Bramsin

British Birthday Dinner

2011-04-13T15:24:00.015-06:00

One of the families that have really helped us out as we made the transition to island life are the Allreds, who have been more than generous with their time and well supplied kitchen. Turns out that Adrian, the husband, was actually in Brandon's mission a few years earlier than him. We often talk about the love we all have for England especially the food (except Beth and their children who has never been, but don't worry Beth you will love it when you go).
Anyway when Brandon's birthday was coming up, I thought what's going to one thing that Brandon would love to celebrate his 26th birthday?... Oh, how about all the deliciousness of English food that we keep drooling over?

So it was decided, now I just had to figure how to do it. Anyone knowing me in the kitchen would understand that sometimes my cooking does not come out as I planned so I needed help. Luckily I volunteered the Allred family kitchen and home to have Brandon's British Birthday Dinner.

Beth did most of the cooking. She was amazing, she even made a home made gravy and Yorkshire puddings from scratch that she learned from her cooking class. ( Thank you
Haratio)

Beth and Brandon busy in the kitchen.

Yummy Yorkshire puddings

Juicy Lamb with mint

Bringing out the dessert

British Trifle: jelly, sponge cake, strawberry, peaches, British custard, whipped cream and grated chocolate = DELICIOUSNESS

Thanks Allreds for sharing and doing the most in Brandon's Birthday. It still makes my mouth water.

New Year at Disney World

2011-04-01T06:47:00.020-06:00

After our fun Christmas cruise we where treated to a week at Disney World in Florida to complete our Disney Holiday experience.

Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot...
So many rides and things to do and just a week to fit them in. We would start out early in the morning as the parks opened then come back for lunch and head out again till late.

Splash Mountain, Landon's first time on the ride:

A river raft ride at Animal Kingdom, way too much white water I think.

Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom:

New Years Eve, we went to Epcot and moved round the world stopping at every countries party. I think we only got about half way before the sky was filled with lights as the biggest fire work show I've seen went on for 15 minutes. My ears where ringing at the end.

We also spent a day Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure to see the New Harry Potter Land.

Of course we had to try the butter beer. Delicious!

The Hulk = one mean roller coaster! We are the 2nd from the back on the left. Green and white shirts.
Way to much fun for one holiday, but I would not have changed it for anything. Many thanks to the Prince parents for taking us around all week!

Disney Cruise, Part 2

2011-03-27T15:29:00.030-06:00

Yes, I know its March and only now am I posting the last of the Christmas Cruise. I am blaming the St. Kitts island time. It has to get at me somewhere in my life right?

Anyway Disney's amazing cruise line stopped at some great points in the "Caribbean" map. First we stopped at Key West (the southern most part of America). There the boys (Brandon, Dad, Bryson) managed to arranged a game of golf which took up most of the time allowed off the ship, so the girls and Scott all decided to... yes what girls love best: go shopping!

After getting off the "train/car" that took us into town we walked through the streets. It looked like it mostly was designed for tourist as most shops where gift shop type. We where treated at the end of our shopping excursion to ice-cream and cookies which everyone (especially Landon and Parker) loved.

Next shore we stopped at was The Grand Cayman. The Family split up to do different activities. Brandon, Alicia, Dad and I all went Scuba diving!
It was amazing the water was crystal clear it looked like you could see for miles underwater, with almost no waves. I was in heaven as I tend to get seasick. Our dives were wonderful, we first dove at a site called "Carib Club Sand Chute" then at "Oro Verde". I wish I had underwater photos to post but we lost the camera.

Got to love the almost short shorts of the wet suits.

Next stop was Mexico. I was excited about this stopping point as I've wanted to go to Mexico for awhile. We took a ferry to go see the ruins in Tulum. This was exciting at they where descendants of the Lamanite people 1000s of years ago. Yes they did sacrifice people, but it was to appease the gods. From what I understand from our tour guide, Nephi from 'Helaman Tours' an LDS perspective tour, they did this because their ancestors made sacrifices, but the true meaning of why was lost and they just carried on the tradition.
The ruins where really cool to see. The 'town' for the wealthy was inside a big wall for protection, everyone else lived outside. The highest building was their temple which had three sections altogether where only the priests and then at the last, only the high priest could enter.

The building were built with real enthusiasm for details. One the highest temples, for example (picture on right), had these 3 engravings. Starting on the left is a god standing, next is a god what they call "the desending god"( which as story goes is a god that descended from heaven, taught them, then promised to return one day. That is why he is represented as upside down, as he came down from he sky .Remind anyone of Someone we know?) then a god with a blank space. Kind of similar to Heavenly Father, His Son, and the Holy Ghost right?
Here is the some pictures of the "descending god" and other pictures of the rest of our trip in Mexico.

You can see the feet and the face claerly, the arms are underneath the head. (like he is diving down to earth).

(L)Iguanas where everywhere on the ruins, at least something is living there still. (R) What people might have looked like at the time of Tulum

(L)The beautiful ocean. (R) the entrance and exit for the Tulum city.

Lastly on our amazing trip we stopped at Disney's private island. I was hoping that the black pearl was still 'docked' there, but I think they are using it for filming the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was a great ending excursion to our wonderful trip. The weather was nice enough that we played/laid in the sun most of the day with the whole family.

I know Stacey, you might not like this picture, but I have to put it up.
Guess who lives in the icy tundra of Canada, and who live in the sunny tropical island of St Kitts?

Mom Prince Brandon found a sea cucumber, conch, and snail

Playing in the sun. Stacey as the evil sea witch!

Good bye Disney Wonder, you where a great host for The Prince Family Christmas Cruise.
Thank you again Prince parents for the amazing trip.

Disney Christmas Cruise, Part 1

2011-01-17T08:31:00.005-07:00

This Christmas the Prince Family where lucky enough to go on a 7 day Cruise round the West Caribbean on the best of the best cruise line: Disney! Just want to say Thank You Prince Parents.

We have been looking forward to this for about 2 years so it was kind of unreal that it was happening. I think the best aspect of the ship Brandon and I really liked was the food. Living on St Kitts we do not always get the most variety, or any fast food. So finding that there where food choices everywhere was amazing, and the food it self was delicious. Buffet, sit down dinners, snack bars and free 24 hour room service we where stuffed all the time. I think Brandon and I both put on some weight this trip.

On board the ship we where able to do a lot of fun activities. With the launch party, pirate party with a huge dessert buffet, watching Tron 3D, the musicals and theater productions, swimming pools, suntanning, sports bars, and the family dinners. I could only put up a few pictures to show our adventures:

Waiting to go on the Disney Wonder.
Parties
Merry Christmas!Sea Days
Dinners

Each day we would find our room with some sort of amazing towel animal. This was my favorite
Disney Wonder I miss you already!

Fun in the Sun for 1st Semester.

2010-12-20T16:52:00.013-07:00

Here are just some things that we have done since school started.

Beach Party.

