Grand Canyon Weekend Vacation

We woke up Friday morning early around 3:30AM!  Our flight departed Love Field in Dallas at 6:20AM and landed in El Paso.  Jeff had found a flight that we could stay on and from El Paso, it would go Phoenix, AZ.  After we landed, the pilot stated it would be a full flight and he needed to see a few people.  I knew he was calling non-rev customers.  He starts calling names and I'm hoping with my fingers crossed he doesn't call any of us!  Yet, all of a sudden, he calls Jakob!!  Jakob was really excited and said, "They called my name!" Jeff went up and shortly after we all got off the plane since obviously we could not fly without Jakob!  They have all of the non-rev people in a list on the computer and we were the top group.  They had exactly three seats available and we needed four for all of us.  The attendant then realizes again that Jeff is an employee and mentions he could ride fourth in a flight attendant seat.  It was super nice of them to let Jeff fly on that seat so we all could get there on that flight!  I knew the plane would be really full getting back on it since we were one of the last ones to get on board.  I saw two seats in separate rows but together and grab them.  Jakob did well on the plane and played his game a little.  I could tell near the end he was ready to get off the plane.  I'm sure it was a little different not sitting directly next to either Jeff or me, but overall I think he did fine and didn't appear to annoy the other two people next to him!  I was glad I grabbed those two seats since once we sat down other people were still debating where to sit.

We landed in Phoenix, AZ at 7:20AM (their time) and took the shuttle to get our car.  Shortly after arriving at the Rental Car Center, we had our car and were on our way toward the Grand Canyon.  We stopped on the way to get snacks and then eat lunch as we drove to the Grand Canyon.  It is about three-four hours from the Phoneix area to the Grand Canyon.

Once we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we purchased a few waters and began admiring the beauty of it all!  We started walking east around the edge and took many pictures along the way!  We walked and walked until we came to the end of one side and then took the bus back to the visitor center.  The Grand Canyon had three different color paths and we had finished the green path.  After we returned to the visitor center, we took the bus on the blue path.  We found a gift shop once we got off the bus before walking east again.  Jakob and Roland both bought hats and shirts.  I found a scrapbook and a pink hat with a shirt.  Jeff found a few t-shirts.

We stayed in Williams, AZ on Friday.  It is about an hour south of the Grand Canyon.  After leaving the Grand Canyon, we had a few snacks in the car but decided we would eat at the Pizza Hut in Williams near our hotel.  We did not realize until Saturday that it was really two hours behind CST, so by the time we got to Pizza Hut it was really 9:00PM to us!  I laugh because Jakob was exhausted and was pretty much asleep after eating a few pieces of pizza!

We woke up Saturday morning and had breakfast at our hotel.  It was a really nice continental breakfast including cereal, muffins, waffles, fruit, juice, and milk.  After breakfast, we finished packing up and checked out of the hotel.  We headed south to Phoenix to meet Jeff's uncle for lunch.  We arrived at his house around 11:00AM and had a nice lunch together.  After lunch, we had intentions of going to a Sea Life place that I thought would be like the Dallas World Aquarium.  However, it was a small attraction inside Arizona Mills.  The mall was designed the same as Grapevine Mills and the tourist attraction for Sea Life was not worth the $20/person price!  I was quite disappointed and we walked around the mall and then went to check into our hotel near the airport.

We relaxed at the hotel for a little while before heading out for dinner.  It was really hot in Phoenix.  The temperature for the weekend was 105.  Even though they do not have humidity, it was still really hot in Phoenix!  I was pretty worn out from the overall day at the Grand Canyon.  After watching some television, we went out for dinner.  We found an Applebees and then comically we went to a nearby Costco for ice cream!

Once we finished we went back to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening.  We had an early morning flight to catch out of Phoenix to Houston.  Our flight left the next morning at 7:00AM.  We were able to easily non-rev the flight with plenty of seats available. We landed in Houston at 11:35AM CST.  We were able to eat lunch at the airport before our connecting flight to Dallas.  Our next flight left Houston shortly after 12:30PM.  The flight from Houston to Dallas was really short and Jakob slept most of that flight!  I told him before getting on the plane he was taking a nap!  He was exhausted and at the point where he was hyper-silly!  I wish I could have gotten a picture of him because once he fell asleep, he was OUT!  He even slept through the entire landing and did not wake up until our plane stopped at the gate.

