Spring Break 2010

There is a song in Barbra Striesand's movie "Yentle" that sums up how I feel about Spring Break this year. These are the words. "It all began, the day I found, that from my window I could only see a piece of sky. I stepped outside and looked around, I never dreamed it was so wide or even half as high...." I guess in my own little world, I knew that there was something "out there" I hadn't seen before but I never dreamed that it would touch me in the way that it did. I hoped that it would, but I didn't dare go with a preconceived idea.

We had the opportunity as a family to start our Spring Vacation in Philidelphia, Pa. When we got there we rented a car and drove out first to Hershey, Pa where they make all those yummy chocolate treats we all love. We spent only a short time there but enjoyed driving around and looking at all the fun street lights like this.





We drove on to Gettysburg. I had no idea how huge it really was. One of our favorite place was the National Cemetery. How grateful I am to those who fought for the freedoms I now enjoy. I pray that I never take the sacrifice of those men and women for granted.







We spent the next day in Philidelphia cruising the history sights. Independance Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the famous Philly Cheese steak sandwhich. (Although there are no pictures of the Philly Cheese steak, know that we ate one.)

Independance Hall



From there we rented a vehicle and drove the 5+ hours to Palmyra, NY. On the way we stopped in Harmony, Pa near the Susquehanna River where the Priesthood was restored to the earth to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey.



I love this photo of Seth. He will be getting the Aaronic Priesthood in a little less than a year.


This is the actual Susquehanna River. I didn't realize how very big and wide it was.

We got to Palmyra, NY late in the evening. Then next morning we went first to the Smith Farm. We took the tour with two wonderful sister missionaries. We enjoyed hearing the stories and seeing the items in the houses but even more evident was how we felt as we were there.

Smith farm house

Looking back on Smith farm house from the frame house (built later).

Frame house

We then got into the van and drove to Niagara falls. There was snow on the ground and so we got into a snowball fight after we took a picture over the falls. All the mist in the background is from the falls.








Wanting to see Lake Ontario, we drove north. The sun was setting when we finally found a place to stop and look at the lake. I had to use the colors in the sky for a back drop.




The next morning we went back to the Sacred Grove. My last piece of advice to the rest of the family was this, "I am not going to hurry anyone out of the grove. I want the same curteousy. Do not come and tell me you are hungry for we just ate breakfast. Do not tell me you need the bathroom for there are the restrooms right there. And do not come and tell me to hurry, or that you are bored or whatever. Take some time to find out for your self if God, the Father and Jesus Christ did show themselves to Joseph Smith. Because, I know that he did. And I want to experience the Sacred Grove without anybody bugging me and I think you should do the same." It was incredible. One by one they entered the grove. I chose to start my trek into the grove from the back door of the Smith farm house.




There was evidence in The Grove that it was early spring. The Crocuses were just starting to bloom.

I took 4 pictures, on a timer, of our family after spending 2 hours in The Grove. Every single one of them turned out great.

The next stop was the Hill Cumorah and then the Peter Whitmer Farm.



We drove back to Philidelphia and then took the train to Washington DC.



The girls and I went early to Arlington Cemetery to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


While in DC, Alan ran his first marathon coming in under 4 hours. We were extremely proud of him for finishing.


We ended our trip in Richmond, Va watching Tessa play soccer while the University Coaches watched the teams playing. We are hoping Tessa will be offered a scholarship to play and attend college.

This trip to the East coast is one that I want to remember the rest of my days. I enjoyed being with my family and spending time with them in Sacred places. I pray those feelings will last a long time.

Catching Up

Okay so I have been meaning to catch up on my blog for a couple of months and tonight I was chastened to write again. So here I am.

For a valentines present to Alan, I (with the help of some friends) surprised Alan for the very first time in a long time. We painted and decorated a room all in one day to house his Animal Trophies. We even painted the ceiling. It looked so good. I would post pictures of it, but the very next day, Alan tore it all apart because he wanted to put in recessed lighting. As soon as he finishes the lighting, I will post a picture. It was fun to surprise him. He had no idea.

I also wanted to post some fun pictures of the crazy thing Josh does when it rains here. Because Arizona has no beachfront property, and hardly any rain throughout the year, it is quite a novelty when it actually does rain. Josh (being 15 and loving adventure and being cold I guess) goes out with his friends and pretends to be on the beach, in 40 degree weather and a swim suit, to wave board. He did this for several days until the water was all soaked up. I am sure that he will be back out there when we have our monsoon weather come this summer.



Megan has just finished cross country in Junior High. Here are some of the photos taken of her in action.This is her at the beginning of the race...


And this is at the end of the race.


Tessa just finished out her High School Soccer season. She and her team did awesome. There were several write-ups with her mentioned in the paper and one week she was chosen as the AZ Central Athelete of the week. Here are some pictures taken during some of the games during the season.





Seth just graduated from Cub scouts and earned his Arrow of Light. He will now be attending scouts and looks forward to the overnighters with his friends.



When did my kiddos get so old? I will soon have two drivers and three in High school. It is difficult to think of them old enough to be in college and gone. It does happen and will soon, I am afraid.

Boot Camp

Please tell me what would entice me out of my bed some mornings and into the cold, dark beginning of another day, to spend 45 minutes torturing my muscles (that I have forgotten about these many years) on the soaking wet grass for? BOOT CAMP! I am not quite sure why they call it that. It should be YOUR BUTT IS GONNA HURT CAMP or I CAN'T WALK UPSTAIRS ANYMORE CAMP or ITS GONNA HURT TO SNEEZE, LAUGH, AND MOVE CAMP. I think the reason they call it boot camp is... because for the first however long, the instructor has to kick you with a boot to keep you moving because you can't move.

