a cast and a cabin

I am not sure how many of you have heard the story of Jake vs. the TV, but my adorable little nephew climbed on the tv in the kids' play room, which resulted in the tv falling right on top of him! A fractured heel and a blue cast were the outcome. Because he is so small he cannot use crutches, so he has had to learn how to crawl again. However, the cute little kid seems to be adjusting to life without the use of one leg quite well. I just think he looks so darn cute in his little cast! He did well when the Utah kids were here, but had a hard time understanding why he could not get into the swimming pool with them. Here he is playing on the rocking horse:

Cute right?? Here he is chillin' with Jackson underneath the coffee table:

And my fave picture:

Love those kids!

The week ended with the Utah kids, myself and my parents heading to the cabin. Because of the cast and because school started for the AZ kids, they were unable to make it with us. We missed them. The time at the cabin was fantastic! Most of our time was spent on the ATVs exploring the desert and all sorts of other attractions. There is this gigantic wash down the road from my parents' cabin that is stellar for riding 4 wheelers! I never knew it existed until this trip to the cabin. We also headed to the water tower to do some exploring and then made our way to the top of the Black Mesa. Here are the kids checking out the water tower:

Here we are exploring the Black Mesa. The pictures just don't do justice to the scariness of the scenery. At the very edge of the black rocks is quite a drop off. Eek!


And this, friends, is how the majority of the weekend was spent:

I only took the camera out when the girls went 4 wheeling. I was on a 3rd ATV taking pictures from behind. It was awesome! If you expand the picture below and look into the distance, right in between the two girls, is our cabin. It's a little brown spec in the trees:

It's funny because I used to think the desert was so ugly and my idea of a cabin was in the mountains surrounded by pine trees. Our cabin is in the middle of dirt, rocks, and dead-looking trees. However, it has quickly become one of my favorite places to go and I can't imagine having a more perfect place for a cabin (in AZ that is). Here are some scenery shots for your viewing pleasure. I am not at all a photographer, so the quality of picture does not do justice to the breathtakingness (it's a word) of the scenery:


And finally, some poor creature had a bad day in the desert, and I was lucky enough to stumble upon his remains. I put my foot next to some of the bones just so you can see the enormity of them. It was quite freaky:

My mom thinks it was a cow. I am leaning more towards dinosaur. Kidding...I am not that dumb.

All in all it was a great weekend! I am so happy for the time I got to spend with the family this last week. My family rocks and I love them all to death. And I must say that my niece Kensie is an amazingly talented ATV driver (she never let me drive unless we were going down steep hills), and that my two middle nephews took off their floaties and swam like champs! I will say it forever: I LOVE BEING AN AUNT!!!

peace out, yo

I am off...

*to the cooler temps in Snowflake, AZ
*to relax and get some much needed rest
*to play with the Utah kiddos like crazy before they leave
*to do some major arrowhead hunting, ATV riding, and nature walking
*to just get away from the hustle and bustle of the city

The family cabin is calling my name. And the fact that the majority of the family will be there makes the temptation irresistible! See you next week!

{P.S. This is my 200th post! I think I need to find something better to do with my time...}

HFMD

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common childhood illness...

I am 28...

...and I am pretty sure I have the disease

It all started last Friday (right in the midst of my weekend wonderment) when I felt as if I had a slight sore throat. Saturday, around the time we got to Tommy's house and after playing the Walmart game, my feet started itching like crazy. It felt as if I had been attacked by a million little insects who took a lunch break on my feet. It was in between my toes mostly. Strange. Then Sunday I noticed I had a couple of canker sores in my mouth...but nothing too painful. I also had itchy spots on my hands (I think I noticed those on Saturday too). It wasn't until I was at work on Monday with a very sore mouth full of canker sores that I wondered if my itchy feet, hands and pained mouth were related. I got on my favorite medical website, webmd.com, and put in my symptoms. When I read about HFMD I knew that had to be it. I am convinced that I have diagnosed myself.

My mom thinks that my nephew Jake had canker sores in his mouth last week. My friend at work said her nephew was recently diagnosed. And now, today, my other co-worker says his daughter has it. It's going around. And I am one of the lucky, non-child aged folks who has picked it up...

There is no treatment. I just have to let nature run its course. Granted, it is not bad at all. My mouth is just bothering me now. In a few days I will be good as new.

