We Love the Vegas

We took off last Sunday night to Vegas. We got great deals to go, 3 of the 4 tickets were $29 one way. The plane was delayed an hour on our flight out--that didn't put a damper on a trip at all, but as we were getting ready to board they had the news playing at the airport and they were showing a plane crash, they plane landed to fast and it pretty much blew up the thing and killed a lot of people, so that wasn't very nice of them--I'm already scared of flying. We stayed with Adam's sister Kim and her family on Sunday and Monday night. While everyone was at work and school--me and Adam were outside a lot of the day soaking up the sun rays--it was so nice there! We checked out a couple of the hotel/casino's, and that night we played with the kids and went to in and out burger, good times.

The next morning we took off at 5:30 am and headed to Phoenix...I LOVED it! It had to be in the 80's...there wasn't a cloud in the sky, palm trees all over...and it was just beautiful sunny and green! And the funny thing is we went to quite a few places that day and I was about the only one wearing shorts there--I guess it must've been to cold for everyone else. That night we stayed with his grandparents--they were so cute. They have some citrus trees in their back yard--so breakfast the next morning was amazing, freshly squeezed orange juice, fresh grapefruit...and a lot of other fruit and healthy stuff. I love Arizona!

That afternoon we headed back to Vegas--and I was able to meet up with Emily that night--it was so fun to see her again! We haven't seen each other for quite a while--it was fun to see where she lived (which is so dang cute) and catch up. The next day we went to another casino place and we threw down some money on some slot machine's, it was really fun--we just played 5 cent black jacket and penny slot machines--we just put in a dollar and it lasts forever.I flew out that afternoon...soon to find out why the tickets were so cheap. I got to the airport around 1:30...my flight was at 3:30--we boarded the plane and just sat on there forever--it was about 4:10 and we still hadn't moved..finally they got on the intercom and said the plane was broken, so we got off and loaded back on a spare plane (which took another hour) when we finally took off we got to about Utah, I'd say about half way, and they said the plane wouldn't pressurize, so we had to turn around and go back to Vegas...and wait for a 3rd plane. At this point I was SO frustrated and tired and was about to cry, I was already scared to fly--and all of the planes were broken. So about an hour later, we board the 3rd plane...and thankfully made it safely to Idaho Falls at almost 11. It was a long day. Adam flew back on Sunday--had a better flight--it left and landed on time...but he got to come home to a blizzard. So on our treacherous drive back that was one sheet of ice --with cars all over off the road...us going 20-25 mph the whole way...we decided that we are so sick of this weather--we've lived in it long enough, and it's time to move. Here are some pictures from our trip...

Arizona...
World's largest grapefruit
Vegas...

Vacation

I finally hit my year mark at work and got a little vacation time...that was very muchly needed. It was so much fun...we were able to see a lot of family...but it was SUPER busy--we went from one place to another. Within that week I believe I slept at 5 different houses. Me and my sister Rachel had a craft fair this last Friday and Saturday. So the Friday before (the 20th) we went to Rupert so we could get all of our picture frames done, thank goodness for our dad who is a master woodworker :) we were able to bust out about 50 picture frames in about 4 hours. Here are some action shots of the process...we had a little system going:

My dad would cut the frames out....

Austin was over the nail gun and put them together....
Rachel and I would take turns sanding while the other one painted...because after a while your hand would go numb....
Melanie came along to help out also...I'll post the final products in a little bit. That Saturday after we got finished, I went to Pocatello to Rachel's house to do a few more things for the frames--then that night my friend Stafford had a reception there that we went to, I was able to see a few of my high school friends...that I haven't seen since high school--so it was fun to be there. Thats how the week started....

Go Memphis!!!!

Well, here is the lastest Gooch family update. Michelle is still working two jobs and bringing in all the green. She just loves her bosses and does not want to quit. What a brown nose. We are saving up for the big move. That is right we are finally moving. Where...is the question. We dont know. Who cares as long as we are out of Rexburg. I have a interview in Phoenix next week, so hopefully that goes well and we will live there. If not, it will be Texas or Maryland. Either way it is not close. So if you want to say your goodbyes and hang out with the cool Gooch family, now is the time to do it. We will really miss Rexburg and the good times it brought us...whatever I am over it.
I am just excited for March Madness to start. All the number 1 teams suck this year, so my beat is with Memphis. They need to redeem themselves from last year anyway.

