Sedona

This was a first for us....we took a trip WITHOUT the kids!! We celebrated our 9th anniversary (I know I can't believe it either!) and went to Sedona, Arizona. It was a much needed trip, these past few years have been really stressful for us with... the applying, interviewing and being accepted to graduate school, having twins, moving to a new state, getting a new job (which I don't love and makes me even more sleep deprived than I already am), making new friends, joining a new ward, dealing with family drama, and trying to stay sane caring for 3 kids 3 yrs and under....is enough to make anyone need a VACATION!! So hence, Joe and I have been in survival mode for so long, and we needed some time away to reconnect and remember why we chose one another to be companions with for time and all eternity.

It was the perfect little get away. It was really nice, the beautiful red rock all around and the place we stayed was like a fancy little cabin, we really felt like we were camping out in the middle of nature with the bonus of not having to rough it!! :) And another bonus was It was really close only 1 & 1/2 hrs away! So we didn't waste much of our time driving and also if we had to get back in case of an emergency or something we could get back in a hurry.

Since I had a bit of a scare right before we left for vacation... I had taken the girls to the water park and Kaylee was sitting on a chair with me eating lunch and the next thing I know, she is falling head first onto the hard concrete. I pick her up (after gasping of course) and kiss her on her head only to see a huge goose egg already starting to form, plus blood all in her mouth. Oh great!! So I take her over to the first aid station to find 2, 15 yr old girls in there that look at me with deer in the head lights when they see Kaylee. then the one girl proceeds to put on glove and give me one 2x2 of gauze to wipe the blood out of her mouth. We needed several more to wipe it up, but nothing looked damaged in her mouth, but it was a moment of a scare when there were little pieces of white things in her mouth, we thought they were broken teeth, until I remembered that she was eating a rice cake right before that happened! Pheww!! :)

So they gave me ice for her head and told me she should be OK since her eyes weren't dilated. OK thanks. Still a bit traumatized I head out with my bag of ice and shaken up daughter and go find my friend and sister in law who had my other kids. Kaylee is still screaming since I'm trying to put the ice on her head.

Joe I and had joked earlier about painting one of the girls toes so grandma and grandpa wouldn't mix them up....well don't need to do that anymore!! :) The one with the banged up head is Kaylee...got it!

Then I was trying to carry both girls but Renee didn't want me to take her out of the water, so she does this dolphin like kick and totally slips out of my arms and of course lands on the concrete smacking her head in the back! OK! Now I've about lost it too! I wasn't feeling comfortable in leaving the kids in the first place, now I'm going to worry about concussions with all the head trauma we had at the water park. I know I may of been over reacting, but I was a bit stressed. So I called my doctor real quick to give me the reassurance I needed to leave for my trip and feel more confident that they were OK, and to know what signs to tell grandma to look out for. Which wasn't going to be easy since the signs were irritability, lethargy and vomiting. Well they could be crying since they miss mom and dad, and we were at the pool for a few hours, so they will be tired anyhow, and they both hit their head so it's not like you tell a difference between their behavior. But they ended up being fine and they had a great weekend with Grandma and Papa. (I guess it's just Karma coming around, I remember being 6yrs old and cutting my head open right before we were supposed to go on vacation too!):)

So here are pictures of our trip. This is Sedona, isn't it Beautiful!!

This looks very similar to a picture we took when we went to Yosemite when we were dating. Which is where we first said "I Love you"....AWWHHHHH! So it was a perfect setting for us to celebrate our anniversary and remember why it was we fell in love.


This is our "Porch" right outside our room

This is the view we had from the front of our room


This was a shot at night, they had white lights up in the trees, which the camera didn't capture too well with the flash, but it was a beautiful sight, you'll just have to take my word for it!


This was our room, it was very nice and comfy. Although we didn't sleep to well the first night due to trouble with the AC. It was sooo loud and kept on coming on and turning off and would wake us up! It was fixed for the 2nd night though...thank goodness!

Another view of our room

This was our jacuzzi tub that took about 6hrs to fill up....ok, not that long but the water pressure was so bad, we could have went out and had dinner, then came back and still waited for it to keep filling up. That's what we get being out in the boonies....so worth it though.


This was a creek that was right behind our room that you could walk down to. It was so quite and serene, we really enjoyed it!

We enjoyed it so much so we got Dairy Queen and took it down to the creek to eat it. They had swings and hammocks for you to hang out in....which we did.


We decided to lay in one of the hammocks that were available down by the creek. What a nice comfortable place to lay and enjoy nature.....at least we thought.

Then we found a more suitable hammock.
(Have you seen us look this relaxed in a long time!?)

