West

Christmas wrap up

2012-01-13T20:35:00.006-05:00

I know, I know, it's mid January and I'm just getting my Christmas post done but better late than never at this point!

This Christmas was very casual for us this year so we had a few friends over for some yummy food and socializing to kick off the season.

Enjoyed our annual family photo with Santa (minus Jack who refused to participate).

Attended the ER Christmas Party.

Sent our Elder Allan's first package.

Went to town decorating with a "sparkly/girly" theme

And had a laid back Christmas morning before a great Sacrament Meeting
Norris tried his best to patiently wait

It was short lived

Santa remembers dogs and kitties too :)

The kids loved their new toys (which included Baby loving Jack's toy too)!

Our best attempt at a family picture :)

Merry Christmas!
Love, Norris

Baby

and Jack

Ryan is all about goals so 2012 goals include...

Employment for Ryan
Keep plugging away at paying off debt
Vacation somewhere warm
and hopefully get started on having a baby sister/brother for Norris, Baby, & Jack :)

Baptisms, Birthdays, and Brothers oh my!

2011-12-24T07:36:00.021-05:00

Alright, time to catch up. I just feel so overwhelmed blogging after a trip home but better late than never!
So our last trip to Utah was in November and was full of events! Here goes my wrap up...

First on the agenda was my sweet niece Mckayla's baptism. She was so thoughtful to wait 2 weeks after her birthday for us to be there.
We brought her a gorgeous white dress to wear and I wrote a little poem for her big day.
(can't believe how grown up she's becoming!)
The baptism was great! All of her family there, great program, good work by her daddy, and yummy luncheon after. We sure love her!

Next up was my brother Tyler's mission farewell talk. He did a great job on his first talk and it was heartwarming to hear all the love for him and his decision expressed by his Bishop and Stake President. My parents hosted a luncheon for him after the meeting and it was great to see all the support he recieved from family,

friends,

and ward members.

Speaking of supporting Tyler, Ryan apparently tested that support...

I'm so glad my Grandpa made it to Tyler's farewell. He's our last grandparent and so special to us so any opportunity to see him is wonderful.

While we were home I made a stop to my alma mater for a new license plate frame as mine is a bit weathered after 4 years. It was good to walk the campus again and stop in the nursing school but I am just as happy as ever to be done :)

"Wall of graduates"
My mom's class
Class of '07

Another major highlight of this trip was my first experience skiing! I LOVED it!!
My father and sister-in-law started skiing a few years ago and were kind enough to take us and teach us (Ryan has been before but it's been awhile). The weather could not have been better and there were barely any people there so we usually had the runs to ourselves. Perfect teaching/learning conditions!

We started out with some bunny hill and rope tow practice.

Next up was learning the ski lift which I wasn't nervous about until we had to get off! Thankfully none of us fell.

Then on to the runs!
*Newest ski bum*

After close to 10 runs and a yummy lunch we called it a day. I seriously had so much fun and can't wait to go again and make this an annual tradition! Thank you Robert!

In preperation for several delicious Thanksgiving meals we prematurely worked off a few calories with the help of the Wii and Just Dance (my favorite!).

We had Ryan's family meal first and I guess I was too busy enjoying the gourmet to take pictures but Nancy outdid herself with the beautiful table and food once again! We did however catch Ryan's grandparents on the way out for a quick picture.
Next up was my family dinner. Once again, great food+family=a perfect Thanksgiving!
The crew...
and the hams :)

We didn't participate in any late night/early morning black friday shopping. Instead we spent our money on last minute University of Utah football tickets! Even though they played terribly it was great to put on our red and black and support the Utes.

In a futile attempt to counteract our Utah pride, Ryan's sister Vanessa convinced us to visit her at her BYU bookstore job...just kidding, we were happy to support her hard work!

I made my rounds to do the annual holiday cemetary decorating for...
Grandma Ann

Grandma Lois

and Grandpa Joe

This trip was full of family birthdays! 5 to be exact! Ryan's sister Liz was very kind to host a party and bake me a cake.
My sister and I celebrated our 28th birthday on the 28th. We started the day off with her midwife appointment (baby coming in February!) then a yummy lunch at my new favorite, Zupa's! I couldn't ask for a better sister!
yes I had fun dressing up her gift :)

Another opportunity we had was witnessing/assisting my mom as her parents were sealed together and her to them. It was special to watch my mom and Tyler act as her parents then my sister and Tyler act as her parents as she was finally sealed to them. Certainly a spiritual experience and reinforces my love and gratitude for eternal families!

Last but not least came November 30th, 2011 when Tyler entered the MTC! The night before after a "last supper" of homemade enchiladas (Ty's request) we met as a family at the Stake President's office for his setting apart. Talk about emotional! But what a tender, sacred moment to be together as a family and witness Tyler become a missionary.

President Perkins, Elder Allan, Bishop Benson

The morning of the 30th started out with everyone's favorite breakfast...rollups!

Then came the drive to the MTC.

We made a stop at Grandpa Ron's for a quick visit then it came time for a few last pictures.

This is Tyler's sweetie Hilary, we have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of her in the future :) She has been great for him!

Then we dropped off our Elder to do the Lord's work (getting emotional just thinking about it).

This is our extended family's first missionary in over 25 years and certainly the only missionary for my parents so it's been an emotional transition but I am SO grateful for his decision to serve. I still find myself tearing up thinking about him and hearing from him but I know without a doubt that there is nothing better he could be doing in the next 2 years. There is a saying from a card I sent him that said "Miracle: the transformation of a teenager into a missionary." I truely believe that and know that Tyler will do amazing things for the people of Alabama. Go get em Elder, we love you, God be with you till we meet again!

Boston

2011-11-06T08:27:00.009-05:00

A few weeks ago my mom had a medical conference in Boston and invited my sister and I along. We had a day to spend together before the conference started and covered A LOT of ground! The Freedom Trail is literally a red brick/spray painted trail around the city that goes by historical sites and city highlights. It was pretty east to follow and covered a ton of history. Here's some highlights...

The State House

Lots of old cemeteries with creepy headstones

Beautiful architecture

At one church we stopped at we were able to do a private tour called "Bells and Bones" which took us under the church to the crypt where about 50 bodies still lie
and then up to the bell tower.
That specific bell is the last one that Paul Revere crafted (yeah I didn't know he made bells either). You can see the rope that's used to ring the bell. The guide told us it would probably take all of us to pull it hard enough!
It was a very unique "behind the scenes tour"
The inside of the church looked a lot like the Kirtland Temple for those of you who have seen it.

Boston if filled with old churches

And of course Boston's boy himself, Paul Revere

Toured the USS Constitution

The next day my mom had conference and since my sister is such a racing freak of course we had to race! She signed us up for a duathalon (2 mile run, 9 mile bike, 1 mile run) about 90 minutes away.
The first run was good, first lap on the bike okay, second lap not so easy, but that last mile run literally almost killed me! If my sister hadn't coached me through the worst side stitch of my life I wouldn't have finished. I seriously have never felt so exhausted! But we finished and won our age category so not too bad!
After our race we change, hopped on the subway which I love and was fun since it was my sister's first time, and headed into the city for some more exploring.
I especially wanted to see the Beacon Hill area. Several of the books I've read have been in/around that area of town and I wanted to get the picture myself. Very pretty area that I'm sure comes at a pretty penny!

My mom had several things she wanted to do while on this trip and one of them was a lobster dinner. We ended up going to Legal Sea Food which I guess has a pretty good reputation (and a long wait and hefty price tag). Mom got lobster which she enjoyed but I wasn't so impressed. But when in Rome...or Boston :)
The next day my sister and I ventured out of the city to find the Boston Temple and church. We had directions but they were hard to follow and took us what seemed a very back way but finally found the Temple.
It was huge! Very pretty though and had a lot of the design ideas of the old churches in the area with the unique steeple.
Also the back of the Temple (which I'm assuming is the Celestial Room) was kind of a half circle which I thought was cool.
Had a beautiful view behind the Temple
After the Temple we had to kind of race to find the church in time. Again, crazy directions with lots of side streets and not enough freeway. We ended up getting a bit lost and stuck in horrible Harvard traffic (which ended up being our only time in the area) but finally made it to church. Better late than never. Church was fine, still true whereever you go :)
After the meeting we took a walk along the river that sepearates Boston with the Harvard area.

The next day before we had to be to the airport we took a drive up to Salem. It was alright, very commercialized but full of history about the Salem Witch Trials. We went to one of the museums and enjoyed a yummy lunch. Then it came time to catch our flights and head home :(

It was nice to spend girl time with my mom again and great to have my sister along this time! We did San Fran last year, Boston this year, wonder where next year will take us...

In memory of Grandma Lois and in honor of Grandpa Ron

2011-10-07T23:59:00.004-04:00

So recently my friend Rebecca and I ran the Parkinson's 5k which raised money for the local Parkinson's foundation here in Michigan.
I wanted to get another race in this year as did Rebecca and it was for a good cause so double whammy! Parkinson's is unfortunately close to my ♥ as my Grandma Lois had the disease and my Grandpa Ron does as well.

Unfortunately race morning was FREEZING! We're talking 40 degrees with wind...on October 1st! But we did well and finished. 30:31 wasn't my best time which I was a little bummed about but oh well, motivation for next time!
Plus, who doesn't love a "free" t-shirt?! (especially when it has your loved ones names on it)

Chicago: take 2

2011-10-01T21:37:00.013-04:00

So we had the opportunity to go back to Chicago in September with Ryan's parents. His dad had a conference there so it was the perfect meeting place. We stayed outside of the city but drove/took the train in most days. Here's some highlights:

Awesome tour of Chicago via boat. It went through the Chicago River and then through the lock and into Lake Michigan for a spectacular skyline view. Learned a lot about Chicago history and architecture. Loved this tour!

{so proud of my little camera for this picture}

Millenium Park and "The Bean"

Buckingham Fountain and gardens where we enjoyed our first Chicago dog and first Mountain Dew float :)

Checked out Northwestern University's campus which was gorgeous! What a cool setting to have those old "harry potter-esqe" buildings and the beach all on one campus?! Pretty hard to beat!

{even had a little dog beach}
{see the city peeking out of the trees?}
{awww}

Made a stop at the American Girl store and the Lego store

Supported the Detroit Tigers as they took on the Chicago White Sox

Being a subway lover we of course had to take the train in one day

Navy Pier which was just ehh, I expected more

I had to leave a day early to get back to work but Ryan and his parents drove out to the Chicago Temple

Another great trip to Chicago. I really like Chicago...maybe enough to live there one day. Guess we'll see :)

Elder Allan

2011-09-18T14:39:00.003-04:00

To our utter most delight, my little brother Tyler recently recieved his mission call! We are so very proud of his decision to serve and wish we could have been there when he opened the call but we did the next best thing and skyped the event! Sorry for the blurry pics and shaky video but that's what we've got

Tim's Visit

2011-08-17T12:36:00.012-04:00

So after much prompting and prodding we finally got my brother Tim to come for a visit. His transportation of choice was the bus so after a 48 (yes 48) hour bus ride he finally arrived in Lansing!

First item on the agenda was to give the babies some love since he hasn't seen them in 4 years and they've put on between 50-100 pounds since then :)
Then after a much needed nap he and I took a bike ride to show him around town. We unfortunately got stuck in a HUGE sudden downpour so were stuck under an overpass for 15 minutes or so but then back on our way. I took him through downtown and then on the river trail through the woods which he thought was pretty cool.

