15 years!

Jon and I celebrated 15 years of marriage today!  Time sure does fly by!  Wow!  We were lucky to be able to go last weekend on an anniversary trip to celebrate our marriage to Lake Arrowhead!  Such a beautiful place to be and to be close to nature!  I am blessed to be married to such a supportive, dedicated, loyal hubby and father and we support each other and compliment each other in many ways!

 The Lake

We went on a tough mountain bike ride at Rim Nordic Bike Park that reminds me of marriage - ups and downs, twists and turns, mud puddles and beautiful views - and we were with each other the whole time encouraging one another to push it a bit farther and work a bit harder and make it to the end! That's what marriage is about - pushing each other to be better and sticking with each other - and I look forward to the rest of my journey with my eternal companion!

   

We got to kayak as well - the lake was very cold still!

 We had a half spa day at Glen Ivy and got to do Club Mud - exfoliating and cleaning that skin!  I know now why Spa days are best for gals day out!  Jon was over it very fast - but we still enjoyed our time there! 

Bye Bye Lake Arrowhead!  Until next time! 

 

Spring Break 2016

Spring Break 2016!  

Jon had a few days off during Spring Break so we headed to Las Vegas.  Originally we were going to go hiking and exploring in Red Rock canyon, but a day before we left, Mitchell ripped his toe open (by running with no shoes by beach path - and of course 2 seconds after I told him to put his shoes on he tripped and ripped his toe open and toe nail off).  Anyway so hiking was out for us, so instead we did Las Vegasy tourist things that were kid friendly. 

We went to the Car Museum and checked out some of the cool cars!

"Mitchell" Version of this car!

Fun times seeing a variety show

Say cheese!

Mitchell loved the drummers from Recycled Percussion. Their part of the show was amazing!

And more cars...to the Shelby Museum to check out our fav car man!

A Cobra is in our future...

Then we went to the Mirage to see the dolphin show and meet up with my friend Adrienne and her new baby!

We ran into Seigfreid who comes often to check on his tigers and see the visitors. 

It was a fun trip and not too far from home!  The kids even got a bit of swimming in with Mitchell's toe all wrapped up!

Mammoth Adventures!

 Does anyone read this blog anymore ?  I still love to try to keep my blog up and although I don't post super often, I still like my blog for journalist purposes and sharing photos and adventures...

and oh how we love adventures and love to travel and love to do new things or fun things or new fun  things!

This year we had planned a trip to mammoth with friends and we were excited to finally take the kids on their first real trip to do snow sports!  Jon is a big snowboarder - well he used to be - he used to snowboard almost every weekend in college (in Utah).  When we got married I joined him on his trips and I learned how to snowboard (well am still learning...) . We have not been to the snow together since having kids since Jon was so used to Utah snow resorts he doesn't really like any near by resorts like Mountain High or Big Bear, so it is only Mammoth or Tahoe he will go to in California. So we finally were able to get away on a trip and bring the kids too! We had a wonderful trip and Shayla started on snowboard and Mitchell started on skiis!

And we are off...

If going up north we always stop at Schats bakery for monkey bread and sourdough bread! Yum!

Arriving in Mammoth at the same time as a storm!

The kids weer excited to try on their gear!

Snow angel time!!

Off to the snow adventures!

Taking a gondola ride up the mountain while Jon and Shayla are snowboarding! 

We got to meet female Olympic Snowboarder Kelly Clark!  Very cool!

Jon and Shayla on the mountain! 

She's getting the hang of it!

There she goes!

Shayla and Ella

We stayed in Mammoth with our close friends the Meyers and had a great time!  Here I am with my dear friend Sierra!

Shayla and Mitchell and Ella and Kelsea!

The resort we stayed in - Juniper Springs Lodge! We loved it!  Ski in and Ski out and rentals on property and super comfy!

A fun family vacation!  See you next year!

Christmas Vacation Arizona Trip 2015

One of the things we make a priority in our family is traveling and seeing more of God's creations and spending quality time together with our family!  We especially love to go to National Parks or National Monuments. This Christmas break, we headed to Arizona for a short pre-Christmas adventure (note to self: Don't go on vacation the day school gets out and week before Christmas again!  A bit much for planning!).  We didn't want to drive too far and had a free 2 day lodging for us, so we went to Arizona to stay in Phoenix area, Sedona and Flagstaff.  It was a wonderful trip but we just needed more time in each place!

Road trip time! 

In Phoenix we found an outdoor ice rink with real ice this time! It was fun and Mitchell did sooo much better than last time and last year! 

We also went to the Children's Museum in Phoenix and enjoyed walking around and popped into the Wells Fargo museum too for fun! Then we headed to Mesa to see the wonderful Mesa Temple Christmas display!  They had a beautiful presentation and a display of nativities from around the world.  In a parking lot across the street from the Temple they had food trucks so we had dinner there!  It was a perfect night and a wonderful way to get in the Christmas spirit!

The Mesa Temple is beautiful and holds a special place in our lives to as my parents were married there!

While looking at things to do in the area I discovered the Out of Africa Wildlife park which is a small safari like type park on the way to Sedona! I did not know it existed but it is very cool! It was really neat and the kids got to feed Tigers and take a safari and be in the midst of giraffes, camels, zebras and many other animals!

The three felines...

See Giraffe in background?

We got to feed the giraffes!

This guy kept stocking his head in our caravan for more!

Our next stop was Montezumas Castle - a national monument. 

And then Tuzigoot National Monument

The kids earned Junior Ranger badges at each place to add to their collection!

Then the next day we were in Sedona!  I was hoping to see a sunset or sunrise as that is one of the most popular, most gorgeous things to see in Sedona, but it was very cool, cloudy and drizzly the whole time so not a lot of views, but it was still beautiful and we did get to enjoy some beautiful outdoor time and hiking!  The kids loved scrambling on the rocks at the Red Rock hike!

The last day we had a short half day at Flagstaff and got to explore town a a bit and have a bit of snow play! We definitely need more time in Flagstaff  and Sedona and hope to come back soon!

The we headed home back to celebrate Christmas with family! It was a great trip! Here are some more photos of the whole trip: