli or else in general ham)

9. What would he eat every day if he could? hamburgers or cookies (cookies)

10. What is his favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

11. What would he never wear? Plaid shorts even though I think they’re super cute. (Pink shirt and he agreed with mine!)

12. What is his favorite sports team? Manchester United?

14. Who is his best friend? me

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Get grumpy when hungry (I go to bed too early)

16. What is his heritage? Scottish, Danish, English and Swedish

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? German Chocolate

18. Did he play sports in high school? Soccer (yes)

19. What could he spend hours doing? Working on his latest website

20. What is one unique talent he has? he’s a polymath (I can read, lot’s of people in the world can’t read)

For his birthday I went with him on a treasure hunt that took him to Home Depot and then dinner at Lamb's Cafe in SLC (nice setting with live piano music but not very yummy). We also went to Antelope Island where my great great great great grandfather (Fielding Garr) was sent by Brigham Young to maintain the Church cattle ranch. It was really neat and I loved to see the bison! For dinner I made his favorite: Chicken Tetrazini and German chocolate cake. Happy Birthday Matt I love you!

2008 Highlights

2009-01-25T19:54:00.003-07:00

Mitchell Family 2008

Matt and I have a hard time being photogenic at the same time...but these were the best two we could come up with for our family picture this year. I was impressed with Matt's photography skills since these were taken by propping the camera up on a rock! So I know this is a little late in coming, but we had a great year in 2008 and thought we'd make a quick list. We've felt extremely blessed to have our families, friends, the joy of the Gospel, and each other. We look forward to this new year and wish you all the best! (Oh, and at Matt's request I "documented" all of his business trips).

January: We enjoyed New Year's Eve with the Mitchell's in Virginia. Both of us teach the 5 year-olds in Primary at Church while still serving as Den Leaders over the Wolf Den. Matt had a business trip to Virginia.

February: Matt turns the big 3-0 and surprisingly doesn't have a problem with it! For Valentine's I joined Matt on his business trip to Agoura Hills, CA. We went to Magic Mountain, San Diego, and of course In-N-Out.

March: Not much here. Matt's business took him to San Jose, CA and Olympia, WA.

April: After finals I got to spend a week back home. Our 2nd Anniversary! Matt was in England, I went shopping. hahaha! Later that same week it turned into May...

May: Nate's (my brother) graduation from Utah State. Matt was in Sweden. I spent the weekend with family and got to "meet" Aunt Phil (Grandma's Sister) and Uncle Nate and all of their family. Matt's second anniversary with @Task.

June: Enjoyed the sun!

July: The Biggs Family Reunion at my parents property. Matt went to Cleveland, OH and Richmond, VA. Matt's sister Megan got married in Washington D.C.!

August: Stephenson Family Reunion--my grandpa's 90th Birthday! Matt went to Miami, FL and Ireland. I got to join him for the Ireland trip! I got asked for directions twice! Must be the red hair.

September: Brittany begins her last year of Dental Hygiene School! Matt in Miami, FL. Mitchell Annual Canoe trip. The Office begins. Matt leaves for Edmonton, Canada at the end of the month.

October: Matt in New York. Then Texas. Didn't dress up for Halloween this year. We no longer teach in Primary but we're still with the Cub Scouts.

November: Brittany turns 24 and Matt surprised her with a trip to Disneyland! Best honey ever! Brittany votes for the first time...oop's, better late than never! Thanksgiving in Nevada City, CA.

December: Matt in North Carolina. Our first Christmas with just the two of us. Brittany's brother gets married.

I'm sure I'm leaving things out but I think that's it in a nut shell! What a great year!

More Pictures of the Wedding!

2009-01-25T19:17:00.005-07:00

I stole these from my mom! Enjoy!

Inside the tent with my friend Joslin and sister Tamra
Nate and Ester on the ice watching the fireworks spectacular!

Lanea, Mom, and Ester's Dad

Even Ben went out on the ice! Awesome! (My nephew Brandon and Ester's brother Ben)

Nate and Ester...awwww so cute!

Mom showing off the amazing igloo. We worked so hard on that thing and it was perfect with a roof and all! Alas, the day before the party the rain got the better of it...but I still think it was awesome!

There were carriages to pick you up at the gate! So fun! Oh, and please appreciate the SEVERAL luminairs lighting the left side of the pathway...Matt, Emily and I lit them all! I think only under 5 ended up burning down! Haha, we had fun though.

