The Oilers vs. The Kings

While we were in Edmonton for the week of Christmas/New Year, Jerry's brother graciously gave us second row tickets to the hockey game.  I enjoyed my first NHL game in style, while Joshua partied at his auntie and uncle's house.

Our seats were amazing and afforded us views such at this.

Players were constantly being checked immediately in front of us.  If the glass hadn't have been there, hefty toothless players would have landed in our laps, and we would have had a couple pucks in our face.

Suffice it to say, the Oilers are not #1 in the NHL, but at this game they ended a lengthy losing streak and beat the Kings 3-2 in a shootout.  

Unless I'm mistaken this was our first recreational time away from Joshua since he came home from the hospital.  We were glad to see his cute sleeping self when we arrived home, but were immensely grateful to be given a chance for a little break. 

Monterey and Pacific Grove

As one last pre-baby trip, I went to Monterey and Pacific Grove, California to visit a friend from college for the weekend.  Most people know that I do not have a deep love for California, but I have to admit that this area was gorgeous and nearly equal to my love of Sequoia National Park. 

While all the locals were praying for rain, I relished the unusually warm and sunny weather.  This ocean views were just blocks from where my hosts lived.  I decided these towns were perfect for me because they were easily walkable.

The wildlife was up close and personal. 

To my delight, I found that there were depictions of whales all over the town.  I love whales ...

 
... and sea life of almost every sort. 

We drove down Route 1 and enjoyed the amazing views of Big Sur.  On my final evening, we watched the sunset at Asilomar Beach which is perhaps one of the most beautiful views ever.

Fall Things

It would seem that I have been absent from the blogosphere for some time.  I have faithfully kept up on other blogs, but have been a bit distracted of late.  It's time to play a little catch up.  Enjoy!

After a long summer of hard work for both Jerry and I, we decided to spend our two year anniversary in California where we met and dated when we weren't in separate countries.  Returning was strange, because I did not realize how many memories I had there.

We reenacted our first date at the Hoff's Hut in Torrance.  I even got the breakfast tacos again.  They are seriously delicious.

We could see the restaurant where we held our wedding reception from out hotel.  Yes, we went there and took a picture.  Yes, that is super cheesy.  Yes, it was totally worth it.

We mostly relaxed and ate at my favorite restaurants, but we did play the tourist.  We visited the Queen Mary, but I wanted my money back because I didn't see a single ghost.

We've decided this fall to get out and do more fun stuff than we did last year.  We hiked Stewart Falls on a chilly fall Saturday and it was beautiful.

Jerry really wanted to play in the water.

Not pictured here are the orange and red leaves contrasted with the snow in the mountains and the rainbows that the falls are making.  It was gorgeous, but you're just going to have to trust me.

We did learn the if you are not in great shape this "family-friendly" hike can still take its toll.

Playing Catch Up - Maine

After New York, Jerry and I went to Maine.  I feel like I completely over-romanticized Maine this trip.  But for early May, the whether was exceptional - sunny every day.  It was not too hot and not too cold. Jerry and I went walking on the coast in various scenic places.

Maine is the state that I love.

This was taken at Two Lights State Park.

Yay for the ocean!

Just before leaving we walked around Mackworth Island.  On such a beautiful day we were lucky that it wasn't too crowded to even be allowed to visit.

We also had lots of time with family.  It was great to see our nieces and nephew who were very fun playmates.

  

Playing Catch Up - New York

Well, it's been about forever since I have posted.  It's been quite busy and maybe I was doing other things.  At the beginning of May, Jerry and I traveled east to see family and friends.  Jerry had never been to New York before so Rich enjoyed showing us around.

We were pretty tired after our overnight flight, but we still wandered around downtown.  WE saw Wall Street, the Statue of Liberty, and the new Freedom Tower.

On our first evening we went to Hobokon, to visit Jerry's friend Jeremy.  It is a lovely little city.

We ate Jerry's favorite food.  The cheese on the pozza was amazing.

Next to the pizza place is the Brooklyn Bridge, which might be my favorite place to see in New York.

We spent our last two days with Jerry's aunt and got to see the Phantom of the Opera.  The music and the special effects were incredible.

Vancouver

Jerry and I headed to Vancouver for Christmas.  While it didn't turn out to be the fun, care-free trip that we expected, we still managed to see some of the sights in between meals.  (We ate remarkable amounts of Chinese food.)

On Christmas Eve, we stopped at Gastown.  I'm fuzzy on the details, but apparently it is old and important.

This is a view from the area as well.

On Christmas Day, we visited Stanley Park (named after the same guy as the Stanley Cup.)  THis view gives you a good impression of Vancouver weather.

This is a view of the famous bridge.  Seriously though, I"m having a hard time recalling names or interesting facts.

Stanley Park also had this interesting Totem Pole area.  I was most impressed with this of all the things in the park.

That was just a little taste of Vancouver.  Perhaps we will end up there sometime in the summer and see more stuff.

