it was the coldest thanksgiving arizona has had in 25 years but, compared to the record low temperatures in calgary and the piles of snow in idaho, it was heaven. it wasn't nice enough to go swimming, but we never needed a jacket. it was just right.

thanksgiving was fun.

we went on a nice stroll:

(FYI - matt parred the devil hole in the background of this picture.)

we fed ducks:

and climbed palm trees:

the old people napped:

and the little people played:

and then we ate turkey. of course.

i did a bit of black friday shopping but i wasn't a super shopper...like my parents. they were on the road at 1:30am. i had hardly gone to bed by then!

black friday is nuts. much nuttier then boxing day.

i have never really enjoyed boxing day shopping because i hate shopping when it's busy. (but i also don't like being the only one in the store because then it's awkward leaving.)

i don't like shopping with people because then i feel rushed. (but i also don't like shopping alone because i always want some one there to give their approval of my purchase.)

yes, all those things go through my head. at once. my head is a busy little place :)

chet got to hang with his grandma and grandpa shaughnessy:

and with his great-grandpa rivard:

we are so happy that chet is getting to know his great-grandpa. he has given him the nickname "little dude".

that name reminds me of chet's neighbor when he was in the hospital. his name was hendrix little-mustache.

heads up - this next part is more serious.

i just got home from going to see cassie (a girl i get to visit teach). she got in a car wreck last week and everything on her left side is broken. EVERYTHING. pelvis, ribs, collar bone, cheek, eye socket, skull. she is a mess. but thanks to her lovely personality (and plenty of drugs) her spirits are very high. it was incredible to see her positive attitude. i can learn a lot from that girl. she is sincerely just happy that she is alive and that her husband and little girl walked away unharmed.

the roads on the way home from arizona were just awful. from the southern border of utah, all the way to rexburg, there was ice and snow. i wish i had of counted how many cars we saw in the ditch, upside down, and smashed to pieces. it was ridiculous.

after seeing cassie, i feel like scum that i got frustrated when we didn't set speed records on our trip back. we are so blessed to have just made is home safely. i know cassie and her family couldn't have done anything to prevent that wreck but... all you people that i love, remember to drive safe this winter. turns out we aren't invincible.

and feel free to include cassie in your prayers.

happy (american) thanksgiving everyone.

we went to a phoenix suns game tonight. we had such a fun time. it was quite the game.

chet got his first jersey.

and hung out with some cheerleaders.

what a stud!

the game went into DOUBLE overtime. it was unreal. the suns were ahead by a butt-load in the first half, but some how ended up losing. the crowd was wild. so we tried our best to protect chet's little ears.

watching the game reminded me how much i miss playing on a basketball team. and it made me excited to see what sports chet will like to play. he looks dang cute in a basketball jersey, so perhaps i should encourage him to go in that direction!

we made it. all the way to arizona.

the drive wasn't bad. we beat the google maps estimate of how long it would take. it said 15 hours. we did it in 14.5, including all our gas stops and meals.

take that google!

apparently we were exceeding the speed limit a wee bit. but don't worry - no tickets.

and NO SNOW!

it was nice to be driving on a highway other then the one between rexburg and calgary. i feel like i have gone up and down that stretch of highway a billion times and i'm getting kind of tired of that same old scenery.

one of the highlights of this drive was that we got to drive over the colorado river, at the edge of the grand canyon. it was short lived, but so amazing. i had only ever seen the grand canyon from a plane before, and it doesn't look nearly as impressive from up there. now that we have had a taste of it, we would love to see more.

another interesting sight was in utah. there was a point where we could see 3 temples and 1 prison...all at the same time. utah is something else.

the absolute best part of the drive, though, was singing our hearts out for hours on end. so fun :)

and the worst part was the 3 hour stretch of highway where there was not one bloody bathroom. when one was reeeally needed. my word!

first of all, i just thought i'd announce that this is my 100th post. wow-ee.

it's also chet's 8 month birthday today.

he is growing up sooo so fast. it seems like he was just a wee little thing.

you know how parents ALWAYS think their kids are cute? and sometimes you have to lie and pretend like you agree with them, even though you really don't?

well, while flipping through old pictures of chet, matt and i came across something awful...

haha! NOOO! we have (and always will) think chet is a doll, but this concerns us!

so i always do a quick skim over our bills when they arrive. but turns out i haven't been doing a good enough job with our cell bill. the other day i noticed that matt and i have more then 6000 roll-over minutes that we have accumulated over the past 6 months.

6000?

really?!

yes. really.

this means either we chose a plan that was way too big for our needs, or we are really big nerds who don't talk to anyone but each other. unfortunately, it's probably more the latter.

i called our cell company today to change our plan and the lady that was helping me laughed when she saw our ridiculous amount of un-used minutes. dang it!

we start our journey to arizona in 5 sleeps. we are driving down this time. hopefully that doesn't turn out to be a bad idea. it will be a pretty long drive - 15 hours. that is how long google maps says it takes. or, if we are feeling spunky, it says we can walk it in 12 days.

hmm.

we are thrilled to be able to get away for a week. away from school and snow. and we are excited to take advantage of having some extra hands to fuss over chet (my parents will be there too). matt is going to golf, i'm going to shop, and we are all going to a suns/bulls basketball game. i can't wait.

we just finished watching loose change 9/11. it's one of those documentaries that tries to prove that 9/11 was a conspiracy. very interesting. i think matt and i have watched too many seasons of 24 and prison break because it doesn't seem all that far-fetched to think that the government is corrupt. but lets hope not.

we got that documentary off of netflix. matt signed us up for a free one month trial. it has been awesome. i'll be sad when our month runs out. if we end up paying for it, it won't be as fun. if you haven't already taken advantage of your free trial, you should.

thanks to netflix we are hooked on arrested development. we are already on season 2.

the other day we got chet all bundled for a walk, but he didn't quite make it to walk. it was precious.

tank got bundled too.

larry, this picture is for you! chet is now sporting the second shirt you made him.

