Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas! This year was very busy with lots of family, games, and fun!  We started off our holiday celebration with driving to the bank and paying off my Honda!  We were so excited it only took us 2 1/2 years and it's officially ours!  Sat. night we had our Lamoreaux Christmas party, followed by 4th Sunday dinner with Will's family.  Monday I worked a long day, while Will spent time with his family.  Then we headed to the Tryon Christmas Eve party!  I had a blast helping out with the nativity my sister Camilla directed. After leaving that we went to the Merrill Sock Hop and partied some more.

Here is our Sleepy Christmas morning picture (I know, it's pretty bad).  Sat-Mon night I hadn't been sleeping well, and was up late each night with parties.  I was excited to be able to sleep in till 7ish Christmas morning!  Did it work?  Nope?  Wide awake at 4am... so when Will's alarm accidentally went off at 6:30 I gladly started waking him up so we could read Luke 2 and open up gifts. 

Around 8 we left go to eat breakfast at my sister-in-laws house with my parents and siblings.  Will had a blast playing magic with the boys, and I enjoyed visiting with sisters, holding little Shane, putting about 5 puzzles together and playing games with the nieces.  I was even able to talk to my out-of-town between Christmas and Christmas Eve. 

After playing hard all morning, we went home for a quick break, I took a  nap, then headed over to the Merrills Christmas party.  We brought over our new games to play.  His family had their annual tournament... this time including putting together airplanes and flying them.  Will one for distance, while I was lucky to keep mine going straight and not to constantly turn Left (I could never fix that).  We played games far into the night before heading home and crashing.  I finally had a good nights rest Christmas evening! 

I am grateful for all our family and the fun we can have with them as we support each other.  Although we had 4 nights straight of parties, it was great to be reminded of Christs birth each time and remember the reason we celebrate Christ.  I am so blessed to have the gospel in my life and be reminded of all of my blessings. 

29 Weeks

Just keep growing, just keep growing.  So I decided I love being prego!  It hasn't been to bad with morning sickness.  I was able to run/walk 2 miles about twice a week during the 2nd trimester, and had lots of energy.  Starting this 3rd trimester I have been really tired.  Not sure whether it's the baby thing or work starting to get SUPER busy, but I haven't been running in the past 2 weeks.  I decided I should probably hold off running from now on until after the baby... It's just so hard to believe that I am now huffing and puffing just pushing the extra large wheelchairs down the hall.  I am not used to being this out of shape... oh well...

I am so excited for Christmas!  Take it, I only get Christmas day off, but this season has been really nice!  I haven't been too stressed.  All of my Christmas shopping has been done and mostly wrapped since the beginning of December, and last weekend I made chocolates/candies with my sisters and delivered some of those.  It's been great listening to Christmas music.  We still need to go to the temple lights.  Will is taking his final for his LAST class to finish is Associates degree.  My mom and dad come in next week and then we have parties every night from the 22nd on and I am sure I am going to be exhausted, but I am so excited!  Yay for Christmas and family!  I am so grateful to have family close by to spend time with on the holidays, and for a day off work, Wahoo! 

28 Weeks and still kicking

Entering the 3rd Trimester...  I am kinda excited, but it still hasn't quite hit me yet that I am going to be a mom in 3 months even though my belly is getting bigger by the day, and the scale is about to break.  Co-workers are getting excited and calling me "Mommy", "Little Mom" or "How are you guys...".  It's been busy with the holidays, so I am guessing after Christmas it will seem more real how soon we are to being parents.

Thanksgiving was pretty good, I worked for more then I thought I would so Will and I had dinner with his Dad.  We "Goosock" -ed a roast.  Goosock is something Wills Dad grew up on, so his Grandpa made up the recipe and would cook it with the cowboys  and is AMAZNIG!  We usually have it with turkey, but since we decided the day before Thanksgiving we would spend it with his Dad, we used a Roast and it was almost better then the turkey!  I realized how grateful I am to have a husband to support me.  Even though I wasn't able to get off in time to spend Thanksgiving with my family, I am glad I have great in-laws who are always welcoming and willing to play games.  There are multiple other things I am grateful for, but I won't list them all..."