That evening we took him to our favorite sushi place. It was his first time with sushi and surprisingly he loved it!

The next day we took Tim out to the dog beach. It was a beautiful day and although he didn't even touch the water, the other 4 of us sure did!
We ♥ Lake Michigan!

We even met another Airedale which NEVER happens! This pretty lady is named Maggie :) It was funny, when her owner saw Norris she said "man, and I thought my airedale was the biggest I'd ever seen" Yup, that's our boy :)

This was Norris' first trip back since his knee surgery and he tuckered out earlier so we hooked him up with a sweet set up that included a beach umbrella and fan...yup he's spoiled all right.

And given the fact that Baby didn't attack any other dogs we consider it a successful trip :)

Another highlight of Tim's visit was our camping/kayaking trip. We stayed at the DH Day Campground in the Sleeping Bear Dune area. It's considered a "rustic" site by Michigan standards but was perfect for us cuz it reminded us more of home. (side note: I don't know about you but I don't need a swimming pool and fancy shower with electrical hookup when I go camping)
Anyway, after we set up camp we took Tim on the Pyramid Point hike that we did last year.
The view from the top is phenominal!

The next day was our river day! Tim is a quiet guy and has very limited interests but one of them is kayaking so he was our resident expert.
We kayaked the Lower Platte River. It was a great choice for first timers like myself; the water was crystal clear, warm, slow moving, and only 2-3 feet deep.

Ryan and I stayed together while Tim cruised ahead then once in awhile would come back to find us.

At one point the river dumps into a lake where we took a break.
The part where it dumps you is just as shallow as the river and you can walk quite a distance and it looks like you're walking on water before it has a steep drop off.

I really enjoyed the experience and it was cool to see schools of fish and even a few turtles as we traveled down the river.

The Platte River actually goes right into Lake Michigan (can't take the kayaks though) so after we returned the boats we spent some time playing at the beach
(except for Tim who hung out on the shore and was clothed head to toe in black and promised he wasn't roasting).
The last part of the river was crazy warm so of course very popular with the kids...and me :)

Sadly we had to head home the next day. We took Tim to another favorite of ours, Cancun Mexican Grill and of course a Michigan tradition, Steak n Shake! Can you tell we tried our best to put weight on the boy?!

The next day my little Timmy had to leave :(
We were so glad to have him and love him very much and hope he will come back soon!

Niagara/Palmyra

2011-08-12T21:25:00.014-04:00

I know I know, long time no post. I really have no excuse. Just been lazy and busy working. Sometimes I wish blogging didn't take so long!

Anyway, we've had a good summer and kept a busy travel schedule as usual. It's been great to live in the East (yes Michigan is considered East) and see all the things that we didn't see growing up in the West. Some of my favorite trips have been to Kirtland and Nauvoo so we had to come full circle and make a trip to Palmyra. On our way there we stopped for the night on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. They were certainly pretty but I can see why Elanor Roosevelt said "oh poor Niagara" after seeing the Iguacu Falls we visited in Brazil :)

"American Falls"

"Horseshoe Falls"

I'm glad we were there at night because they light up the falls with these huge colorful spotlights. Pretty huh?!

On our way out of Canada the next day we realized that people are right; Canada really does rule the falls as you can see from this picture. The American side on the left is pretty trashy...

After a few more hours of driving we checked into our hotel, took a nap, then headed to Palmyra. We had reservations for a session at the Palmyra temple and unfortunately arrived late but were able to do a few sealings first then go on the next session.
This temple is the same smaller layout as the other newer temples but it had beautiful stained glass windows that have images of the Sacred Grove which is just down the road. It added so much beauty to the already beautiful temple! This window is at the end of the entrance hallway and looks right out at the Sacred Grove. It is one of the only if not the only window that you can see out of in a temple.
The view from inside took our breaths away once we knew what we were looking at! They told us that President Hinkley instructed them to keep the trees trimmed down so that they could see right to the Grove. How cool is that?!
Another cool design element is that Angel Moroni looks toward the Hill Cumorah.

Next we drove up the street to the Martin Harris farm which was mortgaged to pay for the publication of the Book of Mormon. Joseph also worked there. I think it was here where I really started to feel the significance of these places. That Joseph and other original members of the Church stood on the same ground I was!

We also stopped at the grave of Joseph's brother Alvin. It wasn't marked so it was neat when after looking for awhile we finally found his headstone. The original is still there but on the other side is a new stone.

At the center of Palmyra is this street corner. Remember in Joseph Smith History where Joseph talks about the many different churches contending for followers in his town? "Some were contending for the Methodist faith, some for the Presbyterian, and some for the Baptist." Well can I tell you the feeling that overcame me when we came to the center of that very town and saw each of those churches? Each one on a separate corner and each one old enough to have been those very churches that Joseph talked about! I'm getting chills just typing it now :)

After our day in Palmyra we headed back to the hotel. Yet another perk of living in Michigan is being close to the Merkley's! The Merkley's are awesome people and are Ryan's aunt and uncle (who we visited in Virginia) and his cousins. His cousin Joseph and his wife Bianca live in the Bronx, NY and he was able to come out and meet us for the weekend. We definitely missed Bianca but were very happy to have Joseph join us!
He got in around midnight and who knows how late he and Ryan stayed up but they were good sports and got up before noon the next day :) After a yummy breakfast we headed back to Palmyra and toured the Grandin Print Shop where the BofM was first published.

Obviously many things have been updated and changed since the 1830's but some of the things like the floors were original to the store and was again, very cool to be walking in the same place that Joseph did.

Afterwards we went to the Smith Family Farm where Joseph grew up. Many of the buildings are the original ones or have been rebuilt to resemble them.
This is the view of the temple from the farm, stunning isn't it?!

We were able to tour Joseph's boyhood home. Top right pic: main room where Joseph returned to after the First Vision. Looking at the fireplace I kept thinking of JSH verse 20 "And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” Bottom left pic: upstairs bedroom where Moroni appeared to Joseph. Bottom right pic: view from the upstairs window into the Grove.

Ryan definitely wouldn't have faired well in the 1830's :) Wait, who am I kidding, he still has this problem in the 2010's, but maybe not quite as bad.

On our way to the Sacred Grove (behind us)

The Church has done a wonderful job maintaining these sacred sites. There are a bunch of trails within the Grove that you can walk through and benches along the way to stop and ponder the events that occurred there.
The missionaries told us about these trees called "adversity trees" This is one of them.
I'll give you the same challenge they gave us which is to figure out why it would be called that.
Another thing they mentioned is that the arborists (tree experts) the Church hired believe that there are 10 or so trees within the Grove that are old enough to have been there when Joseph was and "have witnessed the miracle that took place there." They won't tell you which ones they are but we're pretty sure this is one :)

For those who know the significance of the Sacred Grove it becomes a photographer's paradise! I am certainly not a photographer but we stopped several times and took pictures of spots that had beautiful light shining down on them that you couldn't help but think that maybe that's what the First Vision was like.

I know you're probably getting tired of the cheesiness but I seriously had such a strong spirit there as we stopped and read the Joseph Smith story from the scriptures. I know without any doubt that the First Vision was real and that everything that Joseph wrote really did happen and we are blessed today because of it!

We planned our Palmyra trip so we could attend the Hill Cumorah pageant which for anyone who isn't familiar with is an evening outdoor play that members of the Church put on every year.
It's set on the Hill Cumorah where Joseph recieved the golden plates and has scenes from stories in the Book of Mormon. None of us had been the the pageant before but always heard good things. First we staked out our seats then enjoyed a yummy chicken and salt potato dinner.
Of course Ryan and Joseph had to find cast members to get a picture with. They wanted the guy with the longest beard but this is what they ended up with :)

The pageant was AWESOME! That stage is incredible and huge with lots of different levels so every seat is a good seat.

It's pretty high tech too complete with waterfalls, falling rocks, and fire! There were like 500+ actors from age 1 to who knows how old! We couldn't get any decent pictures because of the light and distance so this is the best I've got.

We all left with such a good spirit and we all know what happens when you're on a spiritual high...Satan just has to intervene and try to crush that. After the play as we were all walking to our cars we were bombarded with the anti's who were on the side of the road yelling their messages through megaphones. I'm grateful for the testimonies that the 3 of us have that can't be shaken by someone shouting hurtful things but I felt bad for the kids who I know heard it and hopefully didn't let it get to them. We talked about it on the way back to the hotel how persecution of the Church started here in Palmyra and is still going on. Makes me sad but I know that Satan wouldn't be trying so hard if it wasn't true.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and headed back to Palmyra one more time to tour the visitors center and hike up to the top of the Hill Cumorah. We watched a movie in the visitors center (The Restoration maybe?). Don't those movies just make you cry like a baby?! They do for me but they also reinforce my testimony like nothing else!

On our way up the super steep hill we spotted the rock that the plates were under...in the play :)

At the top is a monument of Angel Moroni who directed Joseph to the buried plates.

Sadly, after our little hike we had to say goodbye to Joseph :(

He seriously is such a cool guy and I still remember the way I felt when I met him for the first time. Ryan and I had just started dating and Joseph came down from Utah State and crashed at Ryan's apartment for the night. I was so impressed when these two young guys had the discipline to kneel down and pray together before they went to sleep. I want my boys to have that kind of strength!! Thanks for a fun weekend Joseph, now bring that lovely wife of yours next time!

SO grateful for this trip and all the wonderful feelings I had while we were there. I've certainly shared my feelings and testimony of the Gospel throughout this post and I'm sorry if it got kind of mushy but you can't help but feel so strongly while in such an important place like Palmyra and Kirtland and Nauvoo. I really took for granted growing up in Salt Lake and the importance of that city as well but have been touched by the cities we've seen in the last few years. The Church is growing and it's growing because it's true.

I'm sure many of you have already seen this but I thought I would share it again. Looks like the media is noticing the Church as well :)http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/394360/august-10-2011/yaweh-or-no-way----mormons---god-s-poll-numbers?xrs=share_copy

Utah Trip

2011-06-23T00:46:00.018-04:00

We just completed yet another successful Utah trip. Unfortunately it wasn't without drama...Our flight left late from Detroit due to weather and once again we were assured that we would make our connection in Denver only to find out that they too had left us (ughh)! So the next hour was spent in the customer service line to get rebooked only to find out that they had a seat for Ryan but not for me! We HAD to be in Utah that night so I ended up buying a ticket from another airline just in case I didn't make it on standby on Ryan's flight. Thankfully they got me on last minute as I had the other ticket refunded. I've come to realize that flying is no longer fun, just a necessary evil :(

Anyway, after a few quick hours of sleep the first order of business was going with my brother Tyler as he went through the temple for the first time. He chose the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and asked Ryan to be his escort.

It was a very sweet time to spend with him and our family and I could see how touched he was by the powerful spirit of the temple.
He's now preparing his mission papers and is one awesome guy, we're so proud of him!

He's trying to figure out how to take his beloved car with him :)

The next day we were able to take him to the Salt Lake Temple for a session
which was also cool since that temple has a special place in our hearts (both grandparents, my parents, sister, and I were all married there) and we haven't been there in years.

Our other big event during this trip was Vanessa's graduation from Timpview High School!!

She is one smart cookie and we're so proud of her and excited for her future at BYU. It's been crazy to see her grow up right before our eyes, she had just turned 12 when Ryan and I met and now she's off to college!
Her initials are VW and seeing as Ryan was determined to embarrass her and I wouldn't let him paint his chest he came up with the tshirt idea. He designed and made these himself, pretty crafty...

