The Arches!
These pictures are of a trip Josh just took to the Arches last week with a bunch of buddies from Utah. It was awesome and from what he tells me plus all the pictures, it sounds like he had a total blast. On their last day there, they took a grueling ten-mile hike that just about tested everybody to the max, literally climbing straight down (and back up) through the rock structures without any foot or hand holds, having to use their backs and arms to brace themselves as they climbed up and down through the rocks....sounds like a blast (NOT!) for us armchair adventurers! He still can barely move from the hike! One of the pictures in the slide show is of a lady who was tucked away among the rocks, playing Indian music on some instrument, similar to the flute. Josh said it sounded so cool to hear her play that beautifully haunting music among the rocks. It's so beautiful here....just another trip I have added to Maddie's and my "Must Do" list in the not-so-distant future!
Okay, I need to apologize here because since I am so behind the times, I am posting alot of these things out of order but better late than never I hope! Back on January 18th, Josh ran his very first half-marathon, P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon. It was crazy...if I remember correctly, they started out in Phoenix, ran through Scottsdale and ended up at ASU. I'd never seen so many people in one place at one time...there were something like 22,000 people who ran the half-marathon and 6,000 who ran the full marathon.
Waiting on the finish line for Josh to cross was one of the neatest things I've ever experienced...it was incredible. Josh had run that race for Doug and I definitely felt his presence there that morning. The second Josh crossed the finish line, I called Grandma on the phone and neither of us could stop crying for the longest time....it was incredibly emotional for all of us. I had never in my life seen such determination on someone's face as I did when I saw Josh about to finish. And, somehow, in the midst of trying to finish the race, he had still managed to send me a text to let me know when to expect him at the finish line... talk about the ultimate multi-tasker! His official time was 1 hour, 59 minutes and 35 seconds! This was really something to be proud of, Josh, and believe me when I tell you this will not soon be forgotten.
Maddie went on her first hike up Flat Top today! It was SO much fun though the only wildlife we saw was a lizard which probably suited Maddie just fine. Flat Top is what we have nicknamed the mountain that is directly across the street from our backyard because it actually is flat on top (which is an intentional coincidence because if I remember correctly, Doug used to also hike a mountain called Flat Top when he was growing up in Round Valley as a kid!) Josh has been hiking it for a few weeks and I decided Josh shouldn't be the only person around our house having so much fun so off we went and it turned out to be a great little hike to the top! What an incredible view! For some reason, it never fails to amaze me just how many mountains we have here in the desert. Absolutely gorgeous! In one of the pictures, you can see our house from the top of the mountain....it's the fourth house to the left (the one with the BBQ). Now that Maddie is 4 (and going on 14, it seems!), I'm starting to look for some hikes she and I can do together. She was a total trooper the whole way. I kept expecting her to get tired and wanting to be carried (yeah, that's going to happen on the uphill climb!) and then I kept trying to grab her hand to keep her from falling but she kept pushing me away, telling me she's totally got it handled and that she wanted to be the "line leader" coming down the mountain! Something tells me we've got a nature lover on our hands!
You'll probably notice I'm wearing an ASU shirt in one of the pictures...that's to celebrate that I was just accepted into the Speech and Hearing Science program at ASU for the fall. I'm pretty excited! Emily, you know what that means, don't you? Consider this advanced notice that I'll probably be constantly calling you for help, advice and support! :-)
Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day with your families and enjoyed all of the fun Easter festivities! We had a great day....actually, a great weekend! On Saturday, Grandma, Maddie and I kicked off the festivities by going to an Easter Egg-stravaganza at church. It was raining pretty hard so we didn't know how it would turn out but they brought it all inside and it was awesome! They had a great pancake breakfast and lots of games and activities for the kids. Maddie kept doing this easter egg obstacle course over and over. It was so much fun and gave us all a chance to meet alot of new people in our ward. Maddie even got some pictures with the Easter Bunny (did you know that the Easter bunny actually lives in our ward? ha ha!) I'll hopefully have some pictures of that posted soon.
On Saturday night, Maddie and I colored eggs and she had a total blast! It must be a girl thing because she is so much fun to do these types of activities with (sorry guys...honestly, you were fun when you were little, too...she just gets so EXCITED when she does these things!) I even learned something after 22 years of coloring eggs with my kids. I can't believe I'm even admitting this but here goes...you know those plastic sleeves that come in the Paas coloring kits that go around the eggs? I've always wondered what the heck you're supposed to do with those things because they never really stayed on too well when I put them on those easter eggs. Well, after taking about 10 seconds and actually reading the directions at Maddie's insistence, I learned that after you put those plastic sleeves on the eggs, you are supposed to blow dry them which will, in turn, cause the plastic to melt onto the egg, creating a beautiful easter picture. DUH...do I feel stupid! (Guess I better think twice about going back to school this fall!)
Anyways, Justin came over and we had our traditional all-out, every-man-for-himself easter egg hunt. Both Josh and Justin thought they had won but as predicted, Maddie kicked both their butts. Better luck next year, guys! We ran into a little problem, though, when Maddie searched and searched but wasn't able to find her basket anywhere! Luckily, we live in this incredible age of technology so I did what any attentive parent would do. I whipped out my cell phone and called the Easter bunny himself. It took a few tries to get through because he was obviously busy but I finally got to talk to him and he was able to give Maddie some clues as to where he had hidden her basket. That's what I call a close call! All in all, we had a great day relaxing, eating, playing and just hanging out together. We hope you all had the same.
Josh took Maddie and I fishing last week up to Canyon Lake. It was awesome! This was Maddie's first fishing trip and she loved it! She was set up with none else but a pink and purple fishing pole! While Maddie and I were there, we had some pretty bad luck, fish wise, but as soon as Maddie and I took off (we left a little before Josh and his buddy), they caught a small bass plus saw a rattler swimming in front of them in the lake! We did see quite a few cute little lizards while we were there, though (imagine, lizards in Arizona? ha ha) Josh has already been back to Canyon but we're planning our next family fishing trip sometime in the next week. It's been around 30 years since I've fished (uh oh, I think I'm dating myself here!) so I'm in desperate need of a refresher course when it comes to fishing so thank you, Josh, for helping me out big time. It's so much fun! Anytime anybody wants to go fishing, feel free to give Josh or me a call and you're on!
When Justin and Erica traveled back east for a few weeks in February, their favorite stop, by far, was Gettysburg. They absolutely fell in love with it and sent me, literally, hundreds of pictures. They were fascinated by its rich history and captivated by the sheer beauty and quaintness of the town. Though I've never visited there, my sister tells me that as pretty as Gettysburg is in February, when these pictures were taken, it is absolutely breathtaking in the spring when everything begins to turn green and the flowers begin to bloom after the long, cold winter. I literally had to go through several hundred pictures to select some for the blog but the few that I have chosen do not even begin to tell the story of Gettysburg. I hope y0u enjoy them as much as I have and please ask Justin and Erica if you have any questions...they have become experts on the area and would love to pass on their knowledge (especially when it comes to the ghosts!)
