David's Homecoming

This posting is very late in coming. My brother David got home from his mission in November. It was such an exciting day for us and one filled with a lot of emotions. I think David described it best when he compared the happy reunion at the airport to what it might be like when we reunite with our family in heaven. It was so neat to see how much David grew spiritually on his mission. We have enjoyed hearing his teaching experiences and what Iowa was like. He has made us several Iowa specialty dishes since he's been home. This past week we got to meet one of the girls that David was able to teach and baptize. It is so fun to have David back!

Havasupai

Chris and I went to a place called Havasupai for our anniversary this year. It is located in the Grand Canyon on an Indian Reservation and you have to hike in 10-miles to get to the campground. We backpacked in with all of our camping gear and food. It was probably the most physically exhausting hike I've ever done. I had worked the whole day before and when I got off work we packed up the car and drove through the night. We arrived at the trailhead about 8:00 AM and started the hike. Unfortunately this meant that we were hiking in the heat of the day. When we got to the Indian village to check in we were pretty exhausted. I could tell I had blisters on my feet and we still had 2 miles to go. We took our packs off and set them on a bench while we went to check in. I looked out the window and saw some little Indian kids raiding our backpacks. I ran out to stop them and they scurried away. Evidently they were after the fruit snacks. We loaded our packs back on and made it down to the campground. The last two miles were the hardest. It was so hot and we had just had it physically. We were both low on sleep and everything ached by this point. When we got to the campground we set up camp in the first open spot we saw. Then we got our swimsuits on so we could cool off and clean up in the water. The waterfalls were gorgeous. Havasu Falls was our first stop. It was close to the campground, so we spent the most time there. After we swam for a little we went back to camp and both fell asleep. When we woke up it was already dark. We made some ramen noodles and instant mashed potatoes, which tasted absolutely wonderful. Then we went to bed for the night.

More Havasupai

The next day we were so sore and stiff when we woke up. I guess that hike was just a little more than either of us were used to. We went to three of the waterfalls that day. We went to Navajo Falls in the morning and had it all to ourselves for a while. We spent most of the afternoon at Havasu Falls. There are several pools at Havasu and a lot of small cascading falls. One of the small cascades works as a slide which was entertaining. I loved sitting at the top of the small waterfalls. I was able to get some sun, but the water kept me cool. It was perfect!

Later on that night we hiked down to Mooney Falls. This one is more of a challenge to get to. You go into a little cave and when you come out of it there is a steep area to go down where you have to hang on to a chain so that you don't fall. At the base of Mooney Falls is another small waterfall that has a rope swing. Chris had a lot of fun swinging on it and landing in the water below. I didn't go off the rope swing, but we did jump off the falls together.

The next day we went back to Navajo Falls. Chris had been to Havasupai a few years earlier with his friends and they went cliff jumping off of some of the waterfalls. I told him that I wasn't too thrilled about the idea, but when we got there a bunch of people were jumping and it seemed to be pretty deep. The plan was he would just jump once and I was going to take a picture. Well, he finally got to the top and there was this girl who was just standing there, but couldn't get up the courage to jump. She was taking forever and before I knew it Chris jumped from a different spot than where everyone else had been jumping. I did snap a photo, but it wasn't that great because I thought he was going to wait for this girl to jump. When he swam over to me I told him that the picture I got wasn't the best and if he wanted me to get a good one he could go again. Unfortunately, this time when he jumped when he came up out of the water he just gasped when he looked at his hand. Sure enough, his wedding ring was gone and on our second anniversary to the day. I shed a few tears, but there was not much we could do. It was at the base of the waterfall he'd lost it and it was so deep there. Chris had hiked back into the village that day too, my feet just weren't up to it. He got me some bandaids for my blisters and also brought back some frozen Propel botels, they were such a treat. We saved the Propel for our anniversary dinner along with spaghetti and some more instant mashed potatoes. It was so good!

