Thursday, November 6, 2008

1,700 miles

Here's the first installment of much overdue blogging. Andy and I have been traveling for the last 6 weeks. We left Jackson, Mississippi (where we were for 3 months for Andy's job) at the end of September and headed to Kenosha, Wisconsin to visit Glenn, Heather and the kids. After Kenosha, we added a few hours to our trip back to UT in order include a stop at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Then off to UT to drop off our gear from the summer and pack for another 3 weeks of traveling. After 2 days in UT, we got back in the car and drove to Santa Rosa, CA to visit family. That is as far as I'll go with this post. . .

During our stay in Jackson this summer, we took a week trip over to Texarkana, Texas.


Kenosha visiting Glenn, Heather and the kids. . . .



Bowling with Glenn and Heather



Can't tell they're brothers by the way they make faces right when they see a camera. . .


Andy and I were lucky enough to accompany the Harris family on their annual apple orchard trip. We had so much fun...it took a while for us to fill our bags since we couldn't stop eating the apples!!









Isaac took advantage of Andy being defenseless!



Andy helped Noah put both of his legs in one side of his pants. Noah wouldn't walk, he just stood there and made his funny face. So cute. Of course this happened when Glenn and Heather left us alone with the kids!


Mount Rushmore was incredible. It looked fake. There are so many intricate details...it was hard to believe it was actually carved out of rock!


CALIFORNIA

We went to watch Lexi cheer at her high school football game, but she got injured the day before, so we got to hand out with her instead :-) We ran into one of Andy's old friends at the game. It started to rain a few minutes into the game, but we were tough and stuck around (until half time when it began to pour and you could barely see the field!!).



Andy with Faith and Max


The San Francisco Academy of Science opened the week before we got to CA. It was absolutely amazing!! The picture below shows the huge glass globe that enclosed the rain forest that had butterflies, a waterfall, plants, a huge aquarium, and lots of animal exhibits all the way through. The line to get in was long, but definitely worth it.



The kids looking like the ape behind them.


I was hoping Andy would do a picture like the kids and look like the ape behind him, but he didn't and I did, so I just looked silly. MaryAnn took the picture after I got embarassed.


Tricia and Jo trying to look like they were really in the African tundra


Huge aquarium at the bottom of the glass globe that had an arapaima (the big fish above Andy's head)







The clan on the roof

On the roof

Jo was nice enough to let us stop at the Golden Gate Bridge on our way home from the Academy of Science


We spent a day at the beach. It was a bit cold, but the views were beautiful. On our hike down to the ocean, Andy pointed out all of the poison oak for me to avoid. He's a good little boy scout :-)

2 adult seals and a baby!!




We stopped to have lunch at a point overlooking the crashing waves. Andy found a friend to share his lunch with.



Saturday, August 2, 2008

Weekend at the Lake

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Fun in the Sun

Andy and I have taken advantage of every free second we have together to go out and do fun things like going to the beach, fishing with Bob, and golfing.

Our first stop was Clearwater Beach. The sand is white and the water is warm...what more could we ask for???.....


....less people!!! :-)

The beach was so crowded the day we went. This picture doesn't give the crowds justice. It was absolutely packed.

Bob and his friends hang out at our apartment complex and fish in the Bay. They catch mostly catfish, but have seen black-tipped sharks, sting rays, a manatee, and horseshoe crabs. Andy and I will walk down and hang out with them every once and a while. The boys sure have fun!


The boys fishing.


Bob gave me his fishing pole so he could go grab something from his apartment. My job was to just hold it, but I ended up showing off my fish catching skills and reeled in a 2 1/2 lb catfish! ;-) Ha ha.


Skyler weighing the fish. I made sure they released him back to his home. :-)


There are lizards EVERYWHERE! This one was very inquisitive and kept blowing up his neck to show off the pretty colors.



Andy's favorite thing to do is golf.



Andy looking for the alligator.
He saw a 15 ft alligator right where he is standing about 2 weeks ago.
I'm kinda glad he wasn't out the day I was there :-)


The beginner golfer trying to make her husband proud.
(Yeah, the knee brace is pathetic, but I can't do much without it :-( ) .


The wind was really strong that day. You can see how much the palm tree is blowing.



Andy teeing off. He makes it look easy!




We are looking forward to more adventures here in FL! Andy's brother Glenn and his wife Heather are coming in June and bringing their 3 adorable kids--Bayley, Isaac, and Noah. I am so excited to have them come!!! We probably go to Busch Gardens Africa while they're here :-)

Friday, May 9, 2008

Welcome to our new home!

Let's go on a tour. . .

You first need to drive through the gate...don't worry, the security guards are very nice!


Once through the gate, you'll drive past the office.



Behind the office is the pool, hot tub, workout room, and sauna. Don't forget to say "hi" to the Conover girls...they're out swimming everyday!



You will then arrive to our building. The Bay surrounds the southern and eastern sides of the complex (our building is on the southern border)



Upon entering are condo, you will see our office to the far left....


Living room in the middle...


and the dining room to the right. . .



Our kitchen is small....but it came with dishes, silverware, pots and pans, a blender, toaster, and lots more!!! Our laundry room is adjacent to the kitchen.



This is the guest bedroom, but ours looks identical to this layout.



We have a weekly maid service that cleans the house, changes all of the bed linens and towels, and even restocks both bathrooms with Bath and Body Works shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and body lotion (Coconut Lime Verbena). What a life!!!! We are so lucky to be in such an amazing place!!!


Last, but not least...this is our walk-in closet. :-)



Hopefully this gives you an idea of where Andy and I will be living for the summer. We have an extra bedroom...don't hesitate to come visit!! :-)
We live right on Tampa Bay, 15 minutes from the beach, and we even live across the street from an orange orchard--they make fresh squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice daily...its the best juice Andy and I have ever had!!


Saturday, May 3, 2008

Something must have froze over. . .

BECAUSE ANDY and TRICIA FINALLY GRADUATED!!!!
(Andy in December and Tricia in April)

Tricia walking into
the graduation ceremony
(Andy chose not to
walk)












The whole family made
it to graduation!!













The TWO graduates!!!












College of Nursing Class of 2008!!!



Mom and Steve threw a graduation party for Andy and Tricia :-)
















Mom is a beginner Wii golf player. So, she needs a few pointers from Steve and Katie! :-)



Mom doing her dance after hitting a shot on her own






A and T
getting
in
on the
action...








It's great that we are both done with school! Now we can focus on perfecting our funny faces....