{lucky me}

weekend wonderment

A little "birdie" told me that I needed to write a post about my weekend...so here it is! My weekend was fantastic! It was packed full of exciting events and I still feel as if I haven't quite recovered. It all started on Friday, my mandatory day off of work, when the mother and I decided to get ourselves a little pedicure to boost our spirits after the last couple of weeks' events. My poor mom has just had a rough time lately. Besides, she got a pedicure in June that was a little bit scary...so a redo was much needed! Just kidding. Pedicures = love.

The rest of the day was spent being lazy and wasting my life on the computer playing the world's worst game: Farkle!

Mind you, I love the game Farkle...but the game on Facebook is rigged and super frustrating! So to make up for it, I played the real game with my parents that night. I let my mom win because I felt sorry for her...

Saturday was just a day full of chaos...but fun chaos. I woke up at the crack 'o dawn to go visit my brown friend for possibly the last time. It was pretty uneventful, but needed to be done for my own sanity. After the visit it was off to Walmart to buy some much needed postcards...and I threw in some fruit too. Had I known how much time I would be spending at Walmart later, I probably would have not gone. But we will get to that in a minute.

I tried to get in a quick nap, but was unsuccessful. I thought about going to the gym, but silenced my brain. So I basically laid on my bed and watched tv until it was time to meet up with my friends for lunch. I met these girls when I lived in the fabulous town of Nauvoo, Illinois...home of this amazing site:

These girls have since moved to AZ and live just about 20 minutes away. However, I am lazy and never visit them...so I finally invited myself over. I got to see their amazing new place, complete with pool, and then we headed to the famous Crackers Cafe for lunch. Yummy!!! It was great hanging out with them. We got to talk about all the gossip in Nauvoo and catch up on other happenings in AZ also. It was great to see them, but a little sad too (for reasons we won't get into).

I then made the trek to the parentals' place to greet my bro, sis-in-law and their kiddos who drove down from Utah for the week. We got in some good quality swimming and children playing time. It is always good to be around family!

Then I headed home to get ready for the night's main event: the group date. I got hooked up with a great guy and had a lot of fun with him. (Side note: Julie in the UK, don't go and buy a hat just yet...) The date went as follows:


We met at Walmart. Great place for a date right? Each couple grabbed a shopping cart and wandered around the store finding 25 of the most random items you can think of. Then it was time to swap carts with another couple and put the items away. Sounds fun? Well...it kind of was and kind of wasn't. Finding the items was fun, but putting them away pretty much sucked. We couldn't run, we couldn't stash things in random places and we couldn't ask anyone for help. An hour and 15 minutes later...our cart was empty. My date and I actually came in second place so that's not too shabby. And to make matters even better, we won a prize because the couple who came in first bought the prizes and decided they were not eligible to win. So, between me and you, let's just say we came in first place! Needless to say, I don't think I will not be spending much time in Walmart in the near future...unless completely necessary. Several of the couples left the store feeling a bit frustrated:

By the way, the first and only time I have played the shopping cart game before was when I lived in Nauvoo. There really isn't much to do in such a small town...so we had to be creative. I never imagined I would play that game again...

After our Walmart experience we headed back to Tommy's house for more fun. This time each couple was given a block of ice cream and was told to make an ice cream sculpture.

My date and I had a brilliant idea to sculpt Mr. Potato Head using the prize we won for the Walmart game as a prop. However, the ice cream was quite melty and our attempts failed miserably. We made a tombstone instead.


Then we played a game that I believe is the world's most humiliating game (next to Curses, of course) called The Great Dalmuti:

If you have ever played Scum, the game is virtually identical. The object of the game is to become the Great Dalmuti by getting rid of your cards the first. The other players want to overthrow the Great Dalmuti by getting rid of their cards before the Great Dalmuti does. By a stroke of luck, my date and I started as the Great Dalmuti, and I am happy to report that after playing the game for 6 hours (a slight exaggeration) we never got dethroned. Can you say skill?

And then the date was over. The usual "hug" was exchanged and then it was onto the phone to get the goods from the other girls involved in the date. You know how girls are...we just like to gossip!

Sunday was the typical church, family time, fireside and games. Unfortunately the Great Dalmuti was played again. I made the move from the bottom of the totem pole to the Great Dalmuti spot...and again was not dethroned. I am amazing!

