Why does Landon do this to me?

I should know by now that whenever Landon wants to go on a simple picnic to somewhere I've never been, it's not going to be so simple. I love him very much, but I just don't understand why insists on terrorizing me. Landon had wanted to picnic out at Cochise Stronghold. Apparently there's a pretty shady area and river or something like that. I don't know because that's not where we ended up.

We packed our lunches, put some Robin Hood on for Rory to fall asleep to, and headed out in the general direction. After driving around some and not being able to find the trail that would take us to Landon's desired picnic area, we stopped to asked directions from a guy reading a book under a tree. Mistake. As he was walking over to our truck in his short shorts, I thought to myself it would be funny if he was foreign. Lol. He totally was and he was super creepy. Plus I'm pretty sure he was crushing on Landon which made it even funnier. He wanted to know where we were on our Arizona map. I thought to myself: Weird. Why doesn't he know where he's at? When Landon pointed out that we were in a certain square of the map, the guy corrected him and told him to turn to page 76 without even looking at the map. It was like he was wondering if we knew where we were. Weird again. Then he kept insisting that we park and take a walking trail to some peak. Needless to say we just wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

We drove around some more and then decided to take a trail that looked like it might head in the direction we needed to go. Never again. The trail soon began going straight up. It was crazy narrow (no way to turn back) and just rocks. I'm not much for off roading - especially when it's rough and high up. I think the high up part gets to me more because I have a somewhat debilitating fear of heights. I ended up having a panic attack and crying. Nothing new to Landon seeing as how he does this to me quite often. We hit a peak and I made Landon get out and look down to see where the trail led. We had a chance to turn back, finally, and I wasn't going to go any further if it was going to be scary. He looked over and said he knew where we were and coaxed me into continuing. We ended up here:

A place called China Camp. It was very pretty. I'm not sure I could deal with the drive again, but I did enjoy our picnic here. There were plenty of trees and concrete slabs that we sat on to eat our lunch. We took a little walk and explored the area some before Landon tried to take some other trails to see if they headed back the same way. They didn't seem to and were just as scary, so I made him go back the way we came. I kept it together a little better going down. I'm a wuss I know. Despite the creepy foreign guy and the crazy 'are we even on a trail anymore?!' trail, it was a very nice picnic.

Disneyland

Yes. Yes. I do know how behind I am on posting. I actually uploaded these photos over a month ago and just haven't gotten around to finishing up. We took a trip to Disneyland Presidents day/Valentine's day weekend. Not the best idea if you're trying to avoid a crowd, but we were going to be meeting up with a friend from Landon's mission and his family on one of our days there. He's in med school and this was the weekend that worked for him, so we forged ahead. We left on Friday and had a brilliant idea to leave later in the day - around Rory's nap time to be exact. It worked out great!

Rory napped until dinner, watched some Sleeping Beauty on her little DVD player (best invention ever), and then slept till we arrived at the hotel.

We stopped in Gila Bend for dinner and ate at Space Age. Not the best food in the world, but it beats fast food. We spent a little time letting Rory run around while we were waiting for our food and then while paying.

Rory was wide awake after we pulled up to the Hotel. It was like 10:30! She was just soooo excited about everything! She was especially excited about the beds. It was too cute.

After her bath next morning she just wanted to lounge around. Lol. If she only knew what we had planned. I kept trying to tell her and would sing "It's the Mickey Mouse Club House! Come in side. It's fun inside." But she would just scream at me to stop. Weird. She usually loves my singing.

It was a little rough when we first arrived. Rory isn't used to having to ride in a stroller and was not having it. We picked the Small World ride to go on first. It's my least favorite due to it being especially creepy, but Rory seemed to like it.


Lunch was awesome. Expensive, but awesome. I think you have to expect to spend a ton of money on food. Otherwise, it will just make you cranky. I went for a hand dipped corn dog, Landon had fish and chips, and Rory had the toddler meal (forget what it's called) that consisted of a little yogurt, cheese stick, apple slices, gold fish, and a juice. I was surprised they had such a healthy lunch choice, but it is California.

We only stayed till 3:00 that first day. We had planned on coming back, but were too tired. We did stop for a picture with Goofy on our way out. Rory really like seeing all the characters. We pointed out Pluto ealier in the day and she started barking at him. Lol.

She was OUT after that first day. When we got back from dinner she slept through us changing her clothes and diaper. Crazy.

