More Santa Cruz

Bryan and me in the Cabin at the Mystery Spot. We had to walk up this very slanted hill to get to the cabin; I thought I was going to fall backwards. Once we got to the Cabin it wasn't any easier...yes, that is me falling into Bryan because I can't stand up straight.

I got to be part of the guides demonstration! :) Okay its not really that special because everyone got to demonstrate something, none the less this is me demonstrating. Once you grabbed these handle bars the gravity just pulled you forward. I know I have huge pipes but the gravity was really strong and it was hard to hang on!

Mom Jolene and me.

After the Mystery Spot we headed to the Ocean!! I LOVE the ocean! I love the sound and the smell of the ocean--I love the waves and the sand--love it all! It is probably one of my favorite places to be. This beach was unique for me--first fogged over beach experience and it was wonderful! We found our own private beach and hung out for the afternoon. It was such a great day just relaxing! My father-in-law really loved the windiness and sand too--he spent the day listening to Dr. Laura and sleeping in his car. :)

Awh...we like eachother.

We also spent a day on the Boardwalk riding the old wood rollercoaster and eating salt water taffy. Another highlight was the arcade where Bryan and Jarom reminisced on childhood gun games and I beat Bryan bad at air hockey! With all the games we played we only won enough tickets to buy Kazoos. :)

That night we went to dinner on the pier and I had my first bowl of clam chowder. When we put the address into Paul's navigation system the restraunt was shown in the middle of the ocean. We were pretty confused until we pulled up to the pier. :) It was so neat getting to eat dinner right in the middle of the ocean waves! So to sum it all up-We had a fabulous time!!!

Our Trip to Santa Cruz...

We just got our pictures from this vacation so we are finally getting around to posting them all. This summer we went to Santa Cruz, CA with Bryan's parents and Jarom before he left for his mission in Boston. We started the trip at the Oakland Temple. It is sooo beautiful!



















I absolutley loved all the gorgeous flowers! We had to walk around and take pictures with all of them :)
The view from the Temple was amazing! You could see all of Oakland.



Ashley...


Bryan...
The family after Jarom recieved his endowments to go on his mission!!!
So after Oakland we headed straight for Santa Cruz. We did tons of fun tours while we were vacationing here. We went to the Winchester Mansion in San Jose. It has such a crazy story behind it--a little creepy, but it was a cool tour! It's this huge house with over 150 rooms that the lady never quit building on while she was alive.

Bry and I in the house. The lady was scared of Ghosts so she'd build doors that opened to cement walls and stairs that led to no where--CRAZY!

Us outside the mansion before the tour. After the Winchester Mansion we went to the movie theater to see Over the Hedge. We also went the Mystery Spot. Very neat. The gravity is supposidly off center in this area. I didn't really believe it until we went the the tour--again it was crazy. I felt nauseated the entire time, and had the hardest time standing up straight but it was very fun!!!
Me, B, and Jarom just hanging out waiting for the tour to start! This picture was during the tour in the fun house. Bryan and a bunch of British boys were doing the Matrix move.

St. Louis

Bryan got another accpetance letter!!! He got into Washington University in St. Louis. It's ranked 19th so we were pretty shocked--didn't expect that one! :)

To add to that excitement he also got a $45,000 scholarship offer. We are so blessed!

Thank You!!!

As many of you know Bryan and I found out over Thanksgiving break that we were expecting our first baby. We were so thrilled, but to our great disappointment when we went into our 10 week appointment the baby didn't have a heart beat. This has been very trying, even devestating at times, for us because we wanted this badly and had such high hopes. Bry and I have been able to find much comfort in the fact that we know Heavenly Father is aware of us and our desires. We know that this trial will serve a purpose in bettering us--hopefully we will be better prepared for the blessings of parenthood! We have also been able to find so much comfort in our amazing family and friends. I cannot begin to thank you all for the thoughts and prayers we have felt come our way and for the phone calls and visits. We have really felt the tender mercies of the Lord through each of you.