Didn't it turn out beautiful! Inside the tent there was hot cocoa with scones and other yummy foods. You can see my parents house up to the left. I love going to visit!!

Joslin and I visiting after sledding.

Matt and I

...and Andrea and Summit.

Well in case you couldn't tell, I had A TON of fun on this trip! I just can't believe how much I love my family and it was so great getting to know Ester's family as well! They're so great! We're just so happy for Nate and Ester!

Wedding Pictures

2009-01-05T11:32:00.005-07:00

As always, I'm kicking myself for not taking more pictures! I didn't even take any of the skating party in California! I know others in my family did though so I'll have to get some from them. Here are some from the temple though. It was a wonderful wedding! Enjoy! Oh, and the links to the photographer's pictures are posted in the previous post below. They were married in the Logan, UT temple on December 27, 2008

Waiting for the couple...Trav, Mom, and Jen

It was REALLY cold! Here's our "freezing" picture

More to Come Later...

2009-01-04T18:56:00.002-07:00

Nate and Ester had a beautiful wedding! We had such a great time at the reception in Logan as well as the skating party at Mom and Dad's! I'm terrible at taking pictures, but here are some links to the photographer's site. I love her pictures! Congrats Nate and Ester! We love you!

www.momentsbykellee.com/esterw

www.momentsbykellee.blogspot.com

The Perfect Thanksgiving Break!

2008-12-03T20:30:00.012-07:00

Here are tons of pictures from our Thanksgiving trip. The first couple of days we spent at my parent's place where Dad just built a very fun barn! You can see the grandkids had a blast climbing through the tunnel mazes of straw. On Saturday we got to go horseback riding with my cowboy brother Travis and his cowboy kids (Tommy even has his own stirrups!). It was SUCH A WONDERFUL TRIP! Matt and I just feel so blessed in SO many ways! Family and friends are definitely at the top of the list!

I love this picture of Tommy! He rode so well all by himself!

Tommy, Carter, and Maya

Their goat, Blackberry

Roy pushing the rope swing.

Britney and Ryan

Working hard, making the stadium seating with tunnel mazes.

Lanea modeling one of the tunnels.

Matt and his hook!

Ode to Tamra!

2008-11-23T15:53:00.003-07:00

I just have to say how proud I am of my big sister, Tamra. Every year she has a goal to compose one song to submit to the Ensign. She has composed some really wonderful pieces! This year her song was not put in the Ensign but was recognized by being performed along with 12 other songs (by various composers) in a concert in the Assembly Hall at Temple Square. Her song is called "Our Hearts Knit Together". She got to sit by Sister Allred in the Relief Society Presidency and also by Janet Kapp Perry. After the performance there were cookies and punch for friends and family where the choir members who performed her song were asking for her autograph etc! I am so proud of her!

Catching Up Again!

2008-11-23T15:06:00.006-07:00

Yes, we are still alive even though I have been slacking on my blogging! First things first: Halloween! We had a nice Halloween, nothing too eventful but always fun. Our friends Rob and Tana had us over a few days before Halloween for pumpkin carving where I made this lovely cat face and Matt made a "scary" face. Can I just say that I'm amazed with people who make carving look so easy!

On Halloween night we played Upwords in the living room while waiting for the trick-or-treaters. After that, we went to the University Mall to just walk around and people watch. There were some great costumes! We didn't dress up this year although the plan was to be Jim and Pam as the three hole punched paper and a black cat. Maybe next year.

Next: While cleaning up the garage a bit a few days later, Matt came across some wood and decided we should put it to good use. I've been wanting a center piece for my mantel during this Fall season so Matt cut me some blocks and we spontaneously started a craft together. It was a lot of fun! I wish I would get pictures of Matt working in in the garage with his tools--it is so cute! He really enjoys building things. Ok so here are some pictures of our project...

Ta Da!

Another exciting November adventure: Brittany gets bangs. I've been wanting to cut them for a few months and so I finally did it. At the last second I started having doubts so I left them pretty long for the first day. Since them I've cut them a little more about 3 times! Matt says if I keep this up I won't have any bangs by Christmas!