We set up for Christmas today!  I am really excited for Christmas this year.  I don't know whether it's because we have all our shopping finished all ready, because I have the day or, or because after Christmas it's that much closer to a new baby;  I am pretty sure though it's because my parents will be in town for Christmas!  I only have Christmas day off but it will be so nice!

So, each year, I have tried to make an ornament for our Christmas tree to represent something we did that year.  I have a total of 4 and I am excited to see the collection grow as the years go by.  I have always been someone who liked the "natural" ornaments versus having the tree look perfect and match.  These are the ones I have done so far and the stories behind them...

 2009 The day after Thanksgiving, Will took me out shooting with his family.  This was before we were an "official" couple.  (He was probably testing to see how good of a shot I had to see if I could even be on his list of prospects).  He hung up ornaments because they are fun to shoot and see break, except, he accidentally bought the plastic ones.  I ended up taking this one home with me because I was so shocked that I was actually able to hit a target!  Needless to say, it was a nice keepsake to add to the tree after we got married.

2010  We got married for time and all eternity!  Just under the bow, if you can see it, is a ring.  We went to take my ring in to be sized and it was killing me to not have something on, so we ended up buying a cheap fake one.  I was glad we did because they forgot to take the ring out to be sized and we ended up having to wait for 2 weeks!

 2011  This represents the year we became home owners!  This "house" is actually a card Will made and gave me for Christmas the year we were dating... I never know what to do with cards, and this one had more sentimental to it because he spent the time to "craft" something, I LOVE it!  So even though I got it in 2009, I thought it fit perfect for our 2011 home owners year.



2012  Will came up with the idea this year, to make a wood block and put pictures on of all that we have done... which wasn't really much, so I put where we traveled.  You can't see all the sides but there is 1.  Horton Springs-our first backpacking trip together. 2. Albuquerque, NM- where we went for him to have a 4 day vacation while I took a continuing ed course.  3.  San Diego- we visited his dad.  4. Jerome- we went with Camilla and Dan.  5.  2nd year anniversary picture  6.  Favorite picture of me for the year with "Merrills" 2012

Baby Project...

I decided I didn't want to use a dresser to put all the baby clothes in because it was going to take up too much room, and I didn't like the way it would fit in the room.  Instead, I took an extra bookshelf we had around, and it fit perfectly in the closet!  I wanted to find some cute bins to put in them for all the babies clothes to go in, but they were ranging between 5-10 a piece, and I couldn't ever find a size/design/style that I liked.

Doing some research on Pinterest... I found this blog which seemed to be the easiest.  I used her pattern for the outside of my box, and the spray adhesive worked GREAT!  Super easy, although probably not to do the best prego... so I had Will help me for faster results!  I didn't like the link/blog she used to make for the inside of the basket, it looked too complicated for me, AND I do NOT like draw sings... so difficult to sew them and turn them inside out and look cute and perfect... NOT for me!

Instead, for the inside, I used the EXACT same pattern that I cut for the outside with a few changes.  1.  I added 1 inch to each side (so the "total" of my big rectangle was 2in total extra in width/length.
2.  She has you cut a square out of each corner, and then in an inch.  On that part, I added 1/2 in to each side for extra seam allowance.  I then sewed up the angle, and the side.
3.  I finished with a 1/2 seam and put in some elastic.

I liked the idea of being able to take out the inside to wash it...just in case.

The total cost for me to make 6 boxes:
* polka dot material $12 (I LOVE going to hobby lobby because 1. less decisions to make for fabric.  2.  40% OFF coupon to use whenever!)
* Brown inside fabric $4 twin sheet from Goodwill
* Spray Adhesive $6
* Elastic $1.50 (I already had enough in my supply for 4, and just needed to buy some for the last two)
A grand total of about $4.00 per box with a cute design that I LOVE and matches my room, insides I can wash, and just the right size I wanted. 

