Weekend Update...



In order to keep you as up to date as possible.....here are my random thoughts from the weekend!

Friday, Elodie and I woke up bright and early and headed to our subdivision park for playgroup. We had a pretty good turn out- the usuals.
Christopher has been working back at the Schneider's and since they only work half days on Friday, I was spoiled to have Christopher home shortly after playgroup.
We headed to Barro's for lunch (best pizza ever-sorry folks, Arizona family chain) and then Christopher ventured out to the mall with me (GASP!) so I could use a coupon I got from Express...ah...I love that place!

Friday night I worked, which is actually nice because it keeps us from spending more money..which means I'm actually making a profit when I work instead of making up for money already spent. But since my money is our Disneyland fund...it's really not making up for anything!

Saturday morning I worked AGAIN! And again, less money spent!
Christopher's parents were in town so after lunch we met up with them at Ikea and then headed over to the mall for more shopping (thankfully we didn't have time to hit the GAP outlet-otherwise it would have been more money spent!) and we went to see "The Robinsons"...or Meet the Robinson's...can't really remember the name. Either way, we saw it in 3-D and it was so awesome..I was a little worried that Elodie wouldn't like the movie as much because she had to wear these glasses but since she loves to wear her own glasses she left them on the whole time! We really loved the movie and if you haven't seen it yet I definitely recommend it. P.S- the 3-D version is 2 bucks extra! As if movie tickets weren't already expensive enough....$9 a person..it's insane! It's the whole reason we hardly ever go! Anyway, hopefully I didn't just talk you out of it! Great family movie and a really sweet ending!

After the movie we headed over to Famous Dave's for dinner. It's a barbeque resteraunt and even though I don't really like barbeque all that much, it was really good. I was definitely surprised! We said goodbye to Chris' parents and got home late!

Sunday morning was Stake Conference....our stake is so big that we have to meet in two different stake centers and they have to video it and transmit it to the other stake building..crazy huh? Last year we were at the stake center where we could only watch it on the big screen..this year we were live. Way easier to concentrate on the speakers.....even still, the last speaker was a member of the 70 and with all due respect the stake presidency gave him WAY too much time to speak...he must have been up there for atleast a hour! It was insane and was super hard to concentrate! Ugh.....overall ;) It was a good stake conference. Except at the point where the little grandma next to us thought it would be a good idea to give Elodie a measuring tape she had in her purse..it was the loudest thing ever and when we took it away from Elodie and gave it back to the little grandma, Elodie threw the HUGEST fit....I know this little old grandma was trying to be nice but we intentionally don't bring things for Elodie to play with...she gets a drink, a fruit snack, a pen, and gum for in case of emergency situations.....that's it....I don't ever bring a huge bag of toys and it works really well for her! Elodie was fine after a few minutes but that grandma kept leaning over and telling me it's okay for her to play with it....uh..NO! And by grandma I don't mean Elodie's real grandma..just some random lady sitting next to me!


After conference Chris parents came back over and spent the afternoon with us. I love when we get them one on one..I know Elodie loves that and we enjoy their company too. Here are a few pictures I snapped just before Chris' parents left. You can tell that Elodie was just thrilled to get her picture taken...she didn't want to wear the bandana but I convinced her for one picture and she agreed. Wasn't exactly the picture I was hoping for but atleast she is looking at the camera!
Barbara had just gotten a new phone and she was programming it our house...Elodie had to be in the mix so she ran and got her phone to copy grama! And this one- Elodie and her papa....



So that was our weekend. Always nice to enjoy the weekend with family!



Encore- me and Elodie this morning playing around with my camera and the timer....nothing better than hanging out at home just the 2 of us! Monday's are our official stay at home, play catch up from the weekend, no need to fix Elodie's hair day!

Spoiler....


So this weekend is the big "Eclipse" prom hosted by Stephenie Meyer....very exciting as a bunch of us from book club bought tickets and are going.....Stephenie is going to read the first chapter from the 3rd book "Eclipse".....very cool! The end of the 2nd book leaves you hanging so this has been a long time coming!

