THE HIKE!!

A few weeks ago I asked Andy if we could go to Tucson to visit my cousins Christina and Noel, and pick some pomegranates from their tree. We gave her a call and she said we were more than welcome to come visit but they were leaving at 6:00 am to go on a 7 mile hike and she would love for us to come along. I was a little worried but knew Andy would be up for the challenge, so I agreed and off we went.



It started off great, other than we had a little problem getting to the trail head, but the sun had not come over the mountain yet, so it was nice and cool. Andy stepped on some rocks and found out quickly that they were not stable as he took a little tumble. His poor leg!! He wouldn't let me wash it and waste our precious water, so I rubbed hand sanitizer on it instead. On with the hike!




Along the way it the sun came up and it started to get hot! We also had a little glitch as we lost the trail and ended up wandering on some cow trails. Then, to make things better, we were attacked by flies!! Around mile 6ish Andy and Noel almost stepped on a desert tortoise. I didn't know that Arizona had any tortoises in the wild, it was really cool to see. It turned out really fun, and I am so glad we went!


I forgot my sunscreen, so at the end, I was definitely crispy, and at every spot of shade, I cannot tell you how much I just wanted to sit down and never move again. But we ended up all making it through. We ended up heading back to Christina's to shower and going out for a celebratory lunch at the Olive Garden!! Thanks guys for an exciting weekend!!

THANKS CHRISTINA AND NOEL FOR EVERYTHING!!

IT'S BEEN FUN...

Andy and I decided that we would take one last trip to Disneyland before our season passports expired. He felt that since it is going to be our last trip there in a while he would spoil me and surprised me with 2 nights at the Disneyland Hotel. We left early Friday morning and drove to Anaheim. When we arrived Andy thought that it would be fun to walk around Downtown Disney, considering we couldn't check into our hotel yet. (I was led to believe we were staying in a Quality Inn down the street.) Andy told me that he had not ever stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, so he wanted to go check it out. The grounds were beautiful and they had so many fun things to do. When we left the Downtown Disney parking lot, Andy turned the wrong way and then turned into the Disneyland Hotel parking lot. I kept telling him that was for the hotel only, and then he said, "SURPRISE!" It was super sweet. When we checked in they gave us a room in the Wonder Tower on the 14th floor. In front of the Wonder Tower there were these beautiful waterfalls and elaborate pathways throughout. It was really fun!!
The rooms were great too! Everything was Disney, and it was super fun!! I took a couple pictures of us from the balcony, even though it was a "Standard View Room" it was a great view of the parking lot and California adventure. (Check out the hair clip I made for our Disney Vacay.)One of our goals for that trip was to go early and find a good seat for the fireworks. We headed over to the park on Friday night and started looking for a good spot. Most of the good spots with seats had already been taken, but one woman told us we could have her seat. We really tried not to take her seat, but she insisted. What a nice lady!! We even told her if she was uncomfortable (it was not the most comfortable seat,) we would save her a seat for when the fireworks started, and she declined. There was still some traffic that walked through the first half right in front of us, but we definitely had a MUCH, MUCH better view this time!!

After the fireworks, we were hoping to run over to the other nighttime show at Disneyland, Fantasmic. We had never seen it before, and had no idea what to expect. It turned out really fun, with light shows on walls of water, princesses floating by on boats, Peter Pan and Hook dueling it out on the Riverboat Columbia, all the Disney characters riding by on a ferryboat, and even Mickey Mouse himself battling an angry witch turned dragon. It turned out to be REALLY fun!!We ended up having a really great time!! I sure do love Disneyland, and I will totally miss my season pass.

TA TA FOR NOW!! (WE'LL BE BACK)

WE LOVE TO COOK!

