AZ 2012

About a week after school was out, Brandon and I packed up the kids and sent them to Grandmas and headed out to Phoenix for our annual relax-fest.  Things were a little dicey this year as to whether we'd end up going or not.  At some point in the middle of May, I did something to hurt my lower back.  At first, it wasn't that bad and I kept up my normal routine, which probably wasn't the best idea, because after about a week, I woke up one morning and almost couldn't walk.  So...I stopped my normal exercise and tried to take it as easy as possible at work, and began visiting my chiropractor more regularly, and it got somewhat better.  Until the day after the last day of school.  I think I just spent too much time running around, and though I tried not to do any heavy lifting, I was packing boxes and toting things around like crazy, so the day after school was out, I was in major, major pain.  So...more visits to the chiropractor, lots of ice, and lots of time flat on my back (spent reading, which was the only enjoyable thing about it!) got me to the point where I felt like I could make the long car trip.  I was feeling pretty good by the Wednesday before we left.  I was finally able to do a little cleaning around my house and pack, though, again, there was a lot of time spent on ice and flat on my back in between.  I armed myself with a lumbar support pillow for the car ride, and we set off!

We did a 16 hour day (with many more breaks than normal) and drove to Blanding, UT on the first day.  We drove through Colorado with a mission - find a rest stop we stopped at many years ago along the Colorado River.  There are multiple rest stops through the Glenwood Canyon, but this particular one was right along the water - so close you could take off your shoes & step into the water if you wanted to.  For the last several years, we have stopped at the rest areas that we thought were the one, and have one-by-one eliminated them.  We stopped at what we finally thought was going to be the one, only to discover that we were wrong once again!  Brandon declared that he would stop at every rest stop through the canyon until we found it.  Lucky for us, it was the next one...the "Grizzly Creek" Rest Area if you're ever driving through.  Here are some pictures from our stop there:

We stopped in Grand Junction, CO at a favorite restaurant of ours, W.W. Peppers.  Anytime we go through Grand Junction, we eat there.  It's a local place - serves Mexican, but also steak & seafood.  When we got there, we were seated in the same booth we sat at 2 years ago (the last time we were able to eat there).  Then...we got waited on by the same waitress as 2 years ago.  She was so nice, she was very memorable...but it turns out we must be memorable too.  After she'd been by our table a couple times, she stopped again and said, "I've waited on you before, haven't I?  And didn't you sit at this same booth?"  Talk about a good memory.  We had a great visit with her...and promised to request her again next time we're there.  Her name is Holly...I've written it down so we won't forget.  

Finally, the first day, we took our favorite drive along Hwy 128 in Utah also along the Colorado River.  The grandeur of this drive is just awe-inspiring.  Here we are along the way.

We finally made it to Blanding around 8:40 local time  - after leaving at 5:40 a.m. home time, we were pretty beat!  

We set out a little later on our second day - thank goodness!  It only took us about another 5 & 1/2 hours to get to Phoenix, so it was an easy day in the car.  Our resort let us check in early, so we enjoyed the afternoon poolside.  And the rest of our trip was pretty much this:  wake up early, take a walk, eat breakfast, take a nap, eat lunch, lay by the pool all afternoon, clean up & go to dinner.  So, very relaxing.  My back was hurting quite a bit the first few days after the car trip, so I think Brandon did get a little bored with me.  I wasn't up for much.  By Wednesday, I felt good enough to go hiking with him, so we set out to Pinnacle Peak, which is a just gorgeous hike in the area.  We met a little friend along the way:

Can you see him?  I added arrows to help.  We think it was a rattle snake.  Ugh.  Shiver.  Luckily, he was heading off-trail, so we only saw him from the back. :)  Here is Brandon along the way & after we finished.

My one assignment from Luke was to take pictures of cactus, so once I remembered to bring my camera along with me, I took pictures of as many varieties as I could find.  Who doesn't enjoy a good cactus picture now and then?

It's amazing how tall these paddle-like cactuses (cacti?) can get!

These cactus trees are really cool looking.

I loved the birds on top of this one!

I wasn't often up early enough to see the flowers blooming on top  -  I caught a few here.

