Our new life in Utah

So far our new life in Utah has been filled with lots and lots and lots of job hunting, getting set up with new insurances, changing our address on everything, registering for school, applying for tuition assistance through the AF MGI Bill, etc, etc. But in-between to keep ourselves from going CRAZY we have done quite a few fun things!

We both know once work and school starts our lives will get crazily busy so we have been trying to enjoy the time off as well. I have been able to do some craft projects with my mom and Dan has spent quite a bit of time with his brothers. We have enjoyed getting to catch up on time lost with both of our families as well as some of our friends!

For the weekend of the 4th of July we decided to all get away from reality. We took a much needed short two day trip to Jackson Hole. It was fun to relax with my parents and enjoy the scenery. I hadn't been there since I was really little and Dan had never been.

The boys

Mom and Dad in front of the Antler Arch

We did this as a joke to tease my brother Rueben. When my family went to Jackson Hole last time Rueben was probably about 7 years old. We were taking a picture in front of the antler arch and he went to do a peace sign and so did I. He got so mad thinking I had copied him that in the picture you see me with my peace sign and him with the biggest pout on his face ever. We thought that memory was worth reenacting.

Dan with his new cowboy hat.

Me at the Parade. It was really hot so I did more sitting than actually watching.

Mom and Dad at the Parade.

I got some free stickers at the parade. I put one on Dan's back and my Dad put the other. It took him several hours to notice they were on there. It was really funny.

Dan and I at the Parade.

The boys.

When Dan finally noticed he tried to get us back by putting the stickers on my dad's shirt. My mom kept on pulling them off so it didn't work too well!

After the Parade we road a tram up to the top of the Tetons.

Watching the scenery as we rode up the mountain.

It was VERY windy and cold up at the top of the Tetons. Quite the opposite of the parade we had just come from!

Dan and I took a short hike while we were up there.

Dan got this picture for his dad. He hiked up a really steep part and I took a picture from a much lower spot (with more stable ground! I was quite nervous!). His Dad took him for a graduation trip on a hike to the top of the Tetons. We did the cheater version and wanted to send him a picture for memory sake.

Playing in the snow on the 4th of July.

I just observed it.

Us as we finished our short hike.

That night we watched fireworks from right outside our condo. We purposely chose to stay where the fireworks were so we wouldn't have to deal with traffic afterwards. We had a great time and can't wait to go back! The condo we stayed in was really nice too. It was much bigger than we expected and will be fun to go back to once Rueben and I both have families.

We drove by the Tetons one last time the next morning on our way out.

Goodbye Tetons!

Roap Trip Continued to AZ....

We were lucky enough to be moving the same weekend as Kristen and Spencer were blessing their cute little baby Elijah. We have always wanted to go visit them in AZ but had never been able to before. We had a VERY long day of driving and got there just in time for dinner with all the family. Dan’s mom was there as well as Kristen’s parents, her sister, Randy & Megan, and Coach B. It was nice to be able to visit and relax with all of them!

Abby and Aidan LOVEd having "Uncle" there. They wore him out with all the games and activities they involved him in during the weekend. Dan loved it just as much though!

The first night we were there they played probably about 20 games of Hungry, Hungry Hippos, of which Aidan won all of them except like one!

The older boys all went outside to play Frisbee and Aidan joined them to watch everything very up close and personal!

Dan was excited about this catch!

Aidan observing Randy.

The boys were all able to do a few fun things including going off road jeeping with Spencer's new jeep. Dan was a little more fortunate than Randy. They both didn't have seat belts on and Randy just happened to be the lucky one to gash his forehead open when they went over a bump!

After everyone left but us left on Monday morning we were able to spend a some more quality time with Kristen, Spencer, and the kids.

Abby and I at the swimming pool.

Dan, me, Kristen, and Spencer.

(Sorry my camera had water on it so it has a funny blur)

Dan and I had bought birthday gifts for Abby and Aidan a few months back but never mailed them. They didn't mind too much getting gifts late and unexpected though!

Aidan and Dan playing with his new Hummer. I have never seen Aidan go anywhere without having a car in hand.

Abby with her finger kite that her Cajun Grammy sent with us.

We got to watch the kids one night while Kristen and Spencer went out. They were so tired from all the fun games they played with Uncle during the day that the three of them fell asleep pretty quick!

I even got to catch up with a few zzz's with Eli as well!