We arrived a little earlier than our friends the next morning so we decided to wait in line to get a picture with Minnie! We did have a huge family cut in front of us and everyone else because their time was more important than all of ours. I usually say something, but the mom was pretty scary looking and probably would have punched me, so I just left their fate to karma.

We had sooo much fun with our friends. Again, Landon know J.D. from his mission and I had met him and his beautiful family at a wedding we had all gone to a few months earlier. They live about 30 minutes from Disneyland and have season passes - lucky. Their little girl, Laura, is a few months older than Rory so they knew all the great rides and how to navigate D-Land with a toddler. I'm so happy we were able to meet up with them and celebrate Valentine's day.

Rory had a lot of fun on all of the rides. I wish I would have gotten a picture of her on the Tea Cups. She would not stop screaming and laughing on that ride. It was by far her favorite. She also had a blast watching Micky's Playhouse at California Adventure. It was a mix of Micky's Club House, Handy Manny, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and Little Einsteins. They were just puppets that came up out of the stage, but Rory's eyes almost popped out when she saw them. It was like all of her favorite cartoons were REAL!

We ended the day with Landon and J.D. on the rapids ride at California Adventure. I thought they were crazy because that water had to be freezing, but they insisted. It was funny to see them soaked after they got off.

We had hoped, the trip back would be as easy as the trip up. It started out that way, but didn't last for long. It was worth it though. The trip was AMAZING. We had so much fun. I'm so happy we didn't listen to all the nay sayers telling us we were crazy for taking an 18 month old. Rory was the perfect child. I wish we could go back again and again. It was really the best vacation we've ever taken.

Valentine's Day

We started our Valentine's celebration the Monday before. My mother in law invited us and Landon's sister and her kids over for a special Valentine's family home evening. It was pretty fun. The kids all got to make their own personal pizza - except Rory. Now that she's tall enough to reach things close to the edge of the counter, you have to push everything back towards the wall. Janice didn't realize this until we saw Rory walking around and stuffing pizza crust in her mouth. She ate the entire thing. She's such a carb monster. After dinner we had a small lesson. Rory did a good job of trying to hold picture up for us to see. For the Finally we decorated Valentine's day cookies. They were so yummy.

Rory spent her time licking the frosting off the cookies we helped her decorate.

We then spent most of the week getting ready for our Disneyland trip. But I did take a little break on Tuesday to make my mom and her coworker a special treat. I saw this super cute idea on how to use up leftover candy canes here: http://www.pleasant-home.com/2010/01/quick-and-easy-valentines-treats.html They came our really cute and I heard they were delicious.

Because we were going to be spending money at Disneyland, we decided to go giftless for each other this year and made our own cards. I was really surprised at how cute the one Landon made turned out. It was probably our best Valentine's yet. A Disney blog is soon to follow.

You can pick your nose and you can pick your friends...

But you can't pick your friend's nose.
On a more serious note, I am so very grateful for our friends. January was a pretty hard month for us and I can't even put into words how appreciative I am for all those who helped, offered to help, lent us a husband, let us (or mainly me) vent, and took time to hang out with us and distract us from all the craziness. I'm especially grateful to have Jeremy and Nicole who we can call almost anytime and invite ourselves over for some cards or who will go blindly on our 'cultured/try something new' date nights with us. (Thanks again for joining us for the Dillinger Festival and watching Public Enemies with us at the Fox Theatre.) I'm sure some of them have not been that enjoyable, but they keep coming back for more. I guess the awesome ones make up for the failures. I am also extremely thankful for my very best friend - Landon. He has been so amazing and understanding this last month. I think all the craziness has even brought us closer together. I am so lucky to have him in my life and even luckier I get to spend everyday with him (even if I'm not feeling so lucky someday ;P). Just wanted to focus on something positive today and I can't stop thinking about what great friends we've been blessed with.

The BIG Move

Back in May of last year we decided to let the house go. We could have tried a short sale, I could have gone back to work full time, Landon could have picked up more overtime, we could have sold the Jetta (to get rid of the payment), we could have rented out a room (the banks advise). But after much diliberation and advise from realtor friends, we realized it was a lost cause for us and stopped making payments. It came down to family being more important. And we were just so backwards in the house - for us it was more financially responsible to let it go. I'm in no way saying that I think everyone in this situation should forclose and start over, but I do think it is a necessary choice in many cases and was in ours.

