New Orleans

Steve and I have always wanted to go to New Orleans - so when I had to go for work in May - we decided to make it a vacation as well and Steve flew down to meet me for a long weekend.  It was a great trip and we got to cover a lot of ground.

Walked around most of New Orleans and took a bus tour of the city and surrounding area, and then we drove up to Baton Rouge one day, and over to Mobile Alabama another day, finishing the trip on the Gulf Coast in Gulfport and Biloxi Mississippi.  It was a great trip and I was so glad I got to share it with Steve.

One of the homes rebuilt in the Ninth Ward by Brad Pitt - they are all very architecturally interesting

Jill at Jackson Square -the St. Louis Cathedral is behind me

Another famous food of New Orleans - Muffaletta

At the San Francisco Plantation - it was a great tour ( and not crowded at all - probably
our favorite plantation that we visited)



Baton Rouge Temple

In Mobile we toured the USS Alabama - it was so cool they really let you climb all around the ship

Oak Alley Plantation another beautiful stop on the trip

Steve at the famous Cafe Du Monde - the Beignet's were amazing



Easter in Phoenix

So, some of you that know me well know that I don't love celebrating Easter (I love celebrating the resurrection - but not the Easter Holiday) Well this year a co-worker mentioned that the Railroad Revival Festival - Concert would be in Tempe, AZ over Easter Weekend - Steve and I had really wanted to see the Mumford and Sons in Santa Barbara but the concert sold out too quickly so we jumped at the chance to go to Phoenix for Easter Weekend and take in the show.



The Bands- "Old Crow Medicine Show" "Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros" & "Mumford and Sons" arrived at the venue (a parking lot) in old Pullman Cars - hence the Railroad Revival Fest




Mumford and Sons



On Easter Sunday we drove up to Sedona - it was incredibly beautiful - definitely worth the drive.



Chapel - built into the rock - amazing




We went to the Mesa AZ temple on Sunday afternoon - it was a beautiful temple with beautiful grounds  - I had no idea it had been built in the 1920's



As always we had to try some little hole in the wall "Matt's Big Breakfast" was featured on the tv show "Diners Drive-ins and Dives" - not my favorite but I think Steve enjoyed his breakfast.



Bon Jovi

So, Steve and I got lucky last week and were asked to join Dave & Kim at the Bon Jovi concert.

Most of the time when we attend concerts they are a band Steve loves and I like or enjoy (or neither) - but this time around it was for a band that I loved and Steve (liked, enjoyed or neither)

It was awesome - thanks Kim and Dave for inviting us along.

We had awesome seats - lower bowl and very close to the stage

I was amazed at how much energy he had - he never stopped dancing

I think that Steve must be "enjoying" himself right?

Tahiti

So, to celebrate Steve's weight loss mostly
 and a little bit to celebrate his 40th and my 30th birthday,
and a little bit for Christmas,
but mostly because we love to travel -
Steve and I decided to go to an island,  then we started looking at Costco travel and realized that Tahiti wasn't so expensive that we couldn't afford it - and at the time we were thinking when we have kids we won't be able to do this, so over Christmas break we booked our trip - and we left for Tahiti and Moorea on February 26th - and spent 7 nights in Paradise. 

The pictures featured on this blog are a combination of photos we took our last day on the island - after we had packed our good camera (stupid Jill) - which someone stole the memory card out of - and some photos we got some from friends from Payson that we met on the trip -

The Tahitian Airport - when we arrived all was perfect - warm weather etc - leaving was a bit crazy and included about two hours of standing in crowds of smokers with no air conditioning - good thing we had already fallen in love with French Polynesia by then.

Our accomadations in Moorea - we spent our first two nights in Tahiti - not our favorite and in fact for those two days we wondered if we had made a mistake and "should we have just gone to the Bahamas" - when we got to Moorea and saw our bungalow the view and ocean just off our back porch - we knew we had made the right decision.

The pool at the Tahiti Resort - wow can you believe this is a real picture and not a post card - the best part of our trip was there were no crowds (except at the airport as we left) - Tahiti receives the same number of visitors in a year that Hawaii receives in a month.

The Pools at the Intercontinental Resort on Moorea where we spent our last 5 days - Heaven

Intercontinental Resort Moorea - Wow

More of the Intercontinental Resort Moorea

The Sunsets were amazing

Our last Sunset - at this point we had not been in a hotel room for almost 12 hours - and we still had about a 5 hour wait prior to our 8 hour flight to LAX - followed by a 3 hour layover and a flight home to SLC - despite all of that I would reccomend that anyone and everyone go to Moorea!