The last day we were there we got up at like 4:00 AM and packed everything up to hike in to the village. We had decided we'd take the horses out from the village since I still had pretty bad blisters and it would save us a lot of time. While we were waiting for the horses to get there we found out that the helicoptor ride was more affordable than we expected, only $10 more than taking the horses. We ended up making arrangements to take the helicoptor out rather than the horses. Neither Chris or I had ever ridden in a helicoptor before. I got to sit in the front next to the pilot. It was a beautiful ride that overlooked the Grand Canyon and only took us about 15 minutes. On our way home we stopped in Las Vegas and got to visit our friends Emily and Dustin. We also got to go to our favorite restaurant, Trevi, with them. We had such a fun time.

New York

We went to New York this summer with the Stoddard family. My sister Amy was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, so we met up with them there. It was fun to see the pageant again. My whole family had been in it together two summers ago so it brought back a lot of fun memories. After the pageant we headed for New York City. We were able to fit a lot in for the few days that we were there. There is a new 9/11 museum that is definitely worth going through. There were a lot of items that had been recovered from the twin towers and as you went through you got to hear or read about people who had been there that day. Chris and I got to be in the audience for the Late Show with David Letterman. They had David Duchovny from the X-Files on as their guest that day, how appropriate beings as we own all the seasons of the X-Files. They also did a toy demonstration on the latest toys on the market. It was neat to see how the show is done and to be a part of it. We went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. After that we saw The Lion King on broadway. I was quite impressed with the music and the costumes. Then we went to the LDS temple there in New York. It's crazy to me that it is just in amongst all those huge buildings. What a contrast though when you walk in to the temple from the New York City atmosphere. It was a nice break from the noise and chaos of the city. We went on a boat tour around New York City and got to see the waterfall exhibit that was going on. It was a limited time event where they had 4 manmade waterfalls out in the harbor. One of the waterfalls was directly under the Brooklyn Bridge. We went to the top of the Empire State Building one night and had to wait in the longest line ever! The funny part was Chris had told my mom that we were going to have to walk to the top once we got to a certain point. Ironically, the elevators that took you from the 80th to the 86th floor observation deck had stopped working and we did end up having to climb 6 flights of stairs to get there. We did get in some shopping too while in New York. We spent many hours bargaining in Chinatown and also made it to H&M, which I had really been looking forward too. We had such a great time!

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls was one of our stops on our way to New York City. Chris had surprised me by booking us a room at the Hilton in Canada that overlooked both Niagara Falls and the American Falls. It had a great view! Chris had also made arrangements for us to have dinner at the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. We had an amazing view of the falls and just happened to be there on a night that they did fireworks over the falls.

The next day we got to go on the Maid of the Mist, which is a boat that takes you up by the base of the waterfalls. It was so much fun! You get to wear these really attractive ponchos so you don't get soaked. When we got up really close it felt like we were in a downpour.

Boston Trip

We took a trip to Boston in July with Chris' parents. I had no idea there was so much to do there. We even ended up staying longer than we had planned to try and fit in more. We took the red-eye flight in and started touring just as soon as we got there. Unfortunately that first day is a bit of a blur as a result of getting very little sleep that night. We went on the Duck tours which takes you on a tour of the city in an amphibious vehicle that goes both on land and water. Marlene and I really struggled staying awake during it though. There are so many historical sites in Boston. We got to see Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church (where the lanterns were hung), the USS Constitution, the Old State House, the Boston Massacre site, several burying grounds, and the John F. Kennedy museum. We went on a whale watch which was so much fun. I was surprised by how many whales we were actually able to see. One of the other activities I really enjoyed was riding on the Swan Boats in the park there. We had some really wonderful food while in Boston. We found a place in the Little Italy part of town called Giovanni's. It was amazing! If you're ever in Boston I would definately reccommend it. We had the best Boston Cream Pie at Legal Seafoods on Larry's birthday. I have never seen so many Dunkin' Donuts in my life. It seems like they have one on every block there in Boston. We went up to Salem to see the Witch Museum, which just so happened to close early that day. It was quite the disappointment. We did however get to see the House of the Seven Gables. On our way out of the city we stopped by Fenway Park for the boys. Then Chris and I went and spent a few hours at Six Flags. We had such a great time in Boston and from there we drove to New York.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Wow, it's hard to believe that it's been two years since Chris and I got married! What a wonderful two years it has been. We have had so much fun together and it just keeps getting better. Here's a little flashback of our wedding day...