On Top of the World

All right kiddos, so this is going to be a big post. A few days after my last post I received word that a close family friend had passed away. Actually it happened on September 11th, which brought on a whole new meaning to the day this year. So I scrambled to find a way to Arizona where the family lives and mourn with them (as well as play and have fun, cause Bob would NOT want people crying over him, just enjoying each other). Unfortunately Lindsay was not able to come with me, which was so sad cause it would have been nice to have him there, but I made it.

You see Bob Bess was an amazing man. Him and his wife Cindy met my parents when both were newlyweds and went on to create an amazing life long friendship that anyone would envy. Me and my siblings grew up in our younger childhood years next door or near The Bess boys and were like extended siblings. Bob's death came as a shock to all of us but everyone is doing well. It is so nice to have an understanding of the Gospel of Christ and a belief in the Plan of Salvation knowing that we will be reunited with our loved ones after death!

So I went to Arizona and we played and visited, spent time in "memory of Bob" shopping and eating. The funeral was probably the most amazing that I have been too. There were lots of great musical numbers as Bob's favorite things in life were Music/Media and food. And there was an abundance of food provided from all sources (Bob worked in a corporate position for a grocery chain). It was amazing! There were lots of tears shed and lots of comfort but all in all we kept laughing and joking about things Bob would have commented about.

Some of my favorite memories include having Lindsay learn how to give a good foot rub from Bob (He gave Cindy one every night!), eating off the BBQ by their pool, going to Disneyland, going to the raceway tracks, bartering in Mexico, and just listening to his wisdom and advice that he knew just how to give. Him and his family ( minus one son) also came to Spokane for My brother's wedding a few years back and ended helping Linds and I clean our house that we were moving out of to prepare for an inspection and helping us move in. I felt so bad that they spent part of their vacation doing that and yet they say they had fun. Crazy!

His memory will not be lost on many people and I know his wisdom will continue to pass down. Here are some pics from that trip.....

I get the opportunity to go back tomorrow because I am going to pick up a car down there! Yes, we will now have two cars which will be so nice! I am sure that with small trips I will still bike, but I can grocery shop in the day now and run into the city if I need to without trying to find a ride, or take Boomer to the vet. It will be so grand! I can't wait.

Also I got to see this little boy for the first time in person....

This little guy's name is Carson and he is one of my best friend's from high school little boy. I got to spend an afternoon with the two of them and it was so nice. Last time I say my friend was while she was six months pregnant with Carson! It seems that their little family is doing well indeed and I want to wish Kasey good luck with your new job!!!!

The next morning after I got back Linds and I went on a backpacking trip that we had already planned and had a complete blast! We were able to take Boomer with us and see some of the gorgeous fall colors in central california! A few highlights and a lowlight....the colors made the forest look like it was on fire-greens, fire orange, yellows, and a bit of red here and there, towards the beginning of the trail it was like you were walking through an enchanted hallway of aspens, totally breathtaking. Usually Lindsay and I have a hard time taking pics cause we are too busy having fun but we took almost 70 pictures of this trip it was all so beautiful. Continuing on with highlights and such......we hiked by six lakes all of which were crystal clear greens and blues and you could see fish swimming in them, it was perfect weather (about 60-65 sunny with a breeze) for hiking. It makes me want to go back thinking about it. The not so good, we had this dinner that we were preparing that smelled delicious-especially after that day's hiking and I was starving. You are supposed to boil water then pour it in the pouch, stir, and let sit for a set time. Well Lindsay thought otherwise, we boiled the water, he poured it in, and instead of stirring and sitting, he decided he could seal the bag and just shake it. Not so good, this is the outcome ( so sad!)

I actually started laughing cause it all happened in slow motion. Poor Linds burned his hand and thigh in the process and Boomer got a tasty dinner. I actually did try some of it off the ground. I was just so hungry and it smelled and looked so good. Luckily we re-rationed our food and cooked a not so good Mexican rice and Chicken dinner. Better luck Next time!

And this last thing is a hilarious video we took of Boomer the night prior to leaving. We bought him some booties because we weren't sure if it was going to snow, or have ice, and just in case one of his paws were to get injured. We tried them on at home and they are now dubbed the "Anti-Gravity Boots." Oh so funny, it was like the booties spring loaded Boomer's feet off the floor when he moved. I hope you enjoy!

Crazy Adventurous weekend

This weekend was busy AND adventurous. Pictures were taken with other people's cameras cause our batteries were out but as soon as I get them, I will totally post!

Friday night we had the opportunity to meet with some of our friends' friends where they were camping in the middle of the mojave desert. It was crazy warm (still 80 at 9pm), it was the first time that I have not had to put on a jacket at night at a camp site! There was not much around but sand and huge bushes that look like giant tumbleweeds but somehow the sunset was still beautiful. Linds and I can't wait to go camping out there ourselves.

Pretty much this is what it looked like with taller bushes. Also where we were there were no Joshua trees but let me tell you Lindsay's commute to work the above picture is his scenery the entire way. Crazy eh?

Then on Saturday we drove to an actual campsite near Tehachapi (T-hatch-a-pee) mountain where another friend was camping and tried to hike up the mountain. The elevation goes up to almost 8,000 feet and our lungs were getting their workout. The hike was good cause Lindsay and I are planning a backpacking trip and we needed to get in a good practice run with elevation but it kicked my butt. Actually I totally over did it. I came home that night and we both had blistered heels and I actually had a slight fever and felt queasy. I was so determined to get to the top, but we made it 1/2 mile less than the peak.