Recently, I don't know if I have been super bored, or I just want to try something new, but I have been wanting to cook. If you know me, you know sometimes it turns into a disaster... but I am trying!! :)


One day I was really craving bagels, so instead of running down to Einsteins, I figured I could whip some up. They actually turned out pretty good, just a little salty. I did find another recipe that I thought I could try sometime that I think will be a little tastier. We'll see...


A few days later Andy decided that he wanted to make corn dogs for dinner. I found a recipe that I had been wanting to try for a while now, and after we figured out that we needed to check the temperature of the oil, they turned out great!!


That same day Alisha called me from their drive home from New Mexico and told me that her daddy gave her 2 bags of peaches, and she would like to make jam. I had made peach jam before, but it was really fun to do it again! Tommy and Alisha came over one day, and we made 4 batches... we now have PLENTY of jam!! Thanks Alisha.


The next week, when I was at enrichment, a friend told me that there was a KILLER sale on raspberries. I talked Andy into letting me go and buy some, and was able to also make some killer jam out of those!! Yummy!!

Check me out being domestic!! ;)

I LOVE CHICK-FIL-A

Thanks Alisha for posting this, it TOTALLY made my day... Thanks Tommy for sharing it with Alisha after your friend found it!!

I LOVE LOVE Chick-Fil-A!!

HE LOVES ME!!

Yesterday, I just wasn't feeling very good and kind of just having a bad day, so my sweetheart brought me home flowers and a Diet Coke. Just so I know he loves me!! He is an AMAZING husband, and is ALWAYS so good to me!! THANKS BABY for ALWAYS being there for me!! I LOVE YOU!!

THANKS BABY, YOU'RE THE BEST!!

DISNEYLAND... AGAIN!

This last weekend, we decided to go to Disneyland... again! This time we thought it would be super fun to go with our friends, Tommy and Alisha. The trip began Friday, when everyone left work a little early and we drove to California. On the way there we drove past the wind farm and just HAD to take pictures. :) Also, on our way there, we had an amazing sunset that we drove away into, it was beautiful! That night we ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then watched the fireworks from our hotel.






The next morning we got up early and walked over to Disneyland!! Out front we found some beautiful rose gardens, I had never noticed them before. The first ride we went on was, of course, Buzz Lightyear, and then off to Star Tours, Space Mountain, Autopia and Finding Nemo. What a great start! When Finding Nemo was over it was definitely PAST time to find a CORN DOG! (I absolutely LOVE LOVE Disneyland's corn dogs!) After corn dogs, we were right back at it! It was SUPER hot and humid this time, but we still had a really great time! We made it the WHOLE day, and ended up leaving around 11:45 pm, and we didn't even rest to see the fireworks! :)

On Sunday, we ended up going to breakfast at Knott's Berry Farms for brunch, and then walking around Downtown Disney before starting the drive home. Along the drive we found an outlet mall, and stopped for a little while for a nice little break. It turned out to be a great, fun weekend!!

THANKS GUYS FOR SUCH A FUN WEEKEND!!

A BIG SURPRISE & A NEW BABY GIRL!!

Andy's sister, Malia, had her baby, Hadlie Andi Nielsen on August 19, 2009 at 4:12 pm. She was 5 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 in long. She was TINY!!

Last minute Andy wanted to go see them, so he was just about to use some miles to buy tickets and then he looked up weekend fares and to our surprise there were some. So not only did we buy cheap tickets we also were able to upgrade to first class!! FANTASTIC!! We were able to have my dad pick us up at the airport and then we hung out for a little while at his house while not telling anyone else we were in town. Finally Andy found out that all of his family that lives in Utah, (and Kianna) were at Malia's house, so we rushed over there to surprise them all! It was fun! Andy's parents and Kianna had already left to go to dinner, so Malia called them and told them they had forgot something. :) They all were surprised!! While we were there I wasn't able to get too many pictures, but I did get a couple of a very proud big sister!!


We were able to hang out for a while and hold the baby. She is ADORABLE, (and TINY!!) Here are a couple pictures stolen from Malia!!

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL!!