Nissan Leaf

Driving a 2002 Dodge Dakota for my daily commute makes me reflect on my wallet everytime I fill it up. For the same price that I am paying for gas I can cover the cost of a new vehicle. If the new vehicle is all electric then I would be even better off. The way the math works is a $3.50 a gallon I am paying $8400 over 36K miles. For a 3 year lease on a Leaf, I would be out about $9500+ monthly electric bill increases. So a three year experiment including electricity is about the cost of a mac book.
I bought a Nissan Leaf on October 31. The purchase process took way too long. I should have been able to get out of there in less than an hour especially since they had to ship it in from Idaho. It arrived on November 5.  I went to the dealership to pick it up that morning. After going over all of the features, I was ready to take it off the lot.

After going a mile the heater was still not warming up, at least the standard seat and steering wheel warmers were working fine. After about three miles, I called the sales person and said "I'm freezing! The heater must be broken." Of course I couldn't help but thinking, "how stupid am I that I can't figure out how to operate the heater on this car. Is there some switch that I am missing somewhere." I had to get to work and I figured I would just take it back at the end of the day.
When I came into the office, everyone was gawking out the window and the new golf cart I was driving. So I got to answer all of the fun questions about the all-electric car which was great except the heater is broken. If I would have put the money towards a mac book at least it would have kept my lap hot.
At the end of the day I took it back to the dealership and after waiting another 1.5 hours they said that they need to order a new heater block and they would give me a loaner Altima until my car was ready.
So then the waiting game began. I got an email from the dealership thanking me for my purchase and telling me that they were sure I was enjoying the new car. About a week later on the same day as the lease payment bill came in the mail, I got a package from the dealership. It was a blanket. Mass marketing epic fail - When a brand-new car is in the shop for a heater in the winter time a blanket is about the most ironic gift possible.
After talking with the general manager, he offered to cover the first lease payment and also to cover the gas on the loaner. Everyone is frustrated with the situation, but they are trying to make it right.
On November 21, the dealership called us twice. One time to let my wife know that the plates were in and we should arrange to come in to get them put on the car. My wife responded with "You should go stick them on the car since it is still at your dealership." The other time was to let me know that the heater box has finally been shipped, so maybe I will get my car before Thanksgiving.
After about four weeks, I finally get to drive my new car. Now my three year experiment with an all-electric car can finally begin.

Thyse wants to be a mommy

They had a talent show for the kids club on the cruise. When they asked Thyse what he wanted to be when he grew up, he responded "A mommy." After further prodding he reluctantly accepted that he could be a daddy when he grew up.

Maili Gets Braces

I grew up with really crooked (read BUCK) front teeth until the 6th grade whn I was finally able to get braces. I don't like the pictures of me from 4th and 5th grade because of my horrible teeth. When Maili's permanent front teeth started to come in, it seemed as if she was going to share my same fate. But then I noticed a little girl in our ward who was only a year older than Maili had gotten braces. Now days they can do braces in 2 phases - and it doesn't really cost you any more than if you just waited till they were older and fixed them all at once. I was all for this.

Here is Maili pre-braces

Doesn't this look like fun?

In fact it looks like so much fun that Thyse wants to join in!

Poor Maili - they only hurt for a few days. And her teeth were literally straight after about 2-3 weeks!

Thanskgiving Turkey Trot

While in AZ for Thanksgiving we decided to run the annual Turkey Trot with Stephanie my best friend from high school. Her very first 10K and she did it while she was a few weeks pregnant. Way to go Steph. Next goal a Half Marathon right? - post baby of course!

Russ ran the race too and finished with a great time of 43:50. I finished at 49:58 - but I did beat the turkey! This race was much bigger than I expected a local race to be.

I finished 21st out of the 262 women in my division. Russ finished 23rd out the 170 in his division. That means I really won right? Even though he was faster?

We also went to see the Christmas light parade in Tempe and the AZ Temple lights. It was so great to have some fun Christmas activities without being freezing cold! We didn't even bother to see the lights at the SL Temple when we got home.

Thyse with his Grandma Cindy, Aunt Stacey and cousins Mabry and Adley.

Ryan and Mabry enthralled with the lights!

Having a fun time with the grandparents at the temple.

My kids also love to go with Grandpa to feed and ride the horses whenever we come to visit.

Bryton's Birthday

Bryton's birthday is on November 24th so we are often out of town for Thanksgiving. This means he get to celebrate his birthday all over the place including Idaho and Mexico. This year we happened to be in AZ for Thanksgiving so we got to celebrate his birthday with all of his Rogers cousins. But before we left he got to have a BACKWARDS birthday party with his friend in Utah.
Some highlights of the backward party:

1) Everyone had to come dressed backwards. And everyone entered the house from the back door.

2) We had cake inside the ice cream cones and ate cake batter flavored ice cream. We had the cake and ice cream as soon as they came in the door. We sang "Birthday Happy You To" of course!
At the end of the party we gave them pizza and caprisun which they had to drink with the straw from the bottom of the container while sitting under the table.

3) We played pin the donkey on the tail.

4) We hung balloons upside down from the ceiling and put out random seasonal decorations from all year long. Taylor and Ashley even showed up to join us in the fun!

The day after the party in Utah we headed south to AZ for thanksgiving and Bryton got his second birthday party at the Bowling Alley! First time bowling at 6 years old.

He was excited to get a gift from the cousins because we had asked all his friends not to bring gifts to his UT party. We wanted it to be more about the fun than what he would get. (I know...we're mean)

A little victory dance with Katie

The next morning dad helped him put together the cool Legos that Grandma and Grandpa gave him. Those things are complicated!

Happy Birthday Kiddo! We Love You!

Annual Pumpkin Run

We're ready to head out to the door to the race! Wish us luck!

If you can't tell I am a bunny and Russ is Hugh Heffner!

My Bunny Booty!

Michelle - my long time race buddy! She has gotten so much faster! She can almost beat me now......but not quite. Sorry Michelle!

One minute to go!

Russ came in 1st in his age division and I got 3rd - as usual! A police man told me "You are way ahead of the tortoise!" As I passed by. Maybe we should have made Russ a turtle instead.

At the finish another guy told me, " I felt like a greyhound the whole time. I couldn't catch up to you!" Both were good anaolgies.

Stacey's birthday with the rattle snake

Cordell saw a rattle snake about 100 feet from our cabin. Luckily he had his 22 with him.

September 2nd was Stacey's birthday. She decided she was going to be very brave and pick up the snake. Yes it was dead (but still moving).

This is Stacey getting up the courage to touch the snake.

Happy 27th Stacey! Glad we could share it with you this year!