Now for the grand finale: Disneyland!!! This year for my birthday Matt went a little above and beyond! He surprised me with a weekend trip to Disneyland! Let's just say, I love skymiles but even more I love my husband!! It was pretty cute because he had everything ready and packed up without my knowing a thing! All I knew was that we were going to Salt Lake when he got home from work. Ya, Salt Lake airport! He wasn't going to tell me but then decided I might like to know ahead of time so Friday morning I found out. Woohoo! I admit I was glad for the heads up because I had to make a few adjustments to his packing :). It was hilarious to see what he thought made an outfit! And of course mascara didn't cross his mind....While Matt was at work I got to go with some people from school to the Body World Exhibit. It was amazing! Just another testament to me that our Heavenly Father exists and loves us and created incredible bodies for us! When Matt (finally) got home we headed for Southern California where our first stop was of course to In-N-Out. LOVE that place! Matt found a GREAT deal for the Sheraton Hotel in Cerritos. The next day was just packed with fun at Disneyland and California Adventure Land! We really had a blast. Matt spoils me way too much!! What a great Birthday weekend, thank you honey!!!

Here's one in the car on the way there. I told Matt to show me how excited he was!

In Tarzan's tree house

California Screamin' (one of Matt's favorites)

On Splash Mountain

We're really looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my family this week! We have truly been blessed and I love Thanksgiving because it always gives me a greater desire to show my gratitude and recognize how blessed we really are!

Trip to Syracuse and Buffalo

2008-10-11T18:56:00.008-06:00

This last week I was sent to Syracuse and Buffalo, New York for work. While there I thought I'd do some sight seeing.

On Tuesday I trained a group in Syracuse and then on Wednesday through Friday I worked with another group in Buffalo, so on the way I stopped by the Hill Cumorah -- it was almost exactly at the half way point. I stopped off at the McDonald's, grabbed some dinner, and then held a phone call with a client for about an hour as I walked around the Hill.

After that I changed into a white shirt and tie in the Visitor's Center parking lot so I could go to the temple. The next three pictures are of the Hill Cumorah.

On Wednesday night after work, I went into Canada to Niagara Falls. I hadn't been there since I was a kid during a family vacation. A couple approached me to ask if I would take their picture; I said yes, but only if they would take mine... otherwise, there was no way that I would have a picture of me there -- I don't do that sort of thing (I wonder how many ways I can come up with to extend this sentence?).

The rest of the pictures are from this jaunt into Canada.

Nothing else really exciting happened while on the trip; unless you want me to recount the time I spent watching the news in the hotel room while cursing the hotel for it's spotty Internet connection and working on my website.

Fun Fall Family Photos!

2008-10-11T18:38:00.004-06:00

This morning Matt and I went up Provo Canyon to Bridal Veil Falls. Is it pretty obvious that we LOVE the mountains here!? It was lightly snowing while we were there! Beautiful.

Here's one of Matt making a snow angel in the leaves...the idea was inspired because it was snowing.

Looking up at the Falls.

Canoe Trip

2008-09-28T18:01:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Matt and I went on our "annual" canoe trip. I say "annual" because we skipped last year and this was only my second time, and Matt's 4th (he went twice before we were dating). We got to go with Nate and Ester down Provo Canyon--the changing colors were BEAUTIFUL! It was a great trip and gorgeous scenery.

Doesn't my car look great with a canoe! (My car is named Baby. Matt's Hyundai is Anastasia or Anya for short)

Notice the Heber Creeper Train in the background.

The Amazing Piano Bench

2008-09-13T16:20:00.003-06:00

Matt surprised me with this beautiful piano bench he built! He is excited because now he can say he builds things as a hobby. Some things he's built include a bed frame, our entertainment stand, and this awesome bench to match our piano! Thanks Matt! He loves his tools it's too cute. So this weekend we stained it. It'll look great with the piano! By the way, all of that stuff in the background is the landlord's, not ours!

Our baby girl

2008-08-30T09:29:00.004-06:00

Inspired by our friends the Potters, and because everyone else in the world is posting pictures of their cute kids, we created a picture of our future child: Gwarp.

Talk of the Week

2008-08-24T16:01:00.002-06:00

I just thought I'd share this link that Matt found a few weeks ago. I really love it! It's a collection of talks given in various times and places that can be read or listened to. We've been in Primary for over a year, and although we love it, it's not quite the spiritual uplift we'd like :). So as a result I've enjoyed playing these talks on Sunday while I'm fixing breakfast or something. It's been great!

http://talkoftheweek.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Trip to Ireland

2008-08-20T21:02:00.001-06:00

Ireland!

