Purgatory Trail -- Durango, CO

While Dustin and I were up in New Mexico this summer we decided to have a night out without the kids. Grandma Janie watched Makenna and Hollis and Dustin and I went up to Durango, CO to go on an overnight hike. I had only done this hike once before with Dustin and it is honestly one of the prettiest places on earth. Dustin used to go camping here with his buddies growing up. They actually carved their initials in some of the Aspen trees at the bottom of the canyon. Dustin still know just exactly how to get to those trees and that is where we set up camp for the night. It wasn't the prettiest spot at the bottom of the canyon, but we just barely made it down there before it got dark and Dustin is familiar with that area -- there is a creek that runs through right by the camp. Dustin pumped and filtered all our water while we were at the bottom of the canyon. I got him this water filter thing a couple of years ago for Christmas and that was the first time I had ever seen it used -- I couldn't believe how well it worked and how cold and fresh the water was. It was a good thing we had it cause we filled our water bottles up often and I wouldn't have wanted to pack all that water in. I am not much of a hiker, but apparently Dustin is. My idea of camping is just getting away together and relaxing -- maybe sitting and watching Dustin fish and just talking. Dustin has a whole other idea of camping. He decided that the one day we were there that we would hike all day. We started out our morning at about 6am at what I thought was just going to be a nice morning hike, but it was so much more than that. That morning we thought we could smell elk bedded down somewhere and we saw a lot of droppings. We stayed in that area for a long time to see if we would be able to spot any elk, but we never saw any. What we did spot was 6 different ticks on Dustin -- creepy! We hate ticks! Then Dustin decided that we needed to hike all the way to where this creek met up with the Animus River. Hiking that much in one day pretty much kicked my butt. When we got to the Animus River I decided I would soak my feet in the ice cold water before we headed back. On our way back, Dustin decided he wanted to fish at his favorite fishing whole. After the fishing we headed back to camp to pack it up and then we had to hike back out of this canyon. I don't think I had ever hiked so much in one day. Towards the end I was having to stop about every minute just to catch my breath. It felt so nice when we finally got to the truck and I could put my heavy pack down. We hiked all day -- from 6am to 6pm when we got to the truck!

Another Trip to Bartlett Lake

Josh and Becca came to Phoenix for the weekend and I guess we had to get in one more lake trip with everyone before we left. We had a great time with everyone. Some of us picnicked while others were on the boat and then we would trade off. I am not kidding when I say the last month before we moved was literally full with things to do every weekend -- it is a miracle we were able to get it all together on time. Thanks Josh and Becca!

Our Musician!

Makenna loves music and everything about it. Just from the time she was a baby she responded to music so well. If she was fussing all you had to do was to sing to her or play her a song that she was familiar with and she would stop crying. Music has helped her learning abilities. You would be amazed at how many song's she knows. She has a great memory and memorizes song probably better than I can. I mean, she will memorize a song from beginning to end. We are not just talking about kids songs, but songs that you would listen to as an adult. She really likes country music. Sometimes you don't even know she knows a song until she starts singing it and the only thing you can figure is that she picked it up from the radio. We are not sure how much Makenna will really get into sports, but we are pretty sure she will be very interested in music and want to make it apart of her life -- guess we will just have to see. Makenna saw a little girl on "Barney" playing the violin so she picked up this stick and duster to make her own violin. She would continually play it and sing as she was playing. Such an imagination!

I guess we must have had a really busy schedule right before we left Phoenix. I remember thinking we are leaving Phoenix in a month and nearly every weekend had something going on up until the time we left -- I remember feeling panicked about how we were going to get everything packed up and done on time. Somehow, we managed to go up to Stoneman Lake area one weekend to hunt out a camping spot for our ward's "Father & Son's" outing. This was actually the second time that we went up to find just the right camping spot. The spot we found the first time was actually already taken by another ward by the time we got up there that morning. We ended up going to a spot that we hadn't even considered the first time we went up to look for a camping area. Makenna likes it when we get on the dirt roads because she knows she gets to get out of her car-seat and help her dad drive. We spent the day at our ward's camping area as a family and then I took the kids home with me that night when all the boys started showing up.

Mesa Temple with Teri

I was very happy I had the opportunity to go through the Mesa, AZ Temple with my visiting teaching partner, Teri Acevedo, right before I left Phoenix. She was able to go through and take out her own endowments. Glad that I could be apart of her special day!

Compressor Problems

So a few days before we were to leave our home in Phoenix, Dustin had to replace the compressor. I was very impressed by his skills -- we were pinching pennies with all the moving so Dustin decided to undergo this project that he has never attempted before and it worked! My dad was in town to help us move so he also got to get his hands dirty. They went to Auto Zone together picked up a CD on how to replace a compressor and took a chance. I must say, there were times that we were not sure if everything was going to be ok, but it all worked out in the end.

Look at Me -- I'm Three!

It is always quite the ordeal to be able to take Makenna's pictures. She has never liked getting her pictures taken. I am hoping she will be easier on me as she gets older. In these pictures you will see happy Makenna, not sure what a smile is Makenna, pouting Makenna, and mad Makenna. I think she is cute in every way!

Hollis's First Hair Cut

Hollis got his first hair cut at about 11 months. We were surprised when he didn't cry or even fuss about getting it cut. I think the clippers tickle him a little. We were preparing for a fight, so we made sure he had a cookie in hand. His hair was getting long and he had a couple extra long hairs on the top that we weren't sure what to do with. Here are some before and after pictures.

No More Terrible Two's -- YA RIGHT!

Makenna had a great birthday with lots of friends and family. I attempted to make her a princess castle cake and considering that the cake was completely falling apart as I was making it -- it really turned out great! I have a lot to learn when it comes to making cakes. I was shoving frosting in wholes of the cake just to try and keep it together -- good times! It made the process take a lot longer than it should have taken.

Makenna got lots of great gifts for her birthday. Dustin and I decided it was time for Makenna to have a tricycle because every time we go to "Target", Makenna tries to ride the tricycles. We were able to find a classic Radio Flyer tricycle on Craigslist for $25 still in the box -- yeah! Hollis really enjoyed playing with Makenna's bike as well when she was busy playing with her friends. As you can see there was a poisonous snake that decided to join the kids in the playground area -- don't ya just love the desert!

Happy Easter!

Makenna had a great time dying Easter eggs with her mom. She got a little antsy and put two tabs in the same glass so we ended up having a pretty dark teal color. We made an egg for daddy, mommy, Makenna, and Hollis -- she thought that was pretty neat that we each had our own egg. On Easter morning Makenna found that she had jelly beans in her plastic eggs so she couldn't wait to help Hollis and show him what was inside his eggs. Hollis wasn't really sure what to think about everything, especially the fake grass.