Lunch with Kim

12/26: I was so happy we were able to meet up with our great friend Kim from college. She and her husband were in Arizona for Christmas with their sweet little girl Brighton. They moved to Seattle after Dale graduated from BYU a couple years ago. We went to Chilli's the day after Christmas and had such a great time catching up and visiting. Thanks Kimmy for taking the time to eat lunch with us. We love you!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

12/24: After making the tamales we headed back to Vic and Lori's house. We took a quick nap and then got ready for Christmas Eve at Vic's Parents house. We ate Ham, Tamales, Beans, This Mexican Soup that was delicious and lots of other great food. I also had Mexican Coca-Cola that is VERY good (it does taste different than regular Coke). We played games and stayed up well past midnight when Vic's family traditionally opens their Christmas Presents. It was a fun evening.

Nora in her pretty Christmas Dress

A quick shot with Nora

It was pretty late by this point- I'm exhausted.

Nora and her daddy

Mommy and Nora

12/25: Christmas morning we woke up and opened our stalkings and presents with Vic, Lori, and Nora. It was a great Christmas. After getting ready for the day, we headed to Tempe where we spent most of the day with family. The weather was rainy and beautiful. I miss Arizona rain.

Nora Christmas Morning

Santa brought me a Nintendo DS, and some lamps for our bedroom.
We also went shopping a few days before Christmas and got some new clothes. Matthew in his Nerf gear getting ready for the Nerf War with all the Brothers.

Jake getting in on the Nerf Gun action

Ellie loving her new Minnie doll.

2009 HINCHEY FAMILY PIC
Top L to R: Joe, Lillabeth, Spencer, Katie, Tyler, Vic, Nora, Ryan
Bottom L to R: Cole, Dave, Tiffany, Me, Ellie, Matthew, Louis, Amy Jo, DJ, Kirbi, Sadie, Lori, Jake and Adam

The trip continued...

Christmas Eve brought a new experience. We went over to My sister's, boyfriend's, parent's house to make Tamales for that evening. We left Christmas Eve morning around 8am and we were hard at work for over 4 hours. I don't think i will ever make tamales again, but it was a lot of fun!

Stirring the meat (I'm pretty sure it was over 20 pounds of Pork)

The meat with Red Sauce

Me and My Sister Lori

Nora

Matthew and Nora

The cuteness!

The Tamales

Vic's mom and sister-in-law

Hard at work...

I think we're almost done...

So Precious.

Love for Nie Nie

I don't normally post twice in one day, but this is the ultimate exception. I'm sure most of you have heard about Christian and Stephanie Nielsen. They are such an incredible family and I have been overwhelmed by their faith and love through their recent tragedy. It has made me want to be a better sister, daughter, wife and friend.

If you live in Utah and you don't have any plans on Monday, February 2nd you need to buy tickets to the Love for Nie Nie Benefit Concert. I promise you won't regret it!

Buy tickets here. Read more about the Nielsen's here.

December 21st

After the Bowl Game, we headed straight to Arizona. It was a long 6 hours...We didn't arrive at my sister's house until almost 4am. We were glad to be there. On Sunday, we went to my brother's house to spend some time with my cute nephews and niece (Cole, Jake, and Ellie). We had a great time making sugar cookies! We also learned that Cole is a genius when it comes to the Wii. He walked us through how to set up our Wii-Me's and then showed us how to play the game. It was hilarious! I love spending time with them.

That night we went to Keith and Connie's place for dinner. We loved hanging out with them and seeing their new little girl Makena, she's ADORABLE!!! My only regret was that I didn't take a photo of us. More to come on our trip to AZ...

Jake and Cole making a mess of the flour! :)

Jake and Me

Ellie Belle

Jake

Matthew and Ellie

Las Vegas Bowl- December 19 & 20

I had over 700 blog posts to read after I got back. I had every intention of reading your blogs and keeping up with my posts while I was in AZ, but I just never got around to it. So, I'll start from the beginning and post frequently for all of you who have been asking for pictures.

We decided to travel down through Las Vegas and go to the Las Vegas Bowl on our way down to AZ. We drove over on Dec. 19th and stayed at The Luxor with some friends. It was a quick trip, but very fun. We ate at IN N OUT and we managed to win over $100 at the nickel slots! It was a great time, the weather was a little chilly, but I'm glad we went and experienced a BYU bowl game.

After going to IN N OUT Satruday, we walked the strip for a while and watched the 3D movied at the M&M Factory.

We got to our seats at the game (row 13 about the 30 yard line) and two rows in front of us and a little to the right was Lavell Edwards.

The view from our seats, amazing! (P.S. Those are feet warmers on my knees)

With our friends Cam and Dorothy

During "God Bless America" this flag covered the whole field, it was incredible.

Guess who sang the National Anthem!? Think Baywatch...

Yep, non other than David Hasselhoff

The Cougs doing the Haka before kickoff

And last but not least, Matthew's brother on the field as the "water boy". He's in the Athletic Training Program at BYU and was assigned to the football team this last semester.

Welcome 2009!!!!

Hello Everyone!!! I know it's been a while, I've been in Arizona for the past two weeks and have been trying to ignore the responsibilities of coming back to reality. Well, we ARE back and we are doing great. Currently there is lots of snow outside, 8+ inches to be exact and the snow is still falling.

We had a wonderful time with family and friends and we are grateful that we were able to miss the storms driving back to Utah. I have lots of pictures to post, but wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year! :)