I was just reading a talk by Elder Scott and he said something very comforting, “True, enduring happiness, with the accompanying strength, courage, and capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, will come as you center your life in Jesus Christ. Obedience to His teachings provides a secure ascent in the journey of life. That takes effort. While there is no guarantee of overnight results, there is the assurance that, in the Lord's time, solutions will come, peace will prevail, and happiness will be yours.”

I hope you each know how much we love you and how grateful we are for the blessing you have been to us! Please continue to keep us in your prayers that we might be blessed with another chance!

Me looking extremely pathetic after surgery. :) I don't like blood or needles so it wasn't my favorite day. But while Bry was at his manditory class my grandparents came over to cheer me up--so that made it much better! My grandma has 4 girls and had 3 miscarriages. My grandpa said that they must have been boys--and just couldn't hack it. He always makes me laugh!

Law School, Law School, Law School....

Thank goodness for more acceptance letters!!!

Bryan got accepted to Indiana University and was offered a $25, 000 scholarship. Yay!! Except I'll be honest...I'm not too thrilled about the idea of moving back to the midwest. (Sorry mom and dad it's just soo cold.)

So on an even more exciting note...He had an interview with BYU. Yes, Bry studied so hard for the LSAT and did fabulous...unfortunately he didn't work that hard on his GPA. BYU wanted an explanation as to why he was the perfect candidate minus that one minor detail. :) Granted he did have some major arthritis back problems, but still I had to laugh...and luckily Bryan is a good sweet talker and HE GOT ACCEPTED!!! I'm so happy we have this as an option because my sister Erika and hopefully sister in law Megan will be coming to Utah next year; Plus my cousin Mike just moved back so it would be so fun!! Anyway...that's my update with law schools.

More Law School News...

After such a fun break we were sad to be home and back to normal life--but we did have some good mail waiting for us. Bryan got accepted to another law school: University of Arizona. The Dean even took time to hand write on his acceptance letter about Bryan's personal statement and how they'd be honored to have him. Pretty neat! It's going to be a really hard decision when it actually comes time, but we are so grateful for all these amazing opportunities ahead!

Vacation...

Here are some more pictures of our Christmas vacation:

...Could be a Christmas card...

Bryan hogging all the babies. :)

Fists.

With our Neices and Nephew that we LOVE!!!

Evan eating his toes.

Christmas 2006

*Christmas Morning*
Phipps' have a tradition of giving new PJ's to eachother on Christmas Eve. So this is us in our new Pajama's minus Bryan's because I bought the wrong size....FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW. That's talent! Besides that minor mistake Christmas was wonderful this year. We spent it in Shingle Springs with all the Phipps Clan.

This Christmas Eve as I was falling asleep I realized the only thing I miss more and more each year is the childhood days when you couldn't fall asleep the night before Christmas because you were too excited and then you'd wake up with butterflies. But I guess that good thing about this life is that you can relive that feeling through your own kids. Which I'm very excited for. Us opening up a present for Baby Brashley: A diaper Genie!! We got to talk to Jarom, who is serving his mission in Boston, today! He cracked me up--being a California boy he isn't used to the cold. So his saying is "the church isn't true when it's below 30 degrees." Apparently the church is only true for about 3 months out of the year in Wisconsin. Anyway, Jarom's Girlfriend Amy came over for the call--she brought Jarom with her. He's looking good huh?!? I especially like the curly locks.
This is our adorable neice Makayla. She got angles wings for Christmas--which is very fitting of her, even though this picture makes her look like she had a little too much sugar. :) And as you can see she loves pink. Last time we were out to visit we went through the open house of the new Temple in Folsom--and she said it was very pretty but would be even prettier with pink carpet.
This is Josh and Ashley's cute little Keira. We had so much fun with her. I have to admit my favorite thing she does is with Bryan. She will smile so big with everyone else but as soon as she looks at Bryan she raises one eyebrow and stares him down. It is hilarious. Ashley and I got some good laughs from that! And this is Mr. Chubbs, aka Evan. He is the happiest little boy I've ever met. Again we had so much fun playing with the babies over break!!