Earlier this morning I was checking my email, reading some friends blogs when I came across Emily's blog (she was the one that introduced me to Twilight in the first place). In her entry this morning she said that the 2nd book "New Moon" is out with the first chapter of "Eclipse" already in it! When I got my copy at the beginning of the year, Stephenie hadn't finished the 3rd book so she couldn't include the first chapter. Now she has re-released the 2nd book with the first chapter of the 3rd book in it She and a friend went over the weekend to Barnes and Nobles and read it! Well, of course this got me super antsi...it's all I coud think about. Debating whether to spoil the prom this weekend by going up to the book store this afternoon...or do I have the willpower to wait until Saturday when Stephenie would read the first chapter. Definitely a monday morning stresser! So I called my friend Melissa...who is also in the book club and who fell in love with "Twilight" just like I did.....well, she was ALL for going to Barnes and Nobles. And once she agreed with me my willpower went out the window! So we left the kids with Melissa's husband and headed over to the bookstore. I had called the B&N's before hand and had them put aside the books for us. You should have seen us when we got ahold of our books..running all over the store trying to find the perfect spot to sit and read the first chapter. We ended up at a table, sitting across from each other, hoping an employee didn't walk by and confront us about reading a book without buying it! I wanted so badly to bring my camera and take a picture of me and Melissa with our books but was too worried about what the person who I asked to take our picture would think...;)

Well, in case your wondering...the first chapter was worth spoiling this weekend's prom. Not as intense as the first chapter of "New Moon" but definitely leaves you wondering what will unfold in book 3. I have my assumptions but I won't spoil it for anyone else! If you haven't ever read the books...start with "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer....it's SO good and will leave you hold up in your bedroom until you finish it! I couldn't put it down.

I was super sad when we finished the first chapter of "Eclipse". I almost didn't want to finish it so I wouldn't lose my excitement! I know I'm such a cornball! That's why I invited Melissa along with me. She loves the books just as much as I do and doesn't find me corny at all! ;)

Should I feel guilty about already reading the first chapter? NO! Me and Melissa are going to keep our spoiler a secret from the rest of our book club....besides, it's Stephenie Meyer's fault anyway..she shouldn't have released the book before the Prom....;)

Definitely a great way to start my week....

Naptime...

you may remember this...

With the left over paper from that project I made this....

Love using leftovers....doesn't make me feel half as guilty when I buy new stuff! ;)

Tortellini with peas, bacon, and cream

April's cooking group was brought to us by my friend Audrey. She did all Italian food and all of it was SO good. Last night I decided to try my hand at one of the recipes... I am being completely honest when I say I have NEVER cooked with bacon....Chris and I both like bacon but it's like ice-cream...it's better if it's not in the house....but since this particular recipe called for it, I went out and bought some. Besides the fact that bacon isn't all that great for your body, I have one more reason why I don't like cooking with bacon....IT'S DEADLY!! I kept getting popped at and burned the WHOLE time I was cooking it! And yes, I was watching my fire and I had it down as low as it would go! It was seriously a battle zone in my kitchen last night and I think I ended up with about 3 burn marks on my hands and arms!! That doesn't even count the pop that went INTO MY EYES!!!

So I'm passing the recipe on for anyone who wants to risk your life! The end result is worth it....we love pasta and since I had tried it at our cooking group I knew Christopher would love it too...success! ;) ENJOY! And be careful!

Tortellini with peas, bacon, and cream:

13 oz bag of tortellini w/ cheese (I like Barilla)

8 oz bag of frozen peas

1 lb bacon - cut into bite size pieces

1/2 an onion - chopped

1 cup chopped red bell peppers

Heavy Whipping Cream (however much you like)

Cook tortellini according to directions, Cook the frozen peas according to directions, Cook the bacon and when you are finished remove most of the bacon grease leaving a little and to that add your onions and red bell peppers. Cook until transparent. After the tortellini is cooked and drained (DON'T RINSE THE PASTA!), add the pasta and the peas to the bacon, onions, and red bell peppers. Add as much whipping cream as you would like...the heat from the pasta and vegetables will warm up the cream and make a nice sauce. ENJOY!

Me and Christopher back in February just before our big Valentine's Date....since having Elodie I am HORRIBLE about getting pictures of just me and Chris....and since we hardly take pictures of just the 2 of us...I don't have hardly ANY scrapbooking pages of us together....Trying to do better. Whipped this one out while Elodie is napping...I used the same sketch challenge as the one below of Elodie and "shining star" bit.....

Playdate....