We really didn't expect to be out on the 'street' so quickly. We've heard of people being in their house for 12 months or more after starting the proccess. I guess Fannie Mae thought our house was super special. That's right, Fannie Mae, who the government bailed out, bought our house with both houses on either side of ours for sale. I hope they have a lot of fun selling it. We were served with a letter dated December 29th on January 6th giving us until January 5th to get out. Fun. It was time for our plan to begin. A little sooner and quicker than I would have liked, but that's life.

Landon's parents have a mother in law suite and offered it to us for next to nothing a month. It wasn't quite ready for us and made the move and settling a lot more stressful, but it's getting there. The kitchen is now 98% finished and we've only got one box of stuff that goes on the bookshelves to upack. I'm debating whether or not to unpack it when I know we have another move in the near future. The space has it's own entry, a bathroom, living space with kitchen and room for a table and Rory's furniture, and a bedroom. It's separated from the rest of the house by the laundry room. It's really not that bad of a deal. It is a little close to the parents, but we're able to save money to get going on our own space and it's not permanent. I have to keep reminding myself of this.

So, we're saving money to get started on building a shop/living space on an acre of land we're buying from my aunt. If all goes to plan we should be moving in there 5-6 months from now. And after we're living payment free will be saving again to slowly build an actually home. It's going to be a rough road, but I know it's the right thing for us. Landon doesn't want to work at the railroad forever. I know that he would like to go to school someday and I would like to go back and get my masters. So many opportunities will be open to us without a huge mortgage - or any mortgage for that matter. It's nice to know that if all goes to plan, we will have an acre of land with a house and a shop on it in 5 years and NO monthly payment.

So this is where we're at right now and hopefully where we'll be going. It's been tough and I know it's just going to get harder. But, I also have no doubt that this has been the right choice for us and that this is what we should be doing. Keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you in ours.

December

The holidays just flew by... actually all of 2009 just flew by. My parents used to always talk about how time flies. I now know what they meant. The month of December was pretty eventful for us. We didn't get to do everything we wanted, but it was still a great month.

We did get the chance to take Rory to see the Temple lights. I've only been once and that was back in 2004 before I was baptised. It was an experience that solidified that decision for me, so naturally I've been wanted to go every year since then. We just never had the time. I'm so greatful we snuck it in this year. Despite being tired, Rory really enjoyed being there. It was her first trip to the Temple and I'm pretty sure she can't wait to go back. :) Unfortunately, when I pulled out my camera to take pictures I realized it wasn't charged. :(

We were also able to make it to Winterhaven. Landon didn't really want to go, but he knew how much I wanted to and made time to take us. He such a sweetheart! We took Rory in her wagon. She had so much fun waving and saying 'Hi' to all the people passing by on the hay rides. She also love seeing the horses. I'm terrible with cameras, so I forgot to take pictures till we were back at the car. We took a couple anyways...

I made time to do a couple of small projects I saw on some craft blogs. They were super fun and easy and made great gifts.

These are super cheap pieces of ceramic tile that I mod podged with a picture and some scrapbook paper.

This was a Christmas card I made for my cousin. He wanted everyone to give him money, so I did.

Christmas was pretty good. We had Christmas Eve dinner with Landon's family then spent some time at my grandparent's house for my Tata's birthday. Christmas morning we opened presents just the three of us - a new experience that I insisted on. My camera has gone missing and the pictures along with it. But we did use our video camera to to capture Rory opening her presents. Santa brought her a play kitchen and a Sleeping Beauty baby doll. She also got a new book. I'm so thankful we didn't go crazy with presents for her because our family did. I was a little upset at the aftermath of trying to find room for all her new toys. She got another baby doll and tons of accessories for her, a play tent, a rocking horse, more books, a shopping cart, a rocking chair, her own table and chairs, and more. It was really rediculous. Next Christmas I'm just going to ask people to donate to a college fund for her.

New Years Eve was spent with Landon's family. We ate lots of fried food, cake bites, and played games. Rory decided to bite a couple of her cousins and has since been labled 'the biter.' We made it home 15 minutes before midnight, stayed up for the countdown, and then crashed.

I know it's late, but we hope everyone had an amazing holiday season!

Our Little Family

We were lucky enough to have a friend take some family pictures of us. They are all so amazing, but these are some of my favorites.

Daddy trying to make things better.

I LOVE this one! It TOTALLY reminds me of a fairytale. :)

I especially love the ones she caught of us in the moment.

Thank you soooo much Rachel! You're amazing. Also a special thanks to Nicole and Jeremy for letting us take pictures at your house.