Christmas Eve in LA

After a very fun morning opening presents we headed off to LA!  The first place we stopped was the Griffith Observatory which has amazing views of Hollywood. 

I would love to say that this was a PERFECT trip, but I felt like this...

miserable!

Luckily, Brent was good at having fun despite me not feeling great!You can barely make it out but there is the Hollywood sign in the background.  We found this as we were walking to the Griffith Observatory.

A gorgeous sky from the observatory.

You can actually see the Hollywood sign a little bit better here!

The views from the top of the observatory was really amazing!  What a great man who will plan a whole vacation in less than a week to make sure we have an amazing Christmas.

After the Observatory we went to the Holocaust museum.  Since we have actually been to a concentration camp this was a little more lack luster for us than it might be for others. Although it wasn't quite as impacting as Auschwitz we were both surprised at the fact that the US made legislation to keep Jewish immigrants out. 

After that we went to the Tar Pits.  Yes, there are actual tar pits in the middle of LA. You can see the tar pit behind Brent.

Aren't these trees amazing?!

Who knew my tracks were so big?  No wonder I have a hard time finding shoes!

Bamboo was everywhere.  I am pretty sure Brent would take some of this home in a heart beat!

At the art museum there were statues of all the chinese zodiacs. Since I was born in the year of the rabbit!  

Brent was born in the year of the rat!  There were some other ones!

There were also lamp lights.  This place was really fun!

Brent took a lot of pictures.

While I played a fun game that involved swing from one light lamp to the other.  It was really fun.

At the end of the day we went down to the walk of fame.  Can I just say that I wasn't that impressed.  Brent and I just aren't that into celebrities!  I do enjoy Matt Damon though, and we were able to find his footprints and hand prints.

Brent with Jay Leno's star.  We walked almost the whole thing and this is the only one that interested him in the least.

We were really excited to be there and see everything.  I wish I would have felt a little better but it was a great Christmas Eve anyway!  Thank you Brent for planning such a wonderful day!

Christmas (EVE) Morning

We were suppose to go to Oregon for Christmas but sometimes the airlines just don't like to have affordable tickets.  So instead of going home for the holiday we decided to go to LA for the three day weekend!

This made Brent super excited to move Christmas morning one day!

Here is our haul!

Can you believe it?

Brent is the king of wrapping items! He wrapped up a gift card with a old school video game so I wouldn't figure it out!  Isn't he the most amazing?

Brent opening his favorite present!  

STARCH!  Just kidding, well it is starch but not his favorite present

Brents mom sent us Stockings!  There is always fun stuff in the stockings!  She gave me a scented eye mask that is so amazing, it makes your eyes tingle forever.  I opened that and then I was content to just sit there!

Brent got: A NEW COMPUTER! 3 white shirts, work socks, world travelers map, bike, griddle, starch, bread pans, spatula's and a huge stocking from his mom!

Mallory got: 2 pairs of pants, shirt, eyebrow waxing set up, really nice shampoo and conditioner, 60 gift card  for shoes (thank you for the puma's Brent!), 2 other pair of shoes, and a BOW AND ARROWS!!!!

It was an amazing Christmas and I think Brent and I both ignored the budget this year.  After a big breakfast we were off to LA!

Our First Christmas Tree!

Four years.

That is how long Brent and I have been married and I am now willing to admit, we have NEVER had our own Christmas tree.  This year was different though.  We saw and artificial one at Lowes, but it way a little to expensive for us :(  So I took to the web and found one that was considerably cheaper but also considerably "dinkier."

Either way we set to decorating our tree. 

A big thanks to Christi and Mama Huntley for getting up the "Standard" Ornaments.  Since, we haven't had a tree before we hard to buy enough to make look luminous 

I thought all the kids visiting would want to help decorate but my nephew Micheal was the only one who could feel the magical Christmas.  Everything was pretty "Glitter" filled so Micheal and I were covered  by the end of it!

 As you can tell, we may have had more ornaments than tree! (Don't you LOVE my Spoon collection in the background.  I actually have another 14 spoons and need to get another case!)

 The final product. 

I really like having a tree.  It is small and overwhelmed with ornaments but I love the feeling and warmth it brings!

Great Start to a Wonderful Holiday SEASON!

Red Rock Canyon

On Saturday we got sick of sitting inside so we decided to get out into nature!  Off to the Red Rock Canyon!  I have got to warn you that if you come out to visit we are likely to take you here because it is AMAZING!

At the visitors center I decided to ride the lizard!  I think this could be the next big form of transportation!

 On reason we love Red Rock is because you get to basically climb all over a bunch of cliffs!  Of course Brent has to hang off one.  Our 7 year old nephew wanted to try, it was hard to explain to him why Uncle Brent got to act like a reckless doof and he didn't :) 

 Thank Tyler for taking a cute picture!

 Everyone hiking.  I really love to climb but I am a cautious climber.  I think it is because for how tall I am I have pretty small feet, so I don't have as much supporting my heights (that and I am a total klutz and fall a lot.)  It is because of this that I sit and scoot down whenever I feel uncomfortable.  Either way I get to where I want to go!

Josh and Tyler would tend to just disappear and then show up 100 feet away on some huge rock!  They swear they fight but I really didn't hear to much of it while they were here and none while they were on the rocks!

 The king of the world!