Every couple of days for the last few months, a group of us stay at home mom's in our ward and subdivision get together at the park for a few hours. It's been so fun devloping these friendships and we ALL enjoy the socialization that it brings! These girls are so fun and I just had to get a picture of us all together and one of all our kids! One of the girls (Tina) is moving in a few weeks, Audrey's husband Derek graduates and will be taking the bar exam soon and then they will be moving out of the ward in September. Chris graduates in December so we will be moving at the end of the year and Melissa and Jen will be in the ward for another year and 2. The point is, the dynamics of our little playgroup is going to change soon and I wanted to get a picture to scrapbook to remind me of how special these girls are and how much fun we have had these last couple of months! Outside of playgroup we all enjoy going to book club and cooking group together. It's been a lot of fun and I will be sad to see it change!



Plus, it's not often that I get a picture of me with my friends....I'm so focused on taking pictures of Elodie and her little group that I forget that I need to be documenting my friendships as well. Especially with how quickly things change!



So that's my challenge for myself and for anyone reading....take more pictures of you and your friends! I have WAY too many pictures of Elodie as it is! It's time for a little balance!

Left to Right: Audrey, Melissa, Jen, Tina, and Me

It was tough trying to get 7 little people all together and pose for a picture. Everyone was all played out and ready to go home..this was the best one I could get....I couldn't be too picky!

Top 10....

10. Super Saturday today...my boxes were a hit....everyone who signed up paid so that was nice....if I don't see another explosion box for a while I will be happy!

9. My 2peas crop is in 2 and 1/2 hour...super excited to go and get some scrappin' done. This crop was awesome last year and it's suppose to be 10 times better this year...can't wait. My friend Sarah is going with me so we will have a load of fun!

8. This is Elodie's favorite outfit..if you ask her what she wants to wear and it's clean in her draw this would be it. No questions asked...she probably wears it atleast 2 times a week...usually Tuesdays and Friday's...the 2 days after laundry days! ;) It's a cute outfit so I pick my battles!

7.
Found this cute star at Michael's for..are you ready for this? $5!!!! It was regular priced at $10 and they had them %50 off! I couldn't believe it...and the picture doesn't do it any justice....it's huge and looks so great in our family room! I couldn't believe my luck! I had been looking for one for a long time but couldn't bring myself to spend $30 on one.....but for $5 I should have bought all the ones they had and gave them out as gifts...then again, maybe other people wouldn't appreciate this deal as much as I did! So happy with my $5 purchase! Can't wait till my real house when I can paint behind it!

6. Costco finally got their sippy cups in....they were on back order or hadn't been shipped yet...something..either way, they didn't have them until yesterday...2 days before the coupon expired! I was getting worried but Costco came through (don't they always). Elodie was in dire need of new sippy cups and getting a little too old for the "sippy" part of them. Plus the ones she had were in bad shape..not too bad but there comes a time when some things need to be thrown away...some of her's are at that point. Anyway, Elodie thinks she is hot stuff now because her new sippy cups have straws on them...and not ones she can chew and ruin..they are nice and flexible and completely SPILL PROOF....man, they thought of it all! ;) Happy with this purchase too!

5. I heard from Christopher at lunch today..he had taken the first half of his EIT exam and was feeling really good about the whole thing. He had relaxed a bunch..was about to get some lunch and was confident about the second portion of the exam. Test should let out soon so I'm expecting a call very soon. I know he will be happy to have this test out of the way...bad thing is now we have to wait 14 weeks for the test results...pass or fail....now Chris will have something new to stress about! Hoping to get my old Chris back after today is over! ;)

4.

Found these cuties at WALMART...I'm telling ya, Walmart is definitely stepping up there game! And their Autumn Leaves which is a name brand in the scrapbooking industry. I fell in love with these as soon as I saw them and had to keep myself from buying the number stamps too..those will have to wait as like I said 2 post ago...I'm really scrapbooked out! Not from scrapbooking but from spending money on scrapbooking! It can wear a girl out for sure! ;) I was happy with this purchase and can't wait to find a way to use them at my crop tonight! WOO HOO! Go to Walmart and see if you can find these...I know you won't be disappointed...

3. Cleaned out my scrapbooking suitcase for tonights crop.....much needed clean out! I threw some stuff away, filed some stuff, and wondered what I was doing with some of it too! My suitcase is probably 10 pounds lighter for sure!

2. The only thing that stinks about this crop tonight is I won't see Chris at all today! I leave as soon as he walks through the door....come to think of it....this happened last year to us! He had a campout the same weekend as this crop....he got home just in time for me to leave.

1. Didn't get to the convention yesterday...a little bummed but I didn't need anything. Me and Sarah were going to go together but she called last minute and said she wasn't feeling good. And she has a good exuse being 6 months pregnant and all. It was for the best..I wasn't going to spend any money anyway, and not going would definitely mean that I wouldn't spend anything! I tempt myself right!?! Besides, we went together to the same on in September (they come twice a year) and it's all the same stuff!

