Snowflake+ Family =fun

A cool picture of a Barn.

This year, Mike and I wanted to go on a vacation but we didn't want to spend a ton of money. We hadn't been to Snowflake for a few years and it had been 9 years since the last time we spent the 24th of July in Snowflake. We decided that was the place we wanted to go.
Since the last time we had been in Snowflake, for a wedding, Jersey has been asking when we good go back. When we were there the last time she loved being near a farm and horses. Some how she got the idea that if we went to Snowflake she would get to ride a horse. So she had been asking when we could go again.

Jersey so happy on Frosty.

Dallin, Lauren, Megan and I 

When we pulled up to my Aunt's house she was already asking to go ride a horse. We had to calm her down and tell her that we couldn't just yet but we wouldn't leave until we did ride a horse.

Grandkids and Greats with Grandpa and Grandma.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon. It was pretty stormy. I love the monsoon season in AZ but I'm really not a fan of the humidity. I had be plans for us to go into the White Mountains and see where I use to go camping but that didn't seem so exciting after we had driven all the way there.

Great Grandparents with the Great grandkids.

The first log home in Snowflake.

Jersey and I on her FAVORITE horse, Frosty.

The bull riding leprechaun

We visited with family. I made a sweet cake for Phoenix. Helped in the kitchen, got pedis and manis with my cousin and aunt. We went to see a play about Joseph Smith on Thursday night. It was really good. My cousin had a small part in it. Then on Friday we spent some time in town checking out "The Barn" My mom's uncle has this barn full of cowboy stuff. It was pretty neat to see. We also found it interesting to see so many statues everywhere. Uncle Sank had a giant elk on the top of "the barn."
A trip to Snowflake is never complete without a trip to the Wal-mart to see the locals. When we were driving into Show Low, Mike said " I just saw a leprechaun riding a bull." I thought he was nuts but it wasn't until we were driving back that I saw what he was talking about. We of course had to stop to take a picture.
Friday night we went to see Beauty and the Beast musical. It was great. I really enjoyed the show. Jersey was laughing so much. My cousin Shannon played the part of a plate. She was a beautiful plate. The character Gaston, was played by David Bowman, he illustrates and writes "Who's your Hero?" books. He was a great Gaston.

Cute Phoenix

Saturday morning Mike and I ran in the Snowflake Pioneer day 10k. The course was all around the golf course. It was a tough course but it was still fun. I improved my time by two minutes. Now if I could run a little faster so I wasn't always last. But I was still happy that I finished. We went to the parade, craft fair, had some lunch and then we went to the Willis Farm. Where we rode horses, did a corn maze, played cowboy games and went on a hayride. Jersey didn't want to leave. Mike and I also got to ride a horse. I thought was fun since the last time I rode a horse, it kept trying to eat my foot.
We had to leave on Sunday to go back to Utah.
I miss Snowflake already.

Trip to Arizona

For our AZ trip we had a great time the weather was almost about perfect. I loved that I was getting some color. I feel so much better when I have some color. Mike and I tried to find inexpensive ways of doing things in AZ. We didn't find to many things though. You can't walk around a mall or shops without thinking you have to buy something. So much more money was spent. We did try to hike Camelback mountain since our condo was at the bottom of Camelback mountain. We took advantage of the pool and the resort, mini-golf and the playground.

a Gila Monster we saw on Camelback mountain. Mike asked why didn't I get a better shot. Hmm, I don't think I wanted to get any closer.

We experienced Last Chance (again). Mike was terrified that the kids were going to get taken. We went on a hike to the Wind Caves. I was surprised how my kids hiked the whole thing. We were so excited to get to the top. But when we got to the top there were bees everywhere. Since I fear being stung we took a picture saying we made it and then took off back down the mountain.

We enjoyed spending time with family.

My mom, sisters, SIL, and I all went and got our nails done. Mike while we were gone played 27 holes of golf. Of coursed we helped decorate the backyard for my sisters reception. Got together with my dad's side of the family. That was truly a miracle. I enjoyed seeing everyone. It's times like those that I miss the "Valley".

