Enable me.

I'm pretty lucky to have photogenic children.

Not only are they cute

they also enable my photoshop addiction.

Recent tinkerings:

Do you have anything for me to edit? 'Cause, really, I've had nothing to do since Christmas-- when our Branch had our last activity and also when I sent out our Christmas card.

I Heart You.

During our stay in Flagstaff Mike took me out on a date. Grandparents are a wonderful thing to have, and really are a must-have baby item. No assembly required after all and they are not a choking hazard. Spoilage may occur though.

Anyways.


Mike planned the date. I have to tell you that it was on a whim. After hinting all week, he finally got the tip-off I wanted a date with him. Some things never change, do they?
So he rigged the engagement spur-of-the-moment.

First, he took me to Michael’s craft store where we purchased a sheet of red paper, scissors, and stickers.
He had me cut out a red heart and we decorated it. (My old roommates should know where this is going!) We then drove around town and took pictures of places significant to us.

I had done this for Michael before. For our first Valentine’s Day I had my roommates run around town with me, holding up a paper heart and snapping pictures, making them nauseated by me being twitterpated. I put the photographs in an album and presented them to my fiancée oops, he was only my boyfriend then.

Now we were taking the pictures together, and there were some new sites to capture and some old sites that have been altered.

Here’s what we got:

First: the heart.
I chose the animal stickers and Mike chose a cooking theme set. They mashed well.

The stadium where we had our first date.

The restaurant we went to after the game.
Wait... is that our 4Runner?!

The Institute where we met, attended church, took institute classes, graduated from institute, yada, yada, yada…

The library Mike worked at for a moment in time.
We liked to sit in the “Mormon” section and chat about life, the universe and everything.

Our parking spots.

My old apartment and the balcony where Mike “helped” me with my Spanish,
and where I would sit and wait to get a glimpse of Mike.

The laundry mat we frequented as poor college newlyweds.

The apartment we lived in as poor college newlyweds.

After documenting the past it was time to cool off with some Sonic.
Did you the know out here the closest Sonic is an hour away?... in Peabody?
(pronounced PEE-BUH-DEE)
And there’s never really a good enough excuse to visit Peabody.

None.

{SIGH}
. . . my dreams are made of Ocean Water and crispy tots.

Vacation Clip Show

There’s two things I hate about vacations: 1) unpacking and 2) blogging. The reason I don’t like blogging is because it feels like the post is just one long clip show.
So. Let’s get this over with, shall we?


The plane ride was great. We all caught a nice nap. Caleb was super excited to be on a plane up until the last hour when the pilot announced our descent and flashed the seat belt sign. Caleb’s bladder decided this would be an opportune time to urge Caleb to relieve himself. Caleb cried out that he needed to use the potty. Luckily we foresaw this and had him wear a pull-up on the plane. Unfortunately Caleb is potty-trained and has been conditioned not to pee his pants. It was a horrible for him. Meltdowns ensued until suddenly he became very quiet. His bladder won over will. A lesson for us all.


Mike had a conference for work the first week of our vacation. We stayed at the Paris which was great and I highly recommend it. It is in the middle of everything. I walked everywhere with the kids that week. We did all the free stuff. We went and saw the flamingos at the Flamingo, walked the Miracle Mile Shops and saw the rainstorm and fountains there, we visited the lions at MGM, watched the 3-D movie at the M&M’s World, walked the Forum Shops and saw the living statues and Fall of Atlantis there. There’s more I’m sure. By the end of the week though I came to the conclusion that I hate the Strip. It stinks. We were able to attend the Las Vegas temple (number 11, woo hoo). The temple is beautiful and reminds us of some of our favorites.

