Pretty Awesome

I love mashed up trailers and this shows why. Sometimes it's not the irony but the similarity that makes them interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TuRbk-00Sw

Check it out.

We have so many things to be Thankful for . . .

We haven't really "caught up" yet but . . . Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was really fum this year. I haven't been home for Thanksgiving for several years and this year we got to be home. We got up, Gavin played dome football with guys in the ward, and then Gavin and I did the Stake Turkey Trot. Fun. Hard. I did it and Gavin rocked. The point was to guess your time. Whoever got closest won, but you didn't know how long the course was going to be. My dad makes a really good turkey, my sister and I got to make some pies, and cranberry sauce was a new thing at the table for Gavin. We had dinner a bit late - 3:00 which was nice. A bit later we had some thankful thoughts.

I am thankful for family - in NH and AZ, and temples, and Gavin, and a body that is healthy. I am so blessed.

And then we went to the Grand Canyon with my family on friday. I t was fun. Here is Gavin and I:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing Ketchup:Goodbye Old Friend

Well, as any guy will tell you, among the minor annoyances that come with being male shaving every day ranks pretty high up there (I realize that it in no way compares to menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause etc. but I still find it irritating daily.)Shaving every other day works and with my fair hair I can get away with it. Any longer than that and I only shave once a week.

Well, a couple weeks went by and I hadn't shaved and Kate hadn't said anything about it. It turned into a full-on beard. I thought that there should be some functionality to this otherwise useless growth and I told my brother-in-law, John, that I wouldn't shave until he went on a date....with a girl...who speaks English. This is one of the harder tasks I could have assigned him but on Halloween it happened and it was "Goodbye, Old Friend," just like on Harry and the Hendersons.

Here's the final hurrah pic before it all went away.

Playing Ketchup: Talesin West

Well, we never wanted our poor blog to become so neglected but with sharing a computer, getting time to do it has been difficult. So, we are going to blog in groups to catch up on what's gone on.

As a preface, not sure if we've mentioned this but the Mesa Public Library has passes that can be checked out for admission to lots of great cultural places e.g. museums, zoos, gardens etc. FOR FREE!! We love it so...

Kate and I went to Talesin West. It was the winter camp of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is now the winter campus for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. If you don't know who Frank Lloyd Wright is he is the father of modern architecture and a genius. As a genius, he was sort of full of himself in a way that makes him a bit like Kanye West.

Here are some pics in a Picasa album for all to enjoy.

Update from Gavin

Well, I'm sorry that it has been a while since I updated the blog. In the meantime, I got a new job as a scanning tech for digmypics.com. I help turn people's slides, pictures, and negatives into digital copies. It's a job that I love and I come home happy everyday. Unfortunately, right now, there is not enough work to keep me there full-time so I have to take a few days off. Hopefully, it's just temporary and people will start sending more orders in for me to work on.

Other than that, Katie and I have been really blessed. We got tickets out to New Hampshire, which she already reported on, but it was sort of expensive. Thankfully, we've been blessed that checks we weren't expecting, and generous people have helped us out.

I know that we're so blessed right now because we are looked out for by a loving Father in Heaven and he gave us some great family to be with forever.

I look forward to seeing everyone back in cold, cold New Hampshire. We love you...just not the harsh winter.

It's Official!!!

We have been planning for a while to make our way to New Hampshire this Christmas. We miss Gavin's family and all our friends up in New England. And now it official. We bought tickets to fly to New Hampshire for the Christmas break and I couldn't be happier. I am so excited to meet my new sweet nephew. I can't wait. So share the good news. We are coming home!

Labor Day Wrap-Up

Well, what can I say ? It was quite a weekend. On Saturday, we convinced the whole Brooks clan to gird themselves in Cougar Blue & White. And look how it paid off. Very exciting indeed.

Sunday was nice and low-key and played into Monday. On Labor Day proper, we went and saw Star Trek at the cheap theater with the fam (It was the second viewing for Kate and I. A great flick, if you haven't seen it yet.). It made me miss the Strand a little.

Then off to Chick-Fil-A for free sandwiches for wearing sports gear.
Here's Danny, me, and the Chick-Fil-A cow. (Apparently, a month shy of 9 years old is the official age when you are too cool to be pictured with costumed creatures.)
Here's Danny, my littlest brother in law, doing what he does best...scarfing down junk food. Sorry about the gross picture. This photo is more funny to Kate and I because right after we snapped this we took Danny and Ben (who both usually smell like puppies and feet) into Bath & Body Works where we tested all of the men's cologne on their arms and hands. They smelled like a nightclub the rest of the day. It was hilarious.

Then at home we went and played in the pool. Not typical of me to spend an hour and a half in there. Not typical also to get all the kids in there, so we took some non-typical pictures.
Human pyramid.

