Snap it!

Below is Robert trying to get Josiah's attention at SeaWorld for a picture...by snapping.

Now Rachel decided to snap too!

So cute!

Seaworld and San Diego (long post with lots of pics)

A couple of weeks ago we went to SeaWorld in San Diego. It was so nice to get away from the heat and just relax in the coastal air! The hotel we stayed at was called Town & Country Resort and was beautiful! At first I was a little worried because after booking it on Priceline, I read many bad reviews. I always book through their "name your own price" bididng option and get really superb deals. This time we paid $60 a night and although I was worried after reading reviews, I was pleasantly surprised. This resort was full of old world charm and had the feel of a quaint bed & breakfast, yet it really was a sprawling resort with a golf course and many restaurants on site. Below are some pics I took of Rachel while waiting to leave for dinner out in front of our hotel room door...the place was covered with rose gardens, fountains, etc.

We headed for Filippi's Pizza Grotto for dinner in Little Italy and were greeted with a line out of the front door. We happily stood in line and enjoyed the weather while waiting.

Rachel had seen the Trolly go by and decided to take the chairs and turn them to resemble the "train"...

She sat and began to yell "ding, ding, ding! All aboarrrrd!!! Are you ready? Get on!!!!" It was hilarious to see the look on folks faces as Rachel was in her own make believe world =)

The "market" we stood in while in line:

After dinner (Oregano's here in Arizona is better by the way) we headed down for a walk near the harbor area. Rachel loved looking at the "Pirate ships":

Saturday morning was cold and foggy, aka "beautiful", and we headed out for SeaWorld, eager to have some fun. Once in the gates we were greeted by a happy otter:

We paid for the all day dining pass so we ate first and then headed for the star fish:

On the sky ride....I got sick! I didn't throw up but was on the verge. Every time the wind would blow and the carrier swayed a bit I would almost lose it. I was having an anxiety attack and couldn't understand it! I ride roller coasters, climb up high mountains and look down...but that sky ride was horrible for me...I think I will pass on those from now on (can I get an "Amen" Chelsea?!):

Josiah was thinking the shows were pretty interesting while Rachel was not too impressed. It wasn't like when we were kids when we got to see the animals DO something besides jump out of the water and back down into it. It is way different now and involved theatrical performances such as professional divers, etc. It was more like a Broadway show over and over again, only with the same plot...jump into the water! LOL Since Rachel has been to a lot of theatrical productions (yes, we're kinda artsy fartsy) she didn't see what the big deal was after the first show, and definately didn't want to sit still for 30 minutes prior (in order to get good seats). We did sit in all of the "splash" zones, and that was lots of fun =)

Since the shows were not Rachel's favorite, we spent a lot of time on Sesame Street where she was able to meet up with some friends of hers:

Pre-show....Starring....Rachel! Are you surprised?! She would stand right in front before the show and literally entertain everyone! Once she was dancing in such a ridiculous fashion that people were laughing and dancing along with her...to HER beat of course =)

At the end of the day, Josiah looked like this:

Of course, by the time we got back to our hotel, we all looked the same =)

 All in all, it was a fun time just to be together and relax.

I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful little family full of love!

Serving God is beautiful...

Ok, so I have had this melody stuck in my head and my heart all morning and I just had to share:
"Serving God is beautiful, serving the King of Kings.
 I serve Him because I love Him you see,
serving God is beautiful to me!
(Copyright, Nelon Music Co. 1986)

If only this could stay in everyones spirit! No matter what today brings, I have determined that serving God is just so beautiful! I am sooooo thankful that even when times are hard AND when times are great, I always have such a beautiful life because of the Lord. Just smile to yourself and say "serving God is so beautiful", trust me, tears of joy most likely will come to your eyes and will make everything worth it all =)

Romans 12:11
"Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;"

Crafty ladies!

Once a month (during non-peak times of the semesters) at ASU me and my coworkers have a "craft lunch". We choose a different craft to do each time and sit down, eat lunch, and visit while we work on our craft. Yesterday we made one of the cutest decorative items! All it takes is a little bit of time to make (about 30 min) if you already have everything prepped. My husband has a machine at the shop he works at that cut out all of the stars for us with wood but you can use paper too. Here is the link with instructions if you're interested: http://www.brownpaper--packages.com/2010/08/flag-blocks.html

Such a fun summer craft!

Josiah's infatuation...

Lately after every church service Josiah loves to find Elder Muth and grab his cane. It is so cute and I just had to share a pic I snapped =)

Memorial day weekend...

I've been meaning to add this post and just haven't had a chance to until now.

My parents came to visit a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun! Of course after they leave Rachel wanders around the house telling us that she needs to "go over the mountains to papa and nana's house"...that's how she explains Texas, it's over the mountains. So this time the day that they left Rachel was in tears and we decided it would be good to get her mind off of it. We went to the Zoo on Monday (Memorial Day) and had lots of fun! We brought a picnic lunch and just enjoyed the day. Rachel made "friends" with one of the goats at the petting zoo area and kept asking to take it home. I was happy to inform her that our HOA does not permit goats, lol. Josiah just took it all in and loved it too =)

When my parents got here on Friday we drove down to Tempe and had dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (love that place!) before driving to the park and ride near there to hop on the lightrail and head downtown Phoenix...our destination was Yogurtini, and just for Rachel to ride the lightrail. We love people watching so we enjoyed the fact that it was late Friday night AND comicon was in town, trust me the "people watching" was very interesting. After yogurt, we headed back to the lightrail station and were just in time to see fireworks happening at the Dbacks game. It was a wonderful evening!

Saturday we went to Encanto park and enjoyed the paddle boats. Poor Papa had Rachel with him and his legs I'm sure were sore after doing all of the paddling! It was fun none-the-less =)

Sunday was a fun day too, I got to hear my daddy preach Sunday night, which is always a treat =)

Hope that you all are enjoying your Summer too!