Matt went to Ireland on business and I got to join him! We were there from August 7-19th. The flight there was awesome! We got upgraded to first class and let me tell you, we felt entirely spoiled! It was a great trip, thanks Matt!

This is in St. Stephen's Green, a park in Dublin City where I spent a lot of time while Matt was at work. It was conveniently right next to our hotel.

The next three pictures are of the day we spent in Bray, just South of Dublin. This was probably my favorite day! We couldn't find our bus to Howth so finally we just hopped on a random bus and ended up here in Bray. It was gorgeous and perfect weather! Main Street has several cute shops and the ocean is right there. Along the shore there are several carnival rides so it was fun to people watch and take a nice walk.

This is the view from our hike up Bray Head.

We stopped here for a picnic lunch.

On the shore; Matt standing in front of Bray Head. It was a nice walk/hike to the top. Muddy in some spots and we kind of felt like we were in Sherwood Forest sometimes!

Dublin Castle

Trinity College (next two pictures)

Posing in Dublin Mall (to step out of the rain!). They sure seem to love shopping there. Everywhere we went there were tons of shops. Our first couple of nights we stayed in Sandyford (oh my goodness that was an adventure trying to get there!) where there's a HUGE famous mall (the DunDrum Mall).

Christ Church Cathedral (next 3 pictures)

The next pictures are from our driving trips.
Northern Places We Visited:
-Malahide
-Ardgillan
-Drogheda
-Hill of Tara

Southern Stops:
-Bray
-Enniskerry
-Greystones
-Roundwood
-Glendalough

You can't see it very well, but I'm standing in front of the Ardgillan Castle. I was so excited to see my first castle! We didn't take other pictures of it which is a bummer because it was our favorite one! The actual castle wasn't as neat as others, but the lawns and gardens were beautiful and it is RIGHT on the ocean! Incredible.

Cool spikey tree we saw at the castle.

We got to rent a car for just a couple of days. Yes, Matt drove not only on the "wrong" side of the road but also the "wrong" side of the car!! It was an adjustment for both of us: Matt would reach to change gears on his right and I would accidentally walk to the driver side! But Matt did awesome!! Especially with their INSANE roads! They were all incredibly narrow (you have to fold in your mirrors after you park on the street or else there was just a lot of parking on sidewalks) and not labeled at all. Several streets are simply unnamed! But we found everything somehow!

Two of the days we were there we got absolutely SOAKED. This was one of them. This is the Hill of Tara, a very religious site during Pagan Ireland. The hill was supposedly the seat of the High King of Ireland. Here are some images from the internet.

I am totally drawing a blank on this one. It's in Glendalough (South of Dublin). I'll have to ask Matt when he gets home! But it was neat :)

We finally made it to Howth! We actually liked Portmarnock better (up closer to Mallahide) but didn't get any pictures there! These pictures are of Howth. It was clearly a very popular place and was packed! There was a huge line for their fish and chips. It was a nice clear day for this though! I can't believe how much it rains there--and it was summer!

Howth "Lighthowth"

We took a little hike above Howth.

This was a very pretty castle! Malahide Castle, North of Dublin. If you're feeling very rich you can pay for a 5 course meal with music before, during, and after as well as a personal tour etc. It's in a HUGE park with fields, trails, a playground etc.

Matt practicing his artistic photography skills capturing the reflection in the water. Very nice Matt :)

Making silly faces...I bet Matt will make me delete this one but I liked it...

While we were driving Matt saw this cool house so we pulled over to see it. I can't remember the name of this one either! It starts with 'Russ' but that's all I can tell you!

View from the front of 'Russ...' House :)

At the house there is a maze that's free for kids...of all ages! I was surprised because it was harder than I expected! Here's our victory pose for reaching the center.

An appropriate picture to end with! We did it! So, overall it was a great trip and I'm very glad we got to go. It's always nice to come home and it's great to be back with the sun!

Summer Fun

2008-08-20T15:51:00.014-06:00

Our First Rodeo!

Matt and I had never been to a Rodeo until this year! And I have to admit, they are a LOT more fun than I thought! My favorites were the Mutton Bustin' (kids under 7 attempt to ride a sheep!) and the Bucking Horses. When I saw the first bucking horse and rider I thought it was just an entertaining doll on a horse! But no--it was a very real person! Amazing.