We got to swim with the sting rays and feed them when we took a tour around the island - unfortunately the pictures of us doing this - were lost - but here are some of the sting rays provided by our friends.

Reef Sharks - Steve was out there snorkling with them - I opted to get back in the boat when they appeared.

After our tour around the island of Moorea - they took us to a small Islet - for a BBQ and more snorkling - Steve got to try Poisson Crue and we got to see about 50 wild cats a couple of wild dogs and hundreds of wild chickens.

Polynesian Dancers at Tiki Village





The last day in Moorea we rented a car and drove around the island twice - 40 miles all the way around - we used about 1/8 of a tank of gas - when we stopped to fill the car up - it was approximately $15 - many it makes me feel better about the fact gas was $3.50 per gallon when we got home.

Belvedere Lookout - you can see Cooks Bay on one side of me and Opunohu on the other





Our friends Derek and Kemarie from Payson - what are the odds we would run into another couple from Utah - that had booked the exact same trip for the exact same days from Costco

Steve Turns 40!



On January 29, 2011 - the love of my life turned 40 Years old - it was a great day and a great celebration.   Unfortunately I neglected to download photo's from our many celebrations prior to our trip to Tahiti... were the memory card to our camera was stolen... so instead I have a few pictures taken our phones to remember the day by - I love you Steve and was so glad I got to celebrate this day with you!



I was struggling with how to celebrate this big day for Steve - especially since he had done such a great job of marking my 30th Birthday Milestone - finally I settled on 40 gifts... It was much harder than it sounds gifts 1-15 easy - 30-40 took a lot of thought - but here are few photos of Steve opening his first set of 10.





We woke up to a lovely site on Saturday morning - Kim and Dave and the nephews also went with the theme of 40 and placed 40 balloons and 40 diet cokes on our lawn with this lovely Happy 40th Birthday sign.

Welcome 2011

Welcome 2011!!!

Never before have I been so excited to see a year change - but 2010 was tough, and I believe that maybe just the changing of the year can help to change the tide.

That being said - I know it is important to value all experiences in our life because that is what makes us who we are - and while I can't yet say that all of what happened in 2010 is something I am glad to have experienced; I can definitely appreciate what 2010 included Good & Bad:



1 - The loss of my sweet Mom




2 - My 30th birthday - along with a great surprise party thrown by Steve

3 - Steve was diagnosed with Type II diabetes - but has since lost over 60 lbs in his battle
to not let this disease rule his life.

4 - We had a failed attempt at InVitro Fertilization

5 - It was a tough economic and service year at my work



6 - Mark & Cera got engaged - and Aurora is growing into one of the cutest little toddlers we have ever seen

7 - Steve was promoted into a new department at work

8 - We were able to re-connect with old friends and family - it is funny how loss

brings you closer to others in your life 

9 - 3 Trips to Washington DC / Back East - A) I went in April to see my friend Kathleen B) Steve and I took his parents on a DC/Philadelphia trip in September C) I took my Dad back there for a train show

10 - Many other great trips including: Disneyland, the Cabin, Denver and of Course St. George

Welcome 2011 !!!

Fall 2010

Fall of 2010 has been a busy time... packed with lot's of fun!

I went back to Hershey and Washington DC with my Dad - so he could go to a train show - I got to spend a few days with my good friend Kathleen - which was wonderful as always.  And I got to show my dad some of my favorite places!

My Dad at Hershey's Chocolate World - maybe the happiest place on earth!

At the Strasburg Pennsylvania Railroad Museum - I always like the train museums that have real trains in them much more than those that have model trains - after the museum we drove through the rest of Amish Country and my dad finally got his Amish dinner that we deprived him of in 1998



As we walked through Washington DC - I was able to accomplish my goal - and after walking from the Capitol - through two Smithsonians - The Archives around the WWII Monument and the Washington Monument before we could continue on our walk to the WhiteHouse my Dad asked to take a rest --- it was a beautiful moment to have not been the first to suggest the rest when walking with my dad.




My Dad at Mount Vernon on the last day of our Trip.




The Weekend after I got back - we took a girls trip for Book Club up to the cabin - after the girls left on Saturday, Steve, Justin, Carson and Reese came up to join April and I for the rest of the weekend.




Justin and Carson at the Pond by the Cabin



Finally the weekend after the cabin Steve and I went down to St. George for the Monster Dash 5K with his parents.  It was a great trip and a good race Steve set a new personal record of 47:45 - last year the same race took him over an hour.


While all the traveling was fun and I miss it when I haven't gone somewhere for a while to be honest this weekend just being home has been a treat!