The End!

Test Day...

Today's the big day....the one Chris took the whole week off of work for...the one he has been studying for for the past month. He left at about 5:30am this morning to be there with plenty enough time. The FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) started about 20 minutes ago (7:40am).

Good Luck Hon! We know that you are going to do well! We love you!
Alacey, Elodie, and Ginger ;)

Enough already!


I never thought the day would come when I would say this but the day has come! I am so tired of going to the scrapbooking store and I am hoping to not go back for atleast the next month or so! I have been to the scrapbooking store 3 times this week and I am so over it! Between these explosion boxes I'm doing for our Relief Society Super Saturday tomorrow and getting ready for our Convention Crop tomorrow night I have 1-spent too much money and 2-spent way too much time in the scrapbooking store! I'm over it! Atleast for this week! ;)

Another layout....



Love the way this one turned out....it's so fun to use blues for Elodie's pages...I get so wrapped up in pink and red that it's nice to spice it up a bit....just trying to play catch up so I can scrapbook more recent pictures this weekend at my crop! Only 2 days left!

Top 10....since it's been a while

10. It's cold today...Elodie and I went down to the park to play and blow bubbles and ended up only staying for about 30 minutes..it was windy and overcast and this huge gray cloud was headed our way...yuck!

9. Won't see Chris until almost 11pm tonight...He is gone all day to school and has a big study session for his EIT exam he is taking on Saturday...for those of you who don't know EIT= Engineer In Training...it's equivelant to the bar exam but for Engineers..you don't pass you don't get paid as much....it's a big deal and Christopher is really stressing out! He took the whole week off of work to study..which means half a paycheck which means he better Ace this thing! ;) Anyway, I have to work and Chris' study session is from 7-9pm Elodie is staying at Audrey's and Chris will pick her up...

8. Elodie is officially sleeping in her big girl bed...at night and during the day for naps. Well, I shouldn't speak too soon...this is only her second nap in her big girl bed (she is asleep right now)...hopefully this is a good sign. All in all it's been good..she sleeps through the night, hasn't fallen out and wakes up super happy and ready to play. She can even open her bedroom door if you don't close it completely so she feels all big girlish in the mornings! It's so cute. I'm almost anxious to get rid of her crib because with her big girl bed in place her room is jam packed!

7. Making tator tot casserole for dinner. Haven't made it in FOREVER, had tator tots in my freezer so there ya go....super easy and if I remember from Ricks it's really good...then again we were all poor college kids...everything was good! ;)

6. Working on this really cute matching game scrapbook kit I got at Pebbles in My Pocket in Utah...it's so cute...I'm adding my own ideas to it and if it comes out great I'm going to use it for my next scrapbooking group......will post a pic once I'm done with it...Tania have you made yours? I also need to post a pic of my explosion boxes for this weekends Super Saturday.....I'm lame!

5. This weekend is the big Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Convention and Crop. My friend Sarah and I are going to the convention on Friday (I'm determined not to buy anything as my stuff from last convention is still in the bag in my scrap closet- I'm telling you I'm so lame!) And then Saturday night from 6pm to midnight is a big crop! So excited. Went to the crop last year and it was awesome..Plus I came home with a bunch of freebies! Again, very excited!

4. In the middle of "A tree grows in Brooklyn" It's pretty good.

3. Elodie's new thing is saying "that was a good one!" after I take her picture. She even has a little fake camera that after she takes your picture she sais "That was a good one!" and she flips the camera around to show you "the picture"...so cute...Kids of today...won't know anything other than cell phones, portable dvd players, digital cameras, and tivo....it's sad!

2. Laundry awaits....but to do list is mostly complete....

1. I miss Chris....sigh....

I did this layout today in 15 minutes! A sketch challenge on one of the sites I post on.....I didn't realize the time straint until I checked the message board..I got this one in on the wire! And I love the way it came out..should tell me that I overthink my layouts WAY too much...I usually spend about one hour on each layout!

Home Sweet Home...

We brought the civic home today...We were so happy to have it home but more importantly have this whole deal behind us and paid for! Blah! I don't know what is worse..having the money to pay for something but not wanting to spend that money on car repairs OR going into debt because you aren't prepared...I haven't quite made my decision. None the less the car is fixed and I won't say another word because I might jinx it!


