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.