Ross had a beach fest, that included a "corn hole" bean bag toss tournament. I don't know exactly how it works but, shouldn't the rules be that the more bags that go in the hole win? Brandon and his friend Marcella had one too many bags go in and so they lost. Doesn't that make them better at aiming?

Getting some exercise for a good cause.

We participated in a fun run/walk. This was the first run ever for the children's orphanage on St Kitts. They even had Kim Collins attend, who won the 100m world championship in 2003. It was fun as it was around the Marriott golf course, and lots of people came to support them.

Lunch Break Fun.

Brandon is the fundraiser organizer for the first semesters and he organized a 'bake sale' lunch. They sold fish tacos with pasta salad. I know that it sounds weird but it was really good. We (and I say we as I had to cook and deliver some of the food) used local flying fish and Melanie made delicious pasta salad. Brian the president and Brandon's study buddy was there to help sell. It was a good way to raise money for the graduation party when they finish. He also created and runs their class website and store.Beach Clean Up.

The sea turtle club does beach clean ups to help protect sea turtle's nesting area. They come up on many of the beaches of St Kitts so there is a lot of ground to cover in the clean up. It is a cool program but you wouldn't believe the amount of trash that washes up on these beaches every month.

Go Bruisers!

We joined the beach volleyball tournament. It was only a B(for Beer) league but it was my first time playing. Our Captain was one of our orientation leaders Dana with her boyfriend Neil. We also had Brian, Tyler and Brennen. Once I started going towards the ball instead of running away, it turned out to be fun. We where suppose to play every Friday, but the hurricane destroyed the beach where all the courts where so we only played a couple of times.

White Coat Ceremony

2010-12-16T06:50:00.008-07:00

Before classes could start all students had to be sworn in and take an oath to Veterinarian medicine. This in my mind was a big step as Brandon from now on is officially on his way in the veterinary profession. It was also time for him to put on the coveted white 'Dr' coat. I think he looks so handsome!
I love that the school is right on the ocean, it has some great views. Here is the oath that the whole class had to take now that they are going to work with animals.
It was a great day for our whole orientation group and just another step onto the DVM title. On to first semester, Good luck to all, especially our group.

VET SCHOOL, September 2010

2010-12-14T16:04:00.018-07:00

So as the title suggest you might have guessed that Brandon got into Vet School. And where you might ask is this great university located? Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine is in the Caribbean, an island called St Kitts and Nevis.

We can drive round the whole island under 3 hours. It reminds me a lot of some of the South African coast towns, the flora and fauna are very similar. My plants teacher would be proud with all the palms I can name or at least reorganize that I should know.

Anyway so we arrived all excited and nervous to begin our next chapter of our lives. Ross orientation leaders where at the airport to pick us up and show us to our new apartment. Apparently we where on a plane which had most of our orientation group on it and the truck taking our luggage was piled higher than the cab. And Since our stop was last, of course our 5 bags where on the bottom.

I really liked how organized Ross was for new students, we received all information, keys and help guides in a package and cell phones for both of us. We finally arrived at our neighborhood, and my heart sank, especially after dropping off everyone else. The houses crammed together and music playing loudly with people just sitting on walls. The apartment was not what we expected. The rule is that we have to sign and pay for a lease before even coming down here.(Do not like this rule). Our land lady welcomed us by saying that when it rains the only usable cupboard gets flooded, and the neighbors are noisy. We stayed there for one night. That fact that the two tvs next doors never turned off, music playing all night and the sink bubbled up with sewage that was not fixed for 16 hours was all we could take. Thanks to Sue and Kirk who gave us a week in the Marriott we where able to leave, and just in time too.
Hurricane Earl decided to drop by for a couple of days. It was great, eating Marriott pizza and watching TV in a king size bed for 2 days while the island was shut down was a true blessing. We had power, internet and running water while most students where left stranded.
We where able to move into this lovely apartment that is walking distance to school, on a lovely street and no sewage in the sink. It does cost more but not a lot of choice this close to the semester.

So when orientation week was able continued, we went on a island tour which took us to: the Brimstone Hill fortress which was cool to walk around in, the black rocks where you can tell this island was once a working volcano. We saw where the Caribbean and Atlantic seas met. It was amazing to see one wave coming from the left and the other coming from the directly in front of you. We went on a catamaran trip that stopped in a a place called "Shittin Bay" to snorkel. We had a night of karaoke with other students at a local bar and lots of dinners where we could meet other students.

The rain forest part of the island is really pretty. I want to do some of the tours/hikes.

On the whole we both had a lovely first week of St Kitts, (even though we did not get our security deposit back, after it was promised to us) .It felt more like a holiday than coming here for Vet school. We look forward to school starting and beginning this exciting part of Brandon's life. I know that all the students will be hard at work soon, so I was happy that we got this week to get to know some of them.

July, August 2010

2010-12-08T12:15:00.017-07:00

So I can't remember exactly what order these happened (I must be getting old), but here are some things we did other summer.
July 1st Stadium of Fire with Carrie Underwood. Bryson and his friend Karl were staying with us so Prince parents bought us tickets to this awesome event. Loved Miss Underwood's performance (Bryson liked the zoom feature on our camera) and the fireworks where fantastic. We all had a great time.

I don't think we did much else in July except hanging out with Bryson and Karl while they where here for basketball camp.

In August we left our jobs at Pet Medical Center. We will miss everyone there and just want to say thanks to the Doctors Pew, Weber and Winters who took time to get to know us both. We will miss all the dogs too. To Virgil the puppy who broke into our hearts, we left with knowledge that one day we hope to have a bull terrier like him.

Brandon made with fantastic cake for everyone at work to say thanks and good bye.
I thought it was amazing !

So we packed up our life into a rented van and headed out for the 15 hour drive up to Canada. Brandon had a good idea that we could stop to camp at Yellowstone National park with Cindy and her children Landon and Parker for 4 days. Bryson made it too, and a special surprise was that the Prince grandparents were down from Canada and joined us for a couple of days.
We had a lot of fun, we went canoeing, fishing, walking, we saw Old Faithful 'blow', had a herd of Buffalo block the road for 20 minutes, and made delicious smores using English digestive biscuits with chocolate and caramel on them. Best Ever!

When we got back from dropping our stuff to be stored with Brandon's family up in Canada (thank you again for taking all of it, you guys are amazing). We came back to have a few day in Provo, UT . Did not think ahead when booking our flights, so instead of leaving from Canada we had to drive back to UT to catch our flight.
One good point was that my mum and aunt came to visit us. They had fun doing the tourist things but I think they where the happiest to go to the Salt Lake Temple.

It was nice to spending time with them as I don't know when exactly I will be visiting them again, more so now they both decided to live in Singapore.
But you know what my favorite part of the summer was?
Selling our car and they paid in cash!! Stick in the mud Brandon would not let me throw it in the air to roll around in. I bet we are on a watch list now the bank teller gave us quite a look.

