ouch!

Poor Hope! We aren't sure what happened, but when we got home from work we discovered this big ouchie on her eye!

It's a mystery, and we just hope it heals up quickly. It doesn't seem to bother her.

Visitor

We had a little visitor at work today...

A BAT!

He was on the porch at work all day! I was surprised because I thought bats slept in dark caves or something... guess he didn't mind hanging out at EMC.

Last Book Club

Tonight was my last night book club . A lot of good has come of this summer "book club." I ended up inviting my co-worker Donna to join us and she has really been changed from going and studying the Bible each week. We talked about heavy things... loss, love, bitterness, forgiveness, hurt etc. We learned about ourselves and areas we may need to work on. We formed friendships and connections to other Christians. I gained a Piano teacher (I start lessons at the end of this month) and so much more.

Sometimes it felt like a pain to go... I had to work late (because it would be a waste to drive home and then just go back out again) and was gone the entire day 6:30 AM- 9:30 PM, but the blessings were worth the sacrifice. Her church is starting a new study in September and Donna and I will probably join in.

A little thing we did in tonight was replace the word LOVE in this verse with our names....

_______ is patient, _______ is kind. _______ does not envy, _______ does not boast, _______ is not proud. _______ is not rude, _______ is not self-seeking, _______ is not easily angered, _______ keeps no record of wrongs. _______does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. _______ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13: 4- 7

How do you measure up? When I put my name in there... it is lies, all lies! When I put Kenny's name in there it is more true and when I put my grandma in there it is all true.

Each week we were given (or made) a flower and were supposed to record "A Funny" for the week. Here is my finished bouquet (1 missed a few weeks and one of my flowers got mushed on the car ride home).

I didn't do so well in keeping up my funny journal, but I think I am pretty good at finding humor everyday and laughing a lot.

Double Date Dinner

Once in a while its fun to get a little dressed up (still Jeans) and go on a double date!

Tonight we had a delicious, rich 4 course dinner at the Melting Pot with our friends Sabrina and Jeff.

They have amazing food! Check out this post from last year when we went for our anniversary if you want to hear about the food...

This time I tried a cotton candy cooler... yummo!

Someone was really smart to think up the whole Fondue experience restaurant. Think about it they charge ridiculous prices and YOU cook your own food! The reason we went to night is they had their annual double date deal where you can buy one couples meals and get the second couples meal for FREE. My buddy Jeff is all over any type of coupon, so we went! The night was a ton of fun the only bad part was when we discovered they charged automatic 20% gratuity on the price BEFORE the buy one get one... a $38 tip is pretty steep!!

Sunny California

This entire trip generated from a coupon I found on the side of my grandma's diet coke! Buy one get one free admission to Six Flags, Magic mountain! Kenny has been wanting to go back (its been 6 years since we have been) so it got me thinking... I text messaged my cousins and asked if they were interested in going... they said yeah! I asked grandma and once she worked out some details with her oxygen company she was in too! ROAD TRIP!

Friday Kenny and I worked a half day and picked up my grandma about lunch time and headed out of town!

We stopped and had some lunch at Chester's Chicken... it was the worst chicken ever and became the butt of our jokes all weekend.

When we arrived at the Kruger house, everyone was waiting there for us (Jason came up from San Diego).

A passerby was nice enough to take our picture: Kenny, Me, Aunt Mei-lan, Uncle Rick, Vanessa, Chris, Grandma, Jason and Hana

The boys both got new cars so we tried to get them in with their cars (Chris' black Honda Civic is behind them).

Uncle Rick bought us some pizzas for dinner and we all sat around and talked. The house was full with 8 people staying there and I loved it! It reminded me of Christmas years ago when the Krugers use to come to our house for a week or so.

Saturday morning all the "kids" (which I don't feel like we should be included in haha) headed out to Six Flags for the day-

we rode lots of roller coasters...

played games

and won! (Kenny beat me both games, but I got the prize!)

Jason beat Hana both games and she got the prize too!

