Little "Khlo-ers"

Our little Khloe turned 2 years old earlier this month. As usual, we made her put on a birthday hat and gave her "fresh" dog food, which she loved.

In people years, we're now experiencing the "terrible two's" and in dog years she is a "terrible teenager" (14 years old). I guess that would explain her lack of listening and obeying lately.

Anyway, we love Khloe so much and look forward to many birthdays to come.

Home Sweet Home

Well, it's official...my parents are finally home from their mission. It was so wonderful being able to give them a big hug again. It's so hard for me when they are gone, however, the wonders of technology (Skype), the telephone, email and our visit to Bermuda last Thanksgiving made it much easier.


I love you Mom and Dad and am so happy you made it safely home! xoxo

Vegas Visit

A couple of weeks ago, I went down to Las Vegas to visit my sister and her family. I only get to see them about 3 times a year so I was very excited. In between all of the photo shoots she booked for me we ran errands, made cookies, went to Ashlyn's soccer game,

had a much needed girls night out at The Cheesecake Factory in Ceasar's Palace and

played with the kids at home.

I wish they lived closer so I could see them more often. Good thing I only have to wait until Christmas!

Parents Come Home TODAY!

My parents arrive back home in 5 hours and I am so excited! I thought I should get around to the seriously long overdue post of our trip to Bermuda last year. Erik and I were able to visit my parents over Thanksgiving last November so now it has been almost one year since I have seen them last. Here is a look at my favorite parts of our trip.

Meet my parents. The best "senior" missionaries ever! They worked so hard and have been such an amazing example to me.

Here we are at the Belmont Hills Golf Course where Erik golfed the first day.

One of the neatest things about Bermuda is how colorful it is. Every house is painted a vibrant color. No boring beige here.

Along with the colorful houses are incredible sunsets. They were amazing!

This is their baptismal font. What a neat place to become an official member of the church.

Here is my Mom in their very small kitchen. She is going to be so happy to have a dishwasher again.

I think this is called Horseshoe Bay. As you can see, we were there during the off season. There wasn't a single person there. It made for a beautiful picture.

This is the "toaster" as they called it; their transportation for driving around the island. It was very strange watching my Dad drive on the left side of the road.

Here is the view at the top of Gibbs Lighthouse. Isn't it gorgeous?

We went to the "Unfinished Church" one afternoon. They began building it in 1874 but due to lack of money, it was never finished. It was severely damaged by a hurricane in 1926 and is now a national monument.

We also went to Fort Hamilton. Can you believe the size of this leaf?

I need my Mom here to tell me where this was. Anyway, these are called stalagmites. Nature is so interesting!

Erik and I decided to brave the cold water and went snuba diving. The water was absolutely freezing! When we first got there, the guide thought we were crazy but I wasn't about to travel to Bermuda to not get in the water even though it was November. Despite the cold, it was still a lot of fun.

My Mom made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in their miniature kitchen. The elders were very nice and seemed to enjoy the extra company.

Here we are in front of their branch building with one of the local families. All of the members were so nice and welcoming. It was wonderful getting to meet some of the people my parents have spent the last 18 months serving.

Lastly, here we are aboard the "Spirit of Bermuda" sail boat.

We had so much fun visiting my parents and it was comforting to see that they were taken care of as well. I'm sure my Dad would have loved to sail back home but thankfully they'll get here much quicker than that. Only a few more hours to go!

Never Too Late

Happy belated Halloween from our little devil.

Nature At It's Finest

One of the things on my list to do this fall, was to drive the Nebo Loop Scenic Byway. It is a 40 mile drive that starts in Payson and ends in Nephi. I discovered it online one day and they said it was "a photographer's dream". Boy were they right! Can you believe those colors? I was in total awe!

As the drive took us higher into the mountains, we began to see less colors because it was a little too late in the year. I highly recommend doing this around the end of September when the colors are really saturated and they have yet to fall off the trees. Here is the view from one of the many "outlooks" as we got a little bit higher. The view is still gorgeous.

The highest point of the drive takes you to about 9,000 feet in elevation, which is only about 3,000 feet below the summit of Mt. Nebo.

On our way back down, we passed what they call "Mini Bryce Canyon". I hope to make it to "big" Bryce Canyon soon. Amazing!

We only went about 25 mph on the byway so we could soak in everything around us. By the time we got home, it was five hours later. I can't wait to do this again and if you've never gone before...put it on your list for next year. This should not be missed!

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

The older I get, the more I realize how holidays are geared toward children. I guess I'm still a child at heart because I always want to do the things that my nieces and nephews get to do: go on easter egg hunts, make gingerbread houses, and carve pumpkins. Seeing as Erik and I still don't have any children, I've decided this year that I want to do these things anyway. Why do kids get to have all the fun?

Earlier this week, I dragged Erik to the pumpkin patch at Wheeler Farm. It was way more fun than buying a pumpkin at Albertson's.

We probably looked ridiculous having no children and taking pictures with our dog, but I didn't care. I was in the holiday spirit and Khloe actually really enjoyed it. She sniffed around at all the pumpkins and even ran around the corn maze.

We were only there for about 15 minutes, but it was worth it. We did something we've never done before, spent time together as a family and brought home an unexpected treat for Khloe.

Now I'm just hoping I don't have to carve this thing all by myself. :)

Cabo San Lucas: Last Post

I know you are all sick of seeing my vacation pictures from Cabo so this is the last post. My favorite part of the entire trip was when Erik and I got to play with an African lion cub. Down by the marina, a company was raising money for the nearby Wildlife Refuge and you could pay $25 to play with the baby lion. Most of you know how big of an animal lover I am and so I couldn't pass it up.

We were a little nervous at first...I mean...it was a "wild" animal. He did snarl at me once with his enormous teeth and I got scared for a second but besides that, he was completely harmless.

We played with him for about 20-30 minutes and took a bunch of pictures. I couldn't stop smiling.

The end of the trip was a little dramatic. It was finally time to leave and we made it to the airport about 1 1/2 hours before our scheduled departure time. Well, we got there and were shocked to see that our flight was about to leave in 20 minutes. They moved the flight up and weren't going to let us on! We all thought we were going to be stranded in Cabo with no hotel or rental car, but thanks to Erik and his Dad's skills in persuasion, they changed their minds and we ran to the plane. Phew!

All in all it was a wonderful vacation! I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I can't wait to go back!

Cabo San Lucas - Part 3

What did we do the next day in Cabo? You guessed it....more fun at the pool! :)

I also took a cooking class where I learned how to make Japanese Fried Rice....

and Erik entered the ping pong tournament and came in first place. He won a free drink.

(Erik is on the left)

The next day we got up bright and early and went deep sea fishing.

We caught a marlin (but it got away), a sail fish, tuna and a few others. It was a fun, yet tiring day. Fish sure are heavy!

The coolest part was when we saw a school of about 30 dolphins. They swam near the boat for almost a half an hour. It was amazing!

Stay tuned for the final post (part 4).

It was my favorite part of the entire trip!