We were of course were thinking that we would stay an extra day but then when all the luggage was packed in the car I was ready to go home. Since we had just finished our basement we were anxious to get home to see everything and see how our upstairs was looking. (We tore up the carpet and vinyl flooring because we had Mike's cousin come in and tile the kitchen and made a walk way from the front door and kitchen.)

We thought on our trip home that we would stop at the Grand Canyon something that we haven't seen since but we kept traveling on and went to Navajo bridge and see the Colorado river. It's such a pretty sight. Then we traveled on through Jacob Lake during Mike's favorite time to drive. DUSK! right when all the deer decide to make their appearance to scare all the travelers. Mike was white knuckling it the whole time. Once we got past we decided that we should stop in Kanab and not go any further. Since we hadn't made hotel reservations we started looking at hotels. Best Western wanted $112 for the night. We figured that most of the nicer hotels were that price so we resorted to the Perry Lodge, Little Hollywood. Many stars of the past stayed there. We stayed in the Tyrone Powers room. The room was quite old-fashion. It had to rooms with two beds. I loved that the pool had a 10 foot depth on one side of it. Of course the pool was closed.

After waking up the next morning we had a delicious breakfast, walked around town. Then headed home. We didn't even stop on the way home. It was great to be back to our house. As I will always love AZ, I think I love my house and home, my neighborhood and friends.

I don't regret not living in AZ. I like Utah.

We are back home

I love going on vacation but the thing I love most about vacation is the coming home part. Not that coming home means there is no cleaning or laundry to be done just that you do what you want, kids playing with their toys like it is Christmas morning, getting the mail and to be amazed by the lack of great mail you receive,bills don't count, I think the best thing is laying on my bed that I have missed so much these last few days. Yes, vacation is nice but coming HOME is even better.

So here is a run down of what we did while we were gone: *sledding, *skiing, *snowboarding, * eating snow, *swimming more than twice a day, *eating junk food, *spending time at the Snowbird clinic, *visiting Mike at Work, *making rolls, *making crafts, *watching movies, *playing games, *staying up late, *looking at Christmas ads, *enjoying family, *not getting out of our jams, and HAVING A GREAT TIME!
Everyone was pretty sad to leave. But we all know we will be there next year same time same place.

AZ trip

It has been a long time since I have been on a trip by myself. I was a little nervous to leave the kids and Mike because I was afraid that things would be to crazy for him. I wrote a list of all things and places the kids were needing to be on Friday and Saturday. The one downside to the trip was I was missing Jersey's first speaking part in the Primary Program. I had to keep telling myself there will be more programs in the future and she would do great since we had been working on her part for weeks.

I also have to give a shout out to my SIL and MIL for helping me out and taking care of my kid while Mike was at work.

The trip was fun, exhilarating and tiring all at the same time. My uncle Chuck got married to the coolest lady around, Jennifer. I'm so happy she is a part of our family. I flew in on Friday morning and met my mom at the airport as well. She was flying in from Chicago around the same time. I had arranged to meet up with friends but in the end I just wanted to spend time with my mom. It's been awhile since we just got to hang out. (I'm sorry for being a flake to friends that I was excited to see. I'm sure you all know how it feels to hang with your mom.) My mom wanted to go to Milano's to get some music. I feel like a little kid when I enter that building. Since I have been going there for years. It's the best store to find all types of music. One of kind because here in UT I can't find anything like that. Luckily I found out that they have a website so if I do need anything I can make an online purchase.

Another great thing about going home is the great Mexican food. We went next door to Mango's to devour tacos, chips and salsa. Oh so good. We ate outside to enjoy the heat. The heat wasn't so bad in the shade. After lunch we met up with my family at Grandma's house. We were checking to see what needed to be done to get ready for the reception. We didn't do to much to help out but it was so fun to visit. I think that is my favorite part to sit and just laugh and laugh with my family.

