More Longing for Sun

Yes, two sun worshipping posts in a row, what can I say?? I have a one track mind on these 60 degree shower-filled days when it's supposed to be summer!!!! Most of you know we went to Florida a couple of weeks ago for Aaron's work so I thought I'd share a few pics and stories.

Truth be told, our mere three days there left me wishing for a little LESS sun. It was sooooooo hot! You walked out the door for two minutes and were covered in sweat. So needless to say, this is where I spent pretty much ALL my time while Aaron was in meetings. It was awesome right there overlooking the ocean. The less awesome part was how sunburned I got....even my legs peeled, which I can't remember happening in all my nearly (way too nearly) 30 years.



The training event was held in the South Seas Resort, which was on the very end of Captiva Island, just off the coast of Ft. Meyers. They had two manatees swimming around right in the marina a couple of the days we were there and this is, believe it or not, the best shot we got of one of them!



Here we are getting ready for the awards banquet. Out of the 9,000 employees in Aaron's company, he was one of 140 selected to attend this talent council...for the last two years he has been number one in his position in the country! Yep, this is me being the proud wife. He works very hard and it was nice to see him get honored for it.



We had to get a closer look at that sunset while we were waiting for the banquet to start.



After the banquet they had a big dance party on the beach with an awesome DJ and a bonfire. Here we are with some of his colleagues that were selected to go...after our run on the dance floor. Aaron was feeling too tired to dance until they played a little butt rock and then he was out there front and center doing his air guitar, missing his mullet wig sadly left back at home.

He put on a good enough show that this lady came up to me and asked, "are you with him?" Then she wanted to give us tickets to the exclusive after party!! So awesome. Then when this other lady asked me if we were married because we looked so good together dancing...like we were having so much fun and belonged together. So random.



Our next day we pretty much played the day away. They gave us a card for money and activities while at the resort, so we went jet skiing in the morning. Of course Aaron dumped us trying to keep up with the tour guide! Oh man I always forget how bad salt water tastes.



Then in the afternoon we went parasailing, something neither of us had ever done before. I was really surprised at how peaceful and calm it was whie we were up there...just like a giant hammock 1500 feet above the water! We saw a little pod of stingrays from above, which I was glad we saw then instead of while getting dumped.

And then the mini vacation was over before we knew it and of course before we were ready. It's already got me daydreaming for that Hawaii trip!!

What Happened in Vegas

Okay Rachel, you asked, and you shall receive...you have spurred me into action!

Last month I was fortunate enough to be able to take a trip BY MYSELF (the first trip by myself since Adelyn was born) to Las Vegas. One of my best friends ever turned 30 and to celebrate, her husband rented out one of the cabanas at the M resort and one of my other favorite friends and I were able to fly out for the big party.

Here we are, for what we realized was the first time the three of us had been together since 2001!!!



Here is a better look at the pool and hotel.



This was our cabana, complete with a tv, stereo system, fridge...

...private hot tub...

...and a private sunbathing deck, which we rarely left the entire six hours we were there. It's amazing how something so simple can be so fun and so relaxing.

It was seriously the best ladies' weekend ever!! I had so much fun. Wish you guys lived closer!

A big thanks to Erika and Bryce and their hospitality, to Becca for making the trip, and especially to Aaron and Kathryn for taking care of the babe in my absence.

Now if only I could come up with something as cool to celebrate my own impending 30th birthday!

Oh Canada!

Now that it is June I thought I would finally post our stuff from April and May!!!! No need for my excuses, we'll just get right to it. Many of you know that in addition to regular meetinghouses, our church builds temples throughout the world as a special place of worship. Upon completion, they are open to the public for usually a two week Open House before being dedicated to God.



They recently built one up in Vancouver Canada and we decided at the very last minute to take my sister Michelle up to see it. Not having realized it was the last day in time make a fun weekend out of it eating that delicious Chinese food they have up there, we went up and back in the same day (not something I recommend with a baby).



She was at least distracted for awhile by the curious booties that we had to wear while inside the temple and the beautiful paintings the had of the Savior.



There was such a special spirit there and I was glad that we were able to help Michelle experience that. Here we are altogether in the front, just missing the spire.

Next trip to Canada...Whistler Jan 11!!!!! Please plan on joining us...it will change your life. That is, if they get more snow than we got this year!

Spring is in the Air???

It has been a year of crazy weather, as it always seems to be lately, but we do our best to roll with the punches. Though the following pics are all of Spring Excursions, they were all wet wet days. Nevertheless we had fun!

My sister works for the Parks and Rec department in charge of the Annual Easter Egg Dash, and this year Adelyn was big enough to participate. She didn't really understand what was going on at first (and may have been slightly disoriented by our mad dash from the car to make it to the real Dash before all the eggs were gone), but as she loves carrying around baskets and filling them with random things, she started getting into it pretty quickly.





Then the day got all the more exciting when she spotted the giant "buddy." For those of you who see her regularly, you know she is attached at the hip to her own stuffed bunny, so you can imagine her reaction to seeing such a giant cuddly one!



The next week my grandparents came in to town so that my grandpa and sister could celebrate the birthday that they share 70 years apart. I think it's very sweet that my grandpa will always make the effort for them to celebrate together. I didn't get the actual party, just our adventures the next day. We first went to the Flight Museum which somehow I had never been to in all my years of living here.