Overall, it was a really fun weekend and great experience.  Here are a few of many pictures I took from the trip!

My Favorite Pictures of 2009

January
Schools were closed for two days in January of 2009 due to pure ice.  It was extremely thick on this area near our apartment.  We went outside on the second day because I thought I would take Jakob to school.  I could not even get my car door open the ice on the car was so thick!  Our neighbors had her car going because she was trying to run to the store for dog food!  Instead, I gave her some dog food so she didn't have to risk it  Jakob enjoyed playing carefully on the ice for the short time we were outside.

February
Jakob turned 4 years old in 2009!  It sure is hard to believe and he is getting so big.  We celebrated with friends and family at Going Bonkers.  He loved every minute and enjoyed having his friends with him to play with and celebrate his birthday.

March
We headed to the Fort Worth Zoo over Spring Break!  It sure was fun and so busy!  I did not know but Spring Break is the busiest time for the zoo.  When I stopped to think about it, it really does make sense.  This upcoming year, I have asked my mom to purchase season tickets to the Fort Worth Zoo so we can go throughout the year and enjoy it in the different season!

April
Southwest Airlines hosted the 36th and Last Annual Chili Cookoff.  The boys were able to do rides, play some fun games, and eat.  Jakob finally started enjoying the rides while we were here and since then has loved all the rides!   He used to hate carousel rides, but now he loves them!  We also tasted lots of different chili from different people who work for Southwest Airlines.

May
We visited our apartment pool many times this past summer.  These are a few of the earlier shots of Jakob playing in the splash zone. He absolutely loves playing in the water in the summer time!

June
We went to California in June.  The trip started at DisneyLand and we spent 2 days visiting the parks before heading to San Diego to also visit Randy and Nikki.  We went to the San Diego Zoo while in San Diego.  I was really proud of Jakob at the zoo because he walked and walked!  Jakob was so excited to get the pictures with Mickey Mouse and Pluto.  We almost had a picture with Goofy, but each time we got in line the line was closing.  Regarding DisneyLand, I totally under estimated our time for Disney!  Jeff and I went to DisneyWorld for our honeymoon and we were able to do most everything.  However, I forgot about kids getting tired and naps, etc!  Oh well, we can go again!

July
We usually go to Lake Brownwood for the 4th of July.   This past year, it was amazing to see how low the water was at the lake.  It was so low that not all boat ramps were open, but Jeff's parents still had access.  This year was the first year I got up on the wake board.  I attempted it on the first day and before water skiing so I would not be sore.  However, the day after wake boarding and water skiing, I was sore!  It is so much fun though!  Roland also water skied without extra support from Daniel.  It took him some work, but he did it!  Jeff and Jakob also rode the intertube and Jakob laughed so hard while riding!

August
Jeff and I  purchased a home to build in late August.  We had looked at Horizon Homes many years ago and went and looked again in August.  We completely fell in love with a model being built!  It is 2300 square feet, with an open floor plan, eighteen inch tile, granite counter tops in the kitchen, three bedrooms, one study, two and half bath, and two and half car garage!  We love it!

September
Jakob played soccer in the Fall.   He took some cute pictures, but at least last season it was not his favorite sport.  We might try it again, but I have not decided yet. 

October
I took the boys to the Flower Mound Pumpkin patch.  It was the first time Jakob had been to one and I think it was the first time for Roland.  They both enjoyed it and we took some nice pictures!  While we were there both boys picked out pumpkins to carve.  They had fun picking the "best" pumpkin...it was funny to watch them look!  Roland went through the maze with Jakob, but Jakob got a little scared halfway through and climbed on top of the hay bales to get to me fast!