{and I am humble}

it's a sad day...

the "famous" birthday cake is in the recycle bin (or as much of it as i could fit) and the recycle truck comes today. farewell my friend that brought me such delight. you will be missed...

last night i cried...

but don't worry...they were happy tears! i just cried because i am a girl, and girls are weird. and sometimes my emotions just come out of my eyeballs. but to put it plainly, i am blessed!

a week ago today i flew home from utah after my grandpa's funeral. it was a beautiful day and a beautiful experience. however, on my way home from the airport i noticed that my car was shaking a bit...which isn't unusual these days...it has been acting up for a while. i didn't think anything of it. the next day driving home from work it sounded as if a helicopter were flying right above my car and the car was shaking ferociously. but because i am a girl and don't know anything about cars i continued driving. the very next day, wednesday, my parents flew home from utah. they got in around 3pm and i was driving home from work (around 5pm) when the same thing happened to me again. the car was shaking and that helicopter sound appeared again. this time i decided it would be best to pull over to the side of the freeway (in 113 degree heat). as i was slowing down and pulling over i could feel my car driving weird and i knew i had a flat tire. i called my daddy, who came to my rescue, and helped me (who am i kidding...i didn't help him...i just watched) change the flat tire...that was actually a shredded, blown out tire. i have heard horror stories of blow outs on the freeway. i know the catastrophe that could have been. a miracle! i know someone up there was watching over me! and more importantly, nothing happened until wednesday, the only day in the last 3 weeks that my dad has even been home and could have helped me. i am so blessed! needless to say, i said some extra thankful prayers that night...and, of course, cried a little.

fast forward to the weekend. i had an awesome weekend! i got invited to two parties, i got to go swimming twice (to eliminate some of the blistering heat that is the arizona summertime), and i got to talk to my best boy "friend" and was reassured that he is alive and well, and not being shipped off to his foreign country without my knowledge. i love weekends like that! but most importantly i got a new roomie this weekend...and she is the best! ok, so it has only been two days since she moved in, but i can tell she is going to be great. my last roomie was a heaven send and i did not think i would ever find someone as great as her, but i think i may have done it this time too! she is really nice, easy going and we get along really well. but what is even better is that she is skinny as can be and eats next to nothing. so...in my alayna brain i feel guilty if i eat bad things or an excess of food. can you say, "weight loss motivation?" oh, she also has a membership to my gym so we are going to motivate each other and take some classes together! and she wakes up at 5am for work, so we have worked something out that if i am not awake and going to the gym at 5am that she will wake me up and torment me. not really, but i am making myself believe that she will haunt me if i don't go to the gym in the morning so i get motivated to wake up and actually go. it worked this morning...

isn't it amazing that the minute you decide to take that leap of faith, to change your life and your priorities, that everything falls into place?

{i am blessed}

save the best for last...

There was only one thing I had to have at my birthday party and this was it:

The world's largest cake!!

There are definitely benefits involved with working at a paper company. Number one, we have big boxes and number two, we have extremely large sheets of paper to cover those boxes with. I thought it would be really fun to have a gigantic cake as a prop at our party...but it was more than just a prop...

Here are Sarah and I with our real cake aflame while everyone sang "Happy Birthday."



And then the song ended and the prop became a dream:

That's right...I had a man jump out of my cake! Mind you, he was fully clothed...but he did sport an amazing bowtie!



He helped us blow out the candles and then he entertained us with a little dance.

{thanks Tommy for making all of my wildest dreams come true!}

I hope you enjoyed all of my birthday posts! It truly was a great time!

back again

I am back from Utah...again. Although the purpose of my visit was sad, it was a very memorable experience that I will not soon forget. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation. I am grateful for eternal families. I know I will see my grandpa again. And I also know that he is having a great time being reunited with his son, his parents and other family members...I also bet that my little brothers are excited to see their grandpa again. And I would even venture to guess that he is chillin' with his dogs and possibly even my dog, Trigger. I honestly don't know how people cope who don't believe in God or life after death. I am so blessed. My grandpa was a great man and it was awe inspiring to reflect on his life and the amazing legacy he leaves behind.

I love you g-pa!

I now challenge you to check out my sister-in-law's blog for another tribute to my grandpa, a recap of the good times we had while in Utah, and also for a glimpse of his obituary. She did such a great job capturing all of the moments and memories made over the last few days. She has several posts...so get started!!!

P.S. I still have one more birthday post to publish...so check back a little later.

another matter of importance

You will just have to wait to see my most exciting post from our beach bash because something else has come up that takes precedence. I received the sad news that my grandfather passed away this morning. It was somewhat expected, but mostly a shock. He has been battling lymphoma for a couple of years, but appeared to be in good health and kicking the cancer. At this time we are not sure if his death is cancer related. Regardless, he will be missed tremendously. I love you grandpa and am so glad I got to see you one month ago at Kensie's baptism. I miss you already.
So...I am flying to Utah tomorrow after work and will be there until Monday night. The funeral is scheduled for Monday at this time. Keep my grandma, mom and family in your prayers will ya?