(chet is the 30th member of the leavitt side of our family, hence the number 30.)

dear amber,

i used to think you were crazy for mixing

m&m's in your popcorn. but matt and i

tried it the other night and we loved it.

i promise to never doubt you again.

dear craigos,

why did you change your name to

'pizza pie cafe'?

i don't like that,

and i don't plan on ever calling you that.

you will always be craigos to me.

dear rexburg,

have you ever considered putting together

a roadkill cleanup program?

the furry speed bump by our complex that,

last week, looked more like the kitten

it once was, grosses me out.

it's just an idea.

dear chet,

you're cute

even though you scream like a girl.

click HERE for an obnoxious video of chet's girly scream.

tank smells like a wet dog, there are puddles under the shoes we just wore outside, and there is a kid in our complex pulling his sled around.

yes, it is snowing.

oh, it is ever snowing!

ew...

i do not care for snow.

i strongly dislike it.

in fact i would even say i hate it.

ya, hate is good.

no wait, that isn't strong enough.

i despise it.

i'm replused by it.

i detest it.

i shudder at the thought of it.

snow makes me sad and angry, at the same time.

i loathe snow.

but seeing as how this is the first snowfall of the year, i better get used to it. i have already counted out how many more months of snow i have to suffer through before spring arrives.

five.

i figure by april the snow should be gone.

oh my, that sounds like a lot of months.

do you get stressed when you are trying to open a pillsbury tube?

i do.

i hate not knowing when it is going to *pop* open. the worst is when i get done pulling, and it still hasn't opened. so much anxiety for nothing!

we purposely kept chet awake ALL day until 4:20pm.

what?

why?!

well, we wanted to go to a matinee at 4:20pm. and our plan was that chet would be so dang tired by the time the movie came along that he would sleep through the whole thing. we even bathed him and fed him right before the show to ensure that he would crash.

unfortunately, our plan didn't work out like we had planned!

chet wasn't nasty, but he chose not to sleep. i guess he wanted to watch the show too! by the end of the show, chet was sitting on my lap snacking on baby puffs while matt and i enjoyed our popcorn.

silly chet.

we forgot to document our date until we were back in the car, but i still insisted on us taking a picture. it was a painful process. we really need to work on our camera skills.

too blurry -

not ready -

too close -

TEN pictures later...

good enough -

when we left our movie there was the prettiest sunset. so we hurried up to the temple and tried to snap a few pictures. our pictures do not show how gorgeous the sky really was, but you get a little taste of it.

umm matt, i couldn't help but notice that your big head is blocking the whole temple :)

at least we got a good shot of the american flag!

the rexburg temple is fun because you can see it from almost any where in the city. we can see it from our parking lot, and i love that. my favorite is when it is all lit up at night. (sigh).

this has been such a nice november so far - the perfect fall. such warm weather and so many leaves on the ground. i have spent my fair share of time crunching leaves under my feet when i have been out walking this week! it's addicting.

i have been really tempted to get a picture of chet in a pile of leaves, but you just never know what might be hiding amongst those leaves...

the last time i rolled in leaves was in elementary school. we went, as a class, to the park next to our school and rolled down a big hill in all the leaves. i remember having fun...until i rolled on a wasp. and it bit me. it was my first bite ever. and i was hysterical!

my mom is horribly allergic to bee stings and wasp bites, and i had grown up watching her RUN when a bee flies by! since i had never been stung before, there was a small possibility that i was allergic too.

so when that wasp bit my leg i thought i was going to die. i am still kind of embarrassed of how irrational i was as i sat in the nurses office that afternoon, waiting for the wasp venom to slowly suck the life out of me.

it didn't.

turns out i'm not allergic to wasp bites.

but i'm still afraid of leaf piles.

matt had a funny assignment for his accounting class this week. he had to play monopoly.

there were a few changes to the rules but, for the most part, he just had to play for 1 hour while recording his income and expenses.

so this morning chet, matt, and i played an intense round of monopoly. (yes chet played too...one of the rules was that 3 people had to play!)

when our hour of playing was up chet had the most money, matt had the most properties, and i was left thinking "oh ya, i had forgotten how much i don't like monopoly". which is ironic because while i was thinking that matt said "i had forgotten how much fun monopoly is!'

(my money. matt's money. chet's money)

matt will be so embarrassed that i am posting this, but i am just too proud of him not to.

he just got $3000 in scholarships today!

three cheers for my brainiac husband.

and while he was out earning scholarships, i had fun playing with yourbookyourself.com...