Ice skating

There is one major difference between public skating in Canada and Arizona. People in Canada can skate... real good. People in Arizona can't skate.... at all. It was so hilariously funny. Adults were tripping and falling all over the place. Dan and I felt rather rusty, we use to go public skating all the time, but obviously there in not a rink on every corner here in sunny AZ so we haven't been for a couple years. We took the kids ice skating on christmas eve. They have been begging us all year to go and we're so glad we finally got the chance to take them. Anyway here are some pictures of our fun adventure. I think we will make this a christmas eve tradition.

Maysa was hilarious on skates. She giggled the whole time. But hated hanging on to the push bar so we broke our backs holding her up. We got a push chair for her to sit on after a while and she liked that too.

The chair was fun to push, we use to take strollers in Canada but they didn't let us do that here.

I was suprised at how good Elena was. She hasn't been for a couple years but we use to take her a lot in Canada and she was getting pretty good at it. I'm glad she remembered. She just needs to learn how to stop.

This was Sierra's first time on single blade skates. She used the push bar for about 15 minutes then got braver and was able to go on her own. She really loved it and caught on quick. An older gentlemen crashed into her at one point but they were both going real slow and ended up laughing and smiling, so thats good. Helmets!

We practically had the rink to ourselves after a while because it seemed like people only lasted 10-15 minutes. It was called "Arcadia Ice Center" located near Scottsdale. We went to this one because it was the cheapest rink in the city for public skate, and they had skate rentals from toddler size 6 all the way up to big adult sizes. Can't wait to go again! :)

Brinton Family Christmas Letter

Brinton Family Christmas Letter

December 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

Our apologies if this letter has likely reached you after Christmas. In any case, Merry Christmas!or Happy New Year. We miss you all dearly and think about you often. This year has been successful for us. We are very happy living in Arizona. The constant sunshine on our backs is healing and brings us comfort and smiles all year round. We cannot imagine living anywhere else. We feel we have been spoiled living in the land of the sun.

This year has gone by too fast as we have dealt with some big changes. We finally bought and moved into our dream home. It was a nice big foreclosure which stayed empty for about 8 months before we moved in. We had to jump through some loop holes and red tape to get in, but we were blessed indeed and after 6 months of recovering every paper possible we finalized the deal. Upon moving in we hired painters to paint the entire house, then we ripped out carpets, reinstalled a couple kitchen counters and created a beautiful back yard. Then.... the scorpions came out of their hiding places and we declared war. We educated ourselves on every possible method of getting rid of these nasty rotten bugs and were able to achieve our goal through extreme measures. Including ripping out carpets and fans and plumbing to caulk and seal every nook and cranny that we possibly could. Dan sprayed chemicals and as of September 24 our house has been bug free. Thank heavenly day, because I almost moved back to Canada, it was truly terrifying.

On a happier note:

Dan has adjusted to his work with the extreme heat and says he really loves it. He only wishes he didn't have to work nights so much. After a year and a half he was released from his calling as Young Men's president. He now has more time to spend with his family and more importantly- time to sleep! In his spare time he enjoys playing games on the x-box, splits with the missionaries and sometimes basketball and softball. Dan is very motivated, he still has big dreams and big goals for the future.

I am busy busy busy with my 3 children and my calling in the primary presidency. In September I was invited to join the community orchestra and so have put all my spare time and efforts into studying violin. It has been the biggest challenge of my life but the joy I feel when we perform is indescribable. It is a wild dream that came true!

Elena is going to be 10 soon! She is progressing rapidly with her piano studies and doing excellent in her school work as well. She is very shy but her teachers always tell us what a sweet and remarkable personality she has. Her interest and knowledge in the gospel often takes us by surprise.

Sierra is just a 6 yr. old ray of sweet sunshine. She often has the ability to ease and calm the atmosphere with her loud and contagious laugh. She is very social and sometimes will get into trouble at school for being too much of a social bug. She is also outstanding in her school studies and can read remarkably well.

Little Maysa will be 3 soon. She still demands that she is just a teeny eensy baby and we need to treat her as such. She makes us laugh and smile constantly. As well as giving us mini heart attacks on a daily basis. About 6 months ago she got a hold of a pair of scizzors and literally cut her bangs right down to her scalp. Her bangs are still not grown back. People still ask me on a daily basis if she cut her own hair.