One more thing....(like I could keep from saying one more thing)

When we got the car home we gave it some pampering...we washed it and cleaned out the inside..we even windexed all those cute little fingerprints off the inside of the windows so hopefully it knows how much we love it and will be nice to us for the next couple of months..ATLEAST!

Again, grateful we had the money to pay for the repairs and grateful that through it all we stuck together and everyone is safe!

Living in the past....or looking towards the future?

Last summer when I went home to Louisiana my mom sent with me a huge storage tupperware of alot of my stuff from home....I didn't mind taking it as all of it I wanted, some of it I forgot about, and lots of memories to keep. When I got home, I didn't feel the mood to sort through it so I shoved it all in storage to think about later.....when I did that layout about high school I attempted to go through that bin thinking there were pictures I could use..sadly I didn't really find anything I needed so the bin got pushed aside again....

Well, when my mom came out this passed month she brought a second storage tupperware filled to the brim again with pictures, baby clothes, school projects, letters and cards from friends. Again, alot of it I had forgotten about...

Since my mom has been here I am embaressed to admit that both tupperwares have been sitting in our office waiting for me to sort through. I feel guilty just shoving them in storage so if I see them in the way it serves as a reminder that I need to go through them. So today was the day, while Elodie was sleeping I decided to take a few and go through all the "junk" from my passed.

Alot of it I don't know why I kept....blank envelopes, cards from visiting teachers at Ricks...and some sadly enough were from people I don't even remember. Hopefully it doesn't sound mean that those were the ones easiest to throw away! Then there were letters from guy friends, lots from guys I knew before their missions and then wrote to while they were on their missions (all in fun I promise). Letters from old FHE brothers as well. Those too I felt were easy to get rid of as now that I am married I have no need for them and since I don't keep in touch with any of these guys I figure there was no way to get in touch with them to give the letters back so no harm done..right? Still a little cringe of guilt as I threw them into my recycling bin. I also found all the letters that my cousin Kyle wrote to me while he was on his mission...we did a pretty good job of keeping in touch while he was in France and I loved reading all of his letters to me....those did NOT go in the trash! (This is the point that if Chelsea is reading this entry that she reads that portion out loud to Kyle and makes him feel super special! wink, wink!)


And then I found ALL the letters from my roommates...it's crazy to look back on how well we kept in touch even while we were living in the same apartment! We wrote notes to and from each other ALL the time! Cards, and post it notes, scraps of paper, whatever! It was so fun to read all our "love notes" to each other and it so made me appreciate the friendships that I share with these girls! It also made me sad to think that these "pick me ups" were shoved in a storage container miles away from me. And what's worse is that I had totally forgotten about them.

The big question is this..what do I do with them all...I certainly can't throw them away as most of them talk about our friendships and how much we mean to each other.....I thought about making a mini album of all the cards and such but thats as far as I got...then again....at what point do you stop saving all of that stuff and live in the here in now? How many mini albums can one make!!?? I feel guilty throwing them away....I don't know what to do with them now that I have decided to keep them all.

What have you done? Anybody have any suggestions would be great because I know we ALL have these storage containers somewhere!

As for now, I did consolidate my 2 bins into 1 and that makes me feel good....one step at a time I guess.....for now,I don't think a little living in the passed hurts anyone... it's been so nice to enjoy remembering all the great times I had in high school and at Ricks. Life is good...now back to my 2 year old!

Happy Easter....

Even though our weekend was everything but ordinary I was determined to have a great Easter Sunday...and we did just that....I fell in love with Elodie's Easter dress about a month ago at Kohl's and kept putting it on hold until the Saturday before Easter....Kohl's was having a friends and family day coupon sale so as an employee I got 30% off my entire purchase as opposed to 15%....mom and I went a couple of hours after we got back from Flag and I bought Elodie 6 dresses (including her Easter dress), a knock around outfit for Elodie, a pair of shoes for me, and Christopher's Easter tie all for under $65...I totally scored and saved over $100 (if you look at what I bought from a full price point of view-everything at Kohl's you can usually get at a sale price-they don't often sale anything for full price). Love those sales. I don't usually buy anything at Kohl's until Friends and Family day because of how good the deals are with my coupon.

Anyway, didn't mean to get off track-just excited about my deals....we had a nice relaxing Easter Sunday which was really needed with all the drama from Friday and Saturday. Church was nice and afterwards I prepared an Easter dinner- ham, mashed potatoes (homemade), green bean casserole, and rolls. It turned out really good and just what we needed!