***I am still debating on whether to spend time painting the bookshelf white or not.  The inside of the closet is white, so I was thinking it might match better, but I really don't like painting... so I might just keep it brown.***

Happy Halloween! 23 Weeks and counting!

We were able to borrow the costume from MaryJo my sister-in-law!

Did you guys have a great Halloween?  I did!  I used to not like Halloween growing up, until my brother/s started doing this refrigerator box maze.  As a single, every Fri/Sat night in Oct I would be working on it, and Halloween night I will be there till midnight.  This year, the maze was a bit smaller seeing as we have family of our own which means less time, but it was still a GREAT maze!

I wore the skirt/tights Wed night but forgot to get a good pic of them :(

Sat. before Halloween we went to a co-workers party.  It was actually really fun!  Will and I both aren't the real "social butterfly" go to parties type of people, but we had a TON of fun!  I was able to go chat with some scottsdale co-workers I hadn't seen in a while. 

Halloween night, unfortunate, Will had school.  I KNOW!  The teacher let him out 1 hr early, but with how late it was, he wasn't able to make it to the maze.  I went though, and it was a blast!  Only having 100 boxes up, instead of 300 made it smaller and quicker for people to make it through.  Thankfully, this meant I didn't have to go though and help people out for crowd control, because I probably wouldn't have with my belly.  I enjoyed seeing old ward members and family there though and look forward to doing it again next year!

23Weeks Belly

He/She

It's official, one boy cooking in the oven... will be ready February 22nd 2013

20 Week Pregnacy Moment... and more

Tomorrow!  We find out what we are having!  I have had more people  guess boy then girl, and I am kinda thinking it's a boy because we want a girl.  Either way, as long as its human, we will still take it :)

Will's favorite thing to do lately is count my "mood swings".  For those of you who are pregnant, hopefully you understand and it's not just me.  Late at night (like 8:30) you start getting really tired, which means to me at least, I have a hard time controlling my emotions.  Simple things can make me jump from one mood to another.  Will enjoys this and starts counting "that's mood one, two, three..." which in turn makes me even more frustrated as he keeps counting "four...five..." until he sees steam coming out of my ears and finally quits.  The pathetic part is that I know it is how stupid I am with getting frustrated but I still do!  Then, a couple minutes later when I am calmed down and tucked into bed, I relax and laugh about it.  This is a reoccurring event a couple of times a week, you would think I would learn. 

This week I got 3 1/2 inches of my hair cut.  I LOVE it!  I started getting really frustrated with my hair lately and decided I needed to get it chopped, it's been a whole year!  I have this ever going dilemma where I don't like my hair too short, so I grow it, then get sick of it, and like it short again.  But I am never willing to cut it every couple of months, only once or twice a year.  As of now, I love it and I am telling myself I will get it cut again before the baby is born, going one year is way to long for me. 

Projects...

This weekend General Conference was AMAZING!  I love listening to the talks, esp the prophet and always feel like they are directed to me only.  To keep myself from falling asleep during some of the sessions, I did some projects to keep myself busy. 


I made "baked" doughnuts from off of Pinterest.  I think they defiantly turned out looking a lot better then taste.  They weren't very fluffy.  Also, I guess I always imagine doughnuts being sweet, or having some sweetness to them, these didn't have any... so, if I am going to make something that is sweet, I am not making the amazingly healthy version of it because it just doesn't taste very good.  If you make them, I recommend making only the "doughnut hole" version because bite size ones tasted better.  

I received a blanket from a secret sister a couple years ago.  It was a nice lightweight picnic blanket that rolled up easily to carry over your shoulders.  I decided to make one for a friends baby shower, using the "PUL" fabric (usually used to make cloth diapers) for the bottom so it would be somewhat waterproof.  I have been working on this randomly throughout the past couple months and finally finished it this weekend with help from my mom to fix my sewing machine.  Unfortunatly, I was to impatient to wait for my mom to have time to show me how to sew the corners, so I figured it out by myself.  They don't look the best so my friend will have to forgive me, but other then that, I think it turned out pretty good!

