October 2008

Here's a picture of us at General Conference. We went to the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. It was really neat to be in the conference center and see all those people there. The primary children were singing at this session and it was fun to watch them because they were so cute and funny.

Megan spent the morning session of Saturdays conference translating the speakers talks into the Slovenian language. Here is a link to that session in Slovenian.

http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2008/10/10/GC_2008_10_100_Complete_SaturdayMorningSession_04903_slv_.mp3

Megan translated Sister Silvia H. Allred and Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis talks (the middle speakers)

And the winner is...

...Ben! He was at a technology fair on campus today and WON A NEW LAPTOP! Woohoo! I was so excited when he told me--not because we needed a new computer (we don't), but because he, and therefore I, won a prize. I mean really, I never win anything. Wait, I have to take that back because once a long, long time ago I won a free fanny pack or something from a Snapple lid. But I never sent away for it. Who wants a fanny pack?

Now, this isn't to say that the Brenner family is immune to receiving prizes. Back when the first Xbox came out, Dad won one from Taco Bell. This was a big deal since we still had the original 8-bit Nintendo plugged in to the ol' console TV. And we could now get on the DVD wagon. But since Dad had probably put an Xbox's worth of money into that fine Taco Bell franchise on Tudor in Anchorage, we counted it more as a wash than a win. In fact, I don't think it'd be a stretch to say that he was more excited about the extra hot sauce than the Xbox, but then again, I don't know since I wasn't living at home at the time.

How did this turn into Snapple and salsa? I don't know. Back to the point: my wicked awesome husband crumpled up his entry slip and won us a new little computer. Hooray! For our technologically-inclined readers, it's an HP 2133 Mini-Note. It's itsy bitsy. But it's all ours!

Ultrasound Pictures

Here are the ultrasound pictures we got from our appointment on Friday. I think the first page is the best, quality-wise, but they're all nice to look at!

Updated: Stay tuned for big news!

It's a girl! The ultrasound technician said everything looks healthy and beautiful, which is just about the best news ever. We'll try to post ultrasound pictures soon.

Stay tuned for big news!

This coming Friday, September 19, is a big deal for two reasons. First off, it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. "But Megan," you might ask, "how could this day possibly get any better?" The answer, my friends, is that also on Friday we're scheduled for an ultrasound to see the sex of our baby! Hopefully s/he doesn't cop any pirattitude--we'd really like to find out what kind of bun is in the oven. So come back sometime Friday to get the scoop!

Sorry it's been so long...

I've been slacking off in the blogging department, sorry friends. I hope this next entry makes up for it.

Alaska Trip

Last month we went up to see my mom, dad, sister Emma and Aunt Debbie in Alaska. We had a great time. We left Utah when it was still in the 90's, so we froze the whole time in Kenai's "warm" 60's, but it was great. Here are some pictures.

Dad and Emma picked us up in Anchorage. Before we left town, we stopped at New Sagaya Market to look around and get a bite to eat. We did NOT eat the Feet, Chicken shown above, even though they appeared to be a good price.

Ben was really, really hungry and decided to try an oyster.

On the way out of Anchorage we stopped by the temple. Small grounds, but still beautiful!

This is Beluga Point, where sometimes you can see, go figure, Beluga whales. Dad and Em said they saw some on their way up to get us that morning, so we were optimistic. But, the tide was on its way out and the whales were gone.

The next day we went with Dad and Emma on a sightseeing cruise out of Seward. We were sure hoping to see whales that day!

We saw lots of pretty scenery, jellyfish, eagles, puffins...

and harbor seals, but no whales. Oh well (oh whale?).

The next day Dad, Ben and I went fishing for silvers on the Kenai River. Dad still has those pictures (hint, hint, Padre), so we can't show you all how big the fish were that we caught. But trust me, they were thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis big. I, of course, caught the most. :)

The rest of our time was spent just hanging around Mom and Dad's house. We saw the other wildlife we'd been dying to see, moose, just down the street.

Here's a cow moose and her twin calves looking for food.


This is the beach near Mom and Dad's house. We took a nice long walk there and found lots of cool rocks and seashells.

Our last night there we played croquet in the backyard. In true Brenner family tradition, it turned in to an all out war: everyone versus Dad. He turned in to poison first and killed me immediately, followed by Debbie. Then things got really intense for a few minutes when Mom turned in to poison next and they played a little game of cat and mouse. Mom was able to kill Dad (hip hip hooray!) before killing herself by going through a wicket (boo!).


In the end, it was between Ben and Emma. As you can see, it got a little intense. Ben was the winner. Huzzah!

We sure had a great time there! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for letting us stay with you and driving us around everywhere. You're the best and we love you!