The graduation was good, always fun to cheer her on, and the Senior's surprise was pretty entertaining, check it out!

The next day we had lunch at my new favorite place Zupa's and saw the new Pirates movie. Later we enjoyed a backyard campfire bbq with our niece and nephews. Look at these darling faces!
It was nice to spend time together to catch up, play, and just hang out. We also very much enjoyed playing with their big dog Daisy :)

The next morning I met my sister at Homestead in Midway for a little morning race. It was just a 5k but that's where I'm at right now. Her youngest decided she didn't want to stay back with her brother and sister so she came along with us to ring the cowbell :)
Good thing my sister was pushing her and not me!
It was a beautiful setting
and I love running with my sister, it makes it ~~easy~~ easier and fun. I remember asking my sister if the course was flat because I have no practice on hills as Michigan doesn't have any and she said "yup, it's flat" Funny, does this look "flat" to you?!
I survived though and we did great and improved my time a lot!

*Home stretch*

Love my congratulatory hug from Mr Talmage :)

I even managed a 2nd place finish in my age category (still hoping there were more than 2 running in my group)!

Seeing as her kids are half fish we of course had to relax our muscles in the super warm pool afterwards.
These kids crack me up with their goofy little personalities!

The rest of the day was spent with the West's at a delicious BBQ then pedicures for the girls. Love those pedi's!

A bunch of us also went to see the movie Rio which naturally, Ryan and I LOVED because it reminded us so much of Brazil and even had portugese in it. Bringin that one home on DVD for sure!

I love the West's, they are such good people and I love this picture because it captures the silliness and the fun they have together.

I was grateful for a few minutes to stop and visit with my Grandpa. Sadly, age is catching up with him so I'm cherishing these times but they are bitter sweet...

Before we left we had one last BBQ with my family that included smores!
Don't you just want to eat her up?!

Talmage could not get enough of his Uncle Ryan which meant LOTS of sword fights :)

We also got to help the kids pick our their baby chickens for their new chicken coop my brother built them.

We really wanted to go camping with them but the weather didn't work out so we comprimised and slept in the RV in the driveway :)

Before we knew it we were back in Michigan. These trips seems to go by faster and faster as the years go by. We're so grateful for our families and for the ability to visit them even if it isn't as often as we or they would like. We're counting the days till November when the fun will resume :)

P.S. I almost forgot! Remember that drama I mentioned? Well the other part to the story was that the day after we arrived we got a call from our neighbor stating our neighbor who takes care of our dogs was in the hospital! While on a walk our naughty naughty mastiff saw another dog and ended up pulling him over and dragging him...yeah, he broke his PELVIS!! We felt absolutely awful and helpless as we were so far away. Thankfully, good friends and neighbors helped us out until we got home. He spent several days in the hospital and then the last few weeks recovering but is almost back to normal. Naughty mastiff...

Surprise!

2011-05-08T13:47:00.009-04:00

I thought today would be an appropriate day to play catch up and blog about my mom :) She turned 50 last month and my siblings and dad and I planned a surprise party for her. Amazingly it stayed a surprise and we were able to catch her off guard! She does so much for our family and is a busy lady so I'm glad we were able to remember her for an evening.

I flew in that morning then my sister and I ran all sorts of errands for last minute party supplies and finally were able to get to the house to set up once my brother who had been providing surveillance gave us the okay with a "the hen has left the nest" text :) Then it was a rush to get the house decorated and food out in time, welcome guests, then prepare for her arrival. My brother hid in the parking lot where her car was and gave us the heads up to get ready then raced home and got in just before she pulled in.
Needless to say, she was surprised!
She had no idea I was coming so that was another fun surprise.
Among the guests was her very best childhood friend Laurie
My dad was so cute and all ready with the black lei's and buttons to dress her up with

We had a tasty spaghetti dinner and of course...cake!

And what would an "over the hill" party be without the gag gifts?

It was such a nice night and we're grateful to those who could make it to help us celebrate her!

We love you Mom!

The next morning my mom, brother, his girlfriend, and I attended my sister's water aerobics class that she teaches. Man, she's tough! I definitely got my workout!

During my few days home I was also able to see my sister in law's, their cute kids, and my mother and father-in-law. They are such a loving family and support to Ryan and I and it was nice to just sit and chat.

Before I left I was able to watch my sister's kids gymnastics class. I couldn't get over how cute Katie was in her "babynastics" class (that's totally what she calls it).
Mckayla and Talmage were as daring as ever and very anxious to show off all of their skills!

Those lucky kids got their Easter gifts a little early from Aunt Stephie and Uncle Ryan.
Look at these monkeys hamming it up for the camera!

My mom and dad's birthdays are just a few days apart so we were able to celebrate his as well. Sadly, most if not all of his gifts consisted of food since he has transitioned to a gluten free diet over the last year. One advantage to that though is he always gets his own cake!

We watched Tangled with the kids one night and of course they found a big yellow rope, threw it over the railing, and yelled out "Rapunzel, rapunzel let down your hair!" which ultimately led to my dad pulling them up. The kids loved it and it's definitely a memory I'll remember when grandma and grandpa made a pulley system in the front room :)

Miss Katie-bug however missed out on the fun since she was passed out in the chair with Aunt Stephie, that was okay with me though :)

And that concluded yet another trip home. I'm grateful for the time with family whether it be 3 days or a week. It always goes by too quick but we are looking forward to seeing them again soon!

P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there including mine!! I'm grateful to be a mom to my 3 furry babies who melt my heart with every kiss and tail wag they offer :)

Chicago

2011-04-15T16:42:00.013-04:00

We thought after 4 years of living in Michigan it was about time to visit the Windy City. After a reasonable 3.5 hour drive we made it to start our fun weekend. I've mentioned a time or two that I love big cities right? :) just checking

First I have to share my problem with you. You see, I've always loved hotels and have no problem staying at the Motel 6 but since we've started our traveling we have stayed in some sweet places and now it's hard to go back to dear Motel 6. Problem being, fancy schmancy hotels cost lots of $$$ but that's where my frugal/bargain side comes in (thanks mom). We stayed at the Park Hyatt Chicago which is our first 5star hotel and the only reason we were able to is cuz I got the room half off due to some restaurant renovations being done. It was great! But even sweeter because we got a deal :)

The hotel is on the corner of Michigan and Chicago (quite appropriate right?) and our room faced the Water Tower and Lake Michigan.

I love big cities as night :)

Apart from a nice comfy bed,
big TV, and window seat, it had a cool bathroom where the doors open up so while you're enjoying your time in the deep soaker tub you can watch TV or enjoy the view! Not too shabby.

After checking in we headed to the Willis Tower (aka Sears Tower).
Like most everything we did that weekend the lines were long and the people many but after an hour or so we made it to the top Skydeck where you get a fantastic view of the city and lake.

And of course we had to experience "the ledge" where you can walk out on a clear platform to get a real idea of how high you are.

I like this picture of Ryan. I like to think (hope) that he is plotting his big business man dreams :)

Next we enjoyed a sushi dinner then a subway ride back.
I know it doesn't look like it but I ♥ the Subway!

The next morning I enjoyed a little city jogging to get our breakfast (you'd be proud sis). While I was out I noticed a lot of people in St Patrick's Day green which I thought was odd because it was the weekend before the holiday. Anyway, on our way to Shedd's Aquarium we figured out that the St Patrick's Day Parade was getting underway. The timing was totally unplanned but definitely added to our Chicago experience!

Nothing says St Patty's Day like a leprechaun on rollerblades :)

Check out this cutie pie Irish Wolfhound! Her name is of course...Shamrock :)

And now, my proudest moment as Ryan's wife... {insert heavy sarcasm}What would a St Patty's Day parade be without power-rangers?! Yeah, I'm not sure either...

After the parade we enjoyed the Shedd Aquarium.
Check out this giant snake and his recently shedded skin!
Notice the giant green eel on the bottom?
See the cute sea turtle floating around? Sad story, out in the wild she was paralyzed by a boat motor so she doesn't have use of her back legs, hence the constant floating with her head down. I felt better though when they fed her and she got all the fish she could stomach :)

The pier where the aquarium is offerred some pretty killer views of the city

Following the aquarium we enjoyed some yummy pizza from Gino's East (thank you to everyone who offerred resturaunt suggestions)!

We've always tried to catch a Jazz game while we've lived here and we've seen 2 games against the Piston's so we decided to visit the United Center and the Chicago Bulls!

The Jazz played like crap and lost but halftime was cool. They commemorated the anniversary of the Bulls first NBA championship so none other than Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan were brought out!

The next morning we splurged and enjoyed a little room service. I NEVER order room service cuz I'm cheap but we got a killer deal because of the rennovation. Is this not the pretties setting for Sunday breakfast?
It was just as yummy as it looks :)

Sadly, after a few more hours of laziness we had to pack up and head out.
On our way out of the city we stopped to get a picture of the famous river that they dye green for St Patrick's Day. Cool huh?!

Chicago was awesome and we very much enjoyed our weekend getaway. See you again in September Miss Windy City!

Recap

2011-03-19T08:32:00.006-04:00

I hate when I get behind on blogging because it begins to feel like a chore. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad when I do it because it's a great way to journal but it seems to take forever sometimes! So without further ado, let me catch you up on the last few months.

Ryan said goodbye to his 20's and turned the big 30 on January 19th. The babies and I were prepared with cake! Later we celebrated with fun cupcakes and another cake. Yes there really are 30 candles on that cake

Norris finally had his knee surgery in February.
He was such a champ! He shouldn't have been even toe touching for a few weeks but was fully walking day 1! I would have rather him given the leg a rest but like the vet said, what were we gonna do to stop him? He spent 2 days in the doggie hospital then we brought him home and babied him. The was the scene for the first week...

We've slowly been increasing his walks and he continues to do so well which makes me feel better about going through with the surgery.

We had to be in Detroit a few weeks ago for a meeting because...we were called to work in the Detroit temple! It's a new opportunity that hopefully will provide some direction and guidance as we serve the saints here in Michigan. Since we had already made the drive down, we decided to catch the Pistons/Jazz game at the Palace. Ryan was sure that he was going to find us an awesome deal on scalped tickets (which I'm pretty sure is illegal)...and against my better judgement, close to an hour later he managed to. Not bad seats for last minute planning!

We enjoyed seeing some old school Jazz stars. There's Harpring and Bolerjack
and Jeff Hornacek who we were thrilled to see coaching!
I used to work with Harpring's wife Amanda at St. Marks back in Salt Lake so we stopped and chatted with him for a minute.

Well folks, I believe that about catches us up. Hope you are all doing well and looking forward to spring as much as I am!

Happy Birthday Norris!

2011-02-08T08:48:00.001-05:00

My big guy turned 4 on January 15th! Feel free to sing along...

Happy happy birthday Norris dear,
happy days will come to you all year,
if I had a wish then it would be,
a right knee surgery to you from me!

It's true, he doesn't want it but Norris needs and will be getting knee surgery for his birthday :( Well not ON his birthday, that would just be cruel but soon. It's so sad to see him like this, he hasn't been upstairs in over a month and now sleeps under our dining room table most of the day and all night. He can still get around but it's hard to get up and down and his knee makes a horrible popping sound with each step (probably bone on bone). We've tried to put it off but the poor guy is gonna need surgery. We'll let you know when we find out the date. (which if anyone has had to decide between the 2 surgical options give me your input!)

