More traveling fun!

So, I have been doing a lot of introspecting (is introspecitve a word with "ing" at the end?) about who I am lately! It seems like I go through this little stage quite often! It's not that I am unhappy with who I am, it's quite the opposite, I just feel like sometimes other people don't get to know WHO I really am! I am always trying to act like someone else because I always think someone is much more exciting, or classy, or smarter, or prettier or just EVEYTHING better than me! K, that really does sound like I am unhappy with myself, but I swear I am not! I've decided to kind of turn my blog into more of a journal now though because of this! I want to be me and let people know WHO I really am! So, I am apologizing now for some of the boring posts that I will most definately publish on my blog, but I am excited to start something new!
First off though, I know that I said that I was done traveling for a while. Well...apparently I was wrong! Friday afternoon (I think) my friend Raquel called and asked "are you going to stake relief society temple day tomorrow?" I replied "I don't have a babysitter for Grant but I will see what I can do"! I remembered that I had been talking to my mom and she had mentioned how very much she missed "monkey" and wanted to meet me in Vernal some time to see him! *Note to all planning on bearing children in the future, once they come along, you are only good for one thing anymore in the eyes of your parents. Providing visitations of the grandkids! Don't take it offensively, it's just the way the cookie crumbles!
Back to my story, so I hung up the phone with Raquel and called my mother who is the most gracious human being in the world! She didn't even question the fact that she would have to leave her casa at 7 am to meet me in Vernal by nine!
So, I called Raquel back and us (and a few other ladies in my ward) left the next morning bright and early for the pulchritudinous Vernal temple! It was such a great experience! I haven't had the opportunity to visit the temple in such a long time! You forget how great it can be!
After leaving the temple, we went to the park for a picnic where I met up with my cousin Tash and her adorable baby boy Stetson! He was the chubbiest baby I think I have ever seen! You can't tell from the pictures but being only 6 months old, he weighs as much as Grant! He was also just a sweet sweet little guy! It was great to see Tash too! We haven't seen eachother in AGES!
Can I just say also that I have the GREATEST ward in the world! I absolutely love everyone in it and we all do so many fun things together! It seems as though most of the women in my ward are in the same situation as me! I think tax forms explain it pretty well, married but claiming single, accept for us it's single claiming married! Most of our husbands are ALWAYS gone with work and it seems like no one has family here either so we all really depend on eachothers friendship!
For example, every month, we have a girls night out and this month it was at my house! Lucky me! No, I actually really love doing things like that! I am kind of an attention hog! My good friend Raquel came to that also! You have to know Raquel, she is just as hyper and crazy as me (accept I think she is WAY less annoying)! I just love the girl to death! We had to laugh at Girl's Night about the fact that it's kind of hard for other people to get a word in with the two of us around! We had such a great night...and early morning! We stayed up til about 2 AM talking! Well, enough writing and on to the fun pictures! Hope you enjoy them! Melissa, Bonnie, Raquel, Me, and Jen! All of them some of the most amazing women I have ever met! Once again, my pictures are out of order!
We also had brownies and drinks and stuff set up but I didn't take a picture!

Fun little cake thingies I made! I have to say they turned out extremely cute!

This was at the beginning of the night! Quite a few more people showed up later!
My mamacita!

There's NO place like home!!!

First off, Grant is officially 18 months! I cannot believe it! We changed his bed into a "Big Boy" bed and he slept all night in it! I just put him in and he was out! Hopefully all my bragging doesn't ruin everything!

Next, my cousin Alicia and her family came up and visited us! It was so much fun! I always love when she comes up, even though for some reason whenever we get together, our kids are INSANE! This was after an eventful time at IHOP (where we had the creepiest waiter in the world that said they had been out of waffles for SEVEN months!) It was so cute! They all conked out the same direction!

Anyways...so FINALLY, I am home and hopefully for a few weeks! I am totally traveled out! This may have been my craziest summer ever! I won't get into it all! Anyways, I just got home from Sheridan, Wyoming! My good friend Lindsey is from there and has always wanted me to go! She is always trying to convince me that there really are pretty parts of Wyoming. Anyways...she got work off and we headed up! What should have been a 6 hour trip turned into TWELVE hours! It was pretty crazy but we definately had a lot of fun! On the way up, we stopped at a part of the Oregon Trail! We also stopped at South Pass, which apparently, is a pass in the south of Wyoming that the pioneers went through! It's also an old mining town! Gold mines of all things! It was way fun to see everything! They have restored all of the old houses and shops! Here are some pictures and I will continue my story underneath them! This was in South Pass City! It was SOOO cold! Lindsey and I bought matching hoodies! Poor Grant didn't have a hoody because we didn't think it would be cold, it's August for Heaven's Sake, but anyways...the lady at the shop felt bad and ran out and gave me this sweater for him for free! What a kind person!
This is one of the gold mines you drive past on your way into the city!
Here are Grant and I posing in front of the sign that says you are on the Oregon Trail!



This is Lindsey's little girl, Lydia, who is also Grant's best friend, well, only friend really! ha ha!
Here they are collecting rocks at South Pass! Everytime we stopped, both of them had to grab a handful!


This is in Sheridan on Main Street! I have to say, the Main Street there is ballin'! There were so many cute boutiques and things!
This is at Lindseys mom's shop! It's a kitchen store and therefore has a kitchen for kids to play with! Look at what a gentleman my little Grant is! Getting dinner ready for Lydia!
Lydia giving Grant a "Bear Hug" or "Bear Strangle" as I like to call it! Poor Grant had a HORRIBLE time! I cut his eye on