Parents for a week....

Steven & Jolisa (Jennifer's sister) went on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate their 10 year wedding anniversary. Josh & I had the privilege of playing "mom & dad". We had so much fun. They were gone Sunday to Sunday. So we got a great look at parenting. So on Tuesday we were asked how it was going...all we could say that it was soooo easy. We were just playing all day we just don't understand why people say parenting is soooo hard (see picture below). [wink wink]

(Pictures are backwards so start from the bottom & work your way up.) On Sunday when we turned the girls over to their parents the first thing they said was "when are you going on another vacation" we loved every second of it & feel blessed that Steven & Jolisa trusted us enough to step in for a week. Besides who wouldn't love eating tons & tons of deliciousness, playing freeze tag just before bed, reading stories & playing hide-n-go-seek? Right?!

The last night we had a sleep over at our house. The girls wanted to watch a movie with my Kiersten doll (American girl doll) so the girls sat and held her hand so she wouldn't be scared while eating popcorn. We had a blast. Thanks girls for the fun week. Can't wait for your parents to go on vacation again.

Samantha at her soccer game.

When the luau was just about to be over the cake walk game still had 20 cakes to give away. Each time the game was played they were giving away about 5 cakes. Well cakes weren't going fast enough so they said ok whoever is the best dancer will get a cake...Audree showed off her dancing skills & won a cake. She was so happy.

Samantha, Allie & Audree doing the cake walk hoping to win a cake.

Aunt Gigi, Audree & Samantha we have our fresh flowers & are ready to go to the Hawaiian Luau at Oak Mesa

Audree wearing Samantha's dance costume while reading a book. Just so cute couldn't pass up this picture.

Sequoia & Kings National Parks

We headed up to Sequoia & Kings National Parks with Kenny & Laura. This was a first for the both of us & it didn't disappoint with natural beauty.

Tree Bridge

General Sherman Tree 275 feet tall. General Sherman is not the tallest or widest, but overall volume of its trunk makes it the biggest on Earth. General Sherman is 1,000 years younger than the oldest tree on Earth.

General Sherman & the Anderson Family

We were able to get up close with General Sherman

The Fox Family with a craved out tree that can be explored.

Laura & Jennifer in front of General Grant (Kings National Park). General Grant is 3,000 years old & is the 2nd largest Sequoia tree in the world. It was a quick trip, but we enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks for the fun trip Fox family!!

Las Vegas get-a-way!!!!!

So, Josh & I headed to Vegas for some R&R. We stayed the first night at Sam's Town....we checked in late & were upgraded to a suite...we thought that was pretty sweet. It was a really nice hotel. The inside was really pretty with the waterfall & all.

Because we have such a great LOVE for the beauty of the Grand Canyon we thought it would be GRAND to go & see the sky walk & walk over the Grand Canyon. It was quite an experience. We paid a lot of money....but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for sure.

We planned to go the Temple while we were there. Wow....what an incredible experience.

We ate at our FAVORITE place in Vegas.....

We went to see Beatles LOVE. This was a crazy full of entertainment show. It sure kept us on our toes. If you ever get the chance to see it...its a must.

We also saw Lion King, we've been waiting to see this for what seems like forever. I'm so happy that we saw the show. It was defiantly worth the money.

What's Vegas without a little bit of shopping??? We got Josh a couple of new suites which look HOT on him also, a Vegas shopping trip isn't complete without stopping at one of my favorite stores H&M. I had a blast spending time with my honey & it was very low key.

Weekend in Carpinteria

Josh's job site for work got moved to Montecito (near Santa Barbara) in late October. Because it's 3 hours away his company paid for him to have an apartment pretty much on the beach. So each Monday Josh left for work & each Friday he came home. So our home became like a vacation for us. I would go up most weeks & stay for a couple of days relax, read books & enjoy the beach. It was hard when we were apart. It really made the time together even more sweet. In April one of the VP's at work told Josh I'm going to make your wife very happy.....we're moving your job site to Burbank. Meaning Josh would be home every night in OUR home!!!!! So we went up to Carp. for one last fun weekend....since we still had the apartment.

The Spot. About 1 short block from where the apartment was. This was our favorite place to eat for sure. We loved getting dinner & taking it to the beach to enjoy the sunset. Good cheeseburgers....not better than In-N-Out though. =)

The view from the apartment balcony. It was nice to just sit out there & listen to the sounds of the ocean.

Kitchen/living room area

On our drive we found this big guy. Glad I was in the car.

Josh & I in front of the Santa Barbara Mission established during 1784. We had a great weekend, but are VERY excited for the change in job sites!!! Our Heavenly Father continues to bless us each day. I'm so thankful that I have a husband who is such a hard worker & will go where he has a job to support our family.

LEED exam & Monster Jam 2011

We headed to Vegas for our annual Monster Jam world finals trip. Saturday morning, Josh went, took & PASSED his LEED exam. In short terms, he can say that a building is 'green'. I'm so proud of Josh that he was able to meet his goal of becoming a LEED green associate. After acing his test with flying colors, we were able to hang out with Dave & Sarah (whom have been faithful monster jam fans with us) & Shaun & Angie (1st timers). We had a blast. Because I forgot our camera the pictures are from last year. Monster Jam didn't disappoint. We left awed at what can be done. We can't wait till next year. Thanks for the fun trip.

3 days & 2,179 miles later.....

Thomas had a 10 day leave to move all the way to Florida. So, he flew home hung out with the family & got packed up to move to Florida to finish up EOD school. So, being the great sister that I am (insert a wink wink here) & having THE BEST husband I helped him drive cross country from California to Florida. We left Monday night & I was back home Thursday night. We had too much fun on our road trip & watching tons of Seinfeld & The Office. We stayed Monday night in AZ with Katie one of my college roommates, Tuesday night in the middle of Texas & Wednesday night with one of Thomas' buddies who is stationed in Louisiana.

The moving truck pulling Thomas' 66 mustang & his motorcycle fit inside the truck.

Swamp land in Louisiana

We are both huge waffle lovers so of course we had to stop by here, it wasn't too hard because they were pretty every couple of exits. We enjoyed chocolate chip waffles.

Coming into Florida & seeing the white white sand, I couldn't believe how white it was, from a distance it kinda looked like snow. I've been to Florida before, but just didn't remember how white the sand was.

Stopped for some awesome pizza at Mello Mushroom. Really yummy pizza. Thomas talked it up pretty high & it sure did deliver. Thanks for the fun road trip smalls!! & Thanks to my ever so sweet husband for all of his support & for it to all work out!!!

300,000 miles & going strong

Josh bought this car just before heading up to BYU-Idaho. He purchased it in 2003 with only 50,000 miles on it. When we were dating we were on a road trip when it flipped to 100,000 & thought that was so cool. Then, we were married when it flipped to 200,000 miles. Two years later it flipped to 300,000 miles. So our 1998 Honda accord is still going strong. It's intersecting because every time we talk about selling the car and getting a newer Honda we think about all of the places that Honda has taken us. Will we ever be able to part with it??? We don't know, will we see it reach 400,000 miles? Maybe......