But on a happier note we of course had a party to celebrate his 4th birthday. No party is complete without balloons, party hats, cake, and a present. Of course he had all of the above courtesy of the best mom and dad ever :)

Look at these two hams ready for the party :)

Norris is ~~always~~ usually happy to share with his baby sister...but not the cat which explains his absence in the pictures
he also shares with his Dad

and even helps him clean up :)

Besides a surgery, Norris got this little guy who we like to call "the coati" (remember the Brazilian animals?)
I ♥ this boy
(Surprisingly he didn't immediately de-stuff the poor coati so Baby has since rescued and mothered it)

As I'm sure you already know, we love our Norris boy to pieces and hope he gets feeling better soon so we can have many more birthdays to come with him!
Love you Buddy!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of time...BRAZIL

2011-01-22T18:48:00.076-05:00

Here it is, finally! So the background info. Ryan served his mission in the Brazil Santa Maria mission from 2000-2002. It's located in the Rio Grande do Sul state which is the very most southern region of Brazil. He always wanted to go back and then when we got married we started talking about it and had the whole trip planned and paid for to go over Christmas in 2006. About a week before I ended up with an abdominal surgery but the surgeon said we could still go. Unfortunately, a few days later I ended up back in surgery and this time we knew we couldn't go. It was heartbreaking to be stuck in the hospital and listen to Ryan cancel all of our reservations. Anyway...we always meant to re plan it but didn't get to it until this year but better late than never right?! (Just a heads up, I'm including lots of details and pictures for memory sake so I'm sorry if it gets boring to read. Guarentee this is the world's longest blog post so feel free to skim through as needed!)

Day 1, 12/28/10
We finished packing and my younger brother Tyler who came out to dog/house sit drove us to the airport. Checked bags, got through security, got the gate just in time...or so we thought. The flight was an hour late leaving which left me a wreck because we only had a 45 minute layover in Dallas to make the Rio flight. We told 2 people before we got on the plane and 2 more once we entered the plane and they all brushed us off. So when we landed we hurried as fast as we could to get off the plane then BOOKED it to the next gate only to find that it had left...without US! I seriously couldn't believe it. That plane didn't wait 5 minutes, 5 MINUTES, that's all we needed! And no one called ahead to the gate, no one helped us get off the plane, no helped at all. The plane was still taxiing on the runway when we got to the gate. "We'll rebook you on the next flight" was the response we got. Problem being, it only leaves once a day and we had reservations waiting for us. Of course there "was nothing they could do" and no apologies or compensation offered except to get a "distressed passenger" rate at a hotel which means we still paid for it, just got a discount. So we left the airport fuming and crying and spent the night in Dallas trying to figure out how we could make up the time we were losing. All in all, we lost our car rental reservation, paid for a night in a hotel we didn't stay in, lost a flight we needed to make once we got to Rio, and lost a much needed travel day in Brazil. American Airlines, you can look forward to a letter and receipts from us shortly :)

Day 2, 12/29
Went back to the airport and after another delay, flew to Miami. You'll love this. As we got to the gate we were getting our stuff together when the flight attendant asked everyone to step back in so they could get a lady off the plane to make her flight to South America...oh were we mad! Ryan even stopped and asked the flight attendant if that is their policy and if so, where were they yesterday?! We so could have made our flight if they had helped us like they did her. Anyway, spent a few hours killing time in Miami including being entertained by this Brazilian gate agent who all the sudden put on Christmas lights and sang jingle bells... then after another delay, finally got on the flight to Rio. It was a late evening flight but they still fed us dinner and played a movie that I only saw about 5 minutes of before falling asleep. It was a 9 hour flight and thankfully we slept for 6-7 hours of it which I'm so glad cuz I was anxious about getting restless. Our seats were the first row of coach behind business class which looked SO nice! Their chairs turned into beds and they had removable TV screens and everything! Oh well, we were just glad to make it.

Day 3, 12/30
Finally made it to Rio but unfortunately since we left late we ended up behind a whole Air France flight in customs. After an hour or so in line we made it through, found some food, and took in the warm but cloudy Rio weather. We hung out at the airport for our next flight which of course was late just like the rest of them. Finally the plane arrived and we were on our way to Porto Alegre. We had 3 domestic flights within Brazil with TAM airlines and they fed us a full meal for each 2 hour flight, cool huh?
{porto alegre in sight!}
{Welcome back to the South "Elder West"} By the time we landed and waited in line for our rental car (that we paid way too much for thanks to a last minute reservation courtesy of American Airlines) it was about 8pm. To make up time and not miss any other reservations we had to drive until 3am...talk about tired! We stopped at a bus stop for dinner as NOTHING in Brazil is open after about 6pm. It's okay cuz the bus stops have good food. That was where I first learned that you don't put toilet paper in the toilet and sometimes have to pay 25 cents just to get some toilet paper.
After a quick bite we got back in the car. Poor Ryan couldn't figure out how to get it in reverse and we spent about 5 minutes inching forward then rolling back then doing it again. He finally figured it out and off we went. After a full night of driving we arrived in Santana do Livramento around 3am and checked into the Jandia Hotel and crashed for a few hours.

Day 4, 12/31
Morning came too quick but we got ready, checked out, then headed out to see the downtown area.
{first view of the South out our hotel window} This city is on the border of Uruguay and there is an international park there where you can stand in both countries. We were taking pictures when this little boy came up to Ryan and sold him a pair of socks. It was cute to see how pushy the boy was and Ryan wasn't going to buy them but I made him :)
We did some more walking around which brought back memories for Ryan then stopped at a roadside cart for lunch. He remembered eating there and got us a Xis and my first Suco de Abakashi. A xis is a flat bread sandwich that has corn, ham, lettuce, other stuff I can't remember and a creamy sauce. Abakashi is pineapple and it comes like a smoothie that was SO yummy! I think I had at least 5 while we were there :)
After lunch we drove out of the downtown area and out to the area where Ryan served. This was my first look at how they really live and wow, they really do live in shacks or very minimal concrete/brick homes. Another observation that would be true of the rest of the south is the amount of cachorro's (dogs, pronounced cashoho). They don't belong to anyone and they just wander around. The ratio of chachorro to human must be 3:1. Also, there were cows and horses all over the place. Most of them are owned but they don't have pastures. You might see them in the person's front yard or even in the grassy median of a busy road! Anyway, we stopped at the little white house Ryan lived in, the house they used as a church, the cemetery, the two ward buildings, a school they taught a class at, and the grocery store for our first of many package of cookies. Ryan told me about the milk that is sold on the shelf and isn't refrigerated and sure enough, there it was. We also bought dog treats but none of the dogs would take them, they acted like I was giving them poison!
As far as transportation there, many people have motorbikes, a few have cars, but most walk, take the bus or have a horse pulled cart which was odd to see. It was fun to see the different homes and their bright colors. I liked this one cuz it's like Barbie's dream house with chickens next door!
After we finished up in Livramento we started the drive to Santa Maria. It was a beautiful drive. The southern region of Brazil is not rainforest but more countryside. Lots of green fields and pastures. After a 3 hour drive and only getting mildly lost (thank goodness we rented a GPS) we checked into the Morotin Park Hotel and took a nap as it was New Year's Eve and figured we would head downtown and see what everyone was doing at midnight. Bad idea. We headed downtown around 10 and found NO ONE and NOTHING open. And I mean nothing but a few gas stations. So it was back to the bus stop for dinner :) Good thing Ryan remembered where they were. We enjoyed pastel's and soda for our New Year's Eve dinner. Pastel's are great! They are fried and have hamburger or chicken and cheese inside. I probably had 5 of those also :) We counted down the new year in our hotel room with out pastel's watching some John Travolta movie and listening to the neighborhood fireworks. Not exactly what we planned but okay.

Day 5, 1/1/11
Got ready, enjoyed breakfast at the hotel then explored Santa Maria.
We stopped at one the ward buildings first and luckily found people in the back. {notice the shack's out front? yeah, families actually live in them!} (All the church's have gates around them but thankfully this one was unlocked). Some of the members at the church directed us to Mauro's house. Mauro is a member who Ryan remembered fondly who was always good to the missionaries. He lives with his parents, 4 cachorro's, 5 gatto's (cats), and 2 birds. He wasn't expecting us so you can imagine his surprise to see Ryan but it was fun to sit and listen to them visit. Maudo took out his scrapbook and sure enough, there was a picture of Ryan when he was a missionary! Mauro's mom fed us tuna sandwiches, jello with milk, and guarana (Ryan's favorite soda ever). I felt bad taking it because I know they don't have much but he said that's just how the people are there. They all feed you whether they have food to share or not. After visiting for awhile, Mauro came with us and took us to a few other member's homes. They all remembered Ryan and it was fun to sit back and listen to them talk about the past. They of course were all speaking Portuguese so I understood almost nothing but that was part of the fun, to pick out words I did know and to listen to Ryan become fluent again.
We stopped at one home where they brought us in and showed us their cachorros. O.M.G. They were SO cute!! This is a baby St. Bernard "Bella" and her daddy "Beethoven." I so would have smuggled her home! After visiting, we said goodbye which was sad because I could tell Mauro didn't want Ryan to go but we had to. We did a quick drive past another house Ryan lived in and found a few more cachorro's to pet :)
After leaving Santa Maria, we were off to find Santiago. I should stop and stay that I spent a lot of time before the trip map questing directions and had a whole binder full of our agenda but it's a dang good thing we rented the GPS cuz my directions wouldn't have cut it! I have always been pro-map and anti-gps but I may have had a change of heart :)
On the way to Santiago we drove through an area called Jaguar. It was set in the mountains and was so lush and had beautiful views.
There were vineyards and hydrangea bushes everywhere.
We made it to Santiago And just in time too to get gas where we paid $5/gallon! Their gas stations are old fashioned where you pay someone to pump your gas for you. The highways in Brazil were very well maintained and paved but the cities have hand laid cobblestone streets which makes driving slow and bumpy.
{classic Brazilian road}
We were able to find the church building then after some hunting Ryan was able to find the house he lived in. {they lived in a little home behind the yellow one} Unfortunately, none of the homes still belong to the church so we couldn't go in them but they still fun to see and sure brought back memories for him. This city seems a bit wealthier than the others so the homes were more modern.
After another attempt to find real food we found nothing but closed signs. Thankfully we did find one corner cafe for Xis and Coke.
After saying goodbye to Santiago we started out for Santano Antonio das Missoes or as the missionaries called it "the hole". Unfortunately, Ryan circled the wrong city when I was printing directions so I didn't prepare any to this city and it's so small it wasn't on the GPS but he thought he remembered where it was. We ended up finding a sign that pointed toward the city so having no other directions, we followed it. It was a dirt road that turned into a horribly rocky dirt road (think off roading in a jeep...minus the jeep). It was all pretty and fun at first but then we realized it was basically a farm road and no one else was on it.
{funny story, we stopped to take pictures and this whole herd of cattle came up to see us, I felt horrible that I didn't have a treat for them} It would be dark soon and there were no signs telling us where we were so we had no choice but to keep going. Unfortunately it ended up being about 40km before we had a chance to get off of it. The car was filthy with red dirt and I'm shocked we didn't lose a tire in the process!
What a long drive but thankfully it put us right into Santo Antonio (aka "the hole"). Apparently this city got it's nickname because of it's size, remoteness, and lack of members. We found the home Ryan lived in which also acted as their church. He remembered having sacrament meeting in the garage. We drove though some of the city which included the park where Ryan remembered putting on an Easter program that no one came to :) The homes here and in every city had such fun colors! It was pretty special to be with "Elder West" as he walked those streets once again. This time with his eternal companion :) We stopped for yet another Guanana and caught a great sunset on our way out of "the hole."
Then we were on our way to the Wilson Parque Hotel in Sao Miguel das Missoes for the night.
{check out this cool monument at the entrance/exit to Sao Miguel} This hotel was kind of cool. It was set back on a beautiful piece of property and looked like a castle on the inside. The pool out back was very picturesque, I wish we had had time to use it. After a quick dinner we crashed for a few quick hours of sleep.