Ahhhhh. the hammock! Sounds of birds chirping, wind blowing and NO children anywhere!!
It was different but WONDERFUL!!! :)

Just a fun shot I thought!

Whenever we saw children on our trip we would look in awe at them, get a little lump in our throat because we missed them.....for a good 3 seconds, and then sigh with relief that we weren't the ones having to chase them around at the moment!


Then we went on this exciting off-roading Jeep tour which included all of our desires....
It was fun, exciting, adventurous, informative, and included some hiking! It was perfect and to top it all off....we were the only ones on this particular tour so we had our own private tour guide taking us around the "outback" of Sedona telling us all kinds of stories about the Indians, Rock formations, and the plants and wild life.


This was our tour guide. A real cowboy! He reminded us of a cross between of our brothers Jim and Brian a little bit. He was really fun and really loved what he does for a living!

He was a good photographer too.


This was a stop where we got out and hiked around a little bit, this particular spot was named
"7 sacred pools" by the Indians that inhabited this area. Because these natural made holes collected the fresh rain and stream water and allowed them to always have fresh water.

Although they aren't so "sacred" or "fresh" anymore!
Look close, there is a garter snake hanging out in there.
The weather was absolutely beautiful that day, it cooled off quite a bit with rain clouds rolling in. There was a rainbow off in the distance that you can faintly see. It was a bonus to our scenic adventure!

Here are a few videos trying to capture just how fun it was 4 wheeling on such rocky terrain



This was the a great restaurant called "The Cowboy Club" Great ambiance and Wonderful food!
This was by far the BEST Salmon I have ever had! I was a little apprehensive of the "mint relish" that it said it was served with, but I was pleasantly surprised of how much I enjoyed it! Yes.....Joe had a Cheeseburger..but to his defense, he wasn't that hungry.

(Hyrum and Sunni you'll be happy to know that we enjoyed all of our dining experiences in Sedona....much more than Porter Place!):)

We enjoyed our meal soo much that we went back the next night and ordered Steak and the Fillet Mignon! It was so beautiful that I had to take a picture! It tasted as good as it looks. That's blue cheese on top of the fillet...again pleasantly surprised!

This was the another GREAT find, we found it with our noses ..Really! It is a little hole in the wall that we came across when walking around on Friday night. It was 7:30 when we found it, and they were already closed, but it smelled soo good I knew we had to come back for lunch the next day. We did and was soo happy we did! Again, great ambiance and GREAT food! Yummy Pull pork barbecue sandwiches with homemade coleslaw and fries.

I guess this place is pretty well known, a lot of famous people had been there and had their picture taken and posted up all over the wall, along with a bunch of other cool nick knacks.

Especially this nick knack...If you can't read it....it says.........

John Wayne Toilet Tissue
It's rough, and tough, and doesn't take crap off of anyone!

Another real cowboy! oh wait that's Joe, sorry!


If anyone wonders what Karen is like first thing in the morning...look behind Joe...that will give you a good idea.

While we were away....back at home the kids were really well behaved I'm sure!


OK maybe not! :)

They didn't know what they were really getting into when they offered to do this for us I'm afraid! but it was an offer we couldn't refuse!! Thanks again Grandma and Papa!

Kaylee: "See Renee, it is just like a football helmet"
Renee: "You're right...how do you think she puts it on everyday?"









Ryan: "Paw-Paw! Please put some jeans on...your legs are soooo bright!"


Kaylee: "Here Paw-Paw...you can play with it now. I'm all done"


Grandma made some real yummy treats....Graham crackers and chocolate frosting

Tune in next week to see how many crackers Ryan can eat at once!


Kaylee: "Where else can I smear this chocolate? Grandma! Come here! I have need to whisper a secret to you"


but they quickly found out how much FUN it really is to feed them stuff like that when it came time to clean them up!!

She told me it took a good 10 minutes to clean them up, and another 10 minutes to clean off the frosting from the table(hahaha sorry mom, just have to laugh a little!)


Then they took off to the splash park to burn off all the energy they got from eating all that sugar!! good idea! P.S.......Nice legs Papa!! :)



Run forest Run!!

London Bridges Falling down!


Ryan was so excited to have Grandma and Papa come he wanted to make a special treat....
Cup cakes with "Sprinklers" in Lightening McQueen paper!


"Do you like them Papa?! I made them!"


Papa made something special in return.....homemade french fries! Yum!

Then they continued the spoiling and took them to Chuck E Cheese's after the girls woke up from their nap. They had a BLAST and continued to burn more energy that never seems to run out! The kids ate the pizza really well, they said the girls ate 3 pieces!



Thanks Grandma and Papa!! This is soo much fun! I love when you come to town!! :) Will come again soon?!!! We miss you already! Love you!!! XOXOXO