Our Good Friend Lou

Lou Amundson from the Phoenix Suns came to Flagstaff to sign autographs on Monday. Since Cade and I were already up there babysitting, we decided to take the kids to get his autograph. He is 6'9". I personally enjoyed the free food from Ruby Tuesday more than getting an autograph. Unfortunately we only had our phones with us so the picture sucks.

Eliza, Lou, Quintin, Cade

Our Trip to Utah

Over the weekend Cade and I went to Hurricane, Utah (aka The Greatest Place on Earth according to Cade) to celebrate his grandma's 80th birthday. We had a great time seeing everyone and hanging out with his cousins that we don't see that often. We got there late Thursday night and stayed with his Ewell grandparents. On Friday he went with his uncles to check out this cattle ranch that his cousins have started. As always, it got Cade totally envious that his cousins are living "The dream" and he isn't. That's when the compromises on getting me to move there start. This time the agreed upon compromise is we'll TALK about moving there as soon as Cade passes the CPA exam. After that the cousins got together for dinner, played volleyball, talked, etc.

Here are some pictures of Cade being the cowboy he wants to be and turns into whenever we go there.

Here are Sam, Natalie, and Jacob playing volleyball.

Sam with his wonderful Scrabble tile stack.

On Saturday Cade went fishing with the boys and I stayed behind with my sister in law Katie. We ended up helping Tina get the big dinner ready for everyone. On our way over to the dinner there was this HUGE hail storm and the streets were flooding really quick. It was a traumatic event for us. Keep in mind that it was just Katie and I in the car and we barely knew how to get where we were going, there was construction going on messing up the lanes, we could barely see out our windshield from the rain/hail, and we were close to being swept away. But after some tense moments and a little screaming we made it. I wish I had thought to take a picture during it, there was so much hail on the ground it looked like a blanket of snow, it was crazy. Cade's dad and brother were on a horse ride in the middle of it and had to get back as fast as they could to avoid the lightening, they were soaked! Then we had the dinner which turned out great, BBQ pork sandwiches, one of my favorites. After that was the big birthday bash. Lots of people came out to see his grandma. We were sad to leave on Sunday, especially because now we have to focus on the talks we're giving in church on Sunday. NNNNNOOOOOO, I HAAAATE giving talks!!!!!!!!!

Grandma Johnson with her birthday cake and a bunch of great grandkids.

Katie and I checking out our bellies. She is 6 weeks farther along than me.

Us with Grandma Johnson. I think that cute little girl is Mason, when she saw us taking a picture she ran to be in it.

Whit, Golden, Kendra, and Brendan at the birthday party.

Us with Grandma and Grandpa Ewell.

(Blast our crappy camera making pictures blurry)

Big News

For all of you out there who were beginning to think we were never going to have kids, you can stop worrying. We're having a baby! I just entered the second trimester and the baby is due the day before Thanksgiving. We just had our second dr's appointment and our second ultrasound and everything is looking good so far. The baby definitely has 2 legs, 2 arms, and a spine. Phew. At our next appointment we'll hopefully find out what it is. I wanted to put up the sonogram of our cute little alien looking baby, but I couldn't get it scanned from where I'm at, maybe I will another day.

Reminiscing

One year ago today Cade and I left on the trip of our lives. We went on a cross country trip on our way to Philadelphia for my summer externship. We went up through Colorado Springs, through Wyoming and South Dakota, over to Minnesota and Illinois. Then we spent our weekdays in Philly and traveled the east coast on the weekends. On our way home we went through West Virginia, Kentucky, and met up with some of my family in Arkansas. Then it was time to get back to Flagstaff. Now I'm bummed out because I wish that's what I was doing right now, but instead I'm just living my day to day life, being stressed out from working at a new job, with no vacation in sight. Sigh. I felt like reminding myself of the good times so I'm taking a trip down memory lane, but I won't be offended if no else joins me, there's a lot of memories here. :)

Mount Rushmore

A very successful shopping trip at Mall of America

Cade with Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo

Hurricane Point at Niagara Falls

Just an Amish Buggy going down the road in Lancaster, PA

Replica of the Mayflower in Plymouth, Massachu setts

Washington Monument

Sacred Grove

Jersey Shore

Times Square in New York

Liberty Bell in Philly

Enjoying an authentic Philly sub

Love Park in Philly

The nasty row house we lived in

An ethiopian restaurant, the table and chairs are basically upside down baskets

In Arkansas

Official Homeowners!

After almost 7 long months of waiting we finally got the house of our dreams. Ok, it's not really the house of our dreams, but it is a great starter home. It was a short sale so it took forever for the bank to give us a contract to buy the house for less than what was owed on it. In the meantime we lived with Cade's parents, at his sister's apartment while she house sat for 3 months and rented our new house. We're really glad its all over and we finally have a place of our own and can stop moving. Our three favorite features are having a garage, a pantry, and a walk-in closet. We'll never be able to live without those things again! I also LOVE the kitchen, it's pretty spacious for me and I still have empty cupboards. Cade loves having a backyard that he can practice shooting his hunting bow in. The house isn't very big but with the high ceilings and the family room being open to the kitchen it feels bigger. And the best part of it was that it was move in ready when we bought it. I do want to paint all the walls but I don't have to rush to get it done. Here are some pictures for those of you who have asked to see them.

Here is the entry way. I love having it so when strangers come to the door they can't see into my house and I don't have to pick up for anyone who just comes to the door.

That leads into the family room.

For the first time since we've been married we finally have a place for a table.

The kitchen with its many cupboards! (not my favorite countertop though)

And we have a breakfast bar.

And here is our bedroom. It needs a lot of work but we're currently out of money :)