Day 6, 1/2
We had to get up early, get ready, and enjoy a quick breakfast at the hotel then make the 3 hour drive to church in Cruz Alta.
After racing to make it to church on time, Ryan realized we were at the wrong building so he got directions and we found the right one. The missionaries showed us into sunday school that was about over. It sure was different to listen to a lesson and have no idea what they were talking about. After the meeting, people started to recognize Ryan and an older man came up to him and you would have thought Ryan was his long lost son! They hugged and talked and reminisced. His name is Odilon and he was the branch president when Ryan served there. (talk about growth, this area went from 1 branch when Ryan was there to 4 wards 10 years later!) Besides Odilon, several other member's recognized Ryan and even called him by name! That's pretty good to remember "Elder West" after 10 years. We stayed for sacrament meeting which lucky for us was testimony meeting. What a spiritual and emotional experience to hear almost every member that bore their testimony talk about Elder West. Ryan got up and spoke to them as well. It was fun to try and sing the hymns with him.
After the meeting, Odilon invited us back to his home for lunch with his family. Once again, they took out their photo's and there was Ryan as a missionary! That's pretty cool to see pictures of him in their home 10 years later. {I was admiring the sweet dog house Odilon built and their green backyard}
They made a great lunch for us and made sure we were stuffed full! Then Odilon took us to a few of the member's homes. We were able to visit with an elderly man that Ryan baptized. They also had a picture of Ryan displayed in their living room.
Sadly, it came time to say goodbye to Odilon and it almost brought me to tears because he was SO happy to have Ryan back, even for just a few hours. Ryan told me later that Odilon told people several times while we were visiting, "All the missionaries, they all say they will come back but Elder West did, he came back" and "you see, the Lord does love us and bless us because Elder West came back and brought his beautiful wife" What special people these Brazilians are!!
Before leaving Cruz Alta, we miraculously found the home lived in.
{sad to think that a whole family lives in this little green shack next to the "nice" missionary home}
I loved the random horses at the bus station :)
We tried to find a few more members but no one was home so made our next trek back to Porto Alegre. It was a long drive (6 hours) but another pretty one. There were more giant hydrangeas and deep valley's with clouds settled in.
We stopped at a Churrascaria (think Brazilian buffet). It had a beautiful view but the food wasn't very good.
We got into Porto Alegre late but stopped at the temple. Ryan was there for the dedication 10 years ago. He said he remembered hearing President Hinkley speak and President Faust speak in Portuguese (he served his mission there and may have been one of the first in the area). It was a beautiful setting on a great big hill and had gorgeous landscaping just like the other temples. It made me feel good to see the care the church puts into their buildings; even in the poorest cities the church's were all very well taken care of. Ryan said people used to call our church "the rich church" because of the contrast between the buildings and the homes. After a few pictures we checked into the Mercure Beverly Hills for a short night.

Day 7, 1/3
After only 4 hours of sleep we were up and on our way back to the airport in Porto Alegre. There was a huge line once we got there but thankfully Ryan worked his Portuguese magic and got us bumped up as to avoid missing another flight. We stopped for a super quick picture by this wall that Ryan took a picture by when he was headed home from the mission. We took a bus to our propeller plane that we walked onto and enjoyed another meal en route to Foz do Iguacu where the Iguacu Falls are. Little did we know we were headed for more drama...After arriving and getting our bags we looked for our ride that had been prearranged that of course wasn't there. I spoke to the hotel about this a month prior and set it all up. While Ryan went to call them I thought I would get some cash from the ATM. Unfortunately, I don't speak Portuguese and am not patient enough to wait for him so I put my card in a machine that only takes their cards. Yeah, it took my card and never gave it back! I couldn't believe it, Ryan even called them and they said they never retrieve them, we were just out of luck. Ughh, I was sure this trip was cursed after he told me that the hotel claimed to not know about our pre-arranged transportation they were supposed to be providing but said they would send someone. Once we got to the place (Charm Iguassu Suites) they said that "sometimes they don't get the emails" even though someone from their hotel corresponded with me! The lady got the "manager" who spoke English who may have been the rudest person I have ever spoken to. I told him I was frustrated since this was all set up and I had it in writing and that I would appreciate transportation back to the airport the next day. He said "you got here didn't you?" and "so you were 30 minutes delayed, so what?" and "NO, I will NOT do that for you, you're just trying to take advantage of me!" He ended up storming off and I told him I give honest hotel reviews to which he stated "I don't care." What kind of a business owner doesn't care what their customers think of them?! I was so angry but we had already paid for the place so had to just leave our bags and go to the waterfalls.

The falls are split between Brazil and Argentina but we went to the Brazilian side since we only had 1 day.
Needless to say, the falls were amazing and well worth the trip!
For those of you who have watched the "double rainbow" you-tube video, listen to this clip courtesy of Ryan :)
The Iguacu Falls are the biggest waterfalls in the world and when Elanor Roosevelt visited she is quoted as saying "Oh poor Niagara" :)
Of course we were happy to hear that the park was full of wildlife and we were able to spot a few. Our favorite though were these little furry guys called coati's that look like half raccoon/half anteater. They just wander around and look for food from tourists but they tell you not to feed them because they can get aggressive. So of course Ryan tried to pet one that came up to us...I wanted to also but I wasn't about to get rabies in Brazil! They said there were also jaguars and pumas in the park but we didn't see any :(

There were a lot of people there which made picture taking hard but the falls were quite the sight! It's crazy that that much water flows all the time and has since God placed it there.
We had lunch (including Abakashi) overlooking the water then headed back to the hotel where not surprisingly it took them 10 minutes to find our room key because they most likely gave our room to someone else. It was awful, our room was down a flight of stairs with no elevator and basically in a driveway. It was in no way a "suite" but very basic and oh so noisy. Nothing like waking up to your upstairs neighbor urinating as if they were standing right next to you... :(
We took a nap then found an outdoor bar that was open for dinner. I had a super yummy virgin strawberry daiquiri to go with our plethora of food. We found a little cachorro on the way back and he followed us. He was so cute and playful and even let me pet him and yes, I did pet the stray dogs who would let me, they need love too!
We went to bed for a few more quick hours of sleep and looked forward to getting out of there and on to Rio!

Day 8, 1/4
Woke up early once again, packed, and took a taxi to the airport. Ryan loved making conversation with our taxi drivers :)
{here is a decent clip of Ryan speaking, I thought you would enjoy it}
We walked into another huge line at the airport behind a pushy European tour group. Finally Ryan worked that portugese again and we got bumped up and through the easy peasy Brazilian security only to find that our flight was delayed. Suprised right? Me either. It was kind of funny though, the reason for delay was weather related but translates to mean "meteor delay." Can't say I've ever had a flight delayed due to meteors :)
So we spent our morning reading, baking in the sun of the blue patio, and drinking yet another Guarana. Finally after 3 hours, we walked onto our plane,enjoyed another meal, and made it to Rio de Janeiro! We got our bags, found a taxi, and made it to the Rio Othon Palace where we would be staying. It is the tallest hotel on Copacobanna beach and right across the street from the water. I can't even being to praise this hotel enough. I booked a junior suite and knew going in that none of those rooms had been renovated but asked anyway. The super nice lady who helped us apologized that they didn't have any but said that they would be upgrading us to an executive suite. She told us it wasn't renovated but I didn't care. O.M.G. The suite was AMAZING! It was on the 19th floor (1912 to be exact) and not only did it have the bedroom/bathroom/corner balcony room that I expected in the junior suite... it had a second bathroom, bar, living room with another balcony, and dressing room! This really did so much to make up for the crap we had dealt with already. We checked out the 30th floor rooftop pool then went down to the beach. The water was cold but it didn't matter. We found a corner bakery for dinner then went back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Day 9, 1/5
We enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel then attempted to find the Christ the Redeemer sculpture. It didn't go so well. We saved money and took the bus and got so lost! It ended up taking us 2 hours to get where we needed to be. I had wanted to take the train that circles the mountain to the top where the statue is but it was 3 hours behind so we just took a van up. Waited in a super long line then finally got to the top where we climbed a million stairs up to the sculpture. It is very impressive and should be since it is one of the 7 wonders of the world! Crazy to think they got it up there in pieces by train and assembled in on top of the mountain. Of course there were a zillion people there so we didn't stay long but got a few pictures, enjoyed the view from one of the highest points in Rio, then headed back down.
{check out these tree trunks we spotted!} We took the bus back to the hotel and drove past a "cat park." Seriously, there were dozen of cats just lying all around this city park! Also eventfull, our bus driver stopped and got out to yell at someone who parked too close to him...yikes. After our eventfull bus ride back we suited up for some beach time. It was so nice to have it accross the street! I ventured into the water hoping to swim but the waves were too big and I ended up getting knocked down a few times and scared so I stuck to keeping my toes wet. It was so nice to sit in the sun and read and just enjoy the setting.
We took a stroll down Atlantica Avenue (the street that lines Copacobana beach) where we spotted this guy bicycling with his white poodle riding on his back complete with dog sunglasses! Oh how I wish we had snapped the picture fast enough!
We caught the sun setting on our way back.
We checked out the beach shops and grabbed another bakery dinner then enjoyed the fantastic view from our balcony.
{This would be the exact reason I picked the Rio Othon Palace!}

Day 10, 1/6
Nothing beats waking up to the sound of the ocean, an amazing view, then a delicious breakfast to start your day.
That is exactly how we started our day then had a much better bus ride to Sugar Loaf. Sugar loaf is a mountain in Rio that offers amazing 360 degree views of the city and beaches. We were lucky to beat the crowd and walked right in to the tram station. You have to take theses Italian trams up to the first peak that has nice views then a second tram up to Sugar Loaf that had spectacular views! {copacabana}
{downtown Rio}
{looking toward the Christ the Redeemer sculpture}
There were a lot less people here and way better views than the day before so we much prefer Sugar Loaf to the Christ sculpture. We also found this rainforest area at the top that had cool trails winding through it. We ran into a few lizards that scared the begizis out of me but we sure enjoyed the lushness of the area.
Before leaving Sugar Loaf we found the biggest bench ever!
{Ryan contemplating a monkey capture for his Grandpa's orchard work}
After our tram rides down,
we walked over to a cool monument {that is Sugar Loaf in the backround} {looking back at Christ the Redeemer}
then to Vermelha Beach. {picturesque isn't it?}
Then we took a taxi back to the hotel and packed up for a walk to Impanema. This beach isn't as big as Copa but it's beautiful and different so we had to check it out. We got beach chairs and an umbrella which was a necessity since the sun was in full force. That was so relaxing to sit in our own little cabanna and enjoy our books and the view.
{enjoying the water}
{beach bums}
After several hours at the beach and a nap we headed out for dinner at a real churrascaria. Ryan was so excited and loved it! I thought there was way too much meat but had a very yummy strawberries and whipped cream dessert. We ended the night with a bit more shopping then sadly returned to sleep our last night in Rio :(

Day 11, 1/7
{Last sunrise in Brazil}
Started our last day with another great breakfast then some endless walking to find the perfect cookies to bring home. We spent the afternoon back at Copacabana on the beach.
We were relaxing under our umbrella when all the sudden a red helicopter came over us and they did a water resuce RIGHT in front of us!
{looking for the victim}
{divers got them in the net/basket}
{dropped them off on the shore then flew away} That was way cool to watch. There was a point in the water where the big waves would always hit. If you could get past that point you could swim without problem but it seemed like people had real trouble getting back in so we watched the lifeguards go in a few more times and then another helicopter resuce once we were back in our room! I thought of you Sis and Fritz :)

Sadly, after another few precious hours at the beach and a stop at the rooftop pool we had to pack up and check out.
{SO hard to leave this balcony!}
We had another bakery lunch, stolled through the shops one last time, and waited for our cab to the airport. We had a late flight and the traffic was AWFUL on the way to the airport but 45 minutes later we were there. It was sad to leave Brazil and the hotel that spoiled us when we felt like we just got there but all good things must come to end right? The flight went well, we were able to stretch our legs a bit more and slept another 8 hours on the 10 hour flight.

