Trip to ShowLow

We really don't go camping as often as this seems!! We went to drop my nephew off at his home in ShowLow so we figured we would just camp there instead of get a room (were trying to save up for Oregon:) we just stayed one night, it was really pretty camping on the lake too. And of course we had to stop by DQ!!




This was our site we stayed on



"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself."
-William Faulkner

OR and WA!

Depart: PHOENIX AZ to PORTLAND OR ( Travel Time: 2 hrs 45 min)
Depart PHOENIX AZ (PHX) at 9:45 AM
Arrive in PORTLAND OR (PDX) at 12:30 PM
Return: PORTLAND OR to PHOENIX AZ ( Travel Time: 2 hrs 35 mins )
Depart PORTLAND OR (PDX) at 12:25 PM
Arrive in PHOENIX AZ (PHX) at 3:00 PM

YAY! its official! were going to Oregon and Washington in September:)

About inspiration:
"Stung by the splendor of a sudden thought."
-Robert Browning

Flagstaff in July

hanging out down town flag This is my favorite picture of the trip...any any mom who has ever had a little boy will know why- how darling it is watching his fascination with the train passing by. Little boys are so sweet and simple. we were right by a medow. It was so pretty and the weather was perfect! Dylan and his cousin Aden came along. (dont worry, its just a BB gun and he wasn't pointing it at anyone!)

"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment."
Rita Mae Brown

Gene and Makenna go camping...(May)

Grant, Gene's brother, brought us home a hammock from his mission:) Gene had this wonderful idea of going camping and us just sleeping in the hammock...well we get to our site to find out that were not aloud to place screws in the tress to hang the hammock... so we find some rope and rig it...kinda scary!



needless to say, we slept in the car.


Man makes fire...


We went on a hike and I slipped and went in the river. I was pretty grumpy bc my shoe got soaked and its not so fun hiking in the dirt with a wet shoe:\ thanks for taking a pic of that Gene! your such a charmer!


I dried off and felt much better and then we were off. This trail was about 1 mile from where we camped- and absolutely beautiful! I think its called oak creek canyon trail in Sedona. It was amazing. I think its rated the best hike in AZ.





We only stayed one night in Sedona, but it was well worth the trip. I was super nauseous bc of the baby but this was definitely what the 3 of us needed!

"Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved."
Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, 1862

buds...

"Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude."
Ralph Marston

last zoo trip before the summer

So this trip was back in April! things got crazy with the move so i never got around to posting.... I miss Dylan's shag hair!! :( aw. he looks so little but this was only a few months ago!

Gene and Makenna's baby @ 17 weeks

Or 4 and 1/2 months for those of you who don't do weeks;) Don't mind the scrubs, i was on my way to work and I felt like taking a pic since this little person is starting to poke out! I finally felt some kicking this week too:) its the most incredible feeling ever. our Ultrasound is comming up in a few weeks. I still can't talk Gene into finding out what were having! Which is funny bc i can talk him into anything!! So i'll let this one slide.

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on."
-Carl Sandburg

my boys...

This pic makes me laugh every time i look at it!! I told Dylan we need to put on his pjs and next thing I know hes coming downstairs with them on all by himself! He found his pants that dont fit him anymore:) he was very proud.

Dont you just want to kiss that cute face!?


Gene and Dylan relaxing:) so cute.

I know! I couldn't believe it either the other day when Gene told me he has never played raquettball before! We had to go! Fourtunately, my gym has some courts~ it was way fun and I had to let him beat me though, since he is just way more competetive than I am, it just makes life easier:) (xoxo Genie) We played 4 games and I won the 1st one, and I told him not to take it too hard since it is 2 players to one! (haha get it? the me and the baby vs. Gene) well, he didnt think that was very funny and he ended up beating me the last 3 rounds...it was close tho! We had fun.

He who is impatient is not in love.
-Italian Proverb

Urban Dare Phoenix

I am posting so much old stuff now- only bc I took a long break from blogging and I have some extra time on the Internet these days but for our anniversary earlier this year in Feb, Gene surprised me with a confirmation code for our entrance in the Urban Dare in Phx down town. I was super excited and it ended up being soooo fun! I took my Garmin with us and we ended up running around 10 miles (and burned over 900 calories!). A lot of it was stop and go but our last stretch was over 4 miles to the finish line. Basically they give you a list of sites in Phoenix to find and take a picture of ( like memorials and random water fountains and stuff) and thats it. We had to decide where and what order to proceed. Our last couple items we had a hard time finding, so we decided to head closer to our finish line to find one of them while we were figuring out how to find the last one. Well it turned out that our last one was like 2.5-3 miles away from the where we were! Ah! so that added on probably 35 minutes. We finally came in 22nd out of 75, which was not too bad. But it was so frustrating bc had we planned it out better and came in 30 mins sooner we would have made the top 5 and got some fancy prize. Anyway it was fun, and now we know for next time! I highly recommend this race- you dont even need to be a runner (if your a thinker!) Unfortunately, I excel in the running category over the thinking category. It has been way too hot to run lately tho, and the doc says pregnant people shouldnt get their heart rate above 160 and should avoid excessive heat, so that means i just need to take it easy in the cycling and yoga classes in the gym.