November
Jeff and I bought my new camera on Black Friday.  We were in Abilene visiting family for Thanksgiving.  Roland, Jakob, Hannah, and Lana were on the trampoline when my camera was charged and ready to go!  I tested the sports mode on the camera and was extremely happy to receive clean, crisp photos that were not blurry with streaks from the movement!!  I was able to capture Roland jump high in the air while they took turns jumping high!

December
We had a great Christmas visiting family.  Jakob visited Santa and asked for Bakagan toys for Christmas and was excited when he opened his presents from him!  We visited with my grandparents in Austin on Christmas Eve and then headed to my grandmother's house on Christmas Day.  Jakob really enjoyed opening presents, helping others open presents, and really enjoyed passing presents out to people!   For Christmas, I received a new camera and I have been working on taking pictures with it daily for my Project 365 challenge.  I changed my camera settings to Manual to attempt to take a different picture of our Christmas tree before I put all the presents underneath.  I really enjoyed having off this Christmas and Jakob appreciated having some time off from school too.

July 2009

Wow, it is hard to believe the first half of the year is already gone! July tends to be one of the hotter months here in Texas. I am looking forward to spending some time this upcoming weekend at my in-law's place at the lake!

I'd like to look back at the first of the year and find the highlights of the year. These could be stories, photographs, scrapbook layouts, or whatever you find to share. What sticks out of your mind for you when you think about the particular month? Add what you can including whatever you would like to share!

January 2009 - Texas had some crazy weather in the end of January closing the big school districts because of ice and more ice! My scrapbooks did not mind the extra days off!

February 2009 - I created the Coordinates Collections February Challenge: Lovin You. Jeff came up with the 9 reasons why he loved me and it was just so sweet. This seemed so fitting with Valentine's Day!
March 2009 - A friend and I took our kids to the Fort Worth Zoo during Spring Break. It was really busy but we sure had fun!
April 2009 - Southwest Airlines had their 36th and Last Annual Chili Cookoff in April. I remember thinking it was going to be the last one and learned since the chili cookoff was started it always had 'last annual' in the title! When they originally had the first one, the company did not know if they would be around the next year! So the title has stayed the same throughout the years. Southwest also just celebrated its 38th birthday in June.
May 2009 - Starting in May, Jeff and I started riding our bikes and walking more. We have started eating healthier and getting much more active! I created the layout {Out-side} to represent our changes!

June 2009 - My mom and I took the kids to California to visit Disneyland along with Disneyland California Adventures (pictures), San Diego Zoo (pictures), and visit with my brother.

Life passes by too quickly, make sure you enjoy those moments!

3 more weeks until California!

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Only 3 more weeks until our vacation to California! I have entered the airports, hotels, and attractions into the GPS! I am sure I will add a few more between now and the trip!

Here's last week's update:
Last week went fast and we did a random amount of things. Overall, I walked 11.4 miles last week!

Last Sunday, we went to the pool for about an hour. It was pretty busy since it was the Memorial holiday weekend. The boys enjoyed it and played! They did not want to leave when it was time to go. Roland primarily played in the regular pool while Jakob and Jeff hung out in the kid splash zone pool. I took pictures this day!

On Memorial Day, I got together with a bunch of Jakob's friends and moms and we all went to Boomerang's. It is a place with about 6-7 bounce houses and the kids played non stop for about 5 hours!! They ran and ran...the people would blow the whistles and tell them to walk. I think they got tired of telling them and stopped after a while because there were hardly any kids there!

Tuesday, I was all ready and dressed to sub for a teacher when I woke Jakob up to find he was running a low-grade fever and half sick. I turned on the closet light and he said he didn't want to get up. Okay...that is not Jakob! He's the one waking me up bright and early everyday!! I knew something was wrong. He told me he didn't want to get up and he was sick. I told him if he was sick he would have to stay home and take medicine and stay in bed. He said okay. I reminded him the 'blue' medicine (he hates it!) and he was like okay. I was sorta shocked that he said he would take the blue medicine and stay in bed. I knew he didn't feel well. I sent an email and canceled my sub job. He ended up in bed all day watching tv or movies. He didn't attempt to do much else. (However...I think he shared his cold a little, as it hit me Friday evening/Saturday.)