Day 12, 1/8
Arrived back to Dallas in the morning then hung out and talked with our BYU friend we met on the plane from Rio (small world). On the flight home Ryan "tried" to sleep while I read his mission journal which turned out to be a very emotional and spiritual experience and really reinforced to me the special place that Brazil and the gospel holds for him and now me.
Finally got back to Detroit where Tyler was waiting. It was strange to go from summer to winter in 12 hours!
{Thanks Ty! We couldn't have done it without you!} We also have to give a BIG thank you to President Zobrist who was Ryan's mission president. Besides playing an important part in Ryan's life, he was our go-to guy for hotel info!

Here's some trip numbers to wrap it all up...
8 flights/14,000+ miles,
25+ hours of driving/1000+ miles,
8 different hotels, 11 nights, and 12 cities!

The title of this post is very appropriate for our trip. It was the best trip I've ever been on but at the same time, I've never had so many things go wrong on a trip. All in all, I'm so grateful that we were able to finally go and meet/reunite with the people and places of Brazil. They were so kind and they are so humble to live with what they have and not complain. I have a new appreciation for America and for the freedoms we enjoy. It was such a blessing to see Ryan back in his element, to hear him speak without difficulty (most of the time) and be back in that Brazilian culture. I really hope we can go back again someday. Until then, Obrigada Brazil!!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-15T17:42:00.009-05:00

Can you believe it, 2 posts in 2 days!! That means we're getting closer to a Brazil post that's gonna take me forever...don't worry, I want it done as bad as you do :)

Okay, okay, so our Christmas season this year was pretty casual and I liked it that way. I didn't drag every decoration box out of the attic (to Ryan's delight), we only did stockings for each other instead of gifts, and actually got to spend it in our home. Most of this was because of our upcoming trip. Anyway, I went with a green and silver theme this year.Two observations you may notice about the tree, 1st: a certain small cat underneath it who decided that would be his escape from Baby and 2nd: no ornaments on the bottom which I'm sure you can figure out why :)

We did attend the ward party and my work Christmas party which is an occasion to dress up and enjoy good food with friends. Can't beat that right?

I had to work Christmas Eve night but that was okay cuz then I went home and got Ryan up, we did our Christmas morning together, enjoyed breakfast, then went back to bed. I LOVE Christmas morning ambiance!

Gifts from our wonderful families!
Santa comes to our babies too!

Post present bliss: toys shredded, chewing on bones on new dog beds

Thanks to everyone who sent Christmas cards, it made my day each time I opened one and placed it on our dining room door. Despite the challenging year we had we continue to feel blessed to have such caring friends and family, good health, a job, a warm home, each other, and more than anything the Gospel. Hope you all had a great holiday!

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-13T08:34:00.012-05:00

I know, I know, it's January and it's taking me forever to catch up my blogging. I'm trying! Before I cover Thanksgiving I have to pay tribute to our Utes. Earlier in November the Utes came out to play Notre Dame in football. Ryan's dad came out for a visit and joined us for the game. I commend him for being on his best cougar behavior :) The day didn't turn out like we were hoping...the weather was awful, drizzly rain and cold the whole time, the fans were annoying and relentless, and the Utes played like crap and deserved to lose but I'm still glad we went down to support them. (Thankfully we were able to remind the Notre Dame fans that our dear Michigan State Spartans took care of them earlier in the season).

Now on to Thanksgiving. We went home for the holiday this year and enjoyed more time with the fam. There were several birthdays to celebrate while we were there. Including...
Mr A

Fritz

Myself

and my dear sister Leslie

It's always great to catch up with our family and spend time together.

Tyler took us indoor rock climbing which was so fun!

I especially enjoyed the many faces of Katie :) I melted every time she said "I love you I do!"

Ever since my sister's Ironman race this last summer I've been more motivated to learn to run and actually not hate it. She got me started on a "couch potato to 5K" program and then ran with me in my first race Thanksgiving morning. It was a 4 mile race in Orem. It was unbelievably cold when we all went outside to start and I was pretty worried about how cold we were but once we got started it was fine. My sister was so good to stay with me at my pace even though she could have finished way faster. I was worried I wouldn't be ready for it but I felt great and even finished before my goal! Thanks sis, you are one awesome coach! And thanks Ry for your role as photographer/cheerleader/babysitter!

It's official, I finished my first race!

Kids races

After the race we went back to Ryan's parents home for their family Thanksgiving. Of course Nancy prepared beautifully and it was lovely meal. After eating, C provided the entertainment with sharing some of his school work which was mighty impressive!

We spent the evening with my family and had yet another yummy meal and enjoyed some good family time.

While we were home we made our stops to bring our Grandmas and Ryan's Grandpa some early Christmas cheer with these cute trees and santa. Don't you love them?! I actually wanted to take them home myself...

Once again, another great trip home. Of course I wish we lived closer to spend time together more than 2-3 times per year but thank you guys for always making time for us when we do make it back! We love you! (oh and friends, sorry we didn't have time to get together this trip, let's try this summer!)

Happy Halloween/1st Birthday Jack!

2010-12-21T08:30:00.005-05:00

This year was a pretty low key Halloween for us but celebrating Jack's 1st Birthday livened it up a bit. Hard to believe we brought this tiny, shivering little kitty home a year ago!
We were so happy to see that the dogs didn't attack the cat

Watching Baby mother him was priceless.
He sure is a good cat despite his desire to take out the neighborhood one squirrel/bird/mouse at a time...
{all grown up}

We love you Jackie!
(sad but true story...so when Ryan gave Jack his cupcake he didn't seem too familiar with the candle so he leaned in to lick the frosting and singed the hair on his face! Don't worry, it scared him but not bad enough to not finish his treat)

As far as Halloween we attended our first "trunk or treat" and actually had fun decorating the car. I learned my lesson though about not buying enough candy! It was so embarrassing to tell the kids we ran out...they just don't understand.

As I mentioned before this Halloween was low key so the babies didn't dress up to their full potential but we thought their jester collars and tie were pretty cute all the same. We attempted a family picture but had no luck. The out-takes are pretty funny though so I thought I'd share them.

Take 1: test shot, Baby's bored, Norris is photogenic like always, and look who's peeking out the front door

Take 2: Jack is NOT happy and Norris appears concerned

Take 3: ditched the cat

Take 4 and 5: okay so these are great but they are missing Dad

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

San Fran

2010-10-11T16:47:00.018-04:00

(12/6/10 preface: so I am WAY behind in blogging and this post should have been up 2 months ago when I started it but better late than never I guess! As per my normal, expect an influx of pictures)

I was fortunate enough to meet my mom in San Francisco for the weekend recently. She had a pediatric conference and I was in need of some me time so it worked out perfect. I flew in first then had fun watching and waiting for her.I've mentioned that I love airports right?

Then it was off to navigate BART which is their subway system that leaves right from the airport. I also love riding the subway when we visit big cities...I'm serious, I do. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott and had a very nice room with a pretty good city view.

My mom's only request while we were there was to go to Fisherman's Wharf and get clam chowder. So we put on our walking shoes and that's what we did. (I have to tell you, I am stubborn and have always liked wearing my cute shoes when traveling but my mom convinced me to ditch the boots and wear tennis shoes this trip. I took her advice but it kills me to see myself wearing tennis shoes with nice jeans. My feet on the other hand thanked me. Silly and vain I know, but true)

I couldn't believe how steep these streets are!

This is the view from the restaurant we had our chowder at. See all the seals? I felt bad for them but my mom assured me they were happy seals...not so sure.

After dinner we walked the embarcado past a view of Alcatraz, a cool old pirate ship, then to Ghiradelli Square.

The next day didn't start off too well. My mom left early for conference and after throwing my hair up and a jacket over my pajamas I headed down to get breakfast. I stopped at the pool on my way and my card wouldn't open the door so I stopped at the front desk to get a new one. They asked to see my ID then told me they couldn't help be because the reservation was under my mom and not me. They said I would have to call her which I could not because she is in conference and my phone is in the room. After taking my card then telling me again they couldn't help me I responded with "you mean to tell me I'm going to sit in this lobby in my pajamas all day until my mom gets back?" The front desk lady just looked at me and didn't say anything. I couldn't not believe it but yes, I spent the next 3 hours in the lobby in my pajamas waiting for my mom to come back for lunch. When she saw me I just started to cry and explain. Ohhh was she mad! She lit into that lady like there was no tomorrow! So moral of this long story is...although I've NEVER had an issue like this before, always add your name to a reservation if you didn't make it so that you don't get locked out of your room too! Can you believe that?!

Anyway, after finally being able to get dressed and ready, we found a yummy Mexican place for lunch. Look at the size of these tacos! We had to eat them with a fork. We filled up quickly and still had a whole plate left so we gave it to a homeless guy who we had seen a few times.

After lunch we did a little shopping before my mom had to get back to the conference. Once she left I slipped on my running shoes, hooked up the ipod and took advantage of the beautiful weather and did a little exploring on my own. It was perfect, so refreshing, and just what I needed! It felt so good to be outside in the sun and in a new place and just be spontaneous and run where I wanted and see what I wanted. I ended up running along the pier and got a great view of the Oakland Bridge up close and personal.

I also had a great view of the cool buildings (did I mention I love big cities?)

Then I found this neat back staircase that ran between some homes. I wasn't sure where it went but had to check it out. This is the view from the beginning of the stairs...
Now a bit higher and the view just kept getting better.
See that pretty purple tree on the right? Here's another shot of the petals, are they vibrant or what?!

I seriously felt like I was in the secret garden.
It's crazy to think that these stairs are people's sidewalks to their homes.

Here's the view from the top of the never ending stairs

Before I found the stairs I had noticed this monument while running, little did I know those stairs took me right up to it!
It's called the Coit Tower and has an amazing view of the city.

This is a panoramic view from the tower (except I don't know how to connect the pictures)

After taking in the view I set out to find my way back to the hotel. It was neat to not really know where I was going and just take my time finding my way. I loved running between the cool buildings and up and down the steep streets with beautiful row houses. Finally I made it back and my mom and I had dinner overlooking Union Square which is where they have a bunch of high end shops.Not bad for a day's work huh?

