Up in the Mountains

Jason and I went up to the mountains for a day and a half to go visit his brother Trevor and his wife rachel and their boys Dylan, Jacob and brand new baby Nathan. We had a blast up there, it is so beautiful and so peaceful, I was sad it was only for a day, but it was still nice to get away. Here are some pictures:

Riding on our Four Wheeler

On Turkey Hill...I love it up there

There was this really cool tree with windows and doors Dylan loved it
Me in the tree
Its hard to see us all in there but we fit

The gorgeous views

One year cake tradition

So I don't know how many of you saved the top of your cake and actually ate it for your first year anniversary. Well we saved ours and were in Florida for our anniversary so we ate it tonight. We weren't expecting it to actually be edible, but surprisingly it was really really good. I was amazed! We even thought we should celebrate with Charlie and Shady since they put up with us too! Its kind of funny we have yet to actually eat on our nice China, so we decided this would be the perfect occasion to try out our nice china, and Jason actually thought I should let the dogs eat their peice off of the China too...men, I guess they just don't appreciate Crate and Barrel China as much as us women do! So don't worry the dogs got their own tacky plate to eat their cake from!

Honeymoon Finally!

Jason and I never got to go on a real honeymoon after we got married because of his police academy. We finally planned one for our first year anniversary and it was wonderful. We spent 3 nights in Ft. Lauderdale Florida in a hotel right on the beach, we took a two night cruise to the Bahamas, and then came back and spend two nights in Orlando. We had such a nice relaxing and enjoyable time together. Our favorite part was snorkeling in the Bahamas, we will have to put those pictures up later because we haven't developed our underwater camera yet. It was like swimming in Finding Nemo, it was amazing! It was just so nice to get to spend time together and to relax and fall in love all over again. It helped us to appreciate eachother more and we're so grateful for our relationship and that we will always be best friends. Here are a few pictures of our trip...and I'll post our underwater adventures once we get those pictures developed!


In the bahamas!

My handsome husband!

Private beach in the bahamas at the resort we went to.

On the cruise ship


On our way to snorkle

Big ship little ship, which one is ours?

View from our hotel room in Ft Lauderdale.

Jason likes to take pictures of dead things washed up on shore!

Grateful

Since I haven't really posted anything in a while (since nothing too new is really going on) I thought I would post a gratitiude post. I apologize in advance if this blog is a little indulgent. I was in a car accident this last weekend on my way down to Casa Grande to visit Christian and Addie who had just moved to AZ. My parents were coming in so I was very excited to see my family! Jason unfortunately had to work so I went down by myself. Just outside of Payson there was a rollover accident that happened right in front of me, I was able to stop in enough time to avoid not hitting the already damaged scene, but the car behind me didn't stop in enough time to avoid me. Luckily he was able to miss the back of my car but he ran into the side of my car and blew out the tire. It really could have been a lot worse than it really was, we both could have gone rolling down the mountain along with 10 other cars that were trying to get around that corner as well. While it was very frustrating and stressful to be in an accident, I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father for being there always in my life. He never leaves me alone. There were several things that He blessed me with that day to remind me of His love and existence in my life. First, i have no idea how to change a tire, I never have before! The man who ran into me offered to change my tire no questions asked just asked me where the spare was and changed it for me. The officer on scene noticed that I didn't have current tags (we were a few weeks past due since its like $300 to renew our registrations!) and decided not to give me a ticket. I would not have been able to drive all the way down to the valley on a spare tire and it was a Friday evening with no luck of a tire shop open or with the necessary rims that could fix the car that we could afford. So Jason called into work on a very busy and crazy night to come rescue me, his parents drove him and left as soon as they heard the news. My mom knew something was up (Mom's always have that feeling) and called about 5 minutes after the accident had happened when I needed a little supporting voice to know it was going to be ok. Jason drove me all the way down to Mesa and then all the way back up to Holbrook so that he could be at work that night by midnight and his parents drove our car home just so that I wouldn't miss spending time with my family. Then my parents drove hours out of their way to take me back up to Flagstaff where Jason's parents came and picked me up on Monday. Jason's grandpa even offered to drive all the way out there to tow the truck home if necessary. I really am so blessed to have a family that is so willing to be there for me, without question or complaint, to have a husband who knows how much I miss my family so drives me all the way to Mesa on very little sleep. I know the Lord was watching out for me, and continues to watch out for me. It is just a reminder to me that just when you think you might be alone and start to be pessimistic, we never really are alone. I am so grateful for His daily guidance and protection in my life. (My lifesavers, Dad you're included in there too I just couldnt find a picture :) )

Heidi and Travis - Contemporary (Calling You)

Can I just say how excited I am that So you think you Can Dance is back!! When I think of summer I think of BBQ's, the beach, watermelon, and most importantly So You Think You Can Dance!! This is just in remembrance of my favorite dance ever on there...Heidi and Travis did this amazing routine choreographed by Mia Michaels in season 2 and it has always been my favorite...oh if only I could dance like that!

Little Debbie

I have been warned so many times about the scorpians here in Arizona, and I guess I just figured it wouldn't happen to me it was just a myth or something. Well I was wrong, Jason found a scorpian in our HOUSE climbing up the wall. I was terrified and had nightmares of scorpians all night. He put it in a little tupperware and its sitting in our kitchen for Jason to show off. He named it Little Debbie. He said he has only seen three in his lifetime in a house and one of them was in our house, and he thinks that is supposed to make me feel better. Obviously he was not as traumatized as I was. Here is a website for the Arizona Bark Scorpian :http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/az1223/#ARIZONABARKSCORPION

Happy reading...lucky us :)! Christian and Addie, don't let that scare you from coming to AZ, I hear they are just as bad down in the Valley, but don't say I didn't warn you!

Here are pictures of Little Debbie

Paintball

Jason and his Dad are really into paintball, and have both tried to get me into it forever. I've never really been interested because when they come back they both have these massive bruises where they got shot. Well I decided to be brave on Friday and give it a shot. I figured it would be a way to spend more time with Jason and it could be fun who knows. Jason figured it would be good if i got shot first to see if I really wanted to play after that. The first time he shot me in the leg (its ok because I shot him in the rear end after that) and it hurt so bad I was ready to give up, but then he shot me in the back and because I had more padded clothing on I couldn't even feel it at all. So I decided to give it a try and just pad up really well. We met up with a group of about 13 guys (I'm the only girl) and played in the middle of the desert for two and a half hours. I had SO much fun playing. Now I know why they got so into paintball, its such an adrenaline rush! I did get shot a couple times but it was well worth it. I got a few kills, including one of my teamates who wasn't too happy with me but he'll get over it. I tagged him back in then killed the last guy on the other team. Anyway, it was lots of fun so I think I found a new hobby. I wish we had taken pictures of our outfits, we were in Jason's Dad's old airforce camo uniforms. So instead I'll post some of my battle wounds. Sorry if its too up close and personal, but I have to have something to show for it!