The Ford Explorer was coming due for it's annual inspection. I decided to take the day to go get it inspected. It is now 10 years old and I sure could tell when the maintenance employee called me outside with the paperwork. He told me it failed! I was slightly shocked because Jeff and his dad just did so much work to it about a month ago! Turns out the brake master cylinder was leaking and needed to get fixed. Great! I had just figured out that Jakob could stop going to school on June 5th to cut back a week of daycare ($175) and instead was rewarded with fixing the Ford! lol So on Thursday, we took the Ford back into the shop and they fixed it and re-inspected the Ford. It passed, so we are good for another year! Hopefully, as much work that has been done lately between Jeff and his dad, Gregg, it should go for quite some time again. I really do not want another car payment right now!!

We have started walking around the apartment complex in the evenings after dinner. It tends to be after 7pm once it is not so hot. Wednesday, we did a short walk around the complex. Jakob walked and ran the entire way. Our initial plan was to have Jakob ride his bicycle, but I forgot about the garage opener which was in the Ford. We had dropped it off at the Kwik Kar that evening so we didn't have to deal with it in the morning. We did get the car back on Thursday. I took it to get washed and vacuumed before picking Jakob up from school. Sure smells good!

I subbed on Friday for a math teacher. This week is the last week of school. I went ahead and decided I could use the week vacation before the next 10 weeks of keeping kids busy and going nonstop!

We took a good walk on Friday evening. Jeff and I walked while Jakob rode his bicycle. We decided it was nice out so we went ahead and had him ride his bike while we walked to the playground. It works out to be at least 2.62 miles roundtrip, with a playground stop in the middle! Jakob loves every minute of it!

This past Saturday and Sunday, I slept a lot! As mentioned, I think whatever Jakob had on Tuesday was shared to me! Doing better now, but still coughing and slight running/stuffy nose. Initially, I thought it was allergies, but I have no clue. At this point, I am assuming it was some bug Jakob was generous to give me!

Inspired Blueprints Sketch #20: Fun Times

I created this layout using Coordinates Collections' March 2009 Sky kit. The alphabet stickers are from a previous kit and are made by Doodlebug Design Inc. The layout is based on Sketch #20 from Inspired Blueprints.

Journaling: On 6/25/08, Jeff, Jakob, and I attended a Southwest Airlines family event sponsored by the IT department. Jakob - 3
This is one of many layouts from this SWA event.

Supplies: Patterned Paper - My Minds Eye, Cardstock - Yellow cardstock, Alphabet Stickers - Doodlebug Designs Inc.

The Scrappiest Sketch #9: SWA Little Hands on the Farm

I created this layout using Coordinates Collections' April 2009 "Puddles" kit. It is based on a sketch #9 from The Scrappiest. The journaling reads, "Little Hands on the Farm, State Fair of Texas, 10/13/08, swa." Jeff attended this event with Southwest Airlines. It was to teach children what life on the farm typically consisted of in an enjoyable manner.

Love - Feb. Challenge #2: Lovin You

I used the Coordinates Collections' February "Sweetie" kit to create this layout for the February Challenge #2: Lovin You. I discovered a new website called, PageMaps where they have monthly sketches.

The rules to the challenge were:

• Create a single page layout
• Include a top 9 list on the layout which was written by your person of choice
• Include a picture of you and this person, which will be the ONLY picture on the layout

Here is my take on the sketch including a closeup of his reasons (click on the picture to make it bigger!):

Jeff and I were all dressed up for the Southwest Airlines Technology Christmas Party on 12/6/08. Mom came to babysit so Jeff and I could enjoy the evening.

For the challenge, he came up with the following 9 reasons why he loves me! So sweet!

9 Reasons Why I Love You

#9 I cing on the cake of my life

#8 L esson of love felt and learned
#7 O de of Joy to my life
#6 V iolinist of my heart strings
#5 E ctasy felt being with you

#4 Y ardstick by which we can measure the success of our love
#3 O riginated as my friend, became my love
#2 U nique Woman

#1 I LOVE YOU