Rim to Rim and back AgAiN!

Another hike down...
Last year Scott (4th time) and I (my first) hiked the grand canyon south rim to north rim with some friends of ours, Paul and Keith. It was such an amazing hike that I wanted to subject myself to it once again. This year Paul, Erin, Keith, Lynsi, and I made another run for it except this year we went from North to South. Now you would think that it would be the same but it is totally different even though most of it is the same trail. I won't bore you with all the details, you can just look it up and see for yourself the difference in elevation, miles, shade, and full sun! Anyway we had so much fun and yes, we made it...

Nope Scott didn't hike with us this year. He decided to hike all on his own. Yep! Started hiking the South Rim at 1:00am. We met up with him around 6:45 on the North Rim after we had been hiking about an hour and a half. He then finished about 30 minutes after I did on the South Rim. Yes, Rim to Rim to Rim in about 14 1/2 hours! WoW! Everyone was calling out his name and clapping when Steve, another friend of ours, was yelling out his name as he was making his final switchback. I had tears in my eyes as I ran over and hugged him! I am so proud of that kid! He never seems to amaze me. If it is not a 50k, 50mile rugged trail run, or the rim to rim to rim... there is always something else that he wants to do. When is it ever enough?

There was a great celebration at an Italian Restaurant in Flagstaff! WE ate and ate and ate... I don't think I have had better food! We will miss the BNI hike next year because we will be in Australia but will return for our final hike chief year.

Grandma and Grandpa's ViSiT

My mom was here for Mother's Day and It was sensational having her here! Claudia made us the beautiful corsages in preschool, something I will keep forever.

While mom was here, the kids played their last soccer game and received trophies and ribbons. Daniel really enjoyed the game but Kaylea, well, she was able to get her social hour in...

Anytime there are a few minutes the kids love to read, especially when there involves a princess or big bad something. Out came the clippers for their summer haircuts... a little shorter than I had planned on but will work out great for swimming in their swim meets.

This year their cousin Jonah, came out to spend the week with us. Everyone would want Jonah to play with them. While Daniel and Kaylea were at school, Jonah spent his time with Claudia laughing and making up games to play. I would hear them outside swinging with loud laughter. But as soon as Daniel came home the boys were immediately outside building something new. one day it was a camp fire under a shaded tree. Another day was building a road in the sand box with obstacles to maneuver around. Then other days were spent in the swimming pool.


Both Daniel and Kaylea had a class program. Daniels class talked about the book reports that they had written on the state of their choice. Of course Daniel talked about NC and what a great state it is. He did an amazing job! We were all so proud of him. Notice Samuel... That is his version of sucking his thumb. Don't know how he came up with that one?

Kaylea's class sang songs in their best Dress up Clothes. I just call it Sunday Dress.

The Maughan's came over our house every evening before they moved to Utah. They are our best friends and we will miss them dearly. I took Emily to the gym for her last visit while Amanda did some final packing around the house.

One of the last days of school it rained and the kids finally got to carry their umbrellas to the bus stop, which they had gotten last Easter. There was lots of excitement! The preschoolers watched as mom planted a palm tree that we dug up from the backyard. We don't know if it will survive but at least we can say that we tried. One of their favorite games is learning about attributes. It is a mystery to them... trying to find the right shape.

Mom and Dad took the kids to Tuscon to the Air and Space Museum... I don't know who had more fun, Grandpa or Daniel? They both couldn't stop talking about it.

When Grandpa and Daniel came home from the tool store, Daniel was so excited to show me his new plane... While Daniel put it together, Kaylea, Claudia, and Samuel made boats and airplanes out of the foam that the plane was wrapped in. Grandpa didn't know that he got something for everyone.

On the last day of school Mrs. Putman had an awards/ice cream party for the class and invited parents to come. He was proud of the many awards that he had received throughout the year. We also went over to visit Kaylea in her room and they were outside blowing bubbles.

Kaylea and Claudia love to play barbies with Grandma and she is great about spending hours with them.

Before Grandma left we went to Desert Ridge and the kids played in the water fountains while mom and I took a break from all the shopping that we were doing. Thanks mom for a great visit and we can't wait to see ya in NC!

San Deigo, Legoland, and Sea World

Because Scott and Mark love to work hard at their job, they submitted talks for a conference in San Diego where they were both accepted. So what does that mean for Brooke and myself? We get a fun trip with our families to one of the greatest cities on Earth! Scott and Mark were able to head out on Saturday with us to Legoland. Everyone had a blast and it was so much fun for our kids to hang out together, ride rides, and laugh all day long.

This is Brooke's story from her e-mail to her family:

The down side of the trip was our hotel. We stayed right downtown in the Hard Rock Hotel...long story....anyways we were with the totally wrong crowd. All these 20 somethings, dressed to party, with their drinks in hand. The night club was attached to the lobby, so it was always very crowded. Especially on the weekend. There were NO other children and here we were with 8 between the two of us. (Not to mention we had to use their valet parking and We were styling as the ONLY mini-vans there.:)

The first night Regina and I went to the grocery store to get all the lunch supplies that we would need for the up coming days and came home about 10pm. Prime time for party goers to go out. Anyways, we pulled up to the valet parking, got out our double strollers, started loading them up with all our groceries. We meandered through the lines. (people were waiting to get into the night club.) We worked our way through the lobby, while dropping diapers, and chasing baby food jars that rolled out through the crowds. We just couldn't stop laughing at ourselves. By the time we got to the elevator, the woman who was checking hotel cards, was dying laughing at us too! She had been watching us the whole time. While we were looking at her laughing saying how out of place we felt, with all seriousness she responded, "Honey, they're all are trying to get what you already have." We couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation.

Brooke and I never got a picture of the Hotel with the crowds, which I guess was probably a good thing. That was definitely a night to remember!

Samuel was the first in every line that contained a ride. He couldn't wait to get on and go... up... down... sideways.... or round and round! Laughing and wanting more, more, and more. There were some rides where he was just too short and wasn't able to ride but he had to watch everyone else get a chance for a great thrill. The sadness in his eyes made me want to cry... his little heart was broken. I felt so sorry for him but distracting him was fairly easy... it just required a climbing statue. Ranging from Lego camels to Lego transformers to Lego benches, he was ready for the next adventure. We had to stay for the fireworks which lasted until 8:30 and then head back home to our Hotel... The Hard Rock Hotel.

Sunday we went to church and then headed out to tour the harbor, look at the boats, submarines, and cargo ships. It was all pretty amazing. Right after lunch we came across some fisherman that had just came back with a shark. Of course we had to stop and get a picture of a real shark! I think Scott was the one going goo goo over the shark! WE made sure to get plenty of rest on Sunday because Monday and Tuesday were the days at Sea World.

Monday morning we got up early to head out to Sea World. Because Mark and Scott were at talks all day, Brooke and I planned out our trip carefully to Sea World making sure that we were going to catch all the shows and the main rides. Whatever else we saw was going to be a bonus. The splash zones at all the shows were where our children wanted to sit and watch all the action. Brooke and I watched with the babies outside of the zones. Every ride where there was water or anything that had to do with getting wet were the rides that were most popular with the kids. I ended up getting soaked from head to toe on the rapids. (Walking around all day trying to dry off was not as fun as I remembered as a child.) Needless to say... when we returned home both days the kids were wiped out! We did lose Samuel for about 15 minutes but other than that, the day was complete success!

Thanks Scott for working so hard!