We made it to St. George and spent the night at my father-in-law’s home the first evening. We spent our time in St. George swimming, playing games, visiting Pine Valley, seeing Mike’s grandmother Munson, catching a movie, and showing Caleb the temple. The visitor’s center had an amazing art exhibit that we were lucky enough to see. We also found some orphans at the visitor’s center and took a picture with them. Aren’t they cute?
And, I don’t know what the big idea is, but the St. George temple has been removing meaningful-to-us things from its grounds. Like, for example, the bench where Mike proposed to me was removed a few short months after our engagement. Now the drinking fountain and tree where we took most of our wedding pictures are gone. What is going on St. George? WHAT. IS. GOING. ON?!
Next was Flagstaff. I never thought I’d say it, but Flagstaff is growing. They have two Wal-Marts now. TWO!
We stayed with my parents for our time there.
My friend Michelle was indebted to me ever since I made her a header and watermark for her blog, so to break her servitude she took pictures of our family. I’m excited to get the rest of the photographs she snapped. She is so talented!
We attended our old ward on Sunday. It was weird going to church together (no early meetings) and not do anything. Oh, and it’s a completely different building. No one warned me of this (Cara!). Apparently the stake center was remodeled. I walked into the restroom to use the mother’s lounge and it was an entirely different bathroom. I had to lap the building to find the mothering room... located conveniently were I first exited the chapel to find the lounge.
Caleb had issues with the foreign nursery, so I waited ten minutes for him to warm up before I sneaked off to Sunday School.
Mike took me out on a hot date that week. Details of it are going to be reserved for its very own post.
We also ate at Salsa Brava. It was heaven. {moment of reflection}

….ah. Salsa Brava.

Anyways. Enough of that. Mike’s siblings were able to come visit us in Flagstaff and we can’t believe how much our nieces and nephews have grown! Stop feeding those kids, Shelly!
Sadly, during their visit I came down with (what later would be diagnosed as) bronchitis or pneumonia. Either or. My doctor wasn’t sure.
Finally we made it to the valley. The hot death trap which is the valley. That night at the hotel, I probably got four hours of sleep. I kept waking up thirsty. I’d get a drink of warm “water” from the tap and after one swallow I’d regret it. Every hour I’d wake up and contemplate dehydration. Yes, tap water in the valley is that bad.


The next day we went to Fountain Hills and went to a rockin’ awesome splash pad. Now, our parents and grandparents get to complain about walking to school in the snow uphill both ways. Our generation’s badge, I believe, is playground equipment. When I was a kid in Phoenix we didn’t have splash pads or canopied playgrounds. We had slides. METAL slides. And swings that pinched you. Contemplate that, posterity. Contemplate the horrors of that.
At Fountain Hills we found out who our true friends are (just kidding, sorry if you weren’t able to make it because of houseguests or dying great-aunts).

Something pinnacle happened at Fountain Hills though. Something amazing.
I was finally able to meet Heather and her tribe. I was nearly dying, but she looked so cute and is just a lovely person. If you haven’t peeked at her blog, you should. I “met” Heather back in 2009. Mike knew her and her husband Preston from when he lived in Cottonwood. Heather and I have become aquatinted through our blogs. But now we have physically met. Has it changed the relationship, Heather?
The Cheziks and the Andersons also managed to make it! It was so good to see our college friends! We are all grown-up, when did that happen?!
The only thing better than reading Geneva’s blog is talking to her in person. Mommyhood looks good on her, what can I say. Check out her blog for more pictures of our group.

Right after the splash pad we grabbed a burger and hopped on the plan to come home. I thought if we ran Caleb into the ground before the plane ride he’d surely fall asleep and it would be a peaceful trip. Nope. He stayed awake until the plane touched down then fell asleep. Super duper.

Our friend James picked us up from Providence and drove us home.
Our arrival home was unwelcoming.
Our entire vacation I kept seeing this commercial and commenting on how disturbing it was.
Then we get home and realize our house has been invaded by honeybees, but that’s another post for another time on another blog.

Overall. It was good to go out West, but boy am I glad I don’t call it home anymore.
It was nice to visit but it was great to be back….. despite the bees.