SEDONA!!!!!

For my time off work in March I went to Sedona :) It is so beautiful here with the Red Rocks and blue sky, and bright stars at night.  A friend from church, Josh Bowman went with me, he is very into the out-doors and said he'd make sure I had fun out in nature.

This is me beside a rock formation, probably the only picture with me in it to prove that I did go.



This is a picture of an Eagle carved into a mountain. I never could see the eagle, I thought it looked like an ugly hippo. It is suppose to watch and protect the church that was built inside the rock. Pretty cool, but weird that a church had a gift shop on the lower level.



These pictures I thought were just amazing showing the different rock layers, geology is FUN!





This picture I also really like, not because of the colors but the depth that is in-between each mountain structure.



The creeks were maybe my favorite, the mountains were pretty but standing next to a flowing creek was so peaceful.

PALM TREES

My Dad has become something of an enthusiast of Palm Trees.

This is the view from the back deck looking down.



These are the smaller ones on the back deck, these are ones my Dad cross-pollinated himself.



These are more my Dad cross-pollinated on the other side deck.



More by the pool, I didn't get a picture of all of them, but imagine palm trees going around the entire pool, some potted, some planted. Easily 20 mid-sized queen palms around the pool deck.



The garden of Mexican Fan Palms, these are not cross-pollinated palms (that I am aware of) and they range from tiny baby Mexican Palms to the big ones you see. There is about 30+ in that fenced garden.



And these are the ones my Dad bought from Costco just the other day which was what inspired this post. 12 new Queen Palms my Dad bought and is now planting along the opposite side of the pool fence. I helped him dig today and my shoulders hurt, and I think I will get some gloves.



Anyway, I don't have a grand total but last time I counted before was like 76 so I am sure he is closer to 90 now.

Salt Lake City Temple Lights

So I have absolutely have no pictures of the snowboarding trip but I did manage to get some pictures at the Salt Lake City Temple. It was raining that night, but it was still crazy crowded.

This is the huge light tree, it was so tall and so amazing. I Loved it.



I have always loved the Salt Lake City Temple and this picture I think it turned out great.



Brian and I both got our picture taken by the pond with a Joseph, Mary & Baby Jesus figuerines in the background. They had little see-through balls lit with LED lights, the affect was really cool.



I didn't get any pictures of the nativity, but that was way amazing too. I think Mesa Temple has more lights, but SLC has a beautiful Nativity.

Horses!

My friend Raila and her family have recently leased 2 horses out in Lehi and invited me to come visit this past Wednesday. I have been on vacation so I was able to go in the morning with her to see what a typical morning routine is like.

This is me next to their giant mule, Mona. When Raila told me about her I totally didn't believe how big she was but, WOW, she is huge.



This is Raila and I posing with her horse, Dusty. I optioned to not ride him, but Raila rode him very well. In the end I did help brush him and lead him back to his fenced area.



Last picture, me posing in front of Dusty. They have a second horse they are leasing, James, but he stayed by Sonny, aka Son of a Gun and another horse Pistol. I neglected to get a picture by King Edward, he is a loud donkey.



Really fun morning, even a nice breeze to not make it too hot.

I Changed My Own Oil!

My oil life warning has been going on for over a month now. Dad had time on Saturday to help me change my oil and rotate my tires. I was so proud of myself, I got so filthy but I was able to change my oil, oil filter and rotate all of my tires. I didn't know what to expect so I went into the garage wearing a shirt, board shorts and flip-flops. You cannot tell in the pictures but my arms and legs are dirty from the tires and my hands are covered in oil, even some splashed onto my face.



Dad was so awesome and didn't make me feel too bad about how little I knew about car maintenance. He was even the one who ran to grab a camera to take a picture, I told him it was too bad he missed me rotating my tires because no one would believe that either without a picture to prove it.

Fun Photo Shoot

I had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago down at Freestone Park by Leslie Smith who took pictures last year for me at Tempe Town Lake.
I picked a few of the ones I liked the best, she gave me like 19 but these are my favorites.

The sun is in my eyes pretty bad in this one but I like the shot, a different angle or something about it I like.






This one I like a lot too, just the sun and the light kind of streak across my face.



These last 2 are my favorites. I think they turned out the best. Next year I will wear a better shirt, I loved the color but the style kind of makes me look pregnant with the looseness. Which is too bad because I think it is a super cute and comfortable shirt.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

I love fun days where everyone is themed and coordinated. At church today it was a sea of pink and red and white - absolutely amazing. I had a fun day, Mom got me a basket full of treats and a balloon that was part of a fundraiser for the young women in her ward to go to camp.



This next picture depicts Brenlie on my bed (wet). I LOVE her so much.



We spent our Valentines Day watching the Olympics and I watched some silly romantic comedies most of the night. Dad and the dogs went hiking so it was pretty quiet here.