Elodie loved her Easter basket (which I made the night before-pictures to come later) and had such a fun time hunting Easter eggs. The weather was so perfect out here and we spent the rest of the evening hanging out outside. I took about 80 pictures of us all outside so as soon as I sift through them all I will post the best ones.

For now, this is what I have!

Elodie in her Easter Dress...

Our little family...

Elodie and her daddy...

Me and Elodie...

Elodie and her MawMaw...

And me and Christopher...we hardly ever get a picture of just the 2 of us.....

KMA Decision Time....

Today KMA is announcing the Top Scrapbooker for their 6 week challenge. I don't expect to win as I have seen many layouts that were MUCH better than mine...and I'll be okay if I don't win...I enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity I got to scrapbook outside my little box...even still..cross your fingers for me..the grand prize winner will recieve $500 worth of scrapbooking material! HOLY MOLY! I should start repeating some form of affirmation and maybe it will happen...only time will tell!

Regrouping....

Well, my mom left this morning...it was sad to see her go. We were actually getting use to her being around and loving the time we were spending together. I could have handled having her around a couple of more days....my dad would think otherwise. I knew he was missing her and 14 days is a long time to be away from home. I'm sure she was happy to be getting back to her life too.
We crammed alot in in the 14 days she was here....it always seems so far away before something fun happens then the whole thing just flies by! Hate that that happens.
So now it's time to regroup. My house is back to normal but getting back to a normal schedule will be tough....any type of normal routine goes out the window when company is in town...ya know, their on vacation, so am I! type attitude. I do certain things on certain days so by next week we should be back on track!
Elodie is doing okay without MawMaw around- you definitely get a little taste of what it would be like if we lived closer to home-Elodie was just soaking her MawMaw in and I know my mom was just loving that...I think tonight will be hard only because she had been sleeping with MawMaw in her big girl bed...I don't know how she will react to going back into her crib....we will see.
Back to work tomorrow night..it feels like I haven't been there in forever! I'm kinda anxious to get back...but only for the spending money...I mean Disneyland money!
So back to normal? Almost...we miss you already mom! So glad you came and can't wait to see you again! Hoping this little car adventure won't set us back too much that we won't be able to make a visit down to Louisiana this summer....I'll start saving extra now! ;)
Thankful for family and the great memories we make when we are together!
-A

Dora the Explorer

I did both of these cakes back in March but since my mom has been in town I'm still playing catch up! Both turned out great and both birthday girls and mom's loved them! Woo Hoo!

KMA Challenge #6



Here is the layout I did for my last KMA Challenge..it just so happened to be about dirty laundry so this experience couldn't have come at a better time! Looking on the bright side of things right? ;) The title fit perfectly "Life Comes at you Fast"


The journaling is pretty much the same as my last entry. I added a little updated sleeve behind the picture of the tow truck door. It talks about the cost of the repair and how thankful we were that everyone was safe!

Life comes at you fast....AGAIN!

