July thru mid-October, 2010

Lots of changes in the last few months. We moved into our home in July, which is a great excuse for not doing a blog for a while! Here are some photos of the fun things we've done lately. To summarize, my sister Lindsay and brother-in-law Clark moved in with us while they closed on a house in Vail, AZ (also know as "Vale" in some un-educated circles!). We did lots of little day hikes with them on Saturdays. We visited Ryan and Catlin and the kids in Vegas for the Fourth of July. We love seeing them and always have lots of fun. We've been able to see the Pettinger and Nelson Families a lot. This has been the best part about moving back to Arizona. Danielle loves seeing her cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. Gwen doesn't remember what it was like to live far away, but I love how she recognizes everybody now!

Our most recent adventure worth noting was a "Brent and I" weekend vacation to Sedona, AZ. Mom and Dad babysat the girls. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!!! Brent and I had plans of hiking and fly fishing. But when we got to Sedona we got an offer we couldn't refuse - spend 90 minutes listening to a realtor try to convince us to spend "fun money" that we haven't earned the right to spend yet at this stage in our lives, then take a free helicopter tour of Sedona and a practically-free three hour jeep tour around the Sedona/Flagstaff area! The helicopter ride was not as scary as I thought it might be. It felt strange to fly sideways and hover. Very cool! The jeep ride was fun and the cool fall weather felt nice. The next day we did an easy 5 mile walk/hide called Western Fork Trail in Oak Creek Canyon. We started the day with about an hour of fly fishing. No trout were caught, but it was fun being there in such a beautiful place. At that elevation the leaves were starting to change, so we had a great fall experience. On the way home to the girls, Brent's 2008 Jeep Liberty decided it would rather live in Northern Arizona than go back to commuting to work each day, so it took action! An 80 mile tow down I-17, a new belt, and a new water pump later (all under warrantee thankfully), the Jeep is back in business! Thanks to Lindsay and Clark for picking us up in Tempe. Gotta love adventures. Peace out!