And we rode MORE roller coasters

Even with the motion sickness medicine, Bonine, that I took ... I still felt sick after the 4th or 5th ride. There were no lines and I never thought I would pray for lines just to rest! LOL

Saturday night Uncle Rick and Aunt Mei-lan treated us all to Tony Roma's-- yummo best ribs ever! When we got back to the house we had white peach pie... I would venture to guess it was the highlight of my grandma's weekend! She was super excited about having it. Those California white peaches are amazing... I bet that is what the fruit tasted like in the Garden of Eden! WOW.

Sunday morning Uncle Rick took Kenny and I with him on his running route... it was so beautiful!

under the freeway!

through the amazing park

He says the trail is like a little country tucked in the middle of the city (and I agree!)

We all relaxed and chatted the rest of the morning while watching golf.

Aunt Mei-lan made all 9 of us a huge breakfast before we headed home-

Sadie wanted some too!

It was a wonderful weekend and I am SO glad my grandma decided to go with us. She is so much fun to be around. She makes us all laugh with her quick comments and keeps us entertained.

We are so thankful to Uncle Rick for letting us bunk up at his house and all the food, Chris for letting us use his room and Grandma for paying for the gas.

Hot Hot HOT

This week has been SO hot for my family... My grandma's AC went out and then later in the week my parent's AC went out! Crazy! My mom came over Wednesday night to spend the night and avoid the heat and brought her 2 dogs with her.

It was so cute how all 5 dogs followed her around! She ended up leaving at 3 AM because her dog Monty wouldn't stop running to our door trying to get our 3 dogs to play...

First Day of the rest of his life

Since Little Brian was on a waiting list he didn't get to start school on Monday, but started today instead. He is now officially a Kindergartener at Imagine Bell Canyon. I am SO excited for him. It is such a big step in his little life.

My brother took these pictures this morning (no crazy Aunt Amanda didn't show up on the first day of school to take pictures but I totally would have if they invited me!)

I love this picture of Jacob and little Brian... I thought the facial expressions would have been the opposite... There were no tears, but I guess Jacob did ask about little Brian all day. I am sure it will be harder on Jake than Little Brian.

Little Brian and Crystal

Trying out the playground equipment

lining up for class

Tonight we had them over for dinner and to play wii. Kenny made a delicious spaghetti dinner and my mom came over too.

This is apparently something they teach the kids called "hugs and bubbles"... it is what they do in line I guess so the kids don't touch each other. LOL The teacher said he did okay on his first day, but had some trouble following directions and keeping his hands to himself...

We went shopping at Wal-mart to get fullfill his back to school list and get him a few uniforms... Check out this list!

* 2 boxes of 8 count jumbo crayons

* 2 packages of #2 pencils

* 1 package of washable markers

* 1 pair of scissors (rounded tip)

* 2- 4 ox bottles of glue

* 8 glue sticks

* 1 eraser

* 1 folder, plain, orange plastic with 3 prongs (Label with child's full name on front)

* 1 package of index cards

* 2 bottles of hand sanitizer

* 2 boxes of Kleenex

* 1 roll of paper towels

* 2 boxes quart size Ziplock baggies

* 2 containers disinfecting wipes

* 1 package of dry erase markers

* 1 package of 50 napkins

* 1 oversized shirt to paint in

* 2 packages of construction paper

* 1 package of white cardstock

* 1 pack of sponges

* 2 containers of baby wipes

* 1 box of dixie cups

* 1 - 24 pack of dessert plates

* 1 extra uniform in a large Ziplock bag labeled with the child's first and last name (shirt, pants, socks and underwear)

I retyped it in the exact order it was on the list from the school... great organization huh? I cannot believe all the items they expect kids to bring to school!

Little Brian loves to check himself out in the mirror! Trying on clothes always takes extra long...

trying on some shoes

My mom helped SO much with the back to school shopping and bought all the clothes (we bought the supplies) and the boys were so excited. Here is Jacob hugging his grandma goodbye- they just adore her.

We couldn't find uniform tops at Wal-mart so Kenny volunteered to run around and look for some while we stayed home and played wii (we don't have a vehicle that will seat 7). Turns out he couldn't find any, but we will keep searching or order them from the school.

Good luck in School Brian!!

Move it!

It is almost cruel to ask someone to help move the day after you get back from a long weekend of hiking... But my brother has been there for Kenny so many times and never complains so Kenny obliged.

It actually only ended up taking about 40 mins and was only 1 truck load so it wasn't a big deal at all (although it was really HOT).

PLUS, We got to see our nephews- totally worth it!

Actually little Brain was in a really bad mood... kinda bossy and mean... Oh well we all have our days ! He starts school tomorrow! I pray it goes well for him.

Havasupai Weekend

Friday after work Kenny and I jumped in the car, picked up Jereme and Melodi and headed out on our weekend adventure. We stopped in Prescott for dinner at Cracker Barrel and ended up arriving at the Hualapai Lodge in Peach Springs, AZ after 9PM. We joked that Peach Springs is actually Radiator Springs from the movie Cars, because it is off old route 66. Since we were too awake and maybe excited for the hike no one could sleep and we ended up staying up till almost 1 AM laughing and playing games like "I have never" and Truth or Dare like a bunch of preteen girls!

Bright and early the next morning we woke up, the only problem it wasn't bright out! It was stormy with lots of lighting. We had read many warnings about flash flooding in the Canyon and contemplated what we should do. We knew we had a little over an hour drive to the Havasupai Hilltop so we hoped it would pass by the time we got there. We loaded up around 6 AM and Kenny drove us the 60 miles on Indian Road 18... and it rained (actually poured) on us the entire time. It was reassuring to find a very full parking lot at the end of the road, but not many people were around. We tried to prepare our packs, but the rain continued and we were all getting soaked. We sat in the car for about an hour and just hoped and prayed that the storm would pass. Finally about 8:30 the rain lifted. We could hear the helicopter coming out of the canyon and saw a few mule trains head out.

We geared up (including plastic garbage bags over our clothes and packs) and headed into the canyon at 8:41 AM.

Us- a whole new definition of white trash

Melodi and Jereme

It was absolutely beautiful out! Although, we didn't know what else mother nature had in store for us at that point it was cool, well actually cold since we were all dressed for 90-100 degree temperatures. It smelled fresh and damp. The trail started to buzz as people, mull trains etc started coming up out of the canyon. It was reassuring to see so many other people coming out, although not many people were going in.

The first mile and have was rugged and rocky like many of the online reviews had promised, but no worse than Piestewa Peak in Phoenix. We took a small break and regrouped at the bottom of the trail knowing we have 6 1/2 long miles left on the flat land (which included sand and deep gravel-not fun). The canyon walls were remarkable and I stopped to take pictures at least every 5 minutes.

just a hole in the wall along the way

"mule" train

This was Kenny and my first backpacking type trip and we really didn't know what to expect although I was mostly warned to "PACK LIGHT". Jereme had suggested we take a backpack and daypack and 'share the load' so that is what we did. Since I was carrying the heavy pack for the first 4 miles I felt a sense of hope... my trip would only get better as my body got tired (knowing we were helicoptering out the next day helped too!). We switched packs at the 4 mile mark... but at this point we were all getting tired. Conversation lulled and the picture taking became less important. The mull trains, stray dogs and other hikers became less and less frequent.

When we arrived at the wooden "Village" sign I almost wanted to jump for joy, but my legs were too tired. Little did we know we still had a nice long mile and half to go!

We trudged along and finally reached the village!

We thought we were done at this point, but the Lodge was on the far side of the village so we continued.

Finally we made it, checked in, paid and were sitting on our beds in our room by 2PM. Everyone was exhausted.

We tried to decide if we had another 6 miles in us to make to the falls and back that afternoon, but decided against it. Instead we sat around and rested, showered and went to dinner at one of the 3 cafes (another 1/2 mile plus of walking) and had dinner with some locals.

They actually lead us back to the hotel. It was kind of bizarre that they knew right where we were going. It was still light out but we went to bed about 7PM!

Our day started early again on Sunday. We were all sore of course and when I went to stand up I almost fell down! Honestly, I wasn't sure I would make it through the hikes but couldn't have come this far to miss out on the main event ; the Falls. So we took off before sun rise. Once we got going everyone's muscles seemed to warm up and the pain faded. The first falls we saw were the new falls... I don't think they even have names yet... just the new falls. They were caused by a destructive flood in 2008-- They were beautiful!

We headed up the trail further toward Havasu falls and the campground area. Turns out someone (won't mention names, but this is the same someone who misguided Bev and I to New Mexico instead of home!) misguided us and we walked at least another 1/2 mile out of our way. Finally we reached Havasu falls... to be honest when I first saw it I though it couldn't be it! It looked bigger in the pictures! We decided to keep on going to the Mooney falls and swim if time permitted on the way back... We walked through the campgrounds (which was super cool and I would love to try sometime)

and got to the top of Mooney Falls- totally amazing! We gawked for awhile and then I followed Kenny down the mountain to the base of the waterfall.

The trip down was no easy task, but really fun, challenging and scary! You have to go through 2 tunnels and then down a rock staircase with chains as railing, then down a shaky wooden ladder, more rock stairs and finally a 8-10 foot metal ladder... it was nerve racking, but exciting.

We made it to the bottom and it was probably the most beautiful, amazing, serene things I have ever seen! We were the only 4 people around and with the rush of the water being so loud you really couldn't hear much. The water was cold and the mist from the fall was cool and smelled fresh. We took lots of pictures and took a rest.

Then we headed back out for some a picnic lunch. Kenny and I hadn't planned for lunch (since we thought we would just buy food) so we ate left over snacks from the day before and conserved as much water as we could.

Us at the top of Mooney Falls

After lunch we started our hike back to the village, but still had Havasupi fall to explore. Since you are allowd to swim there were had brought our suits. The water was cold so I decided not to swim, but just splash around, explore and take pictures.

Kenny was the first in the 'pool' under the fall. I was shocked as he swam under the fall! He said it was awesome, then Jereme joined him and then Melodi went in too. They were all having such a great time I decided I just couldn't let this moment pass and ran up the hill to change into my suit.

. It WAS amazing! Although the water was ice cold I guess our adrenaline really kept us warm. We had to walk backwards into the fall because the water was pushing so hard against us.

Kenny had to actually drag me into it because it pushed so hard I couldn't get underneath! It felt like being power washed and all at once I was pushed back in the pool area again! What a great experience.

Top view of Havasu falls

We changed and got back on the trail. It was getting warm and I was thankful for my wet hair at this point. We all really trudged uphill, but I was the caboose huffing and puffing.

Finally we made it back to the lodge and picked up our packs (we just took our day packs to the falls) and headed over to get our name on the list for the helicopter ride out. Once our 'reservation' for our ride out was secure we had lunch at another one of the cafes and waited.

We ended up waiting another hour after lunch, but finally it was our turn and we boarded the copter. The cost was $85/per person, but SO worth it since we got out of the canyon in just 5 mins and it took us 5 hours to get in!!

Kenny, Melodi and Jereme on the helicopter

The whole ride went so fast, but I was thankful it did since I got a little motion-sick which I wasn't expecting... The view was amazing and it was a totally different way to experience and view the beauty of the canyon.

We climbed up yet another hill and loaded our gear into the car and started our 4 1/2 hour drive home. The Indian Road 18 is free range so it wasn't uncommon that we saw horses passing on the road.

The storm never hit on Sunday that was supposed to, but I enjoyed watching the clouds as we made our way home.

Since we were on old route 66 we saw 2 sets of these old Burma-Shave signs. They are staggered signs kinds of telling a joke or a riddle. My grandma remembered them from the 1940s when they drove out here on route 66!

The trip was so amazing and I am thankful we could share it with good friends. It felt like we were gone a week, but it was just 2 days... one heck of a way to spend a weekend!

OTHER THINGS ABOUT THE TRIP:

We hikes about 16 miles the entire weekend

The Lodge at the bottom of the cabin was $140/night

Our packs/shoes/etc cost $300

I didn't fall ALL weekend!