We left for home last Friday way early in the morning - 3:14 a.m. Phoenix time (that is 5:14 am here in MO, which doesn't sound good, but sounds a lot better!).  When we come home, we take the short way (short is a relative term) and the GPS predicts it to be a little more than 18 hours to get home.  Last year we did it in 17 hours, 29 minutes.  This year, we were on track to do just that...until we got to the great state of Missouri.  Once we cross the bridge into Missouri, it's less than 10 minutes to home...unless you see that the left to lanes of the Interstate you are traveling on have been closed & traffic is backed up over the bridge into Kansas...at 10:40 p.m., mind you!  We sat looking at the "Welcome to Missouri" sign for I don't even know how long.  After going about a mile in 40 minutes, we finally see the reason for the hold-up...a sobriety checkpoint.  What's unique about this sobriety checkpoint is that THEY WEREN'T ACTUALLY STOPPING ANYONE!  There were about a million (really probably somewhere between 50-75) Sheriff's Deputies & Highway Patrolmen waving everyone through.  Really?  Thanks, Missouri.  And we couldn't wait to get back here?  Brandon said we would never speak of it again, he was so mad...so I really hope he doesn't read my blog.  I have come to a place of sort of finding it funny...you know, one of those funny stories you tell about that one trip?  We finally reached home at a little after 11:30 and crashed.  It was a fun trip, but it is so true...there's no place like home!

Adios, 1st Grade!

Luke had an amazing year in 1st grade and he was very sad for it to come to an end.  He learned so much over the course of the year.  He's become an awesome reader and loves Junie B. Jones and Flat Stanley books.  We just found a new series this week that he's enjoying - Jack Russell - Dog Detective.  His writing skills have only continued to improve and he wows me with the math he can do in his head!  The first grade had a short celebration of the year with a few awards thrown in.  We were so proud of Luke for receiving awards for reading, math, & being a good library patron (boy after my own heart!).  The whole thing only lasted about 20 minutes at most, but it was a fun way to say goodbye to first grade and start thinking about moving up to a whole new world in 2nd grade.  Luke's school is arranged in "pods" - Kindergarten & 1st share a pod, 2nd & 3rd share one, and so on.  He's pretty excited to move on to a whole new world out of the K-1 pod.  I don't even know where the 2-3 pod is...I guess he'll have to show me.  Here are some pics from his award day.

Standing up with the other kids who received the same award.

Brandon and Luke

I love how happy he is to be in this picture with me!

We will miss Mrs. Smith terribly next year.  She was such an awesome 1st grade teacher.  We should only be so lucky to get someone as wonderful as her for 2nd grade!

Wordless Wednesday

Play Ball!

Baseball season has officially started for Luke.  He's had a few practices and Wednesday was his first game of the year.  He was so excited!  We're playing with the Y this year & so far I am much happier with this league than the one we played in last year.  It's for fun and it's not the competitive track that so many people think must be taken (I disagree with that idea if you can't tell...at least at this age!)  He got a nice jersey instead of a t-shirt and we're playing at a much nicer facility for less $$.  Plus we're on a team with friends, which is a plus!  Here's Luke before the game.

Here he is up to bat for the first time.  Since he has jersey #1, he was the "lead-off batter" (his words).

 On base!  He got hits 2 of his 3 times up to bat.  Not bad!

Trying out the role of catcher.  It was a little tough...his legs were too skinny for the shin guards.  They kept getting twisted & coming unhooked and falling off.  I could tell he was frustrated, but it was a little funny to watch him out there in all that equipment.

Playing 2nd base seemed a little less stressful for him.

It was a great first game.  We're ready for game number 2 next week!

Field Trip & More

Today I got to go on a field trip with Luke for the first time.  Not my first field trip...in fact, it's my 4th of the year...but the first one I've ever got to join Luke for.  We visited the new Sea Life Aquarium at Crown Center. It took us a little less than an hour to go through.  The kids really enjoyed it...I expected it to be bigger and more exciting with more stuff.  This is why I should go into everything with very low expectations.  However, it was fun seeing the sea life, and the kids enjoyed reading the "Fin Facts" & using them to complete a "Fin Factfinder Quiz" for a prize at the end.

It was fun to get to spend part of the day with Luke since I don't usually get to do so.  It was also fun, because I used the field trip as an excuse to use 2 of my personal days that I needed to burn before the end of the year.  Yes - tomorrow will be my first day at work this week.  I could get used to a Wednesday through Friday schedule!  With only 16 & 1/2 days left of school until summer break, I shouldn't be complaining, though!

In other news, Luke is at his first baseball practice of the year tonight.  He is so ready for it to begin. (as you can see by this picture I found in his room)

That's a "Magor (Major) Legue (League)" baseball diamond if you can't tell.  Buddy is one of his stuffed animals, who is apparently extremely talented and able to play all three outfield positions.  And what I do on the first night at home by myself in the first time I can remember in forever?  I gave Ginger a bath...fun.  However...I know next weekend I will thank myself for it!

And in other news...Brandon bought me a Kindle yesterday.  As he said, as much as I read, it's kind of shocking that I didn't have one yet.  But now I do...and I've been very busy looking for books to put on said Kindle.  Summer vacation is coming up...lots of time for reading!  Can't wait!

Until next time...

My Grandma's Flower

Looking out my back door today, I saw a perfect iris...probably my favorite spring flower.  It's not just gorgeous, it makes me think of my Grandma Opal, who had so very many growing here, there, and everywhere at her house. It makes me think of running around outside at her house while she and my mom dug them up for starts for my mom or for others or just to thin them out.  I'm not totally sure if this particular one originally came from my grandma to my mom to us, but I know some of them we have growing in our backyard did.  It's good to have this connection to her even though she's been gone for nearly 12 years.  It brings her back clearly in my mind just looking at a flower she enjoyed so much.

Pillow Pet

Ginger just makes herself at home with Luke's other pillow pets.  Seems appropriate...

Whenever she knows it's almost time to go for a walk, she takes herself into Luke's room & gets comfy up on his bed, blankets, pillows, etc.  She still loves to walk once we get started, but she tries to convince us she'd rather sleep.

Nice try, Ginger.

Books, books, & more books!

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, despite being super busy with work for many evenings and weekends, I have managed to read quite a few books in the last month.  They just keep rolling in from my  library hold list, and I just about can't keep up, but I'm doing my best!  I have so many sitting on my shelf right now that I need to get busy and read!

I'll start with some of the Young Adult novels I've been reading so I can make recommendations to my kids at school.  I'll be honest, when I started putting some of these books on hold, I looked at it as a bit of a chore.  However...I'm starting to believe that a lot of these YA novels are just as good as any of the adult fiction I usually read.  The whole dystopian theme has really taken off with The Hunger Games series (which is amazing, by the way if you haven't read them...I haven't seen the movie yet, but can't wait to do so to see how it compares).  The kids are just eating up the dystopian-themed books, and to be honest, so am I.  Here are some I've read:

Delirium & Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver.  I put Pandemonium on hold at the library not realizing it was the 2nd book in a trilogy.  Luckily, I was able to get Delirium quickly so I could read them in sequence.  I was hooked right from the beginning.  In Delirium, we meet Lena, who is 95 days away from getting "The Cure".  You see, in her society, love is the most deadly of diseases - amor deliria nervosa - or just the "deliria".  At the age of 18, everyone in society receives the cure for the disease and then is matched with someone appropriate to later marry without the heartache and stress and other health problems that can all be traced back to love.  I'm sure you'll be shocked to find that before Lena gets her cure...she falls in love.  Oh, the chaos that ensues...so good.  In Pandemonium, Lena has escaped the society that tried to "cure" her and joins the resistance movement to try to bring freedom to those who want to love.  (I don't want to give too much away if you decide to read the first one - I know that description was vague.)  I can't wait until the final book in this trilogy, Requiem, is released next year.  

Incarceron, for me, was not as good as Delirium & Pandemonium, but I did like it.  In this book, Finn is locked in a prison-world called Incarceron.  He doesn't know how he got there...he has no memories before being there, but a key with markings that match a birthmark he possesses comes into his hands and he thinks the key may lead to a way out of Incarceron.  Meanwhile, in the real world, the daughter of the warden of Incarceron, Claudia, also finds a matching key, which allows her to communicate with Finn in Incarceron.  They work together to try to find a way for him to escape the prison.  It's exciting & adventurous and there is a second book called Sapphique that I plan to read this summer when I have more time.

Matched and Crossed are also (clearly) part of a trilogy of books.  I am about a third of the way through Crossed, so I can't say much about it yet, except that it is good. :)  In Matched, we meet Cassia, an upstanding memory of Society.  She is on her way to her Match ceremony.  In Society, teens are "matched" with their perfect counterpart for marriage in a few years.  Cassia is thrilled to be matched with her best friend, Xander, until she sits down to view the information about him and a picture of another boy pops up first before disappearing.  Cassia also knows this other boy and now begins to wonder...which of these boys really is her perfect match.  She gets the opportunity to spend time with this other boy, Ky, and learns he is an "aberration" in Society, and is therefore, unable to be married.  Romance ensues and Cassia falls hopelessly in love with Ky.  Will they be able to be together, or will they stay separated.  I have a feeling, I won't find the answer in Crossed, but in November when the final book in the series Reached, hits the shelves.  I will be looking forward to that for sure!









For school, I read The Giver.  It's one of my "book club" choices for my students to be reading currently, so I had to make sure I had read it myself.  This is the story of Jonas and his community.  In the community, at the age of 12 you're considered an adult and are given your job assignment for adulthood at the annual age ceremony.  Jonas is selected for the most important job in the community - the receiver of memories.  The Receiver is the only person in the community who has any knowledge of the events of the past.  All others in the community remember only what's happened to them in their lifetimes.  As Jonas begins to receive memories of things from the past, both good and bad, from the former Receiver, now the Giver, he realizes that maybe their perfect society is not so perfect if people aren't really living, and he has to decide how he's going to change that.  It's a great, short read...it's not adventurous, but it is very thought-provoking.

In the world of adult novels, here's what I've been quite busy, as well.

I love the J.D. Robb In Death series.  This is the 34th installment, and I think I've read pretty much every one.  If you haven't read these, they take place about 50 years in the future and follow New York murder cop, Eve Dallas, and her husband, multi-gazillionaire, Roarke (no last name required - or maybe that is his last name?  I've never figured that out).  Anyway, Eve has to solve the homicide of an actress who is playing Eve's partner in a movie about a famous case they solved.  It is action-packed and Eve is super-tough, but has a vulnerable side that you get to experience as the reader.  I would recommend any of the In Death books.  Love them!

Jodi Picoult's newest book, Lone Wolf, was a great read.  The story is about a famous wolf researcher, Luke Warren, who is in a coma after a car accident.  His brain damage is so profound that his two children must decide whether to let him go or hold onto hope that one day he might recover in some form.  In true Jodi Picoult fashion, the story is told from the perspectives of the different characters in the story, so you can see everything from each character's point of view.  Though Luke is in a coma and unconscious throughout the story, she also incorporates his memories throughout the novel, as well.  It's a moving story of family and makes you hope that you're never in the position where you have to make a choice like this one.

I am a huge Karen Kingsbury fan.  If you like Christian fiction and haven't read anything by this author, first, I'd be surprised, but second, I'd recommend her books. If you haven't read her, start with her Redemption series (First book - Redemption).  Loving is the final book in her Bailey Flanagan series (after Leaving, Learning, & Longing).  In the final book in the series, we learn who Bailey will spend the rest of her life with - first love, Cody, or new love, Brandon.  I have to say that I've enjoyed the series, but that this one was a bit of a let-down for me.  I think it's because I could see where this one was going from page one and it wasn't the way I'd hoped it would go.  However, I promise you won't be let down by reading any Karen Kingsbury novel - whether you read one of her many series, or her stand-alone titles.  She has a way of writing that touches the heart and moves you to want to be in closer relationship with the God who made us.

 So Pretty it Hurts, by Kate White is one of her Bailey Weggins mysteries.  These books are a series, but they don't need to be read in any particular order.  Bailey is a true-crime writer in New York City, who always manages to find herself in the middle of a mystery that needs solving.  In this case, Bailey sets out to solve (what appears to her to be) the murder of a famous supermodel, who died at a weekend house party that Bailey also happened to be attending.  This is an entertaining book and it keeps you guessing to the end who the guilty party is.  It's definitely a "fluffy" mystery - not anything depressing or with difficult content that kind of makes you despair as you read it.  This would be a great sitting by the pool during the summer kind of read.

Another Christian fiction author I love is Lynn Austin.  My friend, Charla, introduced me to Lynn Austin books several years ago with A Candle in the Darkness, and I've loved this author ever since.  Her latest novel, Wonderland Creek, did not disappoint.  In this novel, the main character, Allie realizes that she's been living her life through the characters in the books she is always wrapped up in.  However, when her boyfriend dumps her and she loses her job at the local library (due to the Depression - the Great one, that is), she realizes it is time to start really living.  So...she heads to the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky to deliver books she's collected from donations to the local library in the "town" of Acorn.  When she arrives, she ends up having to do more than just help the local library and Allie learns about real faith and what it really means to live life.  I loved this one...it was just a great feel-good novel.

So there you have it.  I think there were a few other books in there that I read, but I figure this is enough for one post.  Happy reading!