Good Times

We've had a busy week. Last weekend we went to Rupert and had a blast. We went straight to the high school, my little brother had a basketball game against Minico's rivals....Burley...dun dun dun. And it was AMAZING! It was SO much fun! both the JV and Varsity games were so close...the varsity game came down to the last possession...which was us--we won. And I was so proud of my little bro...he's such a stud--he's 6'10 and he had like 10 blocks all night ...and a ton of rebounds. The gym was packed...I love going to high school basketball games. There were a few of us that were able to go home that weekend...Mary and Brian and John and Meagan & Kaylee were also able to go, so it was so much fun being with everybody. It was just a fun lazy, wii playing, and basketball filled sort of a weekend. Sunday was a good day also, my cousin Brooke left on a mission this last week--so she spoke in church on Sunday, and it was so good, it was probably one of the best talks I've heard. She is going to be such a good missionary--I'm excited for her. It was fun to see a lot of extended family also.

It's funny that the weather has been good for about two or three weeks...and then once we plan to leave for the weekend...it gets ugly and stormy. We left early on Sunday to head back before it got dark, and the roads were just horrible. It took us about an hour to go 20 miles, there were a lot of bad wrecks and cars off the road a long the way, so we made a smart decision to turn back and go back on Monday. Which I didn't mind...I got a snow day from work. Then Tuesday was fun...when we got up to go to work we walked outside and couldn't even breath because it burned your chest...our cars wouldn't start...school was let out...it was -35 degrees outside. So we decided it is really time for us to move on in ours lives and get out of here--so Adam went to a career fair in Provo on Wednesday and was able to talk with a lot of companies, so hopefully something good can come out of that.

Christmas/Winter Wonderland

This year for Christmas we had planned on going to Spokane to Adam's brother house. Our plans quickly changed with all the snow that came Spokane's way the week of Christmas. So then we planned to maybe go to Vegas the day after and spend it with his dad...and that didn't happen either, we actually got snowed in in Rexburg, so we got to spend Christmas with just the two of us. Which was a little different not being surrounded by family, but it was good, we watched Joy to the World in the morning while we had milkshakes (Gooch family tradition) we played in the snow for a while, and then pretty much watched Heroes the rest of the night. We did get to go to my sisters house for Christmas Eve though. So it was good that we were able to be with some family for that, and it was a lot of fun...she has two boys and it was so fun to watch them act out the Nativity while their dad read it from the scriptures.

We also did Christmas a little different this year, we kind of made Christmas presents a month long thing. Adam graduated at the beginning of the month, and I got him a picture that was for graduation/Christmas, and then I bought myself a really cute clock from Deseret Book (I got a steal of a deal) And the Sunday before Christmas we went to my parents house because John & Meagan blessed their baby, so we had a mini celebration with my family, my parents gave us our presents and we gave them theirs. And then Adam surprised me two nights before Christmas with a beautiful stone nativity set, that he wanted me to open that night so we could enjoy it for a couple days before we packed all the Christmas stuff away. So a month later....I'm here to say we had a great Christmas, not to mention both of us got about a week and a half of paid vacation, which was a first, so it was great to sit around the whole time and make money off of it.

King of the Hill
We didn't move two of our cars (next to the blue car) for maybe 3 days, and they almost got covered....it snowed so much


This is my parents present from us kids, we got them the picture of George Washington, Prayer at Valley Forge, my dad is so cute when it comes to presents--he always gets teary eyed, especially this year because they told us not to get them anything because this year has been a little rough on everyone with the economy how it is, so when we pulled out this big box he got emotional even before he saw what it was...and continued to do so after he saw what it was. He's been wanting this picture forever.

My Parents with some of the grandkids...Kennedy, Layton, Kaylee & ToriEric, Lincoln, Adam & Kaylee