We have been very blessed with lots of visitors to our warm sunny home last winter and this winter. I hope everybody knows they are certainly welcome to come visit any time they desire. We LOVE guests and are more than thrilled to show you the beauties and wonders of Arizona.

May the Lord bless you in 2010. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, especially those dwelling in the lands of little sunshine and many blizzards. :)

Happy holidays!

Love,

The Brintons

Dan, Suzi, Elena, Sierra and Maysa

Flashback of 09

Here are some of my favorite pictures of just our family looking back at 2009. What a great and successful year for us! We love Arizona!

Tis the season for Suzi's Turtles

Well for the past 4 years I have been making turtles at Christmas time. Every year gets a little better and I have discovered it is an art that takes many mistakes to finally get it right. My turtles have ALWAYS been too runny. But this year my friend Jocey suggested that I use a candy thermometer and that has made all the difference! Why didn't I do that before??? I got this little crock pot for dipping and that has made life a thousand times easier as well. The girls helped this year so they turned out small, medium, large and bumpy. But they taste delicious!

Lucky for you if you are on my VT list!

Snow in Casa Grande

For the past 2 days it has been so cold. It even snowed! (okay, it was brought in on a truck). We went to the winter wonderland christmas party downtown and the kids got to play in the snow! They had to wait in line for their turn. It was quite a chilly day, perfect to bring in the snow.

Then we stood in line for at least 45 minutes to sit on Santas lap. They jumped on, snapped the picture and immedietly were told to hop off, grab a goodie bag and move on. Maysa didn't cry this time but she was not happy about sitting on Santa's lap as you can tell. Remind me not to stand in a long line up to see Santa again.

Family and fun

My sister and her family came to visit us for a week from B.C. We had so much fun. Hiking, zoo, collosal cave, bike riding, sun tanning- or trying.

Poor Cheyenne, she really didn't like Maysa too much. Maysa only pushed her down mmm, 5 or 6 times. thats all

We love taking people to see the ruins, its such a cool place. Merriellen and Rob loved being here. They even wanted to watch the video and everything.

We have two shamans in the family, who'd have known?!~

These two had a fun but rough week, little Cheyenne only wanted whatever Maysa was holding, looking at, seeing or eating. Oh well, when Maysa got tired of it, she just gave Cheyenne a big push. Rob called it, "battle of the muffins". Maysa is a little scrapper, what shall I do about that?

Sorry for the florescence, if you're eyes are hurting just scroll down really quickly.

Sierra is really good with little kids, they all love her. SHe knows how to play with them just right. It was nice when Sierra finally came home from school to entertain little Cheyenne.

The last day we went to the zoo. There is supposed to be a big giraffe in the background of this picture, but it somehow disappeared..... ROb



When we went hiking at Saguaro National Park we saw this crazy cactus. Its got to be hundreds of years old.

I was sad after Merriellen and Rob left. We had a really great time with them. Especially when Cheyenne turned psychotic during the airplane landing, Rob almost got us kicked out of the church for the SUnday night musical fireside ( I was just happy he didn't wear his brokeback mountain t-shirt with Dan and Al's faces photoshopped in) and when Merg and I went to see New Moon, on our way home we see Rob and Cheyenne out for a midnight stroll on the bike trailer. SHe was screaming her poor little head off. I laughed , Merg cried. Or when Rob and I pigged out on cheesecake factory while Merriellen drank her mushroom juice. Oh we had lots of fun. I purposely cancelled my primary presidency meeting because I was certain Rob would come down in his boxers and plant a smacker on my cheek, yes he WOULD do something like that.
I hope they come back next year, I was so sad when I dropped them off, I wished they could have stayed 2 more weeks, or even longer.

American thanksgiving

We absolutely stuffed ourselves silly today with good food, and good company. My cousins Jordan and Bessie just moved to Arizona so we had them over for the day. They are so much fun. I love Arizona, it was a perfect day, just like room temperature.

Little Jet was so funny. It just didn't phase him to be somewhere new and strange. He ate a big plate of food then headed straight outdoors for the playset. Down the slide head first and desperately tried to do monkey bars. This kid has no fear!