19 week Pregnancy moment...kinda late

You know, it's really hard to go grocery shopping when you are prego... because you start to crave EVERYTHING!  Well, on Sat. I was at the store, and decided to indulge in a medium back of peanut M&M's.  So, I bought them, and ate them till there was only about 1/4 bag left.  I KNOW!  Bad!  I made Will take them and hide them so I would quit eating them.  Well, Sunday comes around, and I really want some chocolate, AKA peanut M&M's.  I looked EVERYWHERE!  I could not find them... so I settle for some chocolate chips.  I finish what's let of the bag (not much, I promise :)  Monday... I really want those M&M's!  I look EVERYWHERE again!  Even in the garbage to see if he ate the rest of them... nope not there either.  Tuesday... date night.  After going out to eat, we stop at Sam's club.  We like to "walk around" after eating a TON of food.  Well, there was a HUGE bag of chocolate candy bars!  Will talked me into getting them ;)  I then told him how I have been CRAVING chocolate and I couldn't find those M&M's.  He starts laughing.  We get home, and he pulls out the bag from the hiding spot (no, I still haven't found it, but know what room it's in now) and allows me to eat the rest.  They were SO good!  I didn't even eat any of the candy bars we just bought, even though I am sure those will be next.

I am very glad to say, "I have not craved pickles!"  From what I hear, prego people crave pickles.  I don't like them worth a nickel!  I make Will pick them off because I am even grossed out to touch them (this is pre pregnancy days too).  So, if I start to crave pickles, I don't know what I will do because I REFUSE to eat those nasty things!

18 Weeks pregnancy moment...

Being pregnant I have learned I just need to accept the fact that I am going to gain weight and get a "fat"/"baby" belly.  It has been something I know is going to happen, but I still have a hard time getting used to it and accepting it.  Well, about every other day or so Will gets to put up with me saying "I am gaining so much weight!"  or "I feel really fat"  or something else in relation to me being fat.  (I am a girl, what can I say?) 

Well, yesterday, I got on the scale and it said I had gained 8 lbs! since my Dr. appt 1 1/2 weeks ago!  I was so frustrated that "I can't gait 10 pounds every 2 weeks!  I'll end up with 60lbs of baby fat to loose"  "how can I gain so much?  I have been running and eating a little better cuz I can actually eat some fruits and veggies now", and stuff like that.  I went to complain to Will about how much weight I was gaining when I was trying to be healthy and he starts laughing at me.  (Usually he just rolls eyes and says something like "you are pregnant...(fill in the blank)..." ).  Well, apparently our scale got adjusted on accident some way and was adding an extra 5-8 lbs.  Man, when he fixed that I was much happier to realize I had only gained 1-3 lbs.

Heber

This past weekend we went up to our families cabin in Heber to enjoy the cooler weather and a break from every day life.  It was so nice up there!  We got up there late Fri night. 






Sat. morning Will spent the morning fixing the pump (hopefully it won't break
 any more) so we could have running water.  After multiple trips to the local ACE and True Value we managed to put it all back together with no leaks.  He then built a box to cover the pump, with hinges!  I enjoyed the cooler weather, racked up some pine needles and cleaned up the mess he made.  We enjoyed an afternoon walk, and I even went running.  Since I've been prego, I've only been running 1-2 miles twice a week.  I was able to run about 2 miles and it felt so nice!  I did notice the elevation a bit, which I am hoping it only bothered me cuz I am carrying around extra luggage :)  We went to church on Sun. and then headed home after a nice restful weekend spending time alone.

17 weeks and counting

So here is my first official pregnancy photo... it's when I was 16 weeks and I promise my belly is bigger then it looks in this picture.  

Funny/not so funny memories about pregnancy.

