The Fisherman

Last week the boys went on a fishing trip to Alaska.  They flew into a place called Gustavus on Monday and started fishing on Tuesday.  They caught a lot of halibut and a few salmon.  Rick's sister Kathy was the lone woman on the trip but she did a good job of holding her own with all of the men.  They stayed at a lodge and were fed very well each morning and night.  (The first night there they had crab legs.) The boys let their beards grow out for the week (actually Sky started a week early) so they came home pretty fuzzy:0  They had a great time and are already looking forward to next year.  (Sorry about the sideways pictures....I'm not sure how to turn them:(   They were able to see many whales, bald eagles, a couple of moose and one bear. 

When the husbands are away....

THE WIVES WILL PLAY!!  Last week when our husbands left us for a full week to go on an Alaskan fishing trip Kendra, Sarah, and I took a trip of our own.  We went down to the St. George house and did a lot of girly things:)  

Pedicures were the order of the day on Wednesday.  My nephew's wife MaryAnn (who works at Hot Nails) and two of her co-workers fixed us right up.  Kendra chose pink, Sarah chose lavender and I chose blue.  Other things we did on Wed. were swimming, crafting, and shopping.   We ate at Chili's that night and went home and watched the ultimate girl show...Sense and Sensibility. 

Thursday was a lot of the same.  We finished our summer crafts and they turned out really cute.  I'm going to wait until August to set mine out (cause I still have my patriotic decor out). 

Thursday night we headed to Cedar City to hit the Shakespearean festival.  I wasn't to thrilled with the selection of the Shakespeare shows so we opted for "To Kill A Mockingbird".  It was an excellent choice because it truly was a phenomenal production.  All three of us LOVED it.  To top it off we stopped at a yogurt place after the show.  The oatmeal cookie flavor was super yummy.  We didn't get back to the house until after 11:00.  A great night! 

Friday morning we went to the temple than enjoyed some time at the spa getting facials and back treatments.  Nice.  After having an early dinner at The Outback we headed home for a double feature "She's The Man" and "The Blind Side".  Of course we had some treats to eat.  We stopped at Kneaders and the girls got a brownie.  I was really hoping for a caramel apple and they were out so we had to stop at Rocky Mtn. Cocolate Factory.  My caramel apple was over $7.00.  Holy Cow!!  It's caramel and an apple for pete's sake.  Yes, I bought it anyway.  I had my heart set on it.

Saturday we spent time relaxing in the pool and enjoying the sun.  We arrived home Saturday night.  I loved spending time with these two sweeties and it was a great way to spend the week instead of sitting at home pining for our guys:) 

 

King of Everything

Since we were on our road trip over Father's Day, we had the kids over to the house the very next weekend.  (actually it worked out great 'cause we weren't competing with time with the in-laws)  After church (and choir) we had dinner.  BBQ ribs, cheese potatoes and veggies. (This is requested nearly every year:) I also made an ice cream cake to boot.  Skylar and Sarah came downstairs just before dinner and presented Rick with a crown that appropriately said  "King of Everything".  (After trying to figure our what Rick really is king over they decided "everything" worked just fine.)  They also made him a "necklace" (for lack of a better word) that said "# 1 DAD.  After dinner we opened presents.  Gary bought him the Sequence Dice game.  Brach and Kendra bought him a new swimsuit.  Kaitlyn bought him some rootbeer and chips.  Skylar and Sarah bought him a new game called Telestrations and presented him with this cute note.........

Dear Dad
We think you are quite rad
Today is surely your day
Ane now we have something to say
Thank you for your endless care
Thank you for always being there
We are grateful for all you do
Always know that we love you
Here's a gift from the heart;
Time spent together and not apart
Sorry we can't make you thinner
But we are taking you to dinner!

I thought that they did a pretty good job throwing that one together.  (we took them up on their offer of dinner just this week and went to Braza Grill).  I bought Rick some new Levi's, new socks ,(so original, I know) some shoe polish, and the biggee.....a new golf bag.  His old one has no bottom and the clubs fall out.  Anyway,  we played a couple of games and just had a good time being together as a family.   I am blessed to be married to such an amazing man.  He is incredibly good to me and I am so thankful for our happy marriage.  I am truly blessed.

One last thought.....This week as I was reading Pres. Eyring's talk, given to the Priesthood this last conference,  I came upon this familiar scripture...


"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
By kindness,and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy
and without guile---
Reproving betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost;  and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.
The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy sceptor an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever."


When I read these words I had a spiritual experience and recognized that this scripture was speaking of my sweet husband.  All of those qualities speak of Rick Phelps.  He is truly good---inside and out:)  Like I said before,  I am truly blessed!!

Road Trip

Last month Rick and I were able to take a road trip to the California Coast.  We flew into Reno and rented a car.  Our first stop was Virginia City.  I had been there before but it sure seemed a lot different than what I remember.  I thought we were going to an old ghost town but it was definitely for the living.  I would describe it more of a cowboy town than a ghost town.  We loved walking through the old cemetery.  I don't know if we're just weird but we like cemeteries, especially the old ones back east.  In VC we took a trolley ride around the town, went to a mining museum, and wandered around the shops.  The Comstock Lode about a mile underneath us brought a lot of men a boat load of money.

Next we drove over to Lake Tahoe where we stayed for three days.  It is a very beautiful place.  One of the things I loved there was the smell.  Everywhere we went it smelled like bark chips.  Sooo woodsy:)  We stayed at the Marriott Resort in South Lake Tahoe on the California side.  On day two we were able to take a dinner cruise over to Emerald Bay.  It was incredibly beautiful!! The lake is a deep blue.  It is the second deepest lake in the US second only to Crater Lake in Oregon(?)  We were hoping to accomplish a bucket list item here.  We were signed up to go on a hot air balloon early Monday morning (the day we were to leave) but the winds picked up and it was cancelled.  The same thing happened to us last year in Albequerque.  Maybe someday we'll get our balloon ride.

After the dissapointment of not ridng in a balloon we headed toward the  Redwoods.  On a whim we stopped in Sacramento and was pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in "Old Town".  I didn't have my camera but truly we almost drove right past this little gem of a place.  Getting to the Redwoods via Redding was not so easy.  We drove TWO HOURS on a curvy road causing motion sickness for me...bleh.  All I can say is that Rick LOVES to drive fast on windy (that's wine-dy) mountain roads.  Much to my dismay this was only the beginning of windy roads because that's what you get in the Redwoods.  Despite the nautiousness I loved the HUGE trees.  Wow!  They were spectacular.  If you haven't been there...you gotta go.  Yes, we drove through the tree...can't go to the Redwoods and NOT do that. In some places not much light gets to the ground and so the ground is covered with gigantic ferns and clovers.  Pretty cool.

We decided instead of flying out of Sacramento we would fly out of San Jose which is just a hop, skip, and a jump from San Francisco so we stayed our last night there.  I am so glad that we did.  It's a really fun city.  We stayed at the Marriott again and it was just a short walk to Fisherman's Wharf.  We caught a ferry that took us under the Golden Gate  Bridge (which we got to drive over to get into the city) and pass Alcatraz Island.  Walking around the wharf is always exciting with the street vendors and the smell of the ocean in the air.  We stopped and got some goodies at the sourdough market and enjoyed walking on Pier (55?)  where all the shops are.  It was a great little road trip and I loved being with Rick.  We made some lasting memories:)

Kendra's baby belly

I took a picture of Kendra's baby belly to show my mom last month when I went to visit her.  This was taken 4 weeks ago and she is yet even bigger today.  Baby Boman is growing!!