Then we went to the Tulip Festival up in Skagit Valley.

We really had a hard time keeping Adelyn from pulling all the flowers out of the ground!!

So pretty!!

I also love my grandpa for springing for the ever enticing smelling Kettle Korn that I am too cheap to buy!! He told me I had to help him finish it if I cared anything about his health. :) I chose to be the caring granddaughter and help of course!

We took cover from the rain at the restaurant where my sister waitresses. Adelyn is very independent already and wants to eat like the big folks. She did not want to eat the pieces of pizza that I cut up for her nicely on her plate...she grabbed a whole piece off the pan and went to town! She is a little nut and I love it!!

Obviously it took a lot out of her!

All Hail the Mighty State

For those of you less versed in state songs, we are talking Texas here. That's right! Home of the Alamo, the Dallas Cowboys, and me, for the first sixteen years of my life! Ever since we got married, Aaron and I have talked about going down to visit all the family I still have down there and last month the stars finally aligned and we made it happen!

What we weren't planning on was Adelyn and I getting sick--definitely not the best way to travel or the best time to be away from home, but we made the best of it. Here is Adelyn sporting her own Texas Longhorns.



Then we found a live one at the Historic Forth Worth Stockyards. Yes, I am much less dressed than they are, but I just needed to soak up the sun, what can I say?!



We went to the Fort Worth Zoo after that and actually caught the Lion roaring back and forth to his little lioness! It was seriously awesome. We tried to catch it on video, but got a nice picture instead.



True to character, Adelyn was not a fan of the birds once they got up close to her. I thought she might feel differently about birds than cats and dogs since she is actually bigger than they are, but I was wrong. Apparently ALL animals should be admired from a distance!



Adelyn had a hard time taking naps in my grandparents' crib, so we would often go on little drives to put her to sleep. Our first day's drive almost put Aaron to sleep too--my old elementary school, middle school, high school, childhood church building, house I was born in, etc. Well the last part was cool because that house is actually a museum now (I know you had no idea I was that important in my previous life!).

Sunday morning though, we drove up to Oklahoma so that Aaron could say that he had been there. We decided while we were there we might as well do something, so we went to Turner Falls, site of many a ward campout in my youth. We learned while there that it stands as Oklahoma's LARGEST waterfall!!! At 77 feet!!! What is Washington's you might wonder. 2584 feet!!



Yes, Texas is not really known for its physical beauty, but for the warmth and friendliness of its people. We definitely experienced that with the tremendous hospitality extended by my grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins, and friends. Thanks everyone for helping us have such a good time and for welcoming Adelyn and Aaron into the family. Come visit us up here anytime!



This one is just for Kathryn....maybe you can see it at the Super Bowl next year!!

The Beauty of Math

My friend forwarded this to me and instead of sifting through my address book to forward it on, I thought I would post it here.

The Beauty of Mathematics

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

*Brilliant, isn't it?*

And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1 234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Mind Boggling...

The Twilight Tour

As I mentioned in my last post, times have been a bit on the crazy side these days. Since that leaves me clueless as to the best place to start catchup, I'll just start right in the middle with Aaron's family's visit. We of course had a great time with them and hope they did too...despite being tossed around to three different places to rest their head on their six night stay. It was all for the sake of adventure though, so no one can complain!

Our big adventure this time was the Olympic Peninsula, inspiration for the recent cult phenomenon, "Twilight." This is a craze that personally I don't understand...I read the first two books, pulling out my own hair every step of the way. No offense to those who like it, but I guess I was just never that kind of girl. It does make for a good adventure though, so off we went.

Our first stop en route to the famed Forks was Ocean Shores, which is the nearest beach to where we live. I figure it's always good to give those land locked Idahoans a chance to stare off into the never-ending waves.



We turned our trek northward for the Quinault Rain Forest. This is supposedly the world's largest Blue Spruce. Looks pretty big to me!



The Quinault Rain Forest surrounds Lake Quinault, which is really beautiful...



...and a great place to skip rocks...or try to throw them really far and hit the random poles sticking up out of the water.

We stayed the night out at Kalaloch in a very small cabin overlooking the ocean. The smaller the cabin, the better the chance for family bonding, right guys? Just off the beach are the "Kalaloch Rocks" that provided great opportunity for "daring the ocean" as Aaron's dad put it. We would run out to the rocks as the tide went out, then have to wait while it came back in and went back out again to return safely to shore.

Don't be jealous, but it was awesome. (This is the beach just south of La Push, for all you Twilighters out there...you CAN be jealous).

The weather had been on our side on the first day of travels, but the second day we weren't quite so lucky. We had the Hoh Rainforest and the booming metropolis of Forks on the agenda for the morning and didn't let the weather stop us. Considering the rain forest gets about 150 inches a year of rain (compared to Seattle's 40 and Idaho's 7), we knew we had a pretty good chance of getting soaked.

Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Forks itself, but since most of the movies are filmed down in St. Helens Oregon and up in Vancouver Canada, I think the actual town may have been a bit of a letdown for Aaron's sisters. Maybe we'll just have to save those for next trip!

Anyone interested in booking their own Olympia Peninsula tour, call me anytime, I seriously love playing Tour Guide.

Maybe I'll even take a picture of your backside to share with posterity.