I have to keep telling my self that this is good for me. But... I hate it. I even told the instructor this morning "I hate you! I will someday appreciate that you pushed me so hard but right now I hate you."

Someone asked me how it was going. She said that she would hate having someone push her into training. Well, my answer is, some of us have to be compelled into fitness just as some are humble enough to know that they need to do it and get it done all on their own. I think it is that way with many things. Some have to be forced to attend school while others love to go. I am glad I have choice over all things.

One thing is certain here, I am sore. As I move during the day, I am hoping that the pain I feel in some way is shrinking my size and burning calories. This has made me more grateful for this wonderful body I have. I hope I can treat it better in the future!

No Pain, No Gain eh?. Hopefully it is No Pain, No Loss. Keep on trucking! :)

Sleep

So why is it that when you want to get a good nights sleep, you can't. Your mind just won't shut down. There is no power down switch, no button, no power cord, and not even a control/alt/Delete key. So I lay down on my bed, and Alan snores which just reminds me that I can't sleep. And him sleeping so deeply will not allow me to sleep either. So I move to the guest room where the bed is not my bed and is hard and I would have a difficulty sleeping on it as well. There are a million and one things I could be doing but the whole house is asleep and I don't want to disturb their sleep. So I decide to get up and work on my computer, playing with photographs, listening to music on my ipod and hope that I can stay awake tomorrow. But I know the minute I sit down tomorrow when I want to be awake, I will be snoozing. Happy ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz!

Happy 18th Anniversary to us.

Alan and I have been married 18 years today. So I thought I would list 18 reasons why I love my man (in no particular order).

1. He is my sweetheart.
2. He loves the Lord.
3. He has a funny sense of humor.
4. He is a great father.
5. He is a wonderful teacher.
6. He plans a wonderful vacations.
7. He brings me flowers just because.
8. He loves to give surprises.
9. He is very picky (which means he was about me too).
10. He is a super kisser.
11. He gives fabulous hugs.
12. When he sets his mind to something, it gets done.
13. He is loyal.
14. He looks "hot"!
15. He's a great cook.
16. He's the best snuggler.
17. He savors the scriptures.
18. He loves the outdoors and participating in sports.




And now after 18 years, we have four awesome kids who tell us to get a room when we show any public displays of affection. To which we reply, "We bought a house. Every room is ours." They are great kids with not so great parents. We love them and hope for the best for them.

I look back at those two years while I waited for him to get off his mission. I learned from those times he wasn't around and I am grateful the Lord showed me that he was my man. I wouldn't change much and I would do it all over again. Thanks for all the wonderful memories we have together. May we cherish those we have, enjoy making more, and forget all the ones that bring pain. I love you Alan. :) K8e

2009 summer vacation

This summer brought a new and different aspect to our lives. As Alan has been out of work, we took a real family vacation. One where we went lots of places and where Alan was with us the whole time. In years past he has just stayed a day or two with us and then had to head back to work. It was fun to be together seeing new sights and experiencing lots of new things. We enjoyed the experience.

We started our vacation driving over to San Bernadino for Tessa to play in a soccer tournament. The girls played well, and the weather was lovely. The next stop we went to was Pismo Beach. The water was a little on the cool side but we had fun several days enjoying the sand and the ocean. We drove up Highway 1 in California (very windy roads and gorgeous scenery) and passed through Alan's high school days stomping ground in San Jose.

Our next stop was San Francisco. We stayed outside of the city and road the train in. We bought passes for transportation and rode all over the city. I think it was the first time we all had been on a city bus together. The kids loved it. On our final day when we were leaving the city, Alan and the kids biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. They loved it.



Our next stop was the beautiful Lake Tahoe. I had never been. I didn't realize how big and beautiful it was. We had a wonderful day on the shore of the lake kayaking, peddling a big water bike and enjoying the perfect weather.




Then on to Utah to spend the 4th of July with family. We have a wonderful tradition around the fourth and it was important for my kids to be there. And there is no place on earth that celebrates the 4th of July like Utah; especially Utah county. Alan and Tessa got up early on the 4th and ran the 10K. They both did fabulous.

We all get together and play frizbee football and baseball and whatever else game we care to play, we eat and have our GORP (really fun trailmix with everyone's favorite sugared cereal and candy mixed in a plastic baggie) and watch the fireworks. It's tradition and last year when we didn't make it to Utah for the 4th, I heard about it for the whole year.
While we were in Utah my niece Chrissy took these FABULOUS family pictures for us. There are so many good ones that I had a hard time deciding which ones to put on this blog. Know that there were a lot more than I am showing.






It was a wonderful vacation. One I hope stays with us a long time.

My Mentor, my friends.

I started taking pictures because I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with a talented man who was a photographer. I had the opportunity to work in his studio for a time. One of the greatest things I learned from him was to use humor to get people to be themselves. He just celebrated his 84th birthday. He and his wife are some of my dearest friends. He is now in an assisted living home and I try to visit him weekly. Today, I went to visit and I took my camera with me. To you, these pictures might not be too impressive. I was happy to get him as he is. All photographers have a hard time being on the other side of the lens. He had a hard time at first but he let me take as many as I wanted. His wife is also an amazing woman. I don't know one person that knows her that doesn't love her. Together they are ones that I want to be like when I grow up. I am impressed with their love and care of each other. I want to thank them for loving me for who I am. They are truly kindred spirits. I am grateful that in my lifetime I was blessed to have them be a part of my life. They are wonderful people and I love them.

This little puppy got a broken leg as he was trying to follow someone through a door.