Easter in the Desert

Ok, so my Easter post is a little late, but better late than never, right?

Loo's bad chop job!

James, Little Loo (she got a haircut for the trip - so AWFUL!), and I were able to travel to sunny Arizona for Easter weekend. We had so much fun! We didn't want to come home. We travelled all night on Thursday night and got there early Friday morning. Lucy and Pete were instant friends, even at 3 a.m. We had a fabulous breakfast at the Good Egg with Jan & Seeta - James and I crave breakfast from that place! We laid out by the pool with Trac - so glad she gave in to James' bad influence to pull her away from studying! We went to Kirt's family Easter Breakfast on Saturday morning at Usery Park - the desert was so green and beautiful! We had so much fun, Thanks Petersens!

We spent some time at Rigatony's with Dave and Sarah - it was so good to see them. I lost my cell phone and James had to get a spoon from the kitchen to get it out of the seat. He wasn't too excited about it. I was drunk off my food so it really didn't matter.

We were able to go to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple. James had never seen it before, and he really enjoyed it. We met Brand and Kember and their family there. My favorite part was after the cock crowed thrice, you hear Gage's little voice "It's a chicken!"

We had Easter time at the Petersen's and we received fun Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny. I got some silly string and used it on the first available target. Sorry James. Also, the Easter Bunny knows my love for U2 and I got a "Boola Boola" to find my prize. I was so happy I cried, literally. I am a dork, I know. Lucy got a new Easter dress too, and she stole the show at Seeta's annual Easter Egg hunt. She was very proud of her ruffles.

We stopped by Carli's on our way out of town and Cotter and Quinci were in love with Lucy! They had so much fun holding her; they were so cute with her.

We really enjoyed our weekend. We listened to some inspirational CD's on our drive and we really enjoyed them. We learned a lot about our Savior and His Infinite Atonement. Our testimonies were definitely strengthened. We are thankful to our family for the fabulous time we had. We look forward to our next visit! Oh yeah, Lucy did great in the car. She had such a busy weekend, she was SO exhausted on the ride home. She was such a good puppy though, we were surprised that she was not more of a wild maniac. Aww, Lucy!

I've Been Tagged!

My cousin Sandi tagged me like a week ago...I'm just now getting around to it!

5 PLACES TO VISIT BEFORE I DIE:

Australia

Phillipines

Italy

Belize

Africa

5 SALAD TOPPINGS:

Candied Pecans

Blue Cheese

Grilled Chicken

Avocado

Fresh Cracked Pepper

5 FICTION BOOKS:

I don't read a lot of fiction - so here's the last few I read

Angels & Demons - Dan Brown

Harry Potter(s) - J.K. Rowling

Berenstein Bears

Dr. Seuss - anything

Runny Babbit

5 SHOES:

Black flip flops

Purple peep toe wedges

Black Strappy wedges

White stappy wedges

Black hooker boots

5 HOBBIES:

Taking care of my husband (hee hee!)

Working out

Makeup artistry

Blogging

Reading

TAG FIVE PEOPLE:

Any and all that would like to reply!

Book Review

Ok, so this may not be interesting to anyone, but I read two books this week and I feel accomplished and edified. I would recommend these books as well. The first book, The Proper Care & Feeding of Marriage, by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, was surprisingly good. I received this book as a gift at my Bridal Shower, and when James saw it, he made some comment about Dr. Laura being a complete man-hater. I honestly knew nothing about Dr. Laura or her books or radio show, so I was less skeptical and decided to give it a try. I really learned a lot and was pleased to let James know that she is anything but a man-hater, and that he might actually like the book. I really liked her sections on the DO's & DONT'S. As lame as it may sound, I am really excited to incorporate some of her ideas into my life, because I feel they would most definitely be beneficial to our marriage.

The second book I read this week was, If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard, by Sheri Dew. I also really enjoyed this book. It was very uplifting and fun to read Sheri Dew has an awesome way of portraying things so they are easy to understand, and rather matter-of-fact, which when it comes to gospel principles, I do better when it is presented that way. I had my eyes opened to the very simple concept, or commandment, rather, of Love One Another. It really struck me how important it is to love others and treat them as I would myself. (Seems really simple, I know, I know, I'm learning!) I think the best chapter overall was the one about Charity. This one was a shorter read, only about 140 pages, and I was a little bummed when it ended, because I wanted her to keep going!

Last Weekend

Last weekend James and I went to North Salt Lake with my Dad and spent some time with family. Uncle Dan and Patrick were in town, so we met at Rick and Marilyn's house. We then met up with Brian and Jodi (and baby bump, yay!) at Costa Vida! We had a great time visiting and catching up. We then went back and played Apples to Apples. I think my favorite part was when Bill and Hillary Clinton cards were both placed in the pile (freaky!) We had a lot of fun though and hope to do it again soon. Patrick was so adorable - he is so fun to hang out with and he is smarter every time we see him!

National Champions!

Britney and her Pom Squad won the National Championship this past weekend in Anaheim. We are so proud of her and all her hard work! What a way to end her Senior year! I think Jill has a video of her performance, but I found this one online. Brit is the tannest one on the squad with the hot legs! See if you can pick her out! Go Brit! We Love You!

Plumber's Crack

Last week we discovered a slight problem in our guest bathroom. As you can see, there is a crack in the tank of the toilet. Note the AWESOME wallpaper (very easy to decorate with, let me tell you). There was a slight flood, but I was able to control the flow so there wasn't any water damage. So, therein began my latest plumbing project. Let me make that clear: My FIRST plumbing project. Ever. So, my Dad and I took a trip to the local Home Depot to see what we needed. First of all, they didn't carry the brand of tank for the toilet I needed, so we decided to replace the entire toilet. I was a little bit intimidated, to say the least. We found a great deal on this all-in-one toilet combo and we were on our way.

Luckily my dad was prepared. He brought all sorts of tools to help with this daunting task. Now we do have some tools, but none of them are nearly as cool as these spiffy socket wrenches that my dad had.



First, we had to remove the old toilet. That was probably the worst part. Here I am near the "hole." I was really scared of it - not really, it just kind of grossed me out.





After we hauled away the old toilet, we brought in the new baby ready to be put into place.

It was then time to attach the tank. I was obsessed with this extra long screwdriver. It was the largest thing I have ever seen.

Lucy wanted to help.

Don't forget the toilet seat!

After everything was in place, we connected the water and we were ready to go. I was so proud of the results! James was proud too. He was just going "pay someone to do it." It ended up being really fun. Thanks to my Dad for all his help! He was very patient with me.

Dish Duty

One morning, James and I were quietly hanging out before he went to work. I was puttering around finishing cleaning up from breakfast and getting ready for the day, when I sat down on the couch for a minute to talk to James. We then heard this "clank" and I got up to see where it was coming from. To our ignorance, Lucy had climbed up on the counter and decided to jump off into the dishes. She was truly stuck - and caught! Of course, to add to her embarrassment, we only harassed her more for her mishap. I have been laughing about this for a week since it happened...poor thing - she was only trying to help! Here are some other shots I took of her later that morning as she helped me clean the house. This little dog is too cute! We love having her around for entertainment more than anything.