Not enough pride to turn down a bribe...

Hey folks! Welcome to the blog. By now you've probably noticed that there aren't randomly sized and colored fonts, which probably means you've figured out that this is Travis, and not Becca. I think I last posted about a year ago, shortly after Bubba was born. Since that time, work has kept me pretty busy and the hours a day spent in front of a computer screen are less than motivating when it comes time to blog in the evening. Becca has done a great job picking up the slack and keeping family and friends informed. Nevertheless, she's been harassing me about not posting in so long and has resorted to bribes to encourage me to assist in documenting our "goings on". In keeping with our policy of providing waaay too much information to the general public surfing the internets, I'll let you use your imagination regarding said bribe. Funny how by not saying anything at all, I'm still giving you all more info than you ever wanted... and your imaginations are all probably spot on! *Wink*

Anyways, now that my Mom has probably dry heaved once or twice and I've effectively ensured that Becca never asks me to post again, I'll proceed with the intent of this lengthy post. Updates...and alot of 'em. Hope you all have plenty of time on your hands. It's been a busy month or so for us. We spent Thanksgiving in St. George with Becca's family. If you've followed our blog in the past you'll know that we love St. George. My little borther and sister joined us as they are orphaned children here in Utah. Bubba cruised around the house in a little saucer walker thingy that kept him happy as can be.

The family in Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah.

Little Brother and Sister on Angels Landing Hike in Zions National Park, Utah.

As soon as we got back from Spanksgiving things at work really picked up for me as we prepped for our yearly Advanced Technical Training- Live conference, which we held in Las Vegas this year. Becca loved the long hours I worked and the extra time she got to spend with Bubbs. We packed an entire semi full of equipment and spent 3 big days setting up, 3.5 days for the conference, and 1 night to tear it all down. It was pretty intense. We managed to have 3 or 4 minutes of fun, though, and got to see the opening of the new City Center (most expensive construction project ever) as well as eat some killer good food on the strip and at the Ritz, where we stayed. Becca spent a good share of her alone time up at her parents with the little monster. I managed to hop and early flight home and surprise her which was super duper. We spent the next couple of days with her parents, which was awesome as always. Bored yet? Because I'd be happy to report the ongoings of our life a bit more matter of factly and with more passive voice if that would make the reading more interesting???

New Las Vegas City Center Casino, The Aria.

We stayed a night at our little Provo apartment and washed our underwear just in time to hop a plane to Tennessee to spend a week with my family for Christmas. It's been a year and a half since I've been home, so I was pretty excited. We hopped an afternoon flight in Salt Lake. Bryant was the spawn of Satan. Honestly, have you seen the Exorcist? Bryant made the devilish little head swivel girl look like a Teletubby. He's not a big fan of airplanes. What's better than a baby on a plane? Sitting on the tarmack in Chicago after 3 hours of delays for another 45 minutes while the attendant tells you repeatedly that "we'll be pushing back any second...teeheehee...club soda?....buh bye" After many Bryant tears, a few from Beccers, and some muttered swearing from Dad, we made it to Knoxville. horray.

This is getting long and Bec keeps saying "geez", so I'm going to move through this quickly. We'll see if she ever asks me to blog again. Wahahaha. Christmas was great. Everyone of my sibs was there, including my little bro.'s girlfriend slash fiance (as soon as she landed in Knoxville after a hellish flight of her own). Bubba was cute as he could be for G'ma and G'pa Barnes after we cast the devils out of him. Until he got sick, anyways. Oh well, at least we got a few good days. We had a great trip. Our week soon turned into two weeks as we changed our flights to procrastinate another aweful flight home. I got to go kayaking with one of my "besties" from home ( can dudes say besties?...probably not). This was a great reminder to Becca of how awesome I used to be before adult life robbed me of everything that used to be cool about me. you can see for yourself in the following video. We also saw Avatar in Imax 3D. Amazing. Loved it. Our families were both very good to us at Christmas and we loved the time we had with them. Can't wait to see the family again in April for the wedding!! The flight home was actually cake, so we aren't giving Bryant away in a basket like we had planned.

Tellico River, Tennessee, December 28, 2009. 28 Degrees F. I'm pretty cool, in case you weren't aware.

Avatar in IMAX 3D. I got violently ill, but it was totally worth it. On an unrelated note, Becca is hot.

Anyways, it's been an exciting couple of months and despite the good times we've had, we're ready for normal life again. Thanks to all you loyal blog readers for hanging in there. The only other thing I would ask is that everyone comment so that Becca will be jealous of my post. Out.

Since returning home, Bryant now rides in a "big boy" carseat and drinks milk instead of formula. Hallelujah for saving $25 a week. No, seriously, Halle-freakin-lujah!

I'll update with more pictures of Christmas once I get them off the camera. Check back later for more.