Brigham City Temple Open House

On Labor Day, we went to the Brigham City Temple Open House.  Today I learned during conference that approximately 400.000 people attend this open house is a four week period.  I'm fairly positive that 2/3 of this number visited the temple on Labor Day.

The temple is gorgeous and is built in similar style to the Salt Lake, Manti, Logan, and St. George temples.  It is in the center of Brigham City across from the tabernacle and looks like it really fits.

We learned a few things from our visit.  For future open houses, we are going to select a weekday morning and be the first to arrive.  We tried not to sweat too much while Jen took our photos.  Despite the heat and the long wait the temple was beauriful. 

Why I Would Not Have Made A Good Pioneer

Road trips are long and tiring.  Here is a brief summary of our epic drive to Utah.

Friday, July 27

5:30 PM  Jerry's estimated departure time.

6:30 PM My estimated departure time.

8:35 PM  After a full day of work for Jerry and a full day of cleaning for me we finally rolled out of town in our filled to the brim car.

9:36 PM The first time that I looked at my clock and thought to myself "Oh my gosh, it's only (insert time here)"

10:14 PM The time that we decided to give in and get a motel room.  We had planned to drive for four or five hours. We thought crashing in a motel would be better than crashing the car.

10:30 PM  The time the we literally fell into our bed.

Saturday, July 28

6:35 AM I mistook the hotel hand lotion for hair conditioner.

6:47 AM I forced Jerry out of bed.

6:55 AM I put one butterfly sock on wrong side out and didn't notice for about six hours.  I didn't fix it either.

7:15 AM  After a scrumptious (READ: completely unsatisfying and unhealthy) breakfast at the motel, we hit the road feeling pretty good about ourselves.

7:15 AM - 12:00 PM  We enjoyed the last views of Alberta.  (Canola field, cows, hay bails, canola field, cows, hay bails, canola field etc.)

10:30 ish AM  We stopped for snacks in Fort McCloud.  I insisted on buying carrots.

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM We scarfed down the carrots because we remembered we may not be able to take them over the border.

12:00 PM - 1:15 PM  Border and customs.  Better than expected actually.

3:15 ish PM  Jerry's roadside nap in Montana while I tried to break into the outhouse to use the restroom.

3:15 - 7:00 PM  We enjoyed Montana's striking mountain views.  Craggy hills and deep ravines with rivers make beautiful scenery.

4:30 PM  We dug a gift card out of the trunk of our car and used it at the Macaroni Grill.  Protein and vegetables were a nice change of pace.

5:30 PM You know you are in a small town when the gas station convenience store is already closed.

7:00 PM  Are we there yet?

7:35 PM  "My back hurts, my feet hurt, my arms hurt."

8:30 PM  We start making up goofy songs about our surroundings.  We were in Idaho so the only thing we had to go on was hay.

10:15 PM  I realized that saying we're almost there in Pocatello, Idaho is a bit misleading.

10:15 PM  I fed my husband Chicken Caesar Salad while he drove.

11:00 PM  "My back hurts, my feet hurt, my arms hurt."  I try to sleep, I am not successful.

Sunday, July 29

12:30 AM  We hit traffic in Utah in the middle of the night.  I curse road construction.

12:45 AM  Still stuck in road construction.  Jerry tries to block people from cutting in line.

12:50 AM  Are we there yet?

1:15 AM  I hadn't realized we had already passed Salt Lake City.  Now it is safe to say that we are almost there.

1:45 AM  We park in front of my sister's house.   We leave everything but our purses and wallets in the car, and find our way to bed.

Please, do not suggest a road trip to me for awhile.

The Calgary Stampede

Yee-Haw

Jerry and I went to the rodeo - the most famous rodeo in the world.  This year the Calgary Stampede was celebrating their 100th Anniversary.  We took this picture after we arrived at our seats and our noses stopped bleeding.  

First, we saw real live Mounties (Royal Canadian Mountain Police) in their ceremonial red uniforms.

Events included bucking broncos and calf tieing.  Below is the women's barrel racing event.  IT seemed easy at first, but I realized that the tight turns must be hard.

 The most exciting/frightening event was the bull riding.  Bulls are pretty mean.

The winners of each event were paraded aroung the arena.  I guess they earned a little money too.

After the rodea, we hung out around the carnival area with Jerry's brother's family.

Everyone that found a hat their size got one.  That means I got one, but Jerry didn't

Jerry's Second Visit to Maine

The best part of our recent trip was going to Maine for a couple of days.  We didn't have a lot of time, but it was nice.  The first day was rainy so we went to Freeport for some outlet shopping.  Jerry doesn't understand what is so wonderful about L.L. Bean, but he still allowed me to take photos of him there.

Perhaps, he isn't impressed by L.L. Bean because the prices shock him.

On our second day, we went to the Portland Headlight.  It was a gorgeous day and the perfect temperature to visit the coast.

We also went to Spring Light to walk the breakwater.  I feel like I have done this dozens of times, but it doesn't get old.