Fun Times

This past weekend, Steven and I had the opportunity to go out to his parents to celebrate his birthday and our brother-in-law, Kyle's, as well. We went to church out in Buckeye and came home and enjoyed a great dinner and fun times with the whole family there!
After the weekend it was back to the grind again. Steven and I are both registered for some classes in the fall at MCC. I'm finally on my way to a music education degree and let's just say, I'm very excited about it! I have two more weeks at my current job (UOP) and then Steven and I will be taking about a week off to go to California for some beach time! I'm very excited about that as well, but who wouldn't be?!
Well, just thought I'd update everyone on what's going on. It's not much but it's something!

Havasupai

It has been more than a month since I, Steven, hiked the great distance of 10 miles to see the great havasupai waters. A group of guys from work went got together on a friday in May and left the valley at about 4:00 p.m.. We drove up to Flagstaff and stopped for some great pizza at Oregano's. We then continued driving until we arrived at the trailhead at mid-night. For those who do not know, Havasupai is on an indian reservation. It's pretty scary because for the most part U.S. law does not reign on that soil. They can pretty much do whatever they want to.

We started the hike at about 12:30. The trail is fairly easy to walk because the indians pack food and supplies in by horseback unless it is too heavy for the horses; in which case they fly a helicopter in.

We got down to the water at around 4:00 and slept until 7. Right away we all jumped out of bed (well up off the ground) and went to the first waterfall. It is a 200 foot waterfall with beautifully colored water and a calming water crashing sound. I never took a picture! Can you believe it!?!?!?!?! I did; however, take a picture of some other waterfalls and swimming spots.

The water was wonderful. It was pretty cold, but it was GREAT! We only got to swim for about 2 hours though because we had a guy the was absolutely set on leaving at around 12 p.m. Nobody really wanted to leave but we did anyway.

It was great! Just make sure you take enough water! There was a guy that day who died of heat heat and dehydration.

If you have the chance to do the hike, take 3 days and stay down there for a long enough time to relax and enjoy it.

We're Buying a House

Well, after a lot of thinking and planning, Steven and I have finally decided to buy a house. It's actually right here in Mesa so there won't be a whole lot more driving. It's still in the process of being built and we weren't able to fit the whole house in the picture, but here it is. Feel free to come and stay in one of our 15 bedrooms....oh, and come to any one of the 3 front doors.As most of you may have guessed....this is NOT our house. We were just driving home from the Salt River and saw it so we pulled over and took some pictures. It's the largest house (mansion) I have ever seen in my life, and no, it's not a hotel. As I mentioned above, I couldn't even fit the entire house in the picture and this is from quite a ways back. Anyway, kind of crazy.

4th of July and Salt River Tubing!!!

Needless to say, Steven and I had a fun week this past week! Our 4th of July was spent with just the two of us but we still enjoyed ourselves! Our ward had a pancake breakfast and since Steven is on the activities committee we were up nice and early for that! There was a great turn-out and plenty of food! As soon as we got home we went swimming (seeing that the temperature was nearing 115....). We spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing and enjoying the day off. We went driving around, just window shopping and having a blast. We barbecued some hamburgers outside our apartment and then drove down to MCC to enjoy a night of fireworks. Not the best fireworks but still fun.

When Saturday came around, we were ready for some more fun. We got up and went swimming at our gym (a new hobby of mine!) and then came home. We were sitting around, being somewhat bored when we decided to go tubing down the Salt River. Steven had been before but I never had. For those of you who haven't been, go! I'd go again this Saturday if I could! Anyway, we ran to Wal-Mart, grabbed some snacks for the trip, loaded up our towels and coolers and jumped in the car.

There were thousands of people there it seemed like and it seemed like the hottest day of the year! We got our intertubes and loaded up onto some very, very hot and stuffy buses. Steven and I got off at "point 2" to float to the end, instead of starting at the beginning (we were afraid we wouldn't have enough water for 4 hours! so we opted for the 2 hour ride). We got situated in our tubes and started going. The water was a little cold and first but it felt great. There were quite a few people and it was a bit awkward sometimes when your tube would get dragged into a large group of sometimes very drunk people! Very drunk and entertaining!

It's a little hard to see but there are some wild horses in the brush. We came across some more later that were actually standing in the water.

Poor Steven never gets quite enough sun screen....so as of right now, he's enjoying a nice little sun burn! But, we still have fun!

I'm going to have to echo Travis and Brooke in wishing Amy a "happy birthday" and Mom and Dad a "happy 29th wedding anniversary!"

It's been a while since we've updated this--it's always hard to sit down and do it! Both Steven and I have done a lot the past few weeks.

In the beginning of June I was able to return once more to HOBY, a leadership camp I help at each year. I went when I was a sophomore and am now able to go back. It's a 4 day camp for the kids, 5 for us. It's packed full of motivational speakers, fun activities, panels and no sleep! Every night the leaders would be in bed about....2 and up at 5!! It was a long and exhausting week but for some reason I keep going back.

This is my good friend Marisa and I on the bus on the way to the House of Representatives where the students got to go through the process of passing a bill.

Here are some of the staff assistants of HOBY

In June I was able to go to California with my cousin, Clarice and she and I and our other cousin, Dresden were able to go to the Keith Urban concert down in Los Angeles. We had such a blast and we'd all gladly go again. I definitely recommend it! Whether or not you like country!

The same weekend Steven had the opportunity to go hike Havasupai but I'll let him write about that one because he'll have more to write about it--and some great pictures!

One of the great things about having younger siblings is being able to go with them on dates!! Haha! Steven and I were lucky enough to be invited along on a double date with Steven's younger brother, Derek and his friend. We went and picked them up and went ate at Chili's. Then we went to a driving range and attempted to hit at golf balls. It was quite entertaining for all of us and I'm sure it was for everyone watching as well!

After a fun night at the driving range, we all enjoyed some Cold Stone ice cream!