June 2010, South Africa

2010-12-04T05:37:00.011-07:00

Okay so I have finally figured out how to work this blog thing. Since Brandon is so busy now I am taking on the challenge to update our blog for our friends and family out there in the big wide world. Our last blog was in May 2010 so I'll just to do quick catch up posts.

June 2010: World Cup Soccer (Football) in South Africa. That's right Brandon loved SA so much we had to go back again, and what better time than the world cup. This time we got a few more people to come too.

Brad, Ashley, Brandon's dad Kirk and his friend Gary all Canadians willing to travel half way around the world with us. Just a side note that traveling took us two days, and DO NOT travel on Iberia they have no TVs! Luckily we had late night flights so we could sleep...but talk about being bored.

We did a lot on this trip, of course went to the Kruger national park. Some of the major sightings that took place where:
1. A leopard just crossed the road right in front of us in the middle of the day. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. 2. We saw 10 rhinos, we could not believe it, after a while we just kept driving past them. I thought that they where endangered? 3. My dad (who is a safari and golf tour guide, who took us on this awesome trip) has amazing eyesight, he was able to spot a lions ear twitch about 100 meters away while driving.
4. Probably my favorite this time round was the lion stalking the impala. We stayed and watched for 4 hours, but it was so intense! Can you see the lion in the picture?

If I could live anywhere in the world it would be in the park. Have a house next to a watering hole. Magic!

Anyway another activity that we participated in was the FIFA world cup. We had tickets to the Germany/ Australia game in Durban. All I can say is that it was loud all the time with the buzz of vuvuzelas. I had ear phones in the whole time and I still felt deaf at the end. But of course I had to have one, even if it was only a little one. The game was great too, we where sitting in a mostly Australian section so we supported them. They played hard but unfortunately lost.

We also got to scuba dive in Aliwal Shoal , one of Jacque Cousteau's top ten spots to dive in the world. I have never seen so much underwater life before. It was amazing. We even saw ragged tooth sharks, scary looking things. But I suppose that was nothing compared to our next adventure...

One activity that Brandon was so glad that we could finally do (thanks to Kirk) was a Great White shark dive, we missed ours last time due to weather and Brandon was so disappointed. It was an experience and a half. The water was pretty murky so you only saw the shark once it was right on top of you. I think being in the cage not knowing where the shark was was pretty terrifying. I was the last person in, I'm happy I did it in the end but my nerves where dancing when I finally stepped in. These sharks where only about 100 meters from the shores where people where swimming. The little seal island was way to close to humans for my liking, but I think there has only been a shark attack on humans once in a blue moon. Maybe because there are those juicy little baby seals just waiting to be eaten.

A major activity that we planned and I think would do again in a second was the extreme 19th. This is a golf hole that the tee is set 400m up on a Mountain and played to a green the shape of Africa some 400m below. The hole is in an animal park, there was a giraffe right next to the hole. The only way up to the tee is by helicopter, which the pilot was crazy, going 90 degree turn from the ground and dropping the helicopter straight off the cliff. Better than a roller-coaster I remember just screaming my head off and hearing the pilot laughing in the headphones ! It was so cool hitting that ball and watching it fall for the next 30 seconds. I didn't make it on the fairway but Gary, Brandon and Kirk did. I can remember the final scores but its up on there website. They have a weird way of adding up so don't ask me.

We also got a chance to stop off at an elephant park. There we learned all about them and got to touch and got to ride them. Such majestic animals. There tails hairs are exactly like plastic. Brandon bought me a necklace with a hair in it. Since it was Kirks birthday he got a special "surprise" from the elephants. What that means was them sucking on his head for a elephant kiss. Complete surprise to everyone and a very big shock to Kirk. It was so funny though. His head almost jerked when the suction was let go by the two. Ours were about the same. I don't think I will hurry to get kissed by them very soon. It smelled so bad afterwards but what a memory.

That's it for the major events of our big trip back to South Africa we golfed (regular and extreme) although there where wild animals on both courses, travel half way down the country, saw amazing sites and fell in love with the country again. It can be the most beautiful place on earth just wish it was a good place to live. Thanks to everyone who came along and hope that they had as much fun as us. And a BIG thanks to our tour guide Anthony Botes from Bohlale Safari & Golf Tours.

Family Trip for Graduation

2010-05-17T07:03:00.004-06:00

We finally got rid of all the family that was able to brave April snowstorms and a commie Iceland volcano in order to attend our BYU graduation. Here are some pics of our tour around Utah.

Famous Dave's is good:

We even brought home a Tegan sized puppy. Also, contraception is a good idea.

Tegan giving Virgil some instructions

This is what happens when Cat leaves her baby with Tamsin and Brandon:
The whole fam-damily made it for grad

We did get some sunshine to enjoy after the ceremonies.

Thanks to everyone for making the trip, we really appreciate all the love and support we received during our time at university. We hope you all can make it again in a few years!

Scuba Diving and Vet School

2010-04-03T08:52:00.002-06:00

What do they have in common? When you go to Ross, a lot. That's right, I have been accepted to vet school here: www.rossu.edu/veterinary-school/

Being so far away, it was somewhat of a back up plan but just getting in is such a relief. This news coincides nicely with our pending scuba certification, which we are completing our final "open water" dive at the Homestead Crater. Yes, in Utah, this qualifies as open water, even though the water temperature is 96 F and it is only about 50 feet across at the surface (those are realistic ocean conditions right?). If I were in charge of naming, it would go by "The Homestead Bathtub" instead. Much better than the Provo High School community pool anyways.

Right now it looks like Utah for 9 more months and then it is off to St. Kitts to learn about ponies, kittens, and puppies (at least that's what Tamsin said vet school is all about).

Spring is Here

2010-03-03T10:09:00.005-07:00

I know that groundhog predicted more winter, but spring has come to the Wasatch front. And that means fishing.

Bringing Samson and Virgil made it a little more difficult to sneak up on the fish though.

Virgil was a trooper, braving the icy water:

And Samson was.... well he was just Samson:

They both tired themselves playing in the grass

And even tried to help us look for trout

And they ended up catching more than we did...

...but a bad day fishing is still a good day in my books. Hopefully we will be able to get out again soon, I know Virgil will be looking forward to it.

Nadolig Llawen from England

2010-01-12T18:30:00.005-07:00

Hey look! We found Mom's car over in England:

It was a nice Christmas trip over to Tamsin's house. I really should have updated sooner, but with all the new micro-bloggy-thingys out there, typing more than 140 characters seems like somewhat of a chore. Also, I am in school and lazy. So, as always, enjoy a short photo essay of our trip:

We got ever so dirty exploring bunkers and foxholes. But at least we were safe from the french.
Funny story about this next photo:

So I am in an Art History class and we were looking at the progression of portrait styles during the renaissance. My teacher showed us a picture of Henry VIII(when he was fat) and said "If any of you have been to the Tower of London and seen this painting and armor, you know how big Henry was, in more ways than one..." And I burst out laughing (see picture of Henry VIII armor) but I was the only one, and then the teacher pointed at me and said "YES! Finally someone got that joke!" Everyone else was confused.

Playing Nine Man's Morrisey at the Tower was fun, although I learned that people from the 1200's were smarter than most people think.
"No, you can't take my picture." Sucker

MY FAVORITE CHEESEMONGERS: www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

Overall trip: Excellent, having LishBish there only could improve it. We are looking forward to all the foreigners coming over here for a change in April, but in the mean time I am trying to make all of my smuggled cheese(how did the dogs miss that one?) last.

Landon gets his own Tauntaun

2009-12-07T00:17:00.002-07:00

Don't have much time to write, spent too much time on Landon's christmas gift. If you all could be so lucky.
Enjoy the Instructable, and vote for us in the "Home Made Holidays" contest found here.

Homemade Tauntaun Bag (Sleeping Bag Mod) - More DIY How To Projects

Road Trip!

2009-08-23T17:49:00.011-06:00

Tamsin and I spent the past few days roadtripping, camping, hiking, and just generally retracing the steps of my boyhood (sans the ancient Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel and Bufflekill). Since this will likely be our last year in Utah, we decided to try and visit all of the attractions in the area and within easy driving distance. So for our anniversary, I decided to take Tamsin on a North American wildlife safari of sorts in Yellowstone. Details in the photo essay that follows:

There is nothing about Wyoming that you can't love... All I heard as we passed under this arch of antlers was "Oh, all those poor animals, that's horrible!" Every town in the state has one of these collections, which might be a bit too "western" for certain people from England.

Passed plenty of the local wildlife on the way to the park. We learned that not all of the animals in Wyoming end up on a wall or in an arch.

Arrival after 6 hours in the car.

There is a Grey Wolf and a Bald Eagle in this photo, see if you can spot them. We also learned that telescopic lenses for cameras are good.

Tamsin found a Grizzly Bear on our first day. Despite our best attempts, we never attracted one to the campsite with our cooking.

I decided on a North American version of the Big 5: Grizzly Bear, Wolf, Elk, Bison, and Moose. We finally saw this Moose and calf on our way out of the parks.

Another first for Tamsin: Canoeing on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. The view was pretty super neat.

Which is mostly thanks to her navigator/paddler/native guide Brandon

The biggest Elk we saw, doing his best to cause a traffic jam. Apparently, large antlers attract Japanese tourists which probably explains the arches in the towns on the way. Touche Wyoming, very crafty indeed...

Seriously, the best trout fishing I have ever experienced. We found a quiet little stream in the middle of the park where, as you can see, the wildlife was up close. The fish were also very cooperative...

Tamsin caught her first (trophy) fish! Here is how it happened, Tamsin was getting bored after a few minutes and just flicking her line into the stream, when suddenly I heard the ZZZZZZZZZZZZ of her line going out followed by screams of panic. Screams that continued as she jerked the fish out of the water. By this time, cars were stopping on the nearby road and I am sure the park rangers received several reports of a bear attack. Apparently when I was teaching her how to fish I had forgotten to mention what to do when she actually caught a fish. But check out that monster Brown Trout. Of course, she wasn't quite as experienced as me, so obviously I caught the bigger fish on the day...

OK maybe not, but it's quality that counts right?

Doesn't that Bison realize that a double line indicates a no passing zone??

Tower Falls is one of the more famous attractions here, very impressive.

I may start birdwatching as my new hobby, there were a lot of them to be watched. Here is a big Sandhill Crane nesting.

I really had the urge for a mud bath. Steamy mineral water and hot mud pools?
Yellowstone = Nature's Spa

This picture was taken while I was arguing with a tourist and self proclaimed "experienced wildlife observer" from Manhatten who was trying to convince me that this was a wolf. Notice the long, slender snout, overly large triangular ears, and black tipped tail. Clearly a coyote. After our brief exchange, he followed up by making loud comments to his kids like "Look at the pretty WOLF" and "That WOLF looks so majestic in its natural environment." Apparently purchasing a Nikon D90 at Costco qualifies you to be David Attenborough

This picture was taken while trying to quiet down an overly excited tourist from San Francisco. He thought he had just discovered an extremely rare river otter and was shouting to the other 27 members of his tour group. This ruined the quiet wildlife observing by causing a stampede to the banks of the river for a mangy muskrat. How I knew it was a muskrat; it was smaller than the loons I was trying to photograph. I told them it wasn't an otter but the excited guy told me "No way, the guide book says there are otters in the park. I don't see anything about muskrats in here." Interesting note, this tourist was also wielding a Nikon D90. Is their something about this particular model that causes douchiness? Another lesson learned: Buy a Canon.

Rounding out our Big 5, the American Bison. Doesn't he look so majestic in his natural environment (next to the Old Faithful parking lot)?

Again, Yellowstone = Nature's Spa

Here is Tamsin in front of the #1 tourist attraction, Old Faithful. He was right on time, as always.

This is the Beehive geyser erupting and, due to an unlucky shift in the breeze, soaking a tour group. Kind of like the splash zone at Sea World except boiling lava hot.

Our cooking did attract plenty of chippies but sadly no bears

Dutch oven potatoes and Nandos Peri-Peri kebobs.

Preparing fresh Utah peach cobbler in my anniversary presents. Check out the official Lodge fire gloves, worn by such professional dutch oven chefs as Lori Stephens.

One more nature girl shot...

And that was our trip! I think the best part of the trip was that Tamsin got up way earlier than she wanted to in order to go fishing with me on our anniversary. It was during that morning on the river that I realized even though we have only been married two years, I am married to a wonderful woman and can look forward to many more anniversaries to come.

Springtime in Provo/England

2009-06-14T15:06:00.003-06:00

This is Bramsin caving into the blog police and posting updates:

Tamsin left Brandon for three weeks and went back to see Tegan and the rest of the fam in England. Babies tend to be much cuter than husbands so it wasn't a hard choice to make.

(Picture taken at "Spur", the American themed South African steakhouse in England)

I assume that they got bored without Brandon

Yes, babies are cuter than husbands

Stacey visits Bramsin

2009-04-05T08:29:00.005-06:00

Stacey came for a fun visit, and here are the pics:

She made a new friend, look how happy he is!

Stacey woke up before noon to bring me a nice present, Wii Fit

Tamsin showing her form

Stacey, just seconds before an awesome wipeout, hope her tailbone has healed by now

Come back soon Stacey, Virgil misses you!

Finally, it is finished.

2009-04-02T19:03:00.003-06:00

Hey, doesn't Landon have a B-day coming up soon??

Check it out here:

and then here:

NES Controller Shuffle (Nintendo Controller MP3, v3.0) - More DIY How To Projects

My New Favorite Times Ten

2009-02-05T22:37:00.005-07:00

I have recently discovered my new favorite site ever and have spent way too much time perusing its infinite servers of knowledge and wonder:

Instructables is the best website I have found since stumbling across www.thinkgeek.com (Lishuh's Christmas present and the Annoyotron say hi). First it taught me how to solder, now I am working on my very own original NES controller mp3 player:

I will keep you posted on how that goes.

