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We had a fun, 10-day trip to the North Carolina and Georgia area over Spring Break. We started off in Raleigh, where we’d planned to visit Mark’s old mission stomping grounds. Unfortunately, we were thwarted in that attempt because Logan started vomiting. Apparently, junk food doesn’t settle well for him while we’re traveling. Now we know.

We got some traditional NC barbeque and hush puppies – a first for me. Holy moly, I’m in love. But, we did feel a bit out of our element when ordering “mixed greens”. For those of you who are as oblivious as we are – when you order mixed greens in NC, you won’t get a salad. You’ll get some kind of nasty cooked collards that made me want to follow Logan’s example and start yaking. Now we know.

We headed over to the Winston-Salem area to hang out with Mark’s sister and her family for the next couple of days. They are always fun to be around. We visited Old Salem, but mostly spent our time at the playground, tossing a football, playing board games or… you know, eating.

We spent a day in Asheville. I was fully expecting this to be my dream town, where I’d beg Mark to let us move, and we’d live happily ever after. I soon found out that I’m not nearly as artsy as I thought. This town is WAY too hippy for my tastes. Now I know. We didn’t want to pay the ridiculous entrance fee to go to the Biltmore, so there was really nothing else to do, besides eat pizza perfection at the Mellow Mushroom.

Next up, a trip through the mountains, and my favorite – hiking to find waterfalls. We saw High Falls and Triple Falls in the DuPont forest area in NC. It was beautiful.

The last leg of our trip was spent in Atlanta. The pictures are not as good – or non-existent, because our battery charger decided to catch fire in the hotel’s electrical outlet. Sheesh… now we know.

So… you’ll have to take my word that we went to Medieval Times, and it was probably the highlight of the trip (besides all the great people we saw), just because Logan was SO excited when the knights started sword fighting. It was so much fun.

We went to the Georgia Aquarium, saw a dolphin show, toured the Coca-Cola factory, and met up with my BYU college roommate and her family. I haven’t seen her in over a decade, so this visit was long overdue.

It was fun, but we’re glad to be home.

And now you know.

By the way – if you click on these pictures, they will enlarge, and you can click through the slideshow that way. Some of them even have captions. I know, I went all out.

We hope your holidays have been as blessed as ours.

We obviously didn’t take enough shots with anybody other than Logan. For the record, Logan was very aware of the fact that Christmas is not all about him, but you’d never know it by the evidence provided here. He reminded me, frequently, that Christmas is not about presents and Santa Claus. It’s about Jesus and loving and giving. Such a wise little soul.

To all our family and friends,

As we reflect on the blessings of our lives we immediately think of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and then our thoughts turn to you.  Thank you for being a part of our lives!  We wish you a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Peace!

Oh my goodness. Five years old. Logan has been wanting to turn five ever since he turned three, so this was a good day. Of course, we celebrated with some of the most awesome people ever, as is tradition. His birthday is always a great opening to the Christmas season because we are so clearly reminded of how blessed we are, and how amazing our support system is. Thanks to all who participate in our lives, near and far. We love you! Here are some highlights from the Toy Story inspired get-together. It wasn’t really fancy enough to be called a party, but those alien cupcakes and ice cream tasted like a party enough for me.

I can hear Logan downstairs singing, “…a pirate’s life for me…    …give said the little stream…”.

I wonder which will win out.

Okay, so we like the place! There’s nothing saying we can’t go to Disneyland more than once a year, right? Especially when we are within driving distance, my parents and grandma paid for the entire trip, we had a sweet hotel, and my whole family was there to play with us. Logan, unfortunately, was sick the entire time. But, he still had fun at Disney and California Adventure. His favorite part – by far – was spending time with his cousin from Michigan. Who knew they would be such good buds? Besides me, I mean.

This trip was in celebration of my grandma selling her home of … 35 years? I’m not sure of the exact number, but she was in that house for a long time. It was a difficult and relieving moment for her, but we are sure glad she’s here in Phoenix with us, and we’re glad for the memories we created this past week in California.

For the first time ever – we hosted Thanksgiving for as much of Mark’s family as could make it to Arizona. We had so much fun, and so much food! Here are some pictures from the visit.

Mark’s parents visited us this past week to celebrate our birthdays. It was so much fun to have them here – and since pictures tell more than words can, here’s a gallery of some of the fun we had this week.

I don’t know if anybody else really cares to see these soccer pictures, but I just think it was too darn cute. After only two practices, these kids did an amazing job at their first game. It was hot, and they were introduced to things they haven’t experienced yet, like the net, the referee, the whistle, etc. Wow, they have a lot to learn, but they sure had fun running.

Look at Logan dominating the ball. Unfortunately, he’s going the wrong direction. Ha!

But, he listened to his coach and got it turned around.

He even scored a goal… after the whistle.

That didn’t stop him from celebrating. “I did it! I win!” That didn’t stop me from cheering like the goal counted, either.

It was a good game with great friends.