1.  Pregnancy brain-  the number of times I was making dinner and forgot the most important part,  the chicken!  I remember thinking the meal tasted weird, and the next morning realized I forgot to put the chicken it!  My husband even loves me so much, he ate it without even pointing out my mistake.
2.  Craving date night at Red Robin.  Eating a great mean, then puking it ALL up within 2 min of being home.  I still don't know when I''ll be able to go eat there again. 
3. Being so hungry/sick to my stomach and getting so grumpy at dinner time because I don't know what to eat and nothing sounds good but I am STARVING!
4.  Asking my husband to cook extra eggs for dinner so I can have some, and not eating one bite when he was finished because I got so sick to my stomach.
5.  I LOVE sleeping on my stomach now and  will miss it when I get too big. 
6.  My regular jeans are getting snug and really uncomfortable and my maternity jeans are still a little too big... what to wear what to wear.

Baby Merrill coming Feb. 2013/San Diego

When I take a prego photo I'll post it.  I am 14wks, and kinda embarrassed to say all the weight I have gained makes me look fat... not pregnant.  I can't wait till I actually look prego and not just fat.  Maybe by 16wks...

San Diego!

chillin' like interns

This past weekend Will and I went to San Diego to visit his dad.  His dad works there mon-thurs then flies home, so we asked him to stay the weekend and we were able to stay with him.  We had a BLAST!  We got there late Thurs night.  Fri morning we went around as "interns" touring the multiple job sites Dad works on.  All of the sights were different boarder patrol facilities such as training shooting range, prison, offices, ect. and his job is to make sure everything building wise is safe and getting done.  It was so cool to see it all!  Fri. lunch we went to Phil's BBQ, which was SO GOOD!!! Much better then Rudy's I have to say, more food for a better price :)  Fri. afternoon we explored a dog beach, and was there for a bit.

Boarder fence leading into the ocean

Beach Break:  ABC burrito and
Banana Crunch French Toast

Sat. morning we woke up and drove to Ocean Side.  This is where his family goes each 4th of July for vacation.  We ate breakfast at this amazing place called Beach Break.  YUM!  Banana Crunch French toast is one of his families favorite, and I have to agree with them.  We stayed at that beach and played in the water... then it got really cold and the clouds started misting on us, so we drove back to San Diego.  Within an hour of getting back to the hotel, it was sunny.  so, we packed up and headed back to the "Dog Beach".  Now, I know we don't have a dog, but it was so funny people/dog watching.  I defiantly have to say, dogs really do match their owners.  Also, just an FYI, don't open up jerky at the beach, before we even had a bit in our mouth, our blanket was swarming with HUGE WET DOGS!!! Gross!!!  The whole next 2 hrs we were there, the same dogs would come over and sniff our blanket saying "I know you have something in there..."  After the beach Will and I went for a refreshing jog... I even ran up a hill!  It was GREAT!  Oh how I miss running those Nebraska hills.  Don't worry, I only ran about 1 1/2 miles, and it took me forever!









Sat. morning we went to sacrament meeting then headed home.  About an hour outside Yuma we stopped at a Rest stop, cuz you know us prego people, we got to go pee A LOT!  Anyway, I walk out of the bathroom and Will asks "Did you fee it?"  Feel what?  "The Earthquake".  Apparently Will got a little "tipsy" using the bathroom and come to find out, 2 miles from where we were staying there was a 5.5 earthquake!  The worst thing was, I didn't even realize it.  lol.  I remember slightly losing my balance walking over to the bathroom (the girls was way far away), but I just thought it was cuz I was Prego and sat in a car for too long.  After surviving the "terrible" quake, we safely made it home to our comfy beds in AZ.  Wishing we didn't have to go back to work.  Needless to say, We will defiantly be visiting Cali again!

Food Storage...

#10 cans stored in guest room. 
I am thinking of getting another shelf to
hold them in

For the past 2 years I have been married, I have been working on collecting a 4month supply of food storage.  I got this article from EverythingUnderTheSun.blogspot.com and how she organized everything.  It seemed to make sense!  Finally!  Food storage that seemed easy enough I could do. 

Since then, I have found recipes, thought about how to cook, store, and organize everything, tried to find where it's most convenient and cheap to buy the bulk items, and store them reasonably.  I can't say I am officially finished with the 4th month supply, b/c I need to go to the "family Canning" night at the cannery to package powdered milk, and find one more can of powdered eggs, and stock up on propane, till I am finished!  Wahoo! 

3L bottles you can get on sale
in the summer at Fry's fro 49cents.
We have a big barrel in the garage
but it's always nice to have 
smaller sizes.

The thing I am most excited about is that I typed up and included lots of charts on what I did, how to store it, organize and rotate it.  I have been working on using more wheat, powdered milk, and potato flakes in my cooking.  I have experienced with multiple diff. bread recipes trying to find one that was simple enough for me to make, but I didn't have to buy yeast for.  So, I have since learned to make sour dough bread, and even started, and killed a sourdough starter.  It's been quite the trip trying to figure everything out.  Now that I am nearing the end of this 4mo supply, I am having fun trying out new recipes for the next 4 months. 

GREAT rotating can system
you can get at Costco online
for $300.  Worth it!  They also
have the size for #10 cans
which holds 112 cans.

If any of you are interested in what I did, I can e-mail you the file.  What it has is 7 breakfast, 7 dinner, 3 desert, and bread recipe.  The bread I included for making 3x week for lunches.  Everything is added to make a serving for 4 people.  I have planned it for worst case scenario which means no electricity, stuff to keep things cold, and no source for water.  I made a grocery list for all the food items for ALL meals, and how much you need to buy of each.  I am so excited about this, I felt like I was never going to finish.  But although food storage does cost money, and take up space, I believe it is completely worth it and I feel blessed already with following the prophets counsel on self preparedness.  I think the biggest thing I have learned is that I have to be patient... I can't buy everything at one time and it might take 1-2 years to just build up a small storage, but I now know that I have 4 mo supply of food I know how to cook, use, and will eat in case of any emergency. 

Squirrels!

Since we have lived in our house, we would occasionally see this squirrel.  He lives between our neighbors shed, and the brick wall.  We always see him on the brick wall, and as soon as the back door thinks about opening, he would dash off.  I named him Mr. Squirrel.

Here He is enjoying the sunshine

Last Sat. morning, as I peek out the window after breakfast to check on Mr. Squirrel, to my surprise I saw this...

Do you see them?  The white shed helps them stand out.  Sorry I couldn't zoom in on them better... my camera isn't Pro.

two smaller squirrels!  At first I thought I was going crazy... but soon I saw that Mr. Squirrel.... who I have now named to Mrs. Squirrel had twins!  We decide they are girls and enjoy throwing out old bread or muffins to them each evening. 

The Babies watching Mama

LOVE this pic!

 Well, during the week we would see 1, 2, or 3 of them out and about, until Thursday, we found this.....

I love how the parents are always just laying around in the sun

 4 of them!  1 Large, 1 med, and 2 small ones..  We decided Mr. Squirrel joined them!  (He's the medium sized one)

We have been pretty excited telling everyone that Mr. Squirrel is a girl, that had twins, and now the dad shows up!  Once we thought our little squirrel family couln't get any larger... today I woke up to look at the window to find this....

Dad, Mom, It's hard to see, but there are 2 babies wrestling in the middle, and Baby

 5 of them!  So, the large is the mom, medium is the dad, then there are 2 "Twins", and a little runt of the family.  I don't know how I am going to come up with so many names!

I don't know if you have seen the moving "Up", but it's really cute and those crazy dogs always go crazy when you say "Squirrel".  Now, my husband and I love texting, or randomly saying "Squirrel" just cuz it's fun, and we go look out the window to see them.

Windows and stuff

 So, I haven't posted in a while... but I have been meaning to put these up forever!  We finally were able to put new windows in our house!  So we got all new, double pained windows, and new trim.  Our big front window, we sized it smaller because it was so BIG, and we didn't want to pay the extra for tempered glass.  It's all finished except fixing the inside wall from where we made the window smaller... we need to texture and paint.  Other then that, blinds, and curtains here we come!

When we bought the house

This is how much we re-sized the window

Finished!