I cannot recommend this website enough but be prepared to surrender all of your free time when you check it out, it's like discovering YouTube for the first time.

Christmas in England

2009-01-29T10:40:00.007-07:00

Lucky for us, we were able to return to England this year for Christmas. After a year and a half, it was nice to see the other side of the Bramsin family again.

The break began with the puppy having a play-date with his new friend Georgia. He has finally met someone that can tire him out!

We got to Maidstone just in time for a wonderful Christmas dinner complete with Christmas Crackers and all of the things we miss from England.

Santa definitely received our forwarding address, the Christmas Tree almost disappeared! It was nice to sleep in on a Christmas morning, Tamsin actually had to wake Brandon up!

The soon to be parents.

We spent our time in London as well, which occasionally had some sunshine. We made it to a few more landmarks(including this guy) like the National Gallery and the Tower Bridge, but we still could spend another couple weeks trying to see everything.

The timing was right for us to make a shopping trip to Harrods, it was their annual "sale" where you "only" had to pay £500 quid for a £700 pair of shoes. As you can imagine, it was madness in there as everyone was trying to snap up all of the Jimmy Choos. We only had time to browse all seven floors and make one luxury bathroom stop but by going to www.harrodsbyappointment.com we can schedule another, more personal visit.

Buckingham palace was still there and looking good.

It was Brandon's first visit to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, they didn't disappoint.

For New Years we rang it in under Big Ben along with 500,000 others. And we thought waiting for the fireworks at Disneyland was bad.

As we listened to the bells from Big Ben telling us 2009 was here, we reflected back on our 2008 highlights. We traveled to Hawaii, Idaho, Los Angeles, South Africa, Canada, Arizona, Las Vegas, and San Francisco last year to see all of our family and friends. We learned to ski, went camping, had a safari, golfed all over the world, climbed a mountain, swam in three different oceans, and finished all the work for three generations of ancestors. Although 2008 wasn't all fun and games, it certainly was a great year for us.
We have been so lucky to have all of you around us and we are looking forward to the year to come. Love you all!

First Snow and Finals: PreChristmas Catch-up

2009-01-02T14:22:00.007-07:00

With finals out of the way we finally have time to catch up on the last month:

Tamsin finally finished this quilt for an assignment. Pretty much the best quilt ever.

Meanwhile Brandon finished his own work of art:

Christmas in Utah isn't complete without a trip up to temple square to see the lights:

.... and thanks to Brett's magical glasses, we could see the angels (click the picture of the lights):

After finals were finished it was time for some fun in the snow before holidays!

Really???

2008-12-16T11:51:00.003-07:00

Since alishuh likes to bang her head over lots of stuff, I thought I might also contribute to the madness. I suppose most of you know that I support a highly priced and highly marketed placebo drug to be available by prescription only to solve America's drug addiction. It turns out that there is a prescription only placebo (it comes in 3 shiny colors) called Cebocap. Thats neat, I think more people need that (with a warning on the label that reads "may induce false sense of well being") or maybe it should be advertised better.

Anyways as far as the Really??? part goes, this Australian company actually makes and sells placebos to the public, so now you can buy the drug (knowing that it is pure sugar) and dose yourself. Really???

Thanksgiving

2008-12-13T23:59:00.006-07:00

Photo montage from Thanksgiving with the fam. Enjoy

Best Costume Maker Ever (since Mom)

2008-11-05T20:46:00.003-07:00

Just a quick halloween post: Brandon dressed as his nerdy self while Tamsin dressed as herself, his trophy wife.

Commitment Free Parenting

2008-10-22T21:40:00.003-06:00

Two questions:
1. How do you satisfy the maternal instincts of a broody Tamsin when we are poor college kids and living in a rental property?
2. How do you post a cuter video than "Bathtime" with Parker and Landon?

Commitment Free Parenting!

2,256 Miles to Provo

2008-10-01T20:01:00.005-06:00

I know what you are thinking, "That can't be right. That would be like driving from Vancouver to Maui (which is nearly the exact same distance, btw). You crazy drivers must have taken a wrong turn!"
First of all, Bramsin are never crazy drivers, and it was more like we missed our exit in Utah valley and accidentally drove 10 hrs in the wrong direction (well, more like nine since AZ doesn't observe daylight savings time, thanks John McCain).

It was the first annual Bramsin/Satcy Driveapalooza!

Tamsin and Stacey have soooo much room!

After we got rid of Satcy and all of her dead weight, it was time for the real road trip to begin through the desert. And by road trip I mean sit in a 2 hour traffic jam at the Hoover Dam. It was impressive, and even more impressive will be the bridge they building over it.

And Tamsin finally made it to Las Vegas!

Brandon was hungry after all that driving.

What's Vegas without naked bodies? Best Stripper Show In Vegas. Period

Tamsin was able to feel like a real Princess

Brandon was still hungry

A great way to celebrate our first anniversary and the beginning of the school year.
Thanks Mumsie for the condo!

Summer Canadian Odyssey

2008-09-27T16:34:00.002-06:00

We turned into snowbirds and migrated to the north for the summer this year. Enjoy the slideshow and disregard our negligence on keeping the blog updated. Some of the highlights included the old folks yard, camping and relaxing in BC with Joel/Laura, boating with Scrad and the gang, Nando's in Calgary, the family reunion on top of old chief, the deer on the highway, bull riding and chuckwagon races, landlords, golf in crossfield, the Qwikcurb eyecandy (right mum?), the ultra-massive-grad-sleepover-drunken-unchaperoned-kegger (or breakfast as I call it), the CTR 5's, the Catch, THE BEEF, and pretty much all of the time we got to spend with the fogeys when they weren't in Hawaii.

Leaving SA...for now...

2008-08-12T22:14:00.005-06:00

May 10: Our final day brought us back to Joburg and we had time for breakfast with the fam and a quick visit to the temple before boarding our flight.

The fences may have been a bit higher and slightly more electric, but it was still a beautiful temple with the same feeling

Even the locusts are pretty on the temple grounds

Paul Gary, Luca in the middle, and Hermien

Linda and Lisa were gracious hosts, serving us mielie pap and chicken from the braai the night before

The whole Botes team over breakfast just before we left. It was sad to leave, especially after Anthony showed us such a magic time. We will have to be come back soon, and I don't think it will be soon enough. Footie, anyone?

Locusts and a Big Hole in the ground

2008-08-12T21:55:00.003-06:00

May 8/9: Driving away from Cape Town proved interesting as it felt like someone was shooting paint balls at our vehicle as we traversed the Great Karoo.

Locusts = large splats of yellow paint when travelling at 130 kph

The only time you will ever see a white man wash a winshield in SA

I want a new job working in the diamond mines. It compliments my muscles more than cleaning up dog poo

Deep in family folklore, the James Prince book says that our family used to own land around Kimberly which turned out to be worth a fortune. I came looking for my slice, but found it was already all gone:

It's a big hole.