http://urbandare.com/


There are four things every person has more of than they know; sins, debt, years, and foes.
-Proverb

Mr. Independent

Dylan is going through his independent stage. He has to do EVERYTHING himself! Its totally fine and very cute, except when, for example, he wants to buckle his own car seat and its bloomin hot outside and it takes him 10 minutes! If I so much as touch any part of his straps while he is working on it he will get super frustrated and take it apart and start all over! He lets me know my place lol. I laugh about it later:) Oh to be almost 3, so big yet still so little!
He also is so big he has a big boy bed now! But he comes in our room all night! Usually around 2-4am is his first round, then 5-6am is the second time. We have discused at length what we should do about this. He grinds his teeth too at night and drives Gene crazy lol. We definitely dont want him getting used to this, especially since we have a baby on the way- I can just see our room turning into the family room- ah! Fourtunately, we have a cal king bed, so were not squished. Dylan wants to lay with us at night so I have been just letting him lay there until he falls back asleep (1-2 minutes) and then i take him back to bed. Not sure how effective that is...and if its after 5:30, i just let him stay with us (unless hes grinding haha) We are definitely open to suggestions:)

so thoughtful!

Just wanted to say how cute my husband is- So ive been craving a TON of watermellon lately! I bought one yesterday and I always have Gene cut it up for me bc hes good at it and frankly, I think he likes being helpful;) Well i accidently bought a seeded watermellon and as Gene was cutting it, he was taking out all of the little seeds for me! Aw, it was cute. Hes been so great w my pregnancy stuff! Thanks Bo-bo!
Might i add that he is so funny and a sucker for a back scratch and cuddling;) He is so easy to please too, like when i go grocery shoping and i grab him a couple power aid drinks, youd never see a happier guy! thanks for making my dreams come true everyday!

Dylan is getting so big too! im trying to get out of the habbit of calling him baby boy, bc hes big and what am i going to call the baby!? Wow Dylan will be 3 this year! I remember when he was just my little baby!!

“Never waste a minute of your precious life by squandering it thinking about people you don't like”

-Author unknown

Dylan do it!

Moms: So i found this awesome place! This is "Jumpstreet" off warner and Alma School- for children 7 and younger its only $4 to have unlimited jump! We spend at least 2 hours there. Its
such a great way to get out of the heat, and the best part about it is that parents get to jump with the kids;)

well worth it...

So the kayaks ended up being a good investment! we havent headed out for the last couple weeks bc of our schedules but we were going a couple times a week;) its soooo fun and relaxing! We love it. Its nice bc its too hot to do anything else these days in AZ. Although, we are going to head up north in a cabin for several days...cant wait!!

new found glory

So Gene and I found a new hobby...Kyacking! we havent actually gone yet together- but we have them and were going monday morning!! Ive gone before and its a sport ive always wanted to get into, and i guess he was feeling it too so here we are! We decided it would be our christmas present for eachother for the next 2 years;) Im super excited (if you cant tell!) Still trying to figure out how to store them in our garage tho??

Other than that, just dealing with wanting to throw up multiple times a day! I havent tho, just feel icky sometimes. Its getting way better and fresh air always seems to do the trick, hence an other reason for the kyacks.

Dylan is my big boy now, when I tell him no about something (climbing on the counter) lately he has been saying, "Why!? Be-cause!" Silly boy.

Work is good, 4 days off every week is better!!

aw!

So i havent posted in months!!! its been such a trasition not being in school, its fantastic! I highly recommend finishing school! being done is the best feeling, and i get to do what i love. I love my job, i learn so much everyday...i hope to go part time here soon, especially after the baby comes! ;) thats right, theres a little baby growing in me! yay! were going to keep it a suprise baby, Gene insist! which basically means, he doesnt want to be disapointed early by finding out its not a girl, haha. Im just messin, we'll be happy with whatever we get, but when i tell Gene i think its a boy- hes like no its not! we'll see! Dylans so excited about being a big brother! he says he wants a sister too- he doenst even know what a girl is yet, so that doesnt really count! im almost 12 weeks here soon. We had a 1st ultrasound and we saw the little peanut's heart! that was exciting;)

neat stuff

Makenna Francis, RN.

So as you may already know- I am a RN now!! yay! all that hard work really paid off! Wow, I have been blessed so much. So many great things are happening right now! I also have a fabulous job that I am going to love. I only know of 2 other student in my class of 40 that has a job. Nobody wants to train new grads right now, its too expensive. I am going to be working in the PICU which stands for pediatric intensive care unit. Its where the REALLY sick children go. It will be stressful at times and there is a lot to learn, but i am so excited! I didn't want anything other than an ICU so its perfect. The only downside is that i will be working night shift- 7pm-7am. But the upside of that is getting a 20%increase for that shift:)

Also, we bought a home (yay!) it was super cheap too (well compared to what it was going for a few years ago) !! and we LOVE it! its so nice. of course my camera had dead batteries when i went to take some pics of it :\ so i'll post some later.