Family Reunions

Wow, has it really been THAT long since I last posted? We've been busy kids. Things have been changing quite a bit for us, but it's an exciting time of life. Isn't is always the case that when you have a lot to blog about, you never have time to actually sit down and write the posts? Please tell me I'm not the only one whose life seems to work out that way.

[This most likely won't be in chronological order, so if it seems a little disjointed I'm sorry! It's just all my thoughts at once right now.]

First off, we went to a couple of family reunions over Pioneer Day weekend. My mom's side for the first two days, and C's dad's side for the last two days. It was a great break. I do love the long car rides with just me and C. It makes for good conversation time that we don't get too often.

The problem is, this past month or so, I haven't taken very many pictures [read: none]. So, I'm stealing pictures off of my sister Lindsay's too cute [but private] blog.

At the Frost family reunion, we went down to the Snowflake temple for a family session. It was amazing to sit next to my grandmother and be able to see the legacy she's created with the strength of her family in the church. It was so wonderful to finish the session and look around and realize that everyone in the room was related to me. I love this gospel!

The next day, we went to hike Mt. Elden. We got to talking to uncle Mike and it came out that C absolutely loves Taco Bell. Little did he know, Mike owns a Del Taco. Before we got off the trail, Mike showed up with both a burrito and a burger from Del Taco. We've since been to Del Taco twice. Taco Bell is no longer on the radar. [And I'm thrilled. No more plastic cheese from caulk guns!]

That night, we drove down to the Call Family Reunion. They go camping every year, and this year it rained harder than I've seen in a long, long while. We all huddled under this huge awning and the guys would walk around and push up on the tarp to get the major gushes of water out of the pockets to keep it from collapsing in on us. It was really fun! I've always loved watching thunder storms and the kids loved the mud. I got to meet a few cousins I haven't been able to build a relationship with yet [ahem, Morgan & Carson, Wendy & Troy, and Shantelle & Andy.] And some much needed time with C's parents.

In other news, after I lost my job, we decided I wouldn't look for another job until Fall Semester started for C, so we could take a l.o.n.g vacation. We went to Lake Powell with my family for a week and then drove to QC for the next week for some Call Family time. :) [for you non-marrieds, please PLEASE marry into an awesome family. It's worth it. I totally scored on the in-law front and it has made all the difference in our marriage.]

Because I didn't take pictures, I don't have any proof that we actually did go on a vacation for two whole weeks, but I sure enjoyed living without being behind a lens! Lake Powell was a blast. [Minus the major melt-down after I dropped C's ring in the lake on my birthday and watched it sink hopelessly down to the bottom. Wonder-husband was the one comforting me instead of the other way around. He's incredible. We bought him a cheap-o at Walmart and (go figure) he actually prefers it.]

C totally tore it up on the wakeboard. Gosh, he's attractive. :)

We were also totally spoiled by getting to see Mackay, Lindsay and Lillie for an entire week.

Isn't she a doll? I had to post this one because I'm so proud of it. I took it!

My family really likes the show Wipeout. My dad will laugh so hard through that entire show, so we decided to make a Wipeout course on the lake and film the entire thing. We were "Team Lanky" The back of our shirts had our heights on them like athletic numbers. :)

Oh, how I love being his best friend. :) Thanks for being a dork with me, babe!

We had to go first, which means everybody got to watch us do the course first. Which also means that we were the only ones who actually did the course. Which means we lost. But the tapes show what really happened. :)

We celebrated our birthdays on the lake. [C's is the day after mine.] For my birthday, I dropped C's ring in the lake. It was right when the sun was going down so we left it and decided to dive for it early the next morning before getting off the lake. So on the morning of C's birthday, he got to dive to the bottom of the lake looking for a small piece of metal and blowing out his eardrums. [He is still battling an earache from that.]

Since all these pictures are from Lindsay's camera, I don't have a single picture from Queen Creek, but we really went and we really had a great time! We slept in [ok, I did. C got up and did yard work with his dad, which he loves. weird kid.] Adrienne spoiled us with birthday cake [and birthday sugar-free jello for her high-maintenance daughter-in-law.] We went to Canyon Lake a couple times to go wakeboarding. C& I both probably had the best runs of our lives. Amberlee learned how to go in and out of the wake. Everybody boarded including Kiara, Adrienne and Wayne! It was such a blast! The water was ice cold, but felt so good in the 100+ degree temps that whole week.

One night we were there, there was a rain storm that knocked the power out. We were playing cards and it was pouring. I can't remember the last time I was stuck in a Phoenix rain storm. If you haven't experienced that, it's a hot rain, it smells amazing, and you can see lightning as far as the eye can see. It's incredible.

Adrienne got out all the candles and we chatted and listened to the rain. I love that. There was also a movie theater down there that had a $5 deal all day so we went and saw Inception [awesome.] and Killers [not-so-awesome.] I also went to see eat. pray. love. with Adrienne and Kiara, but that movie was a disaster. We all found it boring, waste of time, and completely against our values. It wasn't necessarily offensive, it was just 'off'. idk.

C got a speeding ticket on his birthday while we were driving through Cameron, Arizona. Ironic? I think not. The officer had to write the current date and the driver's birthdate like right underneath each other. The officer knew. And he wrote C a ticket anyway. Jerk.

4 days later, C was driving a work truck of his dad's on the way to get some stuff fixed at the mechanic so it could pass safety and emissions, so it could get re-registered and insured. Well, he got pulled over. Kiara, Adrienne, and I saw him on the way to see eat.pray.love. and stopped behind him. Adrienne got out of the car, the officer wasn't too kind to her, because apparently that's illegal. By the time it all got cleared up, there were 3 cop cars behind C, one officer standing by the passenger side door like a bouncer, and C got another ticket. Cool. :) Happy Birthday week to us.

We did, though, manage to get home without getting another ticket. Granted, I drove most of the way. :)