Bramsin and Penguins

2008-07-29T17:29:00.002-06:00

May 7: The seas were too rough for any shark diving experiences so we decided to go visit the prey instead. At Boulders Beach we visited the local penguin rookery and had some fun

Funniest sign ever.

More of the Coast to the cape

2008-07-25T17:59:00.004-06:00

May 6th: We made a quick stop off at Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, before heading off to Cape Town.

Here's the imaginary line where oceans meet

One more for the trophy case, a very rare and endagered leopard toad.

Road Trip

2008-07-18T19:01:00.004-06:00

May 4 and 5: Driving to Cape Town was a good way to see the country, we stopped in Port Elizabeth, East London, the Knysna Heads, and Mossel Bay. Anthony's family hails from this part of the country and interestingly enough, the Prince family had relatives finding their fortunes here too, before leaving for America.

The Storm River Gorge boasts one of the highest bridges in Africa, enjoy the panorama courtesy of Tamsin's camera.
My first African bartering experience. We got a "special price" for sure. The conversation went like this:
Tamsin- How much for these two paintings?
Rasta/African- For you pretty lady, special price 180 rand for both
T- I'll pay 80 for both
R/A-No, no, no, it is good quality, I am the painter...etc. Ok 160 rand for both
T- 80 or we walk
R/A- For you I can go as low as 150
At this point Brandon, eager to join in on the trading, gets overexcited and shouts "140" while displaying all the cash he had in his wallet.
The Rasta/African kindly took our money with a big smile on his face while Tamsin gave Brandon stink eye for the rest of the evening and kept muttering what a dumb American Brandon was.

The Knysna Heads, this channel used to be one of the worst places for shipwrecks because a very large bay drains through a relatively small opening in the cliffs. Scuba diving on the wrecks is popular.

Although we didn't find the original Prince homestead here, we could just imagine what a beautiful and exotic place this must have been for both of our ancestors.

Durban and more Botes

2008-06-08T10:45:00.004-06:00

May 3: A short drive through KwaZulu-Natal brought us to the busiest port in Africa and to some more Botes!

These areas were a big contrast to the resorts and park we just left
Eddie and Deidre and Family and Bramsin
Playing on the beach was fun, p.s. the Indian Ocean is warm Although we had fun I don't think that we had enough fun so we will be back. Soon. Hope Eddie and the kids don't mind!

Final Safari Day and Kwa-Zulu Natal

2008-06-07T12:06:00.004-06:00

May 2:
Our final safari day was one of doom and gloom as we made our way out of the park:And by that I mean it was awesome because we finally found a somewhat fresh Impala kill being eaten by Cape and Lappet Face Vultures:

I don't think Anthony understood how warm it was that morning:

It was sad to leave the park after such a fun time. Of course we didn't find any Leopards or Cheetahs so I guess we will have to come back soon. Also, I am sure they will have an opening for a veterinarian in approximately five years.

Safari Day #4

2008-06-01T20:14:00.004-06:00

May 1st:

Check out our trophy photos from another day in the Kruger:

Pigeons were in the minority here. And no seagulls in sight.

He froze when we caught him crossing the road and chaos ensued.

I had to get out and move him off the road so he wouldn't get smushed

Baby baboons look oddly familiar... (Parker)

This big male lion was tired after being chased by elephants. Video coming soon

The southernmost Baobab tree in the world. Its kind of a big deal.

We do not have the right of way

At least the birds are friendly here

Safari Day #3

2008-05-17T21:48:00.007-06:00

April 30th:
In no particular order, here are the trophy photos from our third day. Another productive expedition.

Another pride of lions

A little buck. Keep in mind this is the size of a beagle and is full grown

A ground hornbill. Very rare and very endangered. Lucky find.

Spirits were high at lunchtime

Zebra action shot

A sleeping scops owl, roughly the size of a can of soda

A sleeping bushbaby at our lodge, very nocturnal

I have never seen geese in a tree before. Never. And I've seen geese. Lots of geese.

A not so sneaky monitor lizard

Tamsin on the lookout

I kept waiting for this guy to start singing a Beatles song

A beautiful Kudu buck. I was eating Kudu biltong(jerky) when we saw him. LOL

This was our first overcast day of the trip. Still beautiful.

Sometimes we weren't the ones doing the watching

Safari Day Two

2008-05-16T11:41:00.005-06:00

April 29th: Lions!
We got up early today and five minutes past our camp gates we came across a few lions and three young cubs.

They also caused a significant traffic jam.

We learned that elephants and hippos are not friends.

Spot the elephant...

Anthony on the lookout

Sneaky lizard

I want to see Dad fix this guy!

These birds are everywhere. Thought I should include at least one of them.

From Golf to Safari

2008-05-14T14:23:00.005-06:00

April 28:
"We got up early to make it to our safari camp at Satara. It is so cool being in the safari park, this is the one place I would love to live. We went into the park hopeful to see all of the Big 5 (Leopard, Lion, Buffalo, Elephant, and Rhino) and we had a good start today."

A Waterbuck

A bunch of fat crocs with a sneaky hippo

More hijacking, baboons this time

A Zebra Crossing (everyone in England should get that)

This mother Hyena was hiding a baby from us.

More Giraffe

Mighty Olifants river

Blue Wildebeast

Impala with an Oxpecker center

Our first Elephants

Our next Elephant

Finishing up with an evening braai

Last Day of Golf

2008-05-14T10:11:00.005-06:00

April 27:

"Dear Diary, this is Brandon. Today was our last day of golf but the best wildlife day by far. We saw the croc again, a big monitor lizard, hornbills, baboons, all the hippos, and a giraffe."

"Our cart was raided by the vervet monkeys again and we saw some warthogs chase people off of the 11th green. The slogan here at the Hans Merensky is "Golf in the Wild" and I couldn't sum it up better. They have a fantastic location for the course, being right next to the Kruger National Park."

"More braai for me tonight, the wors was magic and so was the milk tart, I am going to need the recipe for that. The time we have spent here has been incredible, it is hard to imagine how life could get better, but then again this is only our first weekend in South Africa."

The Tournament Begins

2008-05-14T05:39:00.004-06:00

April 26:
"It was the start of the golf thing today, Brandon woke up at 3am and watched cricket until breakfast."

"I read by the pool while they all golfed. When they got home it was time for a nap before Brandon experienced his first braai for dinner that evening."

We got chased off the tee in this picture. Wildlife(especially Warthog) has the right of way here.

Avoid the water. No seriously. Avoid the water(click the picture and look closely).

Our trusty caddy and Clifford, the only other English South African playing

Golfing Already

2008-05-13T11:27:00.006-06:00

April 25:
"We left Pretoria at 5am this morning for the Hans Merensky Golf Estate in Phalaborwa."

"After a long drive we arrived in time for a practice round with a few of the other golfers, the course is so nice!"