So here is the story you have been waiting for....As I said in my last post, me, Elodie, and my mom had a great trip in Utah..I was pretty anxious to get home to Chris and we decided to head out at about 8am Friday morning. If we made really good time, we could be home before 7pm. We headed out and we did make great time. In fact we were in Flagstaff around 4pm...Woo Hoo...that meant we were about 2 hours away from home.
I called Chris when we stopped for a potty break to let him know our time schedule and we headed back out for our last leg of the trip.
When we got onto I-17 (which takes you right into Phoenix) we were about 15 minutes outside of Flagstaff when we saw a huge puff of dirt...it looked like someone had gone off the road and veared back on....well, that's exactly what happened. At the time we didn't know what happened and weren't getting out of the car to be nosey (as alot of other people were doing, which was very disrespectful and deserves it's own post!) but after we got home we found out that a family headed North got a flat tire and loswt control of their vehicle...they came into on coming traffic headed South. It's amazing they didn't hit anybody. Anyway, it was a serious accident and made for alot of traffic followed by everyone getting sent back into Flagstaff because of highway closure. So as soon as we were headed back into Flag, I called Christopher to ask him what the best way to get home was. Since the interstate was closed and wouldn't be opened for another 5 hours we certainly didn't want to hang around Flagstaff for that long....especially being so close to home.
Christopher gave me an alternate route that would take us down a back road for a while and then we would eventually end up back on I-17..easy enough. Everything was fine until we got onto Mary Lake Rd. We were about 10 miles on the road when the car started dying on me! I would try to accelerate to speed up and it wouldn't do anything. It kind of felt like it was out of gas but we had just filled up. Needless to say we were stuck on the side of the road in the MIDDLE OF NO WHERE!! And it was starting to get dark!
I called Christopher back FRANTICALLY and we immediately got on the phone with our insurance company to get a tow truck for us. Once that was squared away all we had left to do was wait. THANKFULLY, and a blessing, the guy who got called from our insurance company was up the street at a Country Gas Station. He said usually it takes up to an hour for a tow truck to get to you but because he was so close, he got to us in about 10 minutesA! BLESSING! Eric, the tow truck guy, also said that had we been any further on that road we wouldn't have had ANY cell phone reception! AND, the road that would have taken us back to I-17 was a dirt road and my little civic would have never made it! So we were trying to count our blessings at this point. The tow truck brought us to a hotel and dropped the car off in the parking lot. We checked in and waited for Chris to drive up....I tell you there is something about seeing someone you love come and save the day! It was so nice to hand the stress over to Chris! ;)
We stayed the night in the hotel and bright and early Saturday morning (and I do mean bright and early, we were all up by 6am) Christopher was on the phone trying to figure out a way to get the car home. Initially we thought we could tow it with Christopher's truck but we were concerned about the amount of weight and the mountains...so we thought we would rent a bigger truck found out that you can't rent a vehicle to tow another one. (Good to know) We finally got a hold of the U-haul company who had a truck ready to go that we could rent for $250!!! Ugh! This little incident just keeps getting more expensive as we go....Towing- $150 (thankfully that is reimbursed by our insurance company) and $80 for the hotel! Heavenly Father was on our side, when the U-haul guy found out that we were headed to the valley he said he had a truck that needed to get to Glendale (about 30 minutes from Mesa) and if we took that U-haul, he would give it to us for $50!!! So with the price of the trailer we only paid $80!! BLESSING!!!
Let me tell you, we couldn't get the car to the u-haul place fast enough. The tow truck came back and brought it for us and we were so ready to get out of FLAGSTAFF!
We gased up and we were on our way....oh wait, our U-haul broke down on us 3 times!! Can you believe our luck! Everytime Christopher would get over 70mph the truck would completely cut off! Very scary. Christopher finally figured out that if he didn't go over 65mph the truck was fine. After that we made it to Glendale just fine.
We dropped the car off in Glendale too because it was easier than bringing the car all the way to Mesa and then having to bring the U-haul all the way back to Glendale. No biggie....we did find out that it is the transmission that has junked out on us and will cost between $1700-$2700!!!! UGH! Bye Bye more savings!
At this point we were so ready to get home and relax that the guy could have said a million dollars and we wouldn't have cared. We were all so exhausted and in need of a good shower!
Thankfully we made it home safely and everyone is doing well..except my poor little civic, so sad that we had to leave it behind! :(
We are blessed that we made the rest of the trip okay. I know Heavenly Father was looking out for us! I'm so grateful my mom was with me and kept me calm and relaxed the whole time. She helped with Elodie and was really the levelhead the WHOLE time. I'm also so grateful for Christopher..he reacted so quickly and didn't think twice to jump in him truck and drive 3 hours and come to our rescue! I know he wouldn't have done anything less and I love him for that!
So that's our story.....it's crazy how fast life comes at you. One minute we were excited about our good timing and eating McDonald's..the next minute we are stranded in the middle of no where!
Life definitely comes at you fast! ;)

Back to Life, Back to Reality....