 All the Hikers!  Grandma and Grandpa decided to stay on more solid ground and Christi was home with a really bad head ache!

 Sometime Brent will say "Hey that is a great shot.  Mallory go stand there."  In this case he told me to go sit but I think it is a nice picture anyway.

 That was only one stop along an 11 mile drive.  The second was into a crevice. This is probably my favorite place in Las Vegas.  In the crevice there are trees, sand and quiet. I just love being so secluded.  It is really easy to just feel at peace in that situation.

 Everyone enjoying the hidden Crevice.  Although the park was WAY crowded no one else was in here, it made it so much more fun.

 At out last main stop Josh took off hiking just to discover that everyone else was to exhausted from hiking all over to keep going.  He was pretty bummed since this was one of the easiest place to climb really high into the trees.  I was a little bummed to but an exhausted 7 year old doesn't lie.

 Brent took a million amazing pictures, but I like the memories more than the cool landscapes, so I may have him to a blog with some of his favorite landscapes he took. 

I must say this was probably the highlight of the weekend for me!  It was such a great feeling to get out and get moving!  It made me feel less guilty about everything I ate too!

Coca Cola Factory

 While the family was down for Thanksgiving we decided it would be fun to go try the "Around the World" Tray at the Coca Cola Factory.  It is a tray with 16 coke products that are sold in other countries, but NOT in the US.

Since the factory is down on the strip we had to walk through the MGM to get there from where we parked!  While passing through we saw the Lions!  Of course they were sleeping.  You could also take a picture with a lion cub but it was $25.00.  I was pretty tempted though!

The tasting was fun.  Everyone generally liked the first tray and generally HATED the second tray.  Brent and I were excited to find that they change out the flavors every so often!  This is nice because it means we can take people to do it and not get bored! 

Eventually, the sweetness of the soda was overwhelming I pretty much quite!  Even a small sip was to much for me!

On our way out we saw the Polar Bear was taking pictures!  It was free so Tyler, Josh and I took advantage.

 The bear touched my back when I fist got up there and I have to admit it was weird.  This was an impressive costume!  the mouth, eyes, neck, arms and legs all worked so it made the bear really realistic.

 Of course on he last picture the bear bite my head!  Can you tell how red I am?  It was really funny and even though we had seen him do it to other people it still manages to be funny every time!

I really enjoy the coca cola factory.  Of course they have a ton of over priced merchandise, but it is nice they have some cheap activities too!

My First Thanksgiving!

This will be the first of four posts about Thanksgiving!  This was my first time cooking, and we were lucky enough to have Brent's parents, sister and brother in-law (+ three kids) in town for the event.   

Now onto the dinner!

I am not going to lie, I hated 99% of the cooking.  It was just such a chore.  It was so much money, and so much work for 20-30 minutes of enjoyment?  I don't get it!  I don't even like turkey and all the fixings that much, I told Brent our family may have to adopt a new thanksgiving tradition.  I was thinking it would be fun to just have each member of the family choose 1 item of food they are most thankful for and prepare that to create a meal.  That way we can at least each food I like.

Luckily, my lack of enthusiasm for the task still lead to a great meal for everyone.  They were so nice about how the food tasted.  I decided that all you need to have a great Thanksgiving dinner is butter and sugar.

Now for a few things I am thankful for this year:

BRENT!  He is always my number one thing that I am grateful for.  no other man could put up with me AND deserve me all at once!

My family. No matter what's going on I can always expect love and teasing from my family.  I am so grateful for all the support and realistic outlooks they provide me with!

Our house.  We are so lucky to finally have a little home which reflects my taste and is a place of peace and calm (sometimes!)

My experiences.  I have seriously lived such an incredible life!  Looking through past blogs and pictures I have really been given a life of fun, adventure, and excitement.  Although it is not every second it is sure more than I deserve and I am grateful that I have been able to have lived through everything I have!

Valley of Fire

The Las Vegas adventure continue! We are of course trying to get out and enjoy what Vegas has to offer.  This weekend we ventured about an hour north to explore Valley of Fire.  It is a park filled with Red Rock!

The Red Rock is red because it is iron rich soil..

I really enjoy climbing on the rock. It is the most fun, but with 14 miles of park to explore it was a little to much to explore in one day.

It was pretty great weather out.  You would never guess that it is the middle of October. 

Brent and I always wonder how these holes erode away when they are shielded by other rock.

This is a small ledge that I tried to climb up but when you have short legs and a long waist you can't always reach the right foot holes.  Brent made it to the top but I ended up twisting my ankle so I climbed down after half way.

This is the white dome.  It is white rock instead of red.

This is a basin that can hold water for months at a time.  You could hear the flies and bees and insects at least ten feet away.  It was super gross.

All over were carvings from Indian Tribes.  No one knows that they mean so anyones guess it welcome!

I guess back in the 1920's people carved out these cabins for travelers crossing the expanse. They were really neat.

Here is what happens when I decide that I am done having my picture taken.  Brent loves the camera and usually I am fine, but I just wasn't in the mood.

The Grand Finale!  Elephant Rock!  Looks like an elephant right?!! The sign took us on a half mile hike.  When we got there we realized that we could have gone 100 yards up the road and been there!

It was a great way to spend the weekend.  I love exploring but we hope to focus on just a few trails next time so we can take our time!