The next day we rented bicycles and did an 8 mile bike tour of the San Francisco Bridge. We rode from the Fisherman's Wharf, across the bridge, and into a little city called Sausalito. The hills were killer and required pushing the bikes sometimes but the views were worth it. (sis, I kept thinking what a great Ironman course it would be).

On our way to the bridge

Looking back at the city

It was funny but sad, as we rode along the bridge there are a bunch of "Don't jump, there's hope" signs and telephones next to them if you need to talk to someone...I don't plan to do anything crazy but looking down, that would not be my way to go!

Made it over the bridge!

After crossing the bridge we had a yummy pizza and salad lunch then loaded the bikes on a ferry and took a ride back to Pier 39 just as the fog set in.

After returning the bikes we did a little more sightseeing together. We made it to Lombard Street which is better known as the "crookedest street". There were a ton of tourists and the walk up there is as steep as it looks but it was pretty cool to see.

We also checked out some more potential real estate options...Hah! I wish

Our legs were screaming at us by the time we got back to the hotel so we took a few minutes to soak in the hot tub then climbed in our beds.

The next day mom took off to conference early so I put the running shoes back on and headed a different direction than before. It was farther than I expected but I found the street of houses that might just remind you of a certain sitcom in the 90's. Any guesses?
Well if you guessed Full House you'd be right! These are the "pink lady's" and are kept in impecable condition. I took the picture from a park across the street that again had great city views. (Bonus for me it turned out to be a dog park!)

On my way back I stopped at a cute little cafe and enjoyed breakfast in the sun.
I also enjoyed watching this lady try to hail a cab for 20 minutes while thinking to myself, if you didn't have those $200+ heels on you probably could have walked there by now :)

Spotted this fancy schmancy site on the way back. Not sure what it is but pretty nice huh?

My mom and I met up for lunch then after walking her back to her conference for one more session I visited some of the shops at Union Square including this 4-story Forever 21 store. Pretty huh?
Afterwards I killed some time with an incredibly over priced movie by myself (never gone alone before) then met mom for a quick dinner and we began our trek back to the airport for red-eye flights home.

This was an aweome trip and I'm so grateful that my mom invited me. It was great one on one time with her and very much needed one on one time with myself! Thanks Mom! See you in Boston next year :)

Fall has arrived

2010-09-15T20:05:00.006-04:00

and you know what that means...Football! More specifically, University of Utah and MSU football! It's been fun to wear our red and green (separately of course or that would resemble Christmas) and put out our new game day flags (picture coming soon).

We finally attended our first MSU game a few weeks ago and about froze our bums off! It may have been the first game of the season but it felt like the last, especially in the nosebleed section. But hey, can't beat free tickets :)

With fall here that means summer is done but we had to squeeze one more camping trip in before it gets too cold. After several helpful suggestions from friends we decided on the Lake Michigan Recreation Area Campground which was fabulous! It was very forested, hardly anyone there, large sites and best of all...a 2 minute hike to the beach!

We bought a new tent so we can take the dogs and are quite pleased with it. What I like most is the screened in porch, works well for keeping dogs in check. When they weren't in the tent though we had to tie them up and Baby was none too pleased about that. This is her attempt to free Norris (not sure if he would return the favor).

After getting our camp all set up and feeding the beasts

we were off to the beach. had a great time as usual. It was wonderful to walk over these dunes with the cool soft sand. These "hidden" beaches are the best!

The dogs of course thoroughly enjoyed themselves, as did their mom and dad.

Despite frequenting Lake Michigan beaches, I am continually amazed by the beauty

It was nice to be able to just sit and enjoy the time together as our little family

After the beach we enjoyed our campfire dinner, smores then off to bed. The night was kind of rough. It was pretty cold and we learned our lesson about not bringing the dog beds because Norris and Baby were uncomfortable which meant they woke us up 3 times before 7am...at least I got a beautiful view of the stars on our 3am walk :)

Before we left we attempted a family picture. I thought option A (see below) was pretty good
but of course I needed to take another "just in case" Not sure that this one turned out better :)
I love Norris's smile but we caught Baby mid-way through catching a fly. I promise she is not nearly as mean as she appears (unless you happen to be a great dane...she doesn't get along with them).

On a different but exciting note I'm very happy to announce that we finally made up our minds and re-booked our flight to Brazil today! (For those of you who don't know, this trip is years in the making. We had one completely planned and ready 4 years ago and had to cancel it THE DAY before due to some emergency surgery.) Ryan served his mission in the southern most state so we are going to spend a week driving 30+ hours to see the old territory then a few sweet, sweet days on the beach in Rio! We are so excited and can't wait! Not a bad way to celebrate 10 years back from the mission and a 30th birthday huh?

One last visit

2010-08-27T16:40:00.005-04:00

This has been the summer of visitors and we love it! Ryan's older sister Liz took a much needed break and spent a week with us recently.

On the way home from the airport we finally went to the notorious Bronners Christmas Wonderland Extravaganza. For my Utah friends, it is this giant Christmas store (the largest in the world to be exact) that is open year round and filled with every ornament you could ever dream of!

Norris, Baby and Jack were happy to get reacquainted with their Auntie Liz

We saw a movie, ate out at our favorite Michigan places and just relaxed. We also made a road trip up to Mackinaw Island. We changed things up and stayed on the other side of the bridge in St Ignace this time and I have to say I prefer it now. We got a decent hotel with a GREAT view!

Mackinaw was great as usual but the only thing I was disappointed in was the weather. I'd been watching the forecast for days and it was supposed to be sunny and beautiful but turned out to be cloudy and a bit cool.

All the same, we enjoyed a bicycle trip around the island,

the view from Arch Rock,

and all the gorgeous flowers and sights Mackinaw has to offer.

Of course, no trip to Mackinaw is complete without some fudge so Liz treated us to some yummy selections!

We also made a trip to the dog beach before she left (I know, your shocked right?)

We love you Liz and had a great time! Thanks for being a good sport and always supporting us! And thanks Fritz for watching the kids so she could come out!

Vanessa's Visit and Nauvoo

2010-08-17T08:20:00.017-04:00

It has been a busy summer for us! Ryan's younger sister Vanessa came to visit us again and we had a great time as usual!

We started out with a trip to Michigan Adventure which we had never been to.
This is Michigan's version of Lagoon for you Utahn's but better.
We started the day with rides

then spent some time at the water park where Vanessa and Ryan attempted to drown each other.

The Funnel of Fear was awesome! (if you look close you see a raft way up on the side)
A super long wait but worth it (even though I closed my eyes and screamed the whole time).

We had a decent BBQ lunch then back out to the roller coasters for these junkies!
(Oh and this picture is for you Nancy, Ryan was sure you would want a pic of snoopy :)

The next day we had the opportunity to go with our youth to the Detroit Temple for baptisms for the dead. It was great to be able to take Ness with us and have her brother baptize her!

That night we introduced her to sushi. She was a great sport and liked it almost as much as we do :)

Our next big adventure was our stake youth conference trip to Nauvoo. We had not been there before and it was only an 8 hour drive so we are grateful to have had the opportunity to go, especially with Vanessa.

*Just as a preface, as you all know, I have issues with things not being organized and not being in control so I had a difficult time with 80 teenagers running around and no direction for the adults. It improved a bit over the days but needless to say, my nerves were shot by the end!*

We started out bright an early at 6:45am!

The drive down went well and even took us over the Mississippi River.

After arriving, we were organized into companies (ryan and I were together and Ness in her own), assigned our rooms then met for dinner and saw a show put on by all of the missionaries.

The next day we were able to do a mini-trek. I never had the opportunity to participate in a pioneer trek but let me tell you, this was no easy terrain; we're talking through some serious mud, across streams and up and down steep hills that drop into streams!
As leaders we stood back and let the youth do the whole thing. They did a great job working together. Even though it was only a mile it was still challenging for them and it sure made me appreciate all that the pioneers went though and the faith they had to keep going. One thing that was particularly special during the trek were these signs that were nailed along trees as we walked. There were stories of pioneers and it brought a special spirit to stop and read of the struggles the early saints faced.
(if you look close you can see the Nauvoo Temple steeple in the back)

After the trek and some reflecting we headed back to clean up and have a little free time before seeing some of the sights. Of course we had to stop by the fancy quilt shop for my mom. I'm in trouble if we ever go back to Nauvoo with her!

The missionaries (mainly seniors ones) have done an amazing job recreating what Nauvoo would have been like when the saints where there.
We stopped in a Blacksmith's shop,

took an ox ride with Hank and Homer

and toured Joseph and Emma Smith's homes and store.
(remind you of anyone's home?)
The view of the Mississippi from their home
Sadly, these homes are owned by the Church of Christ (reorganized LDS church) so the tours are done by their people and a fee is charged. It was surreal to stand in homes that Joseph himself stood in but it's crazy how the Spirit just was not there. Also, they show a video before the tour on the history of Nauvoo that seems pretty acurate until after Joseph was killed then it goes off on a whole different tangent that their church believes. It makes me sad that Joseph and Emma's line did not continue in our church.
Anyway, on the tour they told us that Joseph, Hyrum and Emma's bodies had been located near one of the homes and reburied together here.

That night there was a dance for the youth. I always have a good time watching them and an even better time watching the adults try to dance with them :) The night ended with another hotel guest threatening to make us pay for his room and he gave us 60 seconds to quiet our kids down or else...yeah, you know I didn't take to that real well. I came to poor Ryan's rescue since he is Mr Nice Guy and firmly handled the situation since I unfortunately have to do that nightly at work.

The next day we started out with a trip to Carthage to tour the jail where Joseph and Hyrum were murdered. The Church has done a beautiful job creating a visitors center and putting on a very reverent presentation of the events that occurred there. It certainly was not a happy place to visit but important all the same. Their spirits were definitely felt there, especially as we stood in the final room and a recording of "A poor wayfaring man of grief" was played.

This is the front staircase that the mob came up
The hole from the bullet that hit Hyrum
The window from which Joseph fell
The upper window is where he fell from
Isn't this a beautiful statue?! It reminds me that death did not stop them.

After Carthage, Ryan and I were able to do a session at the Nauvoo Temple.
A few years after the saints left Nauvoo, the original temple was damaged by a fire and then destroyed by a tornado. It was rebuilt and completed in 2002. This temple is so unique. They built it to resemble the original as close as possible. So because of that, it has dark cherry wood floors and beautiful wood finishing everywhere. Even the changing stalls are wood! It even has a meeting room similar to the one in the Kirtland Temple. There is also an amazing spiral staircase that takes you to all the levels. The endowment rooms are painted with murals like the Salt Lake Temple. I'm really glad we had the opportunity to do a session. We were the only couple so a few other temple worker couples joined us but we were able to have a special role during the session. After we enjoyed the amazing celestial room that must have had a 50 foot celing with stained glass on the top. As I walked back into the dressing room I saw an elderly sister who might as well have been my Grandma Lois. I obviously knew it wasn't her but I just stood and stared enjoying a tender memory that sometimes only come in the temple. My Grandma's must have been thinking of me because another sister complimented me on my dress which I was happy to report that my Grandma Ann helped me pick out. I'm glad we have the opportunity to visit temples where the veil is always a bit thinner!

This is the view from the temple steps looking out to the Mississippi

This is the plaque that sits below the statue of Joseph and Hyrum riding off to Carthage

After our session we headed downstairs to assist the youth with baptisms. The font was unique just like the rest of the temple. It is the largest font and was created as a replica to the original. I had the chance to sit up next to the witnesses and I really enjoyed that, it felt like I was a part of the ordinace. And it gave me a great view to watch Ryan baptize a few youth. I think you ladies know that special feeling you get when your hubbies do something like that :)

That night we had a testimony meeting which is always special to hear from the youth and their great faith. These kids face challenges that we never had growing up in "Zion" and I respect them very much!

