Indecision

Remember how I blogged about getting ready to go to the Grand Canyon and even left a few oozy comments on your blogs about my excitement?

Friends and family may recall me saying something like, "Golly, I've always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I can't wait!"

Reservations were made, maps purchased, and the route was planned. Wayyy in advance.

Here is a picture of our Grand Canyon trip.....

That's right. We didn't go. We used the trip money for a family gift instead.

Literally the night before we were supposed to leave, Todd and I bailed. We started thinking that since we combined two families when we married - why not get a family gift?!

So there you have it. And now I really really want to go to the Grand Canyon. Soon you'll hear me say...."Golly, I've always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon. I can't wait!" But hey - my kids are happy.

In all seriousness - I just didn't feel like going. Weird! Me not wanting to go on a road trip is just downright strange.

However, we did make alternate plans.

After the girls left for their mom's house, Todd and I decided to go camping in the Uinta's and scout out some wild animals - our favorite pasttime! We are crazy about finding animals in the wild. We would never hurt one - we just like to boast about them (like - "I remember back in 2003 when there was that there pack of wild, snarling hedgehogs circling us. We barely made it out alive!") and post gazillions of pictures of them on this blog.

Before we left, we stopped at the store for supplies - spotlight, lighter, fattening and sugary treats, ice, and drinks. Then we hit the road and headed up Mirror Lake Highway.

No, we didn't stop here along the way.









We found a dirt road off the beaten path and happened upon two park rangers.

Us: Hi. Are there any good campsites up ahead?
Them: Oh sure. There's plenty. But do you know about the bear?
Us in unison with our ears suddenly perked up: Why....no. A bear, you say?
Them: Well some ATV'rs spotted a black bear near here earlier today.

Our car spewed gravel and dirt as we sped off in search of a campsite and a bear.

I had the camera ready. Todd was in eagle-eye mode.

We searched. And searched. And searched. No bear. I started to get cranky.

So what did we do?





We set up camp....

...and realized we forgot a few things like the firewood and the tarp that goes over the tent that protects against rain. Todd launched into survival-mode and started looking for firewood for a campfire.

We couldn't get the lighter to work. Todd's attempt at alternate flame sources failed miserably.

Then we noticed the rain clouds ahead. While I really wanted to see a bear in the wild - fears of a possible bear attack in the middle of the night haunted my thoughts.

So, after being at the campsite for less than an hour, we packed up and went home.

A weird weekend of indecision and changed plans for sure!

But we did go hiking up to Dog Lake and Lake Catherine the next day and saw a total of FIVE moose. We didn't realize they were sitting 20 feet away from us while we ate our sandwiches. Cool!

The girl moose kept checking this guy out. Hot stuff, I tell you.

So, no Grand Canyon, no bear, and no camping, but I spent the weekend with Todd - which made it fun!

Tell me - would you camp out knowing there was a bear in the area?

He's home!

Connor came home tonight looking tired and jet-lagged and hungry and showed us souvenirs and gave us hugs and pet the cats and had a bite to eat and admired our new tv that replaced our Grand Canyon trip (a blog in the making) and then said he was tired and was going to bed.

But the whole point of this short little post is found in the first three beautiful words of the run-on sentence above. My Europe-traveling son is home. Now maybe I can get some sleep and stop worrying. Life is good.

Good night all.

A decade together

Ten years ago Todd and I got hitched. Ten YEARS! Wow, time has really flown by because it certainly hasn't felt like a decade to me.



This is one of our first pictures together as newlyweds. Sorry for the poor quality, I had to scan it.

Connor and I lived in a little two bedroom apartment in Salt Lake when we met Todd. I'm not exaggerating when I say he swept me off my feet. I was enamored by his passion for life. He loved boating and flying and was mostly raising three children by himself. And they adored him! That spoke volumes to me. Connor and I fell in love with him and his kids (Darren, Elora, and Larissa).

Interestingly, Connor and I were alone for 5 years and all we knew was each other. When I married Todd we went from a quiet family of two to a bustling family of six!

This is one of our first family pictures.

We are nothing if not goofy.






We had some interesting times the first few years. Like the time I opened the freezer and found a dead snake. Darren found roadkill and wanted to skin it. Yeah, that was fun. NOT!

And living with little girls was a new concept for me. One night I tucked Larissa into bed (she was 4 at the time) and she said she wanted to talk. I asked her what she wanted to talk about. "I want to talk about butterflies and sparklies and glitter and rainbows." I'm sure I had a 'deer in the headlights' look. Connor usually just wanted to be tickled. I didn't know how to talk about glitter!

There were hard times too. Todd's business went under and he found a job that worked him graveyard shifts. I worked days. With four young kids at home and Todd and I never seeing each other - it was rough at first. One night Todd was at work and the kids and I were home alone. It was raining and lightning outside. I couldn't sleep but thought the kids were sleeping fine. I heard knocks at my bedroom door and found eight scared eyes looking up at me. We went into the living room and said a prayer. Then we sang songs together. This was a very special night for me and went a long way toward us all bonding together. I'll never forget it.

Life has gone on for us through the good times and the bad. I love my family so very much and I'm so thankful that Todd and I found each other.


Another goofy picture of the fam. We are with Todd's parents in this picture.









We celebrated our anniversary with the girls. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Tepanyaki's. Mmm!

My dear husband gave me pearls. He said that he has been wanting to give me pearls since I had my thyroid removed last December. He said that he hopes the pearls will detract from my scar and I won't feel as self-conscious. Sweet!


















Todd is a wonderful husband to me.
He is never unkind. Always caring, loyal and hardworking.
He is logical when I'm emotional. Serious when I'm goofy. Steadfast when I'm impatient. Motivating when I'm discouraged. He is my rock and makes me so happy!

He even loves Bryce Canyon. What more could I ask for?! I am the luckiest gal, indeed.

Skydiving Connor!

Holy cow! Look at what my son did yesterday in Switzerland!! How lucky and BRAVE is he?! I'll be honest, I've been so worried about him skydiving and I'm just glad it's over. WOW! I'm sooo proud of you, Conman! YOU WENT SKYDIVING!!! AHHHHH!

The spookiest (and possibly the dumbest) post EVER!

The following is a true story. No names had to be changed to protect the innocent, as there were none.

(This may not be as funny to you as it was to us - but we roared.)

First, for effect, and to showcase my strong nerdlike tendencies, queue up the following music to add to the air of suspense.

{Redhoodoos donning her 'ghost story' voice}

Late Saturday night, around midnight or so, me, Todd, and Elora came home from seeing "Dark Knight". As a side note - the joker in this movie is a tad bit creepy. So, we were already a little bit special.

It had been hours since we had had our internet fix, so of course, we race to the computers, knocking things over that are in our way and not bothering to turn on any lights.

Todd and I were at the main computer looking something up - not sure what, and it doesn't really matter, because my fingers get a little thrill when they caress the keyboard - even if it's a site about Armenian clowns.

We were busy looking at something when we heard a noise.

Remember, it's midnight and we just saw a scary movie and the house is dark. I might be embellishing a bit - but I think there was lightning in the distance. Yeah, we'll say there was lightning.

So.

We heard a noise outside.

I thought it was the sprinklers and didn't mention it.

We heard it again. And again. And again.

Slowly, Todd and I look at each other.

We discuss the possibilities.

Me: It's the sprinklers.
Todd: No, they go off at 11.
Me: Hmm
Elora: Maybe it's the tree by our house.
Todd: We don't have a tree by our house.
Me: Hmmm.

Silence.

Todd: Well, let's go check it out.

2 thoughts jostled around in my head.
A) Why do we have to go check it out.
B) Why does my manly man want us to go with him to check it out? I'm not accusing Todd of being scared or anything. I'm just sayin'.

We crept out the back door to find the source of the very creepy sounding noise.

We huddled near each other like a mass of jello - any noise would have surely sent us jiggling!

Try to imagine three very grown (and hopefully rational) people practically glued to each other, creeping ever so silently to the side of the house.

In defense of my man - he was first in our little line.

We crept to the side of the house and found the source of the noise.







And we found......











THIS!














This is where the laughter began.

Turns out that the neighbors tent flew over their fence and was caught between our fence and our house.

The laughter continued and of course Todd said things like "Ha ha, you were so scared".

So, to really showcase my nerdlike tendencies - I asked my husband and daughter to re-enact the events that occurred that fateful Saturday night.


As you can clearly see, Todd thought it was a dumb idea.









But because he loves me, he obliged! Elora is just a sweetheart and can't say no!


(I can't look at this picture and NOT laugh my head off)!





So there's our very scary story.

Sorry I'm a nerd. Now you can go back to reading important and meaningful blogs.

So....

Todd and I are going here later this week for our 10th anniversary!

I'm pretty darn excited because I've never been! I have always wanted to go to the Grand Canyon but we've never made it. Besides looking over the rim - is there anything you can recommend? A great restaurant? A trip to Sedona or Flagstaff, perhaps?

Any ideas?

Check out this hilarious post by Jennifer H.!

This post is very cool!