Overall the hike wasn't spectacular, but it was a good work out, there was nice company with our friend, and the outdoors is always nice!

Also on Saturday morning I walked with a group sponsored by www.protectmarriage.com and went around to registered voters' homes and talked about Proposition 8 that will be on the ballot here in California state! It is such a huge thing for this state. Normally I don't get into politics but I need to just give a small rant.....so a few years back 61% of California voted that the definition of marriage for the California constitution was between "man and wife" well in the supreme court amongst the judges they vetod it 4-3 and now its back on the ballot. Voting "Yes" means that the definition of marriage will stay "between man and woman" if it swings "No" than any two adults may be legally married. Voting "yes" does not take away any current rights that homosexuals have in the state, they are still entitled to everything they are now......However if they are allowed to be legally married, then our school systems will teach our children that homosexual relations are an appropriate option.

I know this is a touchy subject but if you live in California and read this or know someone who does please encourage them to vote on this Proposition 8 in November and visit the website www.protectmarriage.com for more information.

Happy Monday!

...Climbing out of the Abyss

All right kids I think I am back in action and update like a regular now! We are settled for the most part into our new house, which rocks by the way! We got internet a week or so ago so I have connection at home and found the cords I need for my camera! Sweet I tell you.

Well I am sad to say I haven't taken as many pics as I would like but I've got some to show you!And there is way too much to catch up on so let me give you some highlights of the last few months!

We got to see our best friends (Linds' brother and wife) for a day while they were vacationing in San Diego which was awesome! This was Haley showing how cool the speedo is on men, which there are plenty of down here! I am not dissing, I dig on certain body types but those don't come by very often.

Lindsay and I all wind swept and sun dried

This was Boomer and Lindsay waiting to watch the mountain festival parade. It was not as good as Spokane parades but still fun to celebrate with our town!

The boys who had perma-grin the entire time they were together! They even went to "Jamba Juice" and were going to be back "soon" and a half an hour later us girls were walking across a highway to find where they were at in the shopping center so that we could leave and they were finishing up at TJ Maxx, what dorks. Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Love them sweet boys!

This was up at the mountain by our house we had a bbq with a friend who was camping up there. So much fun! We are planning our next backpacking trip and we cant decide where to go. We do have a couple of sweet hot spring options that we think we might do in the fall. They are quite far and we haven't done a trip this year so we need to get into shape for them!

The boys lounging in one of the hotel rooms that we stayed in on our drive down to Cali! Poor Boom- I don't think he liked the trip much, being stuck in the back seat of our sedan. Oh well! We'll find a dog park soon hopefully!

Today is Labor day and Lindsay went golfing with someone from the ward and So I went out to our nifty Nectarine tree that is in our back yard (yep, you heard me, my own nectarine tree-sweet sweet heaven) and pick some ripe ones. As we speak I've got my dehydrator making some nectarine/pineapple fruit leather and dried nectarines, I can't wait to see how it all turns out. The people who lived in our house before us didn't like the fruit and didn't know how to take care of the tree. Thus this year we got lots of nectarines but they are all pretty small. I looked up how to take care of the tree for next year and I think I can make it so that we will get a bit less but much bigger fruit, I can't wait!

This whole domestic wife thing has been fun I must tell you! Yeah sometimes I get bored and nobody tells me good job on this or good job on that but I am learning many things and am glad to have the time. I have been going back and forth lately with going back to work but this time has been great and there is still so much I want to learn. I feel fortunate that I can stay home and learn all of these things before the kids come along so I can be in more of a habit then.

A few weeks back I made flat bread that we grilled into pizzas, it was great! And soon I think I might tackle some basic sewing!

Our house is Spokane finally sold and we closed on it this last week-Finally! We lost a bunch of money-stupid economy but it is such a relief to not have to worry about two mortgages and two sets of utility bills any more! Right now we only have one car because we sold our other one when we left and it has been hard sometimes because lindsay commutes to work with it, but it has been a blessing to. I have been forced to walk and ride my bike around and it has been great to keep my body in shape. Its not a hard workout but its nice. The hard part is grocery shopping that waits for the evenings which usually means more people, but I have enjoyed riding my bike.

Lindsay and Boomer took a spill on my bike last week and poor guys both got skinned knees and knuckles, but I think Boomer learned his lesson (he ran in front of the bike and Lindsay flew over the handle bars. Luckily both were ok, Boomer doesnt run in front of the bike now, and Linds took me to REI this weekend (we made a special trip-it was cool to drive and see a real store) so we could get it fixed.

So we are getting used to the slower paced life here. It's been nice to live more simple, Lindsay has even been cooking more (I think it helps since we don't eat out as much that we have more groceries) and yesterday I quote said "I'm likin' this cookin' thing" isn't that spectacular. I totally reinforced that one as much as I could! We don't get to go do as many things since most businesses close around six but there is a hippy type feminist coffee shop that stays open late and has bands play and open mic nights and things that we go to for date night. That has been fun and there is a weekly Farmers Market that is pretty small but also fun to go checkout.

Well that is the Our life! Cant wait to get back in touch with everyone!