Nauvoo is a very special place in our church's history. I didn't realize how special. I gained a much greater testimony and love for Joseph Smith. I really do believe now that quote that you have heard that says somthing like, no one except Christ has done more for the gospel than Joseph Smith. What an enormous burden that must have been but I am in awe when I look at the Church today and think about how proud he must be. The plaque is in front of Zion's Mercantile and it is one of my new favorite quotes. I think Joseph nailed it right on the head when he said this...

We returned home safely and before Ness had to leave we had one last hurah at the beach. I believe no trip to Michigan is complete without a day at the dog beach :) It was a great day to go too cuz the weather was cloudy which means the beach was empty!
We always set our stuff down then take a nice long walk to look for sticks...

Then wrestle those sticks away from Baby so we can throw them.

Is this not the most handsome Airedale you have ever seen?!

I love this picture. Typical Norris running away from Ryan and Baby with her flying wombat ears :)

The beach through Norris's eyes where he stays safely on the shore and barks at us when we get too far out in the water

Well sadly we had to take Vanessa back to the airport the next day but we sure enjoyed having her! She is one amazing girl who believes in her standards, always has a good attitude and is going to conquer the world soon! We love you Ness!!

Yurt Camping 101

2010-07-25T14:55:00.006-04:00

Well my complaining has finally paid off! We have never been camping as a family while in Michigan and have never taken the dogs so we finally planned a trip and went last week.
We rented a Yurt near at the Wild Cherry Resort near Leland, MI. What is a Yurt you ask? Well google thinks that it is "a circular domed dwelling that is portable and self-supporting"
but I think pictures are better explanations.

This is a bad picture but there is a clear plastic dome on top so when you lay in bed you can see the trees and sky

Not a bad view from the front door

It even had a solar shower which was surprisingly warm!

We decided on this after a suggestion from a friend at work who went there with her husband and dogs. We love to tent camp but ours is only big enough for us and unless we want 215 pounds of dog on top of us then we needed a better solution.
After the pretty drive up there we checked in, unpacked and explored our camp. It was very secluded and the dogs loved running around in the woods. What a beautiful place too!

Then since the weather was so nice, we loaded the babies up and went to Van's Beach which is another Lake Michigan beach.
{Don't you just love him?!}

We slept great that night then the next morning hiked near our camp up to a beautiful orchard then prepared for another beach day. This time we went to a beach in the Sleeping Bear Dunes park and were amazed by the gorgeous views and blue water.

The babies had a good time digging in the sand and swimming;

maybe too good for Baby who got ear infections out of it! She would tell you it was worth it though.

(Don't worry, I'm hoping to get the road sign edited out of an otherwise great picture)

After lunch and the beach we did another short hike up to Pyramid Point which was incredible! You get the top of this giant dune and look straight down at the water with a view of the Manitou islands in the distance. I totally recommend this hike to all you Michiganders and it's totally manageable for your little ones.

After a full day in the sun and water we headed back to camp where the dogs crashed. They really seemed to feel right at home in the yurt :)

After another good nights sleep we packed up and headed home. Just in the knick of time too, we had fantastic weather the whole trip and it started raining about 10 minutes after we got back on the road. This was such a fun trip and I would recommend yurting to everyone!

Tyler's Visit

2010-07-03T19:59:00.012-04:00

So my "little" brother Tyler came for a visit recently. He is almost 19 and we are hoping he goes on a mission soon so we were excited to have him stay with us. We tried to plan fun activities for him which included:
*Having the missionaries over for dinner
*Taking a trip to Cedar Point in Ohio for some roller coaster and water park fun,

{LOVED the waterpark!}

{Boys and their roller coasters}
{Classic Ryan}
{Soon enough and I'll have my own}

*We stopped in Kirtland to see the Temple and visitors center. It was very cool to sit inside this building that has such an important history in the church. I found it difficult though to get over the idea that it doesn't belong to our church anymore. There was "Church of Christ" stuff all over the place and I couldn't help but feel kind of robbed. Joseph Smith and the early members poured their time, money and lives into the building of this temple only to be driven away :(

I'm glad the church had a visitors center just down the street. We watched a movie about Kirtland when the saints were there and then toured some of the buildings including the sawmill, the only working ashery in North America and Newel K Whitney's home and store

*We saw a couple movies and
*had a fabulous time at the dog beach

I ♥ this boy
{Man's best friend}
In our family, everyone helps bring stuff back to the car...and I mean everyone(j/k, we tried but Norris refused to take one step with that on his back)

*and just enjoyed some one on one time with Ty. The dogs and kitty sure loved having their Uncle Tyler around. They couldn't get enough of him!
We were sad to see him go but had a great time and would love more visitors soon!! hint hint

I ♥ NY

2010-06-12T00:05:00.009-04:00

We recently took a weekend trip to New York to visit Ryan's cousin Joseph and his wife Bianca. We love these two and had a great time visiting them in Virginia 2 years ago but they have since migrated north to the Bronx while working in Manhattan so of course we had to visit again! They were such gracious hosts as always and we had a fabulous time. Here goes!

After another early wake up call of 4am we boarded a 7am flight to NY (I'm really reconsidering these early flights). It was so fun to finally see Manhattan under us just before we landed.

Bianca was kind enough to come get us and then we experienced the reality of New York traffic....possibly worse than LA :) She and Joseph are pro's though!

She had to work so we took the train into the city. Little known fact but I love taking the train/subway in big cities so imagine my excitement when got off the train and walked into Grand Central Station!
It was so neat to see this building that I've only seen in movies. The ceiling and details were beautiful.
Another surreal moment came when we opened the door to exit the station and were all the sudden right smack in the middle of NYC and staring up to giant skyscrapers.

Next we met Joseph for a minute then did a little exploring on our own.

We stopped at Rockefeller Plaza where all the NBC stuff is
Then on to Central Park. We rented a rowboat and took it out on the lake. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. There were even little turtles swimming around the lake.
After the park we took the subway down to the bottom of Manhattan where we took the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty. Tickets to go up to the crown were sold out until September so we settled with a boat ride past.It also provided a good view of the south end of the island

Afterwards we met up with Joseph and Bianca and attended the Manhattan Temple.
Another cool moment on our way to the temple was when we got off the subway and climbed the stairs up to the street. The first thing you see is the beautiful Angel Moroni atop the temple. Definitely an inspired location :)
Afterwards we enjoyed a yummy dinner from the popular Shake Shack and took a drive through Time Square.

The next day we slept in then the girls enjoyed a morning of pedicures while the boys bonded over a video game. Then the 4 of us headed back into the city. We had a fantastic lunch of pizza and wings at La Bella
then enjoyed an afternoon of sightseeing. We did a TON of walking and I think I've learned my lesson about not wearing flip flops on walking vacations :)

We stopped at Union Square where the farmers market and art vendors were out. This weird building was across the street and actually had smoke coming out of it...not sure why.

Another stop was at the site of the World Trade Center.
It was kind of disappointing because it's been 9 years and there is still just a fence and some signs, no memorial yet.

We got a laugh out of one of the solutions to lack of parking

After a walk by Ryan's favorite type of buildings

we took a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

View of the city skyline from the bridge

Joseph and Bianca had a reception to attend in Brooklyn so Ryan and I took the subway back to Time Square which was very cool. Another "surreal/from the movies" moment.
Afterward we met back at Grand Central and took the train home.

Sunday we attended church with them and experienced a whole new kind of diversity. And I thought Michigan was outside the "Utah norm". We must have been 4 of maybe 10 caucasian members. I thought it was great though. There were so many different nationalities and personalities it really added to the meeting. It's true though, although the members may look different, the church really is the same throughout the world. I'm a big fan of that :)

That evening we had a yummy group effort dinner and enjoyed a great night of chatting and board games. We were sad to see the weekend end so quickly but the next morning came and we had a plane to catch. The plus however was the airline moved us into their version of first class when Ryan asked for extra leg room...not too shabby :)

We had an awesome time and loved spending time with J&B. Can't wait to start planning our next adventure!

We have a problem on our hands...

2010-05-26T10:02:00.007-04:00

and his name is Jack. (don't be fooled by his seemingly innocent smile)
You see our sweet little kitty Jack is no longer so sweet. In an attempt to regain his manhood which we took away, he has gone rogue. He is now the neighborhood killer. First Ryan found a dead mouse ON our dining room table. Next it was a dying then dead squirrel on our dining room rug. And his latest prize was a screeching bird that like the rest of his creatures were brought in by him through the dog door...ughhhh. Thankfully we were able to save the bird but this is not good. I know this is what cats do but this is completely against my mantra, my desire to save every animal and give them good homes.
This is what I spotted a few weeks ago when I got out of the shower and glanced out the back window. Let me tell you, this squirrel was NOT happy about Jack invading his territory. There is a big hole in the trunk of this tree that one of the many squirrel families live it. A few weeks ago Jack had this lump on his back that got bigger and bigger till it burst. Turned out it was an abscess from a bite. I think I know who bit him...and he probably deserved it. Oh, what am I to do with him?

***
In happier news, we went with our neighbors and friends to the Conan O'Brien tour. He made a stop in East Lansing since MSU is his Alma mater (which I did not know). Here he is sporting his spartan shirt (sorry for the blurry pic, that's really him, I promise) And to everyone's surprise, half way through the show he brought out Kid Rock! (if you didn't know, Kid Rock is from Michigan)

***
And last in the catch up post...we made our 1st trip of the summer to the dog beach! We've been itching to go for a month but between schedules and the weather it didn't work out till now. The weather was really cool. It was warm but there was fog all over the beach. There were only a few people there when we arrived and there's nothing better than having the beach to yourselves! Baby is funny. She's our little swimmer but will only swim if you throw a stick out. Out she goes but she always drops it about half way back so this is Ryan retrieving her stick. We need to start bringing a bundle with us :)
Here is some video of that
You'll notice Norris doesn't go farther than a few inches into the water. Airedales are supposed to be swimmers but not Norris, he prefers the land.

Our attempt at a family picture. Unfortunately Norris refused to get off his beach blanket and be in it. I sure love these two! All tuckered out but looking forward to the next trip!

Birthday Girl

2010-05-17T08:33:00.004-04:00

It's hard to believe but our little girl turned 3 on the 15th! We have always celebrated the dogs birthdays and this year was no exception. Last year we had planned to have a little dog party for her 3rd birthday but she has become a bit defensive over the last year so we figured we'd play it safe and let her have her party all to herself :)

Here is Baby patiently waiting for her cake while Norris appears mystified as to why we are keeping those cupcakes from him

Here is Baby giving me her sad face and drooling while Norris is just plain mad (hence the incessant barking at me)

We love you Baby!
She and Norris love the play balls you get from the grocery store so here is a little clip of them with what was supposed to be Baby's birthday gift...you'll see what I mean

We also spent our weekend beautifying the yard with flowers...lots of flowers! The weather was finally warm enough to safely plant. Now cross your fingers it stays warm!

I love how these giant planters turned out!

This fine looking grow box is all Ryan's doing...now if we can just keep the dogs, birds and squirrels out this year
Hope you're all having a Happy Spring!

Video's are public

2010-05-12T18:27:00.002-04:00

Sorry guys...that's what I get for being a first time YouTube user :) Enjoy!