Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Road Trip!

Last month Kris and I drove to St. George to visit my parents. They moved there last fall, so I needed to get over there and check out their new digs. I'll say it again: I have the very best parents in the whole wide world, and I'll challenge anyone to an Indian leg wrestle if they want to argue with me about it.

I have not spent any time in St. George. In fact, my only memory of being there was driving through on a Greyhound bus (6 months pregnant with my firstborn) on the way from Phoenix to Salt Lake for Elaine & Richard's wedding. It was cold and snowing and miserable. I do remember how beautiful the temple looked, and all the impressive red rock. That's all I knew about St. George - temple, red rocks, and pioneer stories.

Kris and I left home later than I had hoped - about 11 am, but enjoyed the drive. The desert sunset inspired us as we drove from Phoenix to Wickenburg, the massive new bridge over Hoover Dam awed us in the midnight mists, the bright lights of Las Vegas recharged us, and we were so very happy to arrive at mom and dad's place at 2:30 in the morning!

!!!!BONUS!!!! Tanja and Brad were there too, enjoying the last few days of their spring break! You can check a previous post to find out about our FABULOUS hike.




















The first day Brad stayed at the house with Dad and Kris while Tanja, Mom and I went to the temple. Thank YOU, Brad!! It was a lovely day.


Melle Belle joined us that night, and we ate at a Mediterranean restaurant.





The food was excellent.
Can you tell we like food? A lot?


Hanging out with two of my amazing nieces, Melanee and Bailey, was a treat. Guess which one is a guide at Zion's National Park and which one is working on her Master's Degree...

Bailey (guide at Zion's), Dad, Melanee (working on a Master's Degree)
They were taking goofy pictures together on Photoshop, it was pretty hysterical.


A big highlight for us was being able to spend a little time with Sister Cheryl Jensen, yet another adoreable niece, who is serving at the St. George Temple Visitor's Center.  She is precious!





















We even were able to treat her and her companion  to Nelson's Frozen Custard - yummy.



















We enjoyed driving all over the place with Mom and Dad. It's such a beautiful and amazing part of the state, I definately want to go back and explore.


We also swam and soaked in the hot tub, attended church where the sacrament was administered and passed by only  High Priests :), took a driving tour of the city, and visited the cemetery so Kris could look for family names.

















It was fun to spend a little bit of time with Aunt Judy and Uncle Omar. Their dog Harry and cat HeeShee were very entertaining!















Kris cheering for the Utah Jazz with 2 of their biggest fans!






















I loved being with my parents, and hated leaving. At the same time I was anxious to get home because I had left Keven in the middle of (dark and dreary music) tax season. And so, after a week, we said good-bye and headed off.

But I had promised Kris a stop along the way ~ in the city that never sleeps.

                                                               VIVA LAS VEGAS!
Eight (8) solid hours of walking from one end of the Strip to the other and back wore us both out, but we have no regrets!





















Eating at Hard Rock Cafe and hanging with some pretty impressive people made the trip memorable for Kris!



















The biggest thrill for me in Las Vegas was when a mime   shared the spotlight with Kris. The crowd loved it!





















The magnificient new bridge being built over Hoover Dam





















A peek at Lake Mead

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Evidence of Spring




My friend Carol took these pictures of a robin's nest in her yard, just down the road a piece; I think they are absolutely beautiful.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Long Walk

Today Kris took a walk. He walked from our neighborhood to the Circle K, which is a little more than 1/2 mile. He does that a lot. But then he kept walking. He walked along Country Club Road, crossing the Rio Grande. He walked all the way to the railroad tracks near Doniphan (about 3 miles) where my friend Jenn saw him walking when she was taking her daughter to Achievement Day. She called me, just to make sure I knew where he was. I didn't - I had just arrived home (I had not seen Kris when I was driving along Country Club, but I had gone to the post office in Santa Teresa and had to come home a funny way because of construction). Jenn dropped her daughter off at the church and then went back to get Kris. She couldn't find him. Her son went into Howdy's, The Dollar Store, and Walgreens, but could not find Kris. By now I had called Keven and he was already in the area on his way home, so he started looking too.

Jenn finally saw him, sagging against a post at Hollywood Video, and Keven drove up just a minute or two later. Kris was dehydrated and beat, but of couse he would not admit it; he certainly didn't want any water - it was only about 85 degrees and he was in his typical sweatshirt and jeans!

I had called him when I was leaving work to let him know we would take his game back when I arrived home. I guess he thought he would meet me along the way.

I keep wondering what would have happened had Jenn not seen him. All's well that end's well, but this shook us all up a bit.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

This is what April 15th looks like

at Jensen Harmon & Co.





























The above are typically the neatest offices in the building.

























Keven's stack of extensions - this will keep a lot of people busy for a very l-o-n-g time. A big thank-you to KK for getting them done!





Filing party, anyone??




























And this is how April 15th feels at Jensen Harmon & Co.








Somewhere today the birds were singing and flowers waved their pretty heads in the breeze; children played in the sunshine and Mother Nature smiled on the beauty of a spring day....


....actually, right outside our windows, but who had time to notice?!?

Dear April 15th - Thank you for leaving. Please don't come back for at least another year. Two or three would be even better.