Kristen and Spencer also took us to a neat AZ wildlife outdoor museum. I didn't get any good pictures really, I will have to get some of the one's Kristen took and add them sometime.

Thanks Spencer and Kristen for such a fun visit!

After spending a few days with them we finally made the last LONG leg of our trip to our new home. We drove all day and all night with a quick short stop to say hi to Grandma Crandall in St. George. I missed out on taking a picture at the Nevada and Utah state line. I think the only thing we had on our mind was to get our road trip finished!

San Antonio Continued....

For our extra day in San Antonio we decided to go to Seaworld. Military families can get in free once a year there. We had fun and enjoyed relaxing but probably wouldn't have gone there unless it was free! I am sure it would be more worth the money with kids, but as adults it was fun, but not as cool as we thought it would be.

Dan went on a few rides. This picture made me laugh because if you look closely everyone is just sitting there and he is the only one with his arms up screaming at the top of his lungs!

We did enjoy getting to see Shamu!

Dan loved this ride. He actually said it was probably the best ride he has ever been on! So the day was worth it, we just wish they would have had more than 2 or 3 rides at the whole park!

I also really enjoyed seeing the Dolphin show. It is amazing how smart they are!

After our day in Sea World we decided to try to get better Mexican food for dinner. I guess it just wasn't meant to be! We ended up with a flat tire and spent most of the night dealing with that. We finally got to dinner around 8:30-9:00 and were not seated until 10:30 at night. The food was okay, but not worth that long of a wait! The next morning we had to miss out on our yummy embassy suites breakfast as well because of some mix up with the tire being repaired that morning. Oh well! We got lucky that with two cars that was the worst road trouble we had along the way!

After our late start at leaving we had a LONG drive to get to Tuscan that night in time for our Nephew's blessing the next day.

We made a quick stop to take a picture at the New Mexico State Line.

As well as the Arizona State Line...but other than that we spent from sun up to sun down driving. Dan listened to lots of John Bytheway talks on CD and I listened to Twilight. So despite the long drive we were both quite entertained!

...Roadtrip Continued in San Antonio

We decided to make our long road trip with two cars and only two drivers a bit more bare able by stopping at some fun places along the way. I have always wanted to go back to San Antonio ever since Dan graduated from Basic at Lackland AFB. I had gone with my parents to his graduation but we never really had any time to sight see and I have been waiting for the chance ever since.

So we booked a night at Embassy Suites and had planned to just spend the remainder of the day there and leave the next morning. After arriving we realized there was so much we wanted to see and do that we decided to stay one extra night, which I am glad we did!

This is a picture from the balcony by our room looking down into the Lobby. It was really neat because the hotel was all decorated San Antonio style. The real reason we stayed there was for their great Continental breakfast...which is another story within itself!

After driving all morning and into the afternoon we were ready to walk around so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to go the Riverwalk.

We took a boat trip along the river. One of my favorite things we saw was this restaurant with all the pretty umbrellas along the river.

We also liked this neat mosaic they had on an office building.

Me standing on the road above the Riverwalk. You can see the boat ride we took below.

We were also able to see parts of the Alamo while at the Riverwalk. By this point I was dead tired so I just sat on a bench and relaxed while Dan withstood the heat and read all about the Alamo. Dan loved all he learned about the Alamo and we both would like to learn more about the history of it.

Us in front of the Alamo.

We decided to eat dinner at the restaurant with the umbrellas. I loved the scenery but the food...well...not so much. We were hoping for some really good Mexican but oh well! It was still worth the view!

Enjoying the atmosphere.

I think the ducks and pigeons liked the food more than we did. They were everywhere begging for food and even tried to get on our table a few times.

...and the Roadtrip Begins!

We began our move on a Wednesday morning...

with one quick stop to say "see you later" to Jenni

I promised her a picture of each place we stopped at along the way and a picture of every state we drove threw. I didn't entirely succeed but I got quite a few!

We stopped first in Lafayette to say "See you Later" to Donna as well. It was nice to visit and we were able to go to dinner with her and all her kids to our usual place, Deanos pizza. We even brought her a frog for her garden to remember us by since we won't get to see her as often anymore.

The next morning we left bright and early to head to San Antonio for our next stop. Stopping to take a picture at the Texas State Line was a great break for us to stretch and wake up a little. We had to drive two cars across the country which was quite a challenge, especially with how early we left that morning!

To be continued....