"It is really hot but I got to drive the cart for Brandon, which is the best part."

I was incredibly impressed with the course. Not only was it in immaculate condition, it was also my first time with a caddy, and we were practically on safari while golfing.

The only negatives were that dung beetles would sometimes confuse my ball for one of there's (I think that qualifies as a lateral hazard)

and the monkeys set up a hijack ambush on the 8th fairway.

And here are some more pics to supplement:

This is my playing partner Kenneth the Dutchmen. He kept speaking Afrikaans that Tamsin could understand but not me...

April 23rd/24th: These days blur together...

2008-05-13T06:00:00.005-06:00

April 23:
"Brett and Hannah were nice enough to take us to the airport this morning at 6 am. We have 20 hours of flying time ahead of us which isn't going to be that fun but I have been complaining about needing a holiday, at least we are done with school for now."

"Wow this flight is long and sitting up is no fun, but the food on South African Airways is great and we get metal cutlery, including knives. Brandon stole a spoon for me to scrapbook (they have logos)."

I suppose this didn't surprise Tamsin that much but it is kind of funny; back here in economy seating we are some of the only white people and all of the flight attendants are black, and we can't help but notice that in first class everyone is white including the two flight attendants. Some of the stereotypes I had in my head before the trip begin to be confirmed.

April 24:
"We landed 45 mins early so Dad wasn't there to meet us. The airport has changed a lot, everything is new or being renovated. Brandon has started imitating the accent, I swear I am going to hit him..."
"After a quick trip to a golf shop, Erica fed us and then we went to bed. I'm grateful that we made it safely here!"

After a full day of travel, we don't look so bad.

End of Semester Trip

2008-05-13T05:41:00.004-06:00

Well everyone we are back from our trip to the land where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet and a flushing toilet spins clockwise. As a special treat for everybody out there, Tamsin kept a travel journal so we will be posting excerpts from that along with a sampling of the approximately 750 photos we took.

A major thank you to Tamsin's family, especially Anthony, as they provided us with every convenience and made our trip absolutely uber-lekker!

The Evil Woodpecker

2008-04-19T18:19:00.001-06:00

The video explains:

Brandon's Birthday

2008-04-19T15:13:00.006-06:00

Not to be outdone after her Valentines Day surprise, Tamsin prepared an incre"double"(trademark) birthday surprise. Proving she can fit in to the Prince family, Tamsin did everything you see below without me finding out about it. I'm not sure these photos do it justice, but just try to imagine:

I am a Man.

2008-03-24T22:39:00.004-06:00

Basically what you see here is the supreme essence of manliness. Something complicated (our webcam) developed some sort of auto-immune disease and started destroying itself. But I, being the supreme testosterone authority in this home, took it upon myself to cure the poor wayward webcam and assert my manliness in the process. With trusty swiss army knife in hand(thanks V and Carolann!) I disassembled, fixed the problem, and then reassembled the apparatus. End result: i can talk on skype again, mainly discussing topics like fixing things and working out. You know, like men do.

It should be noted that I was chatting with Alicia when the attack happened and upon further reasoning, I can only assume that Alicia's evil Macintosh sent my computer a tropical monkey webcam virus. Retribution shall be swift.

Catch Up Post #3

2008-03-16T22:18:00.004-06:00

One of the last catch up posts: Family Home Evening rock climbing. We are pretty much adrenaline junkies now, as you can tell. Life for us is on the edge*:

*note* life is on the "edge" given that proper safety precautions are taken, life is lived no more than thirty feet in the air, and Tamsin is wearing tight fitting pants.

Catch Up Post #2

2008-03-15T21:15:00.000-06:00

Tamsins surprise valentines day.
Unfortunately Tamsin had to spend all day in class and then thought she was coming home to do laundry because Brandon had exams all day. But this is the Prince family...

Catch Up Post #1

2008-03-14T22:11:00.000-06:00

I know you are all waiting to here all about my wonderful 23rd birthday, but I have to catch up on a few posts first.

Tamsin decided to brave the ski hills one more time before the season ends down here. We went with our friends Hannah and Brett, and it was Hannah's first time. By the end of the day Hannah and Tamsin were both skiing great.

Screamin' California

2008-02-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Once again i sneaked the camera onto the roller coaster but I'm not sure that this is as good as last time with Mumsie:

Bramsin in Disneyland

2008-02-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

The First Official Disneyland post from the Prince Family! Yes, we are the champions and are the first to alert the blogosphere of our family outing. Ten points to Bramsin.

The baby signing was awesome, but from the looks of things Parker didn't like it so much:

All that sun was a nice break from the snow covered campus in Provo

And any Disney visit wouldn't be complete without the ultraelectrostereosynthetichypermagnetical sound of the electrical parade and fireworks:

Many thanks again to Mam e Tad for the wonderful weekend of joyous wonder and joy, hope everyone got home safe!

Love
Bramsin

You aren't leaving this table until you eat your veggies!

2008-02-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

Terrapin update: Our turtles are roughly 10 months old now so that means cutting back on the protein and diving into the veg. We have been trying to feed them vegetables and leafy greens for quite some time but they have been reluctant(to say the least) to give up their shrimp and fish diet. Normally I can get all of them to take their food out of my hand but when it comes to serving them lettuce, they look at me confused before promptly and purposefully biting the nearest finger instead. I looked into other solutions and after extensive experimenting found out they only like strawberries and red leaf lettuce when it comes to human food (they also really like to hide under the lettuce as it floats around). I perused some local garden centers and found some more natural plants for them, with amazing results:

Not as exciting as a hunt for fish, but this was seconds after the Frog Bit and Water Hyacinth were placed in the water. They basically went nuts and haven't really slowed down much. It sounds like they are crushing styrofoam balls when they bite it and thats all I can hear around the house now. So i guess they like it, which is good... except with all that eating they have been pooing like a herd of cattle. Looks like water changes will be happening soon.

Endless Ocean

2008-02-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Facts about the Prince family:

Fact: We all wish we were in Hawaii right now.
Fact: We all have Nintendo Wii's

Proposal: www.endlessocean.com

This easily looks like the most relaxing/informative game I have ever seen. I can't think of a better way to get over the winter blues by coming in from the cold of Provo and diving into the warm waters of Manoa Lai, joining Bryson (in Canada) and Landon (in San Francisco) who are already swimming with dolphins and sea turtles.
Mumsie: Don't tell me you wouldn't play this game!

Trip to the City

2008-01-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

...and by City, we of course mean the thriving metropolis of Idaho City. It was our second annual long weekend at Duquette Pines. Given the amount of snow they had there it was strange that we were actually escaping the weather in Utah.
Main Street:

Snow was a constant feature:
And so were the locals(I think this little guy looks angry!): There was plenty to see even though the mountains are in the dead of winter. This was one of a few bald eagles we were able to glimpse:

There were plenty of other birds of prey around too:

Of course we had to play Rook, and there was complete domination this time by Bramsin. Just so everyone can see we kept the scoresheets. I'm pretty sure we are ready for the Big Leagues (ie: Mum and Dad) now:
Personally, we are not quite sure how those old folks do it, as you can see the snow drifts are nearly my height, but they have quite the life up in the mountains. Here's hoping we will make it back really soon!

