Rafe is Four Months!!

Rafe turned four months yesterday and Kendra wanted to get some pictures of him.  We set up in the music room and got to work.  Rafe wasn't smiling a whole lot but we did get a few cute pictures!! 

 

This first one looks so serious!

 

 

A few props for the naked shot!  Aren't those boots fun?

 

 

Finally a smile for us.

 

 

I love this one:)

 

 

One of my favorite close ups.

 

 

The cowboy hat looks more like a sombrero but it works:)

 

 

The session took about an hour and Rafe was a pretty good sport through it all.  At one point I started tickling him and he was giggling for me.  We love this little guy!  He brings a lot of happiness into our life.

L is for ........

......the way you look at me. O is for the only one I see. V is very, very extraordinary.......E is?????  I have been singing this in my head since Valentines Day without remembering what 'E' is for.  Rick told me this morning he thinks it's 'everything'.  If anybody know the last stanza of this song maybe you can enlighten me.  I should just go search through my CD's and find my Nat King Cole Love Songs but that would take entirely too much effort:)

Rick and I had a wonderful Valentine's date this past Thursday.  I picked up Rick from his office and we drove over to the JSMB for a wonderful dinner at The Roof.  I don't know if many of you have eaten at The Roof but it is an amazing experience.  It had been a couple of years since we had been there so we decided to make reservations (back in early January mind you).  This is kind of funny and even a little embarrasing to tell but after the first course from the salad bar (veggies, cheeses, pasta salad, green salad, and my personal favorite shrimp cocktail) we got up to get our main course (honey baked ham, prime rib, mashed potatoes, and chicken cordon bleu) as I started walking to my seat I was filled with emotion.  When I sat down with Rick right behind me I tried to tell him the feelings in my heart.  I wasn't expressing myself very well so I just said, "All of this is bringing a tear to my eye."......and with that I started crying.  What the.....?  Once the tears started it was hard to turn them off.  SO embarrasing!  I guess I was caught up in the moment sitting there looking down on the temple with the sun setting, beautiful piano music being played just a few feet away from me,  all of the beautifully presented food, and best of all sharing that with my sweetie.  It was all just so.......perfect.  Funny thing is when Rick saw me crying he teared up too and said, "I know exactly what you are feeling."  Is that just the silliest thing you have ever heard?  Two grown adults crying over an eating experience??  And we hadn't even gotten to the dessert bar!!  Oh believe me, later that night we had a good laugh over that one!!

 

 

Our great window seat overlooking the temple

 

 

A few of the beautifully presented desserts.  This is only a part of one of the tables.  The other table was directly adjacent and it was filled with completely different desserts.  It was fun trying out little tastes of many of them.

 

 

The fascinating ice sculpture.  Roses suspended in ice.

Next we drove over to The Anniversary Inn and got to spend the whole rest of the evening there.  Here's a sneak peak at our room "The Tuscany". 

A beautiful huge bathtub!

 

 

Our sitting room.....

 

 

....and the nice king size bed.

 

 

This wasn't our first stay in this particular room but we loved it just the same.

The next morning after lounging and eating breakfast in bed we drove over to the WVC Rec Center where Rick beat me in three straight games of raquetball.  I hate to lose and years ago I would have let that ruin my day but now that I'm older and wiser I've learned to not be so competitive:-)  It was a great workout though.  Last but not least we stopped at Zupa's for a quick soup and sandwich lunch and then I dropped Rick off at the office and I headed back home.  I must say it was one of our better Valentine's Day dates!

PS  My husband is THE most amazing man!!  I am a very lucky wife!!

A Trip to the Desert

Rick and I celebrated our 24th anniversary a little over two weeks ago.  We wanted to go someplace a little warmer than UT because it had been so very cold, so we opted for Scottsdale, AZ.  We had not been there and we had some SW standby tickets that we needed to use.  We were lucky to have good weather while we were there....in the 70's.  We arrived on Saturday and drove straight to the temple because it was going to be closed for two weeks.  We went through a session and it was very nice.  There were a lot of weddings going on and a lot of patrons attending.  The inside of the temple was very different than any other temple I have been in.  The layout is interesting.  Somehow I lost my locker key and couldn't even remember where my locker was so it took a little time to find my clothes:)  Afterwards we were very hungry and on our way out to the condo we found a bbq dive that served up fantastic bbq. (It really was a dive but sometimes these places really serve up some good grub:)

 

 

On Sunday we drove out to Queen Creek (about 45 min away) to attend church with Robert and Mary (Rick's nephew and his wife) and afterward we got to visit their family in their new home.  It is very nice and roomy for them and their three kids.  We had a wonderful dinner and just really enjoyed watching the family interact with each other.  Ashley has really grown up and she has a really cute personality.  Kelsey is as funny as ever and so is Cameron.  They say that he is the class clown in school.  It was great to see how they all really love each other.  We came away from that experience feeling very happy and uplifted.  Thanks R&M for that:)  On our way back to the condo we got to drive past the Gilbert Temple that is being built.  It is gorgeous!   

 

 

The next day we went out to Glendale's Old Town and had fun poking through the shops.

We also stopped at a chocolate factory and just missed the last tour of the day.  We did get some free samples though:)  Every where we went there were lots and lots of orange trees.  Occasionally we saw some lemon trees as well.  Very fun and different than what we're used to.

 

 

On Monday we were able to go to the Botanical Gardens.  It was really neat to see and learn about the flora and fauna of the area.  Even though my feet were hurting we took the short hike up to Hole in the Rock to watch the sunset over Phoenix.  It was pretty spectacular!

 

 

The next day we got up early and hit the links.  We golfed nine holes and just enjoyed being outdoors.  Afterwards we put on our swimsuits and got into the pool (just steps from our room).  It was a nice day and it felt good to feel the sun shine down on us. 

Here's Rick catching some rays and a nap:)

 

 

 

After the pool we went to the zoo.  That's always a fun event.  We came across these two orangutans

that were enthralled with a little service dog that was standing with it's owners outside next to us.  It was fun to watch their curiosity with the dog.

 

 

On Wednesday we drove over to Superstition Mountain and went through the museum.  When Gary was a teenager he was enthralled with the legends of Superstition Mountain and of the supposed hidden gold mine up there.  It really is a beautiful mountain.  Just down the road was Goldfield Ghost Town.  We had fun wandering around and seeing the sights.  We took a tour down an old mine shaft (really only about 20 feet underground) and it was interesting to learn about the lives of these gold miners.  Mining is NOT an easy job.

 

 

Here's Rick standing net to a giant Saguaro with the old town behind him.  I am telling you I have never seen so many Saguaros in my life.  Even growing up in the desert I had not seen too many.  Some of them were massive!  That night we met up with three different misson friends of Rick's (and their wives) and they enjoyed catching up and reminiscing about the mission days.  It was nice to be with them.  The next day was Thursday our scheduled date to fly out.  We found out that the SL airport was going to be closed all day due to freezing rain and since we were flying standby there was no way we were going to make it home.  So we rented a different vehicle and started driving.  I was not happy about this change in plans because I'm not one for road trips......especially unplanned ones.  Anyway, we got as far as St. George about 9:30 that night than drove the rest of the way on Friday.  Despite this little kink in our plans it was a fun getaway with my sweetie:)