Jordan is my first cousin, my dad and his dad are brothers. Jordan has always made me laugh, he still makes me laugh. Bessie is simply amazing, she has completed 5 marathons, YES 5!

Its fun to celebrate 2 thanksgivings. Canadian in October, American in November. Although why we stuff ourselves silly is kind of silly. Turkey, cranberry sauce, cheesecake, marshmellow yams, okay I'm not complaining... :)

Thanks for coming all the way out today Jordan and Bessie, too bad we couldn't find a scorpion in our yard for Jordan. He so badly wanted to see one. Actually it isn't too bad, I'm quite happy about that!

Central Arizona College

Well we are starting to brainwash our kids while they are still young- that the CAC is a perfect place for them to attend college when they finish high school. The tuition will be free and it is only a 10 minute drive from our house. Not to mention the fact that it really is a phenomenal college.
We went to the 40th year anniversary celebration today and it was just so enjoyable. There were lots of inflatable obstacle courses, face painting and crafts for the kids. We also sat through art and pottery demonstrations, looked at Jupiter real close in the astronomy center and sat through a jazz band concert. Oh, and~ Dan and I got to enjoy free ten minute back massages.
There was a country music concert right before the fireworks which was kind of awful but I enjoyed watching the kids dance in circles, gigling and having fun. The fireworks were really fantastic, they were set off to the loud speakers playing patriotic songs. There was a wonderful feeling there.

We didn't take a whole lot of pictures today except for face painting. The kids LOVE doing that.

There was free food, free family fun, I was very impressed by the whole ordeal. Maybe, just maybe we can go again in ten years for the 50th anniversary when Elena is attending classes there...... :)

Emerald Cove Resort

Since being on the beach is my first favorite thing to do and blogging is my second you are in for a post the size of double XL. We had such a fun weekend at the Emerald Cove resort with our friends from Vegas. This resort is located along the Colorado river with a mile of beautiful clean sand and lovely clear water. The river is dammed aways up so it is just like a lake. This river actually connects to Lake Havasu. It was average highs of 95 the whole trip so you guessed it, we spent 90 percent of the time in water. Either enjoying one of the pools, hottubs or just swimming at the beach. So pardon my over usage of the camera this weekend, I simply couldn't help myself. There was too much fun to be had!



I have to say this is the most relaxed I've been for ages. I read my book and watched the kids make sand castles for hours. They just never tire of it and neither do I!

The sunsets here were so beautiful, the picture speaks for itself I suppose.

Someone had deposited hundreds of sea shells along the shore. Sierra was mesmorized by the collection she worked so hard for.

Dan and Elena are fish in human bodies. They didn't care that the water was cold cold.

This picture shows how clear and clean the water is. Of course it also shows Dan's cheesy grin in his favorite place to be.

Relaxing, eating grapes, eating junk, eating, swimming, eating, swimming. Thats about it. What could be more fun. This was the first time we've ever stayed in an RV. I wouldn't call it camping cause it was just too comfortable. I'll say one thing though, my days in a tent are officially OVER!

There was a kids club at the resort open from 9 to 9. The kids did all sorts of crafts, games, bingo, movies, ect. They loved it. Parents could leave the kids there with the older couple supervising. This was one of my favorite things I liked about the resort.

Every night we partied in the hot tub. The kids would jump in the cold pool and then come running back in the hottub. On the last night they were hosting karaoke night at the pool side bar so what did we do?! Dan and I sang our wedding song "When you say nothing at all" in front of all the drunk snow birds. They clapped and cheered for us. That was a blast.

They had free mini golf so Megan and Elena had fun doing that.

Here is a picture of our good friends from Vegas. Dan has been best friends with Russel since they were just little kids so we have kept in very good contact with his family throughout the years. Their kids and our kids are similar in age so they just partied it up all weekend. We love them!



Russel was the camp cook and I have to say we ate some of the best steaks I've ever had. Can you believe it, a dad that LIKES to cook!


Maysa and Lauren spent all weekend playing together. They laughed and giggled and built little sand castles, then dumped the sand on eachother's heads.


Here is the river rats club showing off their beautiful sand creation. They played in the sand every night till way after sunset. It just didn't get cold, we loved it!


Sierra's collection of sea shells. She told me after the trip that she would rather come back here than disneyland! Imagine that. We'll definetly be coming back.