And triple stack for "chicken fight". A feat never to be matched....

Fresh n' Tasty Fridays

Well, we get asked to cook for friends & family and we love trying out new recipes. So I thought it would be cool to share some of our time-tested recipes for our friends to enjoy.

For the first recipe, I'm going to go with an old stand-by that Katie could drink every morning, if I let her....Orange Julius. I've tried a bunch of recipes and this is my version that seems to go over the best.

Gavin's Orange Julius

1 c. water
1 c. milk
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (1/2 a standard can)
1/4 to 1/3 c. plain or vanilla yogurt
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 T. sugar or honey
at least 6 ice cubes
1 banana (optional)

Put everything in the blender and blend on whatever level is necessary to break up the ice for 30 seconds. Serve immediately (It doesn't hold up over a few hours. I've tried).

You can also mix it up by adding fruit like bananas, peaches, melon, or a frozen fruit medley.

I got in!!!

It's official!! I just my acceptance letter in today. I am going to Arizona State University to get my Master's in Educational Technology. WOOOOO! Go Sun Devils!!

I got a job!

In other good news, I got a job. I am going to be front office staff at an Oral Surgery office in Chandler, Arizona. I have to say that even though it has been fun to stay at home, cleaning, helping with car pools, and the chaos that is the Brooks home I am so glad that I can make some money! So yeah.
-Kate

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Gavin celebrated his 27th Birthday on Sunday. But we started the celebrating a little early. I surprised Gavin with his very own first surprise party ever on Saturday night. This is a picture of the cake i make - not much to look at but a pretty good red velvet cake.

I have to say that I am so excited that Gavin was surprised! Anyone who knows will say that I am a terrible liar and and I love to jump the gun on surprises. I planned a party with my family (the whole crew of 10 minus Elder Brooks) at my sister Sarah's house. But I had Sarah "invite us over for dinner". On Saturday we were moving here at the house (another blog post perhaps . . .) and it was a crazy day. I had planned for plenty of time to go to Sarah's and make a cake and Fresh Pasta which is Gavin favorite dinner. I ran late and Gavin was just hanging here by himself. I had told him Sarah invited us over, but she wanted me to make dinner. (Thanks Sarah!) While Gavin was here, my sweet family kept asking Gavin when he was leaving. I am so glad he thought nothing of it. I ran home and took him to the dollar store (not quite HONKS but you get the picture) and bought him some candy as an extra B-day treat.

We went to the door and Jono answered, Gavin walked in and SURPRISE!!! It was so fun just to see his face and actually have him be surprised.


Here Gavin is, getting ready to blow out all the candles and giving me one of his charming-I hate-pictures-but-I will-smile-anyways kind of smiles. Thanks honey! I love you.

So Happy Birthday Gavin. You are great.

Crazy Video

I am always impressed when someone can inspire me to think out side the box and do something cool.

This video is plain awesome.

Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs Inc. from Chris Cairns on Vimeo.

See if you like it.

126 degrees and loving it

So my sweet, sweet sister Shelbs, who I hope will soon be sainted for her humanitarian work and chastity, gave me (and Kate, I guess....Just kidding, it was for Kate too.) a digital camera. It is way snazzy and Kate and I thought that we should get on the blog wagon (not to be confused with BaNdWaGen, the most popular pop band to ever come out of the Somersworth ward). So here is the recap of our exciting day, the beginning of what should be a very memorable birthday weekend for me.

We painted John's new room in the morning. The sample was a light sage green but on the walls it looks more like celery and then went off to the Mesa temple for a session.

We were famished when we got out and looked for a close place to eat. Lo and behold, there was El Pollo Loco. I'd never been to one. There aren't any in New England that I know of and assumed it would be like Taco Bell. I was way wrong.
Here's the wife being happy because we were both hungry and our food's on its way.
Me, biting into a delicious, juicy chicken taco with lots of black beans and spicy avocado salsa.

So then after filling ourselves, we went off to the Phoenix Museum of Art because the wife had scored us some free passes through the library. It really is a classy museum with a fantastic contemporary collection and an emphasis on local artists that are surprisingly talented.
The wife, looking gorgeous.

Me, looking...well, not nearly as gorgeous.

I took loads of pictures of the art there but thought I would stretch them out over the course of a few weeks and months....maybe Masterpiece Mondays, that has a ring to it, and share why I like the individual artworks so much.

After that, it was just the ride home, when it got to be 126 degrees on the car's thermometer, a new record for Tina the Jeep. Oh, and an obligatory stop at Target to see the fall collection that Shelby and Shauna like. They're right; it's great.

We'll see how this blog thing goes but I'll try and be regular about it. Kate will be writing too.