Vacation with the Mortimer's

As soon as Corey and Kim took the position to serve at White Mountain Bible Church in Show Low, AZ we starting planning our summer vacation to Arizona to visit them. When we got there and met up with them, it was like we had never been separated. We picked up our friendship right where we left off. It was great traveling and sight-seeing with them because they know so much about the area. They enjoy showing new-comers the touristy things about Arizona as well as showing us the great place to go that others may not know about. Thanks for an awesome vacation!!!

Of course we had to visit the Grand Canyon

Corey and Jeff were real troupers and carried the boys on their backs for all of our hikes; even into the Grand Canyon

Kim and I outside the ruins on the Apache Indian Reservation

Nathan and Will

Breathtaking

Jeff and Nathan and I just got back from a great vacation in Arizona. It was a whirlwind trip where we traveled from place to place seeing so many wonderful sights along the way. We flew into Phoenix and drove to Show Low where our good friends Corey and Kim Mortimer moved last year to serve in ministry there. We stayed there for 2 days and visited the Apache Indian Reservation and hiked to the rim of the White Mountains. All of us then traveled together to Flagstaff where we played at Slide Rock - a natural waterpark - and hiked into the Grand Canyon. I can't say enough about the awe and wonder of the Grand Canyon; it was breathtaking. We all went down to Sedona to do a little shopping. The Mortimers had to go home while Jeff and Nathan and I stayed at a nice resort in Sedona for 2 days. We were able to relax by the pool and do a little sight-seeing around Sedona. Finally, we drove back to Phoenix for our flight home.
It was a great trip.
Below are a few of the awesome pictures from Arizona.

The view of the Grand Canyon from the Bright Angel Trail-head

The Colorado River as it snakes through the Grand Canyon

The Red Rock of Sedona

Chapel of the Holly Cross built into the rock in Sedona

July 4th Weekend

We had a fun, but relatively quiet holiday weekend. No fireworks for the Wisener's, but I have to say honestly I don't really like fireworks unless they are like Thunder (which I love). I guess I should clarify, I don't like small personal fireworks: "Out-of State Fireworks, Buy 1 get 2 Free" road-side stand, blow your hand off, etc.
On Friday, the 4th Nathan and I were playing in the back yard when our neighbors (Bill and Billie) came over to say hi. They invited us to join them at the Clifton Neighborhood July 4th Celebration at the Peterson-Dumesenil House. It was fun. Local artists had set up booths to sell their merchandise, fun live music, and lots of good carnival food. The party was on the grounds of the old Clifton Neighborhood homestead. We were even able to tour the ground floor of the mansion. Nathan had a blast running around on the grounds and sharing Billie's ice cream cone.
On Saturday the 5th Nathan and I went to Jaron Rhea's 3rd birthday party. We ate hot dogs of every variety. Aimee had researched different hot dog styles and had a lot of toppings to make them. I especially liked the Nacho Style dogs: white cheddar cheese, salsa, homemade guacamole and crushed blue corn chips. Yum!!!
That evening Jeff and I went with Laura and Joe Dan Beavers to the Louisville Orchestra concert at the Zoo (Roarchestra). Every Saturday evening in July they have a concert at the amphitheater at the zoo featuring different artists or themes and the Louisville Orchestra. This week was their patriotic celebration. We packed a yummy picnic dinner and relaxed on the grass while we listened to some wonderful music. Jeff and I have been a few times and we love it every year. I highly recommend it as a fun and unique date night.
Sunday was Highview's Family Picnic. It was supposed to be at a local park near the church, but the church facilities team scoped out the park early that morning and found there were no working restrooms (a big problem for hundreds of adults and children). They had to quickly relocate the church-wide picnic to the lower parking lot. There were blow-up bouncies and slides for the kids, live music from the student band, and lots of good picnic food (more hot dogs). The weather was a little steamy and hot especially because there was no shade. We had a good time.
Early in this post I said we had a quiet weekend, but looking back, I see we were rather busy. We had a lot of fun with so many friends.

Nathan and Ellie - BFF

Nathan's best bud is Ellie Lawrence. They play together all the time at church, play group and at each other's house. Ellie talks about Nathan all the time, saying, "NaNa?, NaNa?".
I snapped a few shots of them together the last time Ellie was over at our house playing with Nathan. They loved riding in the wagon together and eating a snack in the pack-n-play in our kitchen. Jeff may say Nathan needs some boy friends (friends who are boys), but I think it is cute how much they like each other. At this age, gender doesn't matter when it comes to your BFF (best friend forever).

And the winner is...

We chose to get the 2006 Honda Pilot (shown above). By the time we test drove, we had eliminated the Nissan and were leaning more toward the Honda than the Toyota. We went to Acura at Oxmoor and met with a very nice salesman, Nick. The car was beautiful, drove great and had all the features we were looking for. We struck a deal, traded in the Blazer and drove off in our new Honda Pilot (with a new car loan of course).
I hope we don't have to do this again for a long time. It sure is stressful.

Father's Day

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge what a wonderful father and husband Jeff is to our family. From the day we found out Nathan was on the way, he has been a very hands on participant - going to doctor's appointments, changing diapers, cleaning up vomit, etc... There is nothing he won't do to take care of me and Nathan. I have seen so many fathers take a back seat in child rearing, saying it is the mother's job, but not Jeff. He dives right in there and loves every minute of it.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

The Wisener's are car shopping. Boo-hoo!!!

Jeff's Blazer has been acting up lately. Last week he was driving it and it died at a stop light. He and good Samaratin were able to push it off the road and it finally restarted. Two days later, I was driving with Nathan when it died at a stop light again. It was a blistering 95 degrees and miserable on the side of the road. I had to call AAA to have it towed to the shop. The next day the mechanic was able to start it right away and drove it around for a while with no problems. He suggested a tune-up which would cost us $850 - the truck is barely worth that much. We don't want to sink that much money into it, but we can't continue driving an unreliable vehicle. We planned on trading in the Blazer next year after Jeff graduated and got a new job, but those plans have moved up in priority.

We have narrowed our search to 3 possibilities online. Now we just have to go and test-drive. I am not looking forward to dealing with the salesmen. I want to be firm with them and get a good deal, but they can be ruthless.

Wish us luck. I will let you know what we decide.

2007 Toyota Highlander

2006 Honda Pilot EX-L

2007 Nissan Murano