 

 Over the 4th of July we had a family reunion, my parents, siblings, and their kids.  We went up to our cabin and put up a new roof, built a new back porch, and dug/moved a new outhouse.  It was really fun seeing all the boys work together, and all the grand kids get dirty.  During our trip Will and I went out looking for a place to go rock climbing... failed... but I did learn how to change a flat tire :)  If you want to read in more detail about the reunion, my sister posted other pictures and info found here.

On top of the rim right before we found our flat tire... it was beautiful up there!

4th Year Hike

This year Will and I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a 4th year backpacking trip with 48 YW... 10 were from our ward.  It was great!  Tuesday morning we were up early, drove the truck with 3 girls and were VERY grateful they slept the whole way!  We hiked up Horton Springs, it's about 15miles outside of Payson (by the Tonto National Fish Hatchery).  On the way up, we took a wrong turn, went down a windy road and almost hit a cow… it was really funny… (side note: you know how rabbits always seem to jump in the road RIGHT when you drive by, then run alongside you before realizing they need to get out… just like that)  needless to say, we did not have beef for dinner and made it to the right place for the hike to start.  

The hike up was beautiful with it being mostly in the shade, and some sunny spots, and following the creek.  There were a lot of small pretty waterfalls.  We stuck back with some girls, and enjoyed the relaxing hike with lots of rest breaks… At last, we made it to the top.  It was really nice to take my pack off… but I wasn’t dying… Defiantly not a bad hike to backpack in to.  

I LOVE the headband they
made for us!

Will and I set up camp up a steep hill about 100feet from the girls.  At first I thought I was going to have to hurt him by the end of the trip for making me hike up this KILLER hill so many times throughout the trip, but was very grateful for it seeing how nice and quiet it was with about 4 of us couple leaders up there, and 2 small tents of girls who were pretty quiet.  We left all the noise down at the bottom of the hill…amazing…  The rest of the afternoon we spent setting up camp, playing games with the girls, some certification, and a short night hike for their astronomy class.  After that, we were all grateful to head off to our nice soft sleeping bags to get some much needed rest… for most of us.

Chillin' on his "chair"

Will and I ended up getting food poisoning from the MRE’s we had for dinner so I was throwing up all night, and Will needed too.  As soon as there was light enough outside, we packed up and told the other leaders we were hitting the trail early, for fear that we wouldn’t make it out.  Lol.  It took Will and I 2 ½ to 3 hrs to hike out of there… I wish we had a video camera with how pathetic we looked.  J I swear every 100 yards Will or I had to stop and breathe.  I don’t think I have EVER taken so many rest periods on a hike ever, or total in my life!  I am very grateful we left early because it was a lot cooler hiking out which helped, and we made it to the car about 40min before the rest of the girls showed up, so we were able to take a quick nap which helped a lot.  I am sad to say, it took ALL the girls no more then 1 ½ hrs to pack out… I am very glad we left early so they weren’t stuck waiting for us.

The rest of the day seemed to go better.  Will and I got more energy, but never feeling a 100% and sitting down whenever we could.  We took the girls over to R bar C Ranch where they went repelling and swimming.  Will and his brother in law took over long repel, and I was the only girl so I had the fun task of donn/doffing all the girls harnesses.  It was fun to see how they were all different.  Some were scared to go down…sat and watched for a long time…. Then finally went down, took off the harness and got as quick as they can off the cliff.  They others who really liked it went up to the long repel and had more fun cuz they weren’t scared.  

After that we drove the girls up to Taylor Ranch and headed home ourselves for some much needed sleep.  After 10 hrs of sleep we were feeling much better the next day and were starting to get our appetites back.   Besides the food poisoning, it was a really fun trip!  I would defiantly recommend the hike.  Even for a nice day hike it’s about 3 ½ miles in, and very quick hiking out.  So pretty!  I know AZ can be really hot at times and we don’t see a lot of green where we live, so it was fun to go up among all the green.  It kind of reminded me of NE following along the creek and green foliage.  Only, in NE there aren’t rocks on the trail :)