I felt that since I was on vay-cay, I needed to do some pampering. Stacey and I went to get pedicures. Pampering worked because I felt so good. When we were paying one of the ladies was asking Stacey if she was having a boy, she said yes, the lady said " I could tell you are wide" Then she looked at me and asked if "I was excited for a grand baby?" I said "What??!!!" I know that my glasses are sort of grandma-ish but I'm not 60. I going to be 30, needless to say I didn't tip. They weren't happy but I don't care they should have kept their word vomit to themselves.

Chuck and Jennifer's wedding was beautiful. She looked amazing and I haven't seen my uncle smile that much in his life. Saturday though that weather wasn't so accommodating. I had forgotten the heat to be so fierce and unforgiving when you were fully clothed. I say all the time I miss the heat. Well on Saturday I could have done without the heat unless I was sitting poolside which I wasn't. Luckily it cooled down for the reception and we had a great time. My cousins, aunts, uncles and I were in charge of the food and making sure it was stocked at the tables. We did a great job. Aunt Shelley and Uncle Steven had bought an array of food. Because it was so delicious we ran out but the good thing about it was that we didn't have to find a place for leftovers.

Because we stayed out late I didn't want to fly home on the first flight so I left in the afternoon from AZ ready to come home and see my children and husband. I received many hugs and kisses welcoming me home. I feel like I can be a better mom for now.

AZ Trip

We had a great time traveling down to Mesa this last week. Even though it was stressful at times it was a nice get away for the cold and work.

Dallin and Stacey looked great. They make the perfect couple. Their reception was great. It was so great to see all the friends and family I haven't seen in awhile. It was fun catching up. Some of the highlights besides the wedding were Going to the Santan Village Mall. The kids loved the Disney store, Going out to eat with my Aunt Shauna and Grandma, going to the DI, getting lost out to Queen Creek, seeing my best friend Jenna and fam and last but not least walking around the PHX ZOO.

Surprisingly our kids did pretty good on the trip down to Mesa and on the way back up to UT. We encountered snow from just before Kanab all the way to the I-15. It was a treat to drive so slow in the snow. Once we got on open road we were home in a jiff.

Of course we came home exhausted from our travels. I always feel like I need an extra day just to recover for the days that we were gone. It was sad to see the blizzard that hit here in SLC today. I was wishing for the warm 60 degree weather. Because of the snow Mike is spending the night up at Snowbird. I'm sad that I won't see him until tomorrow night. That is the price you pay when you work at a resort.

It vacation time again!

Vacationing is the life. I don't think I would ever get bored of "being on vacation" This last week was our week we stay at Snowbird. Of course I had to work part of the week but it was still fun. We checked in on Saturday afternoon and we came home tonight. On Tuesday night Mike had to go to mutual and I had to work so we stayed at home by ourselves while our kids stayed up at Snowbird. So it was like we had a mini vacation in between.

There was no snow to go skiing so we spent our time doing activities that you normal don't get to do in the winter. Jersey went to story time, crafts and games. I attended water aerobics and yoga. I have found the workouts that I like to do. I want to start taking more Yoga classes. I didn't think I would like yoga to much but I did and I'm totally feeling the effects today. Wednesday night it SNOWED!!!! so on Thursday morning I took the kids on a walk to see Mike at his "OFFICE" Jersey and Phoenix loved the snow. Jersey loved how she could make snow angels and throw snowballs. Phoenix just loved stomping in the snow.

Of course there was the swimming pool. With it's 110 degrees, the way the pool eats your swimming suit, and the fact that after showering you still smell like you were in the pool.

The kids loved being with their cousins. My nephew Miles he is three and half so right in the middle of Jersey and Phoenix. The three of them are crazy. Well at the beginning of the trip Miles wouldn't answer to anyone unless you called him Batman. By Wednesday Phoenix would yell at anyone that wouldn't call him BUZZ. He wasn't baby, bubba, or Phe, he was BUZZ.
Then there was our highly addicting games of Guitar Hero. If we were not sleeping in the same room as the kids we would have been playing Guitar Hero all night long. Plus Trivial Pursuit. That game can tear families apart.

But after all vacations it's nice to come home and sleep in your own bed and your kids sleep in there own beds.

Now I can put up my Christmas decorations. Hip Hip HOORAY!