Here are our friends that we went with: Chris, Candice, Andrea & Don

We tried to get a good shot of the bucking horses but our battery died!

Fruit n' Friends

2008-07-19T09:42:00.008-06:00

Jess and Caleb are moving to Boston for law school! As excited as I am for them, I know I'm going to miss my friend very much. Joslin is most likely moving this year as well which just leaves Bethany and I....So, this Wednesday we had our "last hurrah" as Matt puts it. We had a picnic at the park with fruit, dessert, and friends. It was fun just hanging out, tossing a frisbee etc. I completely love these girls and have been truly grateful to have them as my friends! Here are several pictures from the night.

Let's just take a quick look at the past....Here's our picture from 8th grade graduation! Too funny.

Independence Day Weekend!

2008-07-07T17:23:00.005-06:00

So Matt got off to a good start...but didn't post nearly enough pictures! So here is our reunion post take 2. My sister Lanea was in charge of being the amazing photographer and took over 600 pictures so it's hard to narrow it down! To see all of the pictures, check out biggs.mitchellfam.net

Here's our family hillbilly picture:
Dad and Nate...do I want to claim we're related?

We shot clay pigeons. Well, Matt shot them, I missed all of them! But it was still fun to try! I'll stick with the still targets!

My Brothers

"Ewok village"
Cousin Scott on the rope bridge--there were 8 of them!
My cute nephew Tyler on the tire swing
Dad has done incredible things at home (with great help from Nate, Trav, Andrew etc of course)! I love this pond, it has a fun island off to the side with a fire pit. We fish, canoe, swim, ice skate etc. It's so much fun! This was my first time seeing the "Ewok Village" and I'm so impressed! There's the rope swing, tire swings, rope bridges, and soon-to-be tree house. Way to go Dad!

Fun on the Pond:

John and Tamra at the Jump House:

The Patriotic Girls (Kirsten, Sadie and Carla)

Like Matt said, fireworks were not allowed but all of the kids gave us a great fireworks display with glow sticks to patriotic music (that picture is below)! What a great weekend!

Biggs Reunion 2008

2008-07-06T11:53:00.004-06:00

The Biggs reunion was a lot of fun.

We did a ton of great things and met up with a ton of Brittany's cousins. Here are some
pictures.

Matt canoing with Carla on the pond.

We took hillbilly pictures

Had a fireworks display with glow sticks.

The was other stuff too, but I don't have the patience right now to upload any more pictures.

Catch Up...

2008-06-07T23:08:00.002-06:00

I know it's been a while so here's my attempt to catch up a bit! At the beginning of May while I got to be with family for Nate's graduation weekend, Matt was off traipsing around in Europe. He got to go to England first and then Sweden for another business trip. He enjoyed both, but he said he really liked Sweden...next time I'm going too! Here is a picture of the view from his hotel room there. Beautiful! You can kind of see the stadium where he popped in to watch some real football.

Last weekend was a very fun one! Our friend was married in Saint George so we got to go stay the night with my grandparents, enjoyed a temple session, and went to the sealing. That just leaves us two more temples to attend in Utah!

Matt just being himself...what a stud.

The happy couple! Congrats Craig and Janaina!

This next picture was a pretty exciting day for me! It was our first day of local anesthetic injections! It was awesome, I feel like an official hygienist!

So things are going really well with us. I can't believe how fast time passes! We're looking forward to my family reunion and Megan's wedding next month!

It's Spring!

2008-03-23T21:40:00.003-06:00

I can't tell you how happy I am that Spring is finally here! I've been waiting for this to happen since last October! Here are some pictures from our fun weekend.

Planting our first pansies! (We'll see if they survive)

Matt's traditional Easter Bunny Cake

Easter dinner with the Andersons! It was so much fun to have everyone over.

Picture Tag!

2008-03-17T17:22:00.012-06:00

I've been tagged by Melissa! I've posted 10 of my favorite pictures...this was hard because some of my very favorites are not yet digital, but it was fun going through our photos! I tag BreAn A. and Angie M.

Of course I have to post a picture of the best day ever! Marrying Matt has been the best thing I've ever done, and I love this picture because we're both laughing.

Family is the most important thing to me! I'm so grateful for everything they do for me, they're some of my best friends!