The Ultimate Holidays Summary Post

2008-01-13T15:57:00.001-07:00

We realize this should have been posted a long time ago but given the high quality photography and ambrosial beach bodies, you'll find it worth waiting for.

We were so ready for Christmas and happy to supply a couple of Mom's socks to serve as our stockings.The customary opening of presents on Christmas Eve kicked off our stay, and then a camp out before our 4am scavenger hunt for presents.
No traps or anything this year but the parental units did one better, hiding the loot an hour a way in a condo in Kaanapali. After the drive we were pretty jazzed up for some Guitar Hero:

On boxing day we were able to talk Tamsin into joining Dad, Bryson, and I in a complete round of golf. Hopefully this will lead to me playing golf a lot more...
Of course there was plenty of beach time,

and cliff jumping (look closely at our polynesian friend here, some of the resolution was lost in the upload),
and of course there were plenty of calender models lurking around too! haha
The local flavors were excellent as always:

What would a new years celebration be without a fireworks celebration (Bryson was a little excited)? Our last day couldn't have been anywhere but the beach, a nice way to ring in the new year with sun, sand, boogie boarding, and the Monk Seal Response Team.

Many thank yous to Mum and Pop for a wonderful Christmas break. We look forward to the New Year and hearing from all of you soon!

Love Bramsin

Bramsin in the Snow!

2007-12-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

It was Tamsin's first time skiing today, and she was amazing! Aside from the fact that she was melting all the snow with her appearance, she only fell a couple of times and graduated to the rest of the mountain after only 4 runs on the Bunny Hill! Now she can be a member of the Prince family!

Check this highlight reel:

Jambes de Grenouille

2007-12-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

This Sunday was a good chance to relax for us, and given the stress from finals, we decided to branch out and have a gourmet dinner. Working with catering has left us a fairly high standard when it comes to our food, so when it comes to gourmet, we have to really go out of our way. Hence the frog legs:

The Fate of the Other Goldfish

2007-12-16T20:25:00.001-07:00

So I was sitting at the desk typing a paper up and i looked over at the turtles just as Mortimer was face to face with one of the last goldfish. It looked like they were having a staring contest... until our turtle bit his face clean off. I scrambled for the camera and this best i could do for documentation. Perhaps i need more work before my budding career as an aquatic turtle photographer can really take off.

New Camera Fun

2007-12-16T20:19:00.001-07:00

Christmas comes early for Tamsin

2007-12-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Santa came to Provo a little early for Tamsin this year because she has been extra good. Although she had a long list, the Elves delivered her a functional present to take care of several items on that list. Fortunately for her, functional items don't do very much in the box, so she got to open it early. And it was a brand new exercise trampoline! The holidays are here after all and she has been eating a lot of cookies lately....

Ok, jk guys! Before I get a stiff arm to the face from her and a plethora of angry messages and emails from all the sensitive females out there, here is what she really got:

No she didn't get a landscape photograph of the majestic provo river (creek) in December, she got a brand new Canon Powershot S3 IS dSLR camera:

Which was promptly used to photograph the local wildlife, scenery, and models:

And I know what you are thinking, it appears that Brandon is taking all the pictures and using Tamsin's present more than she is. I will admit I am jealous and most certainly do covet the camera, I find that Tamsin is much more photogenic than I am and thus have included pictures of her pretty face.
Merry Christmas Everyone!

FYI: The Fate of the Goldfish

2007-11-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

Just so everyone knows, and to keep the questions at a minimum, the goldfish was eaten by Norbit exactly 30 seconds after i turned the camera off. I sat down at the computer and clicked a few things and then looked back at the tank and he was attempting to swallow it whole. I guess the fish got tired out before the turtle, and thus nature takes its course and the strong continue to survive. So now you know!
P.S. I will be placing more fish in there soon and will have a much more graphic sequel posted along with it. Watch this space!

What do our turtles do when we are away from home?

2007-11-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

So over the thanksgiving break I found a website where a guy constantly has a webcam on his ant farm. And yes, just like you, I immediately thought; "non stop entertainment!" But this also gave me an idea. What is the only thing cooler than an ant farm? A turtle terrarium! So I decided to keep my webcam on the turtles while Tamsin and I were gone all day and this video is the result:

Let me know what you think!

Bramsin it is!

2007-11-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

The public has spoken! Bramsin will be our official name, thanks to all the votes we recieved. We are glad that most of you saw it Brandon's way and Tamsin eventually saw the light after realizing that Tamdon is only one letter away from a certain feminine hygiene product... we wouldn't want anyone getting confused.

Final count 10-6, Bramsin wins

Halloween

2007-11-01T21:41:00.001-06:00

Our first halloween was a fun one, it was our first couples costume too. We found out that those pajamas look way better on Tamsin so she is the kid ready for bed and I am her favorite blanket. Basically I just use it as an excuse to snuggle.

It's been cold

2007-10-26T17:00:00.000-06:00

So unlike you Californians, with your dry and hot weather, we Utards are on the verge of winter. That combined with a faulty thermo-coupler-dohicky on our furnace has led to cool temperatures inside of Fort Prince lately. We got a reminder of this as Tamsin and I came in from school the other day and found the turtles doing this, taking in all the heat they could from their lamp:
Well they got their point across to us and now we are on the market for a small water heater. Any craigslist links?

They grow up so fast...

2007-10-08T17:36:00.000-06:00

Most of you familiar with our Facebook profiles will recognize these little fellers:

Well we missed them all summer and left them in some (over)capable hands and now they have turned into giant sea monsters. We suspect that they were fed a diet similar to that of Godzilla and are pretty sure that they will eventually eat us while we sleep. If we ever turn up missing, you know who to blame; Norbit, Darla, and Mortimer.

(p.s. upon further inspection we think that Darla may actually be a boy and the very large Mortimer is probably female, but dont tell them, their relationship is strained enough as it is.)

Fat Mortimer and Runt Norbit

Tamsin with Darla

Official Wedding Photos

2007-10-07T23:44:00.001-06:00

So we are in the process of selecting our favorite wedding pics, but we thought that we might make the previews available for all to see Uncle Gerry has them posted on the following sites:

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/messages/viewthumb/10284920379-1190557246-75269/parm/page/1/15/
and
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/10381846488-1191216137-13814/9

Our first web log, or 'blog' as some kids are calling it...

2007-10-04T22:22:00.000-06:00

Tamsin and I, or Bramsin as we are affectionately known as (thanks to the Gundernerds), have decided to join the rest of you married folk in the blogosphere. Since 'Facebook' is hardly adequate in keeping up with our communication needs and has turned into a three ringed circus, we will now be keeping you posted on all of the non-happenings in our new married life.