After a week in Utah with family, my mom, Elodie, and I are FINALLY home! The trip was great...we were able to see alot of family that I haven't seen in a while. Elodie got to meet a TON of family she has only seen in pictures. Poor girl...I feel like she might have been overwhelmed! Everyone was either a cousin, an Aunt, or an Uncle! She probably thinks she is related to the whole world...well she is but...ANYWAY!
I was naughty in not posting at all while I was gone..I wanted to but we jammed so much into 3 days I was exhausted the entire time! It was great though and hopefully we can do it again next year....but not drive it...11 hours in the car is WAY too long....Elodie did great but it's definitely draining!
And since I didn't post at all while I was gone, I have a ton of pictures to post and a ton to say....ugh!....this is why it stinks to play catch up!
So for this entry...a brief recap of our trip..
We drove all day on Monday, we didn't account for the hour loss and although we left around 10am we still ended up driving through the canyon at night. Both of those stunted our progress and we didn't get to Aunt Jeanne's until almost midnight!!! Elodie did fabulous....that DVD player is a miracle! She did great...I joked that Elodie did the best out of all 3 of us! ;)
Tuesday morning we regrouped and just veg'd at Aunt Jeanne's.....(my mom's younger sister who lives in Orem).....Tuesday night we got together at my Aunt Connie and Uncle Newele's house in Alpine for a huge dinner with cousins and an easter egg hunt! So fun to reunite with everyone! My cousin Tania and her family were down from Washington, and I loved seeing them and Kyle and Chelsea! It's sad we don't all live closer but we keep in touch really well so it's more about seeing each other in person as opposed to playing catch up! All my cousins kids and Elodie hunted for easter eggs and we enjoyed hanging out together!
Wednesday morning we got up bright and early and headed to the Hogley Zoo...I hadn't been in years and of course everything in Utah was a new experience for Elodie. Kyle and his family came, Tania and her family, and Shelly and her two boys came too. We had a great time and the weather was fabulous. We showed up so early to the zoo that we were seriously the only ones there! All the kids had a great time running around together. Elodie and Kyle's daughter Adri were the only girls so they stuck together....The zoo reminded me of some family video we have when all of us cousins were younger and living in Louisiana. Aunt Jeanne and her kids had come to visit and my mom, Aunt Jeanne, and Aunt Connie took all of us kids (had to of been atleast 10 of us!- if not more) to the zoo....in the video we were doing the same thing that our kids were doing now-running around, being silly, enjoying time with cousins! And now we are the parents taking all the cousins to the zoo...it's crazy how fast time flies by! The rest of the day me and Elodie hung out at Aunt Connie's....Tania and I got to sneak out and go to a scrapbooking store....we had so much fun and it's kinda freaky (in a good way) how much we are alike! It stinks we don't live closer...we would such a great time scrapbooking..but then again, it's better that we don't live so close! I already spend too much money on scrapbooking! ;) Oh and Tania, I did make it to Pebbles in my Pocket....bought the easter back to mod podge, and I got the matching game..that would make a great scrapbooking group night!
The highlight of Wednesday night was meeting Shelly Gardner, the owner of Stampin' Up! She is in my Aunt Connie's ward! Great lady and super sweet..her house is a mansion! Seriously, my whole house would have fit in her living room! It was a castle! Thanks Aunt Connie for the hook up! Your awesome! ;)
Thursday, our last day in Utah, we spent the morning at Aunt Jeanne's...I wanted to take Elodie to Temple Square, with all the tulips in bloom I knew I would get some good shots of her... but just couldn't fit everything in. We decided to take her to the Provo Temple instead and the pictures we got turned out super cute.....stopped by "Pebbles in my Pocket"...that store is awesome and I love their little kits! Great ideas! And the lady that owns the place is my Aunt Jeanne's neighbor! Crazy huh!
We made a trip to Costco for lunch stuff and everybody met up at Aunt Jeanne's one last time before we left! Kyle and his family showed up, Matt and Jarah, Shelly and her 2 boys, and Aunt Connie. Sad we missed you Tania!
I hate goodbye's and since we don't know when we will get back up to Utah, it was sad saying goodbye to Aunt Connie and Kyle....so glad we keep in touch so well! It would be worse without the internet and our family website!
At 3pm me and Elodie headed over to Provo to see my old Ricks roommates Rachel and Holly. They both live in Provo while their hubbies are at BYU....we had such a GREAT reunion and it was so fun to sit and chat....I could have stayed all day! Rachel has a little girl that is about 7 months younger than Elodie and they had fun playing together!
Our last little fling before leaving Utah was dinner at Sundance with Uncle Val and Aunt Jeanne. The view was SO pretty...I had never been before so it was a fun experience and a great way to end our vacation.
We headed home bright and early Friday morning..as much as I love being with family, I really missed Chris and was ready to get home. That's the best thing about vacations...makes you appreciate your little world...I missed the organization and schedule and was so ready to get back to it!
We made great time on the way home...I was determined to get home before 7pm. We made it into Flagstaff around 4:30pm and we were SO excited about our timing! Christopher was even surprised! And then.....
You'll have to wait for another post to find out what happened! It deserves a post of it's own and if I tried to squeeze it in with this post it would be WAY too long..so stay tuned! All I can tell you is the title of the post will be "Life comes at you fast".....that title may be used a lot! It may need it's own category! ;)