Don't laugh, but this is my second favorite picture of Matt ever (the first isn't digital, it's a picture of him on his family beach trip right before I met him). Matt is just way too good looking here, plus it has Owen in it so of course it's a great picture!

These are my best friends and have been since grade school. I can't believe how blessed I am to have them!

Here is a picture of "the ruins" where Matt took me with some friends on our first date. It has a gorgeous view!

This was just a really good day with Matt when we were dating; we fixed his car together and I love that we have fun together with anything we do!

One of my favorite things to do with my family is SING!

My friends and I decked out before a game. I loved going to BYU!

This is one of my favorite Christmas Eve memories. My brothers, parents and I worked on the house my parents are currently living in and we had so much fun together!

This was my first trip to D.C. a few days before Matt proposed. So much fun!

I've been so blessed in my life to make such wonderful relationships and I've had so many amazing experiences! Life's great!

March 9, 2008

2008-03-09T16:16:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we had a great Saturday, filled with activity and excitement.

It started out with a bike ride. The weather here was pretty nice all week long, so when we woke up we thought it would be fun to break out the bicycles for the first time since last summer. Little did we know that the good weather didn't carry over from Friday to Saturday. It was a brisk bike ride. Despite the cold, it felt great to do a summer-like activity. Brittany even learned to pop a wheelie up a curb.

Then we went to the mall on a badly needed shopping spree for new clothes. Neither of us even got close to our spending limit.

Every now and again, we like to walk through model homes so that we have something to look forward to. So, in the afternoon, we drove around looking for new housing developments. The only ones we could find were sub-par. We've discovered that we both have extremely expensive tastes as far as housing goes. We hope that when the time comes to actually buy a house we will practice some constraint (or be extremely wealthy).

The afternoon and evening started out uneventful. I sat down to do some financial planning and taxes; Brittany was reading a book. I was almost done with the taxes when we heard our neighbor yelling. We figured it was a domestic dispute and didn't want to get involved. The yelling continued for about a minute or two, and then we could hear what the guy was actually saying, "Help me! Somebody help me!" I grabbed my cell phone, sick to my stomach, and ran out of the house. Our neighbor's thumb was smashed beneath the jack supporting the hitch part of a trailer. The trailer had a little one room house (cabin) on it. I called 911 and lifted the trailer off of his thumb using a spare jack that was lying around.

February 2008

2008-02-23T17:19:00.007-07:00

February has been great so far. Here's what happened:

Matt built a TV stand with the tools he received for Christmas. Brittany had her doubts, but he did it.

Matt turned 30. I know, we can't believe it either. Brittany did a great job at making it an enjoyable experience.
Matt is officially a Utahan; his Virginia drivers license expired in February, so he got a Utah license.
The Wolf den went on a field trip to the Bean Museum at BYU, where Brittany couldn't stop looking for patients to practice on.

Matt went on a trip to Agoura Hills, CA for work. Unfortunately, the trip spanned Valentines Day, so he had to make things up to Brittany. Fortunately, we decided to celebrate Valentines Day a day late long before the trip was scheduled; also, the we both had President's Day off of school and work the following Monday, so Brittany flew down and we went to Magic Mountain, we went for a beautiful drive, we visited Graham and family in San Diego, and ended the trip with a game of tennis before returning to frigid Provo.

Brittany continues to do well at school, acing all of her exams.
Matt and Brittany went to the Logan temple today. It was fun to visit with Brittany's brother Nate and meet his latest girlfriend. We have a goal to attend each of the temples in Utah before we eventually move away--we have gone to 8 out of the 9 large temples, and have not even approached the smaller, more remote ones.

January 2008

2008-01-31T17:10:00.005-07:00

Below are some of the most exciting events that happened in January:

We got a "big kid" car -- Matt's car was about dead, so we bought a new car to replace Ruby. Her name is Anastasia, aka Anya. She is a burgundy Hyundai Sonata. It has been over a month and we still love her; you can tell because she is still clean.

Brittany started receiving patients at school. She still needs some volunteers to have their teeth cleaned.
Matt went on a business trip to Virginia, just a week and a half after getting back to Utah from a visit to Virginia for the holidays.

December 2007

2007-12-31T16:04:00.002-07:00

In an attempt to make up for a late start in the personal blogging community, attached is a copy of our 2007 family newsletter. Many of you have probably already seen this, but at least now we have some content on our blog.

Click on the image to see a full-sized version.
Or download the original PDF here.