Let us all go down to Zion

This weekend we went with our neighbors to Zion National Park. Brett and I thought we were going for a warm weekend in the sun. We weren't. We stayed in Duck Creek Village in a cabin with some friends of our neighbors. It lightly snowed just about the whole time we were there. The snow must have scared the dogs because they growled and barked the whole first night and we got little, to no rest. Brett tried to combat the cold by throwing ALOT of extra wood on the fire the second night. It was so hot, we didn't get to bed until after midnight. The dogs didn't bark, though.

Then we went to the park, because it was so cold at the cabin, we assumed it would be cold at the park. So we got bundled up in our jeans and sweatshirts. It seemed to be cold at the park, UNTIL we started hiking. Our friend decided we should hike Angel's Landing, saying it wasn't too hard of a hike, even though the info for the hike said it was "strenuous" and there was a great danger of falling and dieing. We were cool with that, so we started on it. About 20 minutes into it, our neighbor's friend gave up. I thought maybe that was a bad sign since she had done the hike once before and just didn't want to do it again, but we continued on. By that time, the incline was so steep, that we no longer needed our sweatshirts, or our pants for that matter. It was so stinking hot! As we got to what we thought was the top, we looked up, and realized we had to hang onto a chain that was anchored to the side of a cliff as a helping hand for all the fools that chose to climb it. I personally was a little worried/terrified, since the mountain we were climbing on was only about 10 feet wide at it's widest. We could only climb it single file and when people were coming down the mountain, we had to find a place to stop and get out of their way, because there wasn't enough room for 2 people side by side on it. After about 2 hours of climbing we reached the top. It was beautiful and totally worth the death defying climb. As we were coming back down Brett and I stopped to let some people come up, one of those people was a woman who just happened to be 7 months pregnant! Not the smartest idea if you ask me, but I was happy I hadn't given up, if she can do it, anyone can.

I'll trade you places...

My nephew Alex was very intrigued by Stella, who was equally interested in Alex. If there hadn't been a pane of glass between them Stella would definitely be licking his face instead of just looking at him.

Princess Stella and the thief

She's so regal.


And here's a photo of our tulips, minus EIGHT! Some retard CUT 8 of our tulips right out of our flower bed, which is right in front of our window! Who does that!!!??? We were very upset to say the least. But the rest are still very pretty.

Surprise!

As a special graduation gift for Brett, I took him to Moab. He hadn't been there before and I was sick of the cold. So we drove down Saturday morning, May 3, and came back Monday. We went to Arches National Park and hiked to Landscape Arch and the Delicate Arch. They were AMAZING! You've seen pictures of the Delicate Arch, but in person it's breathtaking! You can walk out and touch it and take pictures in front of it. It's so beautiful.

Of course neither of us thought about sun screen, so we got some major sunburns, that still haven't stopped pealing, but it was totally worth it. It was a great break and a great time to spend together after so much time being apart because of school.

The day has come!

The skies have opened and the angels are singing (or maybe I'm the one singing), Brett finally graduated from the U!!! He received his BFA in Printmaking. He will be staying at his current job because they have given him a promotion so his new title will soon be Computer Tech. He'll be making more money and learning more about web design, which will be good for his future career in the graphic design field.

The day of his graduation we woke up and realized the power was out and it was lucky we had woken up on time. Brett had checked the time for the University commencement so he knew he had to be there by 8:20 am for the procession. Our neighbor graduated too and needed a ride, so we got her and got on the road at 8:20. So yes, of course we were late. But thankfully the graduates made it just in time and we didn't miss any of it. As I sat there next to an older lady that was watching her granddaughter graduate, I was holding back the tears. The speaker asked those that had helped the graduates to stand. First the mothers, then fathers, then spouses. As I stood the older lady looked at me, smiling and said "Congratulations!" We had done it! I couldn't believe the day was finally here. We had worked hard to make the money to pay for the past 3 years of his schooling (not to mention the first 4 years he alone had worked hard for the money to pay for it) and had to make many compromises with our relationship, so he would have the time to go to school and do his homework. We really haven't spent much time together since we got married. So the thought of having him home at 5:30 pm instead of the usual 9 or 10 pm was so foreign, and extremely exciting! I'm so proud of him, I know how difficult it would have been for me to have been married while in school, so all I can say is thank you Brett for doing it! You're my hero and I couldn't be more proud of you! I love you so much, GRADUATE!!

Here are some photos of the blessed occasion. That's him walking away after he got his diploma, I missed them calling his name, the stupid camera went to sleep and I couldn't get it working fast enough!








That night we had a party at his cousin's house, we got an awesome and delicious cake, and all of his cousins, his parents and Granty and Anna came to celebrate (except Grant wasn't very nice, maybe you should work on that Anna! HA!). We had a great time! Thanks Alley for giving us your house for the night!


We had another party the next day at my brother's house, my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, grandpa and aunt came to congratulate him. We had a great time! Thanks mom and dad for providing most of the food and Wil and Bec for your house. We love you guys!

Sidebar: Some know that when you ask me what the best day of my life has been so far, I say the day I graduated from college. It even trumps my wedding day! (I worked really hard to get through it and if you had any clue how hard the program was I was in, you would totally get this) But now, this day, the day Brett graduated from college, is in a close race for that title. Check back with me when we have kids, maybe that will trump them all, but I secretly doubt that! HAHA.

Emulation of Jan-Michael Vincent

Now that I've graduated, I've had to come up with replacement things to occupy my newly spare time. Some of that time is spent being productive, and the rest of the time I just waste. One of the productive things I've been doing brings me back to my past - 1984 to be specific. That was the year that:

"A renegade pilot and his partner "steal" an advanced battle helicopter that they feel would be used unethically by its owners, a secretive U.S. intelligence agency. They agree to continue flying it on missions for the agency in exchange for the agency's help locating the pilot's missing brother."

The name of that pilot was Stringfellow Hawk. Teamed up with his long-time friend and partner Dominic Santini, the two of them piloted Airwolf!!!! Airwolf is a high tech helicopter created by a government agency called "THE FIRM". The scientist who created it, is also a bit deranged, he steals it and takes it to Libya. Deputy Director Michael Colesmith Briggs, codenamed Archangel, who oversaw the Airwolf project has to try and get it back. Stringfellow Hawke, the only other man other than the creator who knows how to fly Airwolf. With this advanced technology, Stringfellow and Dominic fly all around the world fighting injustices, usually instigated by South American gorillas, communist Russia, or communist Cuba.

I never realized how much this show impressed me as a 4 year old, and I didn't realize it until I started watching the show again. Looking back now, I subconsciously tried to look like Jan-Michael Vincent, and part of it is evident in my school pictures with my feathered hair. In addition to the hair, for some reason, I thought I would look more cool if I slightly inflated my cheeks with air and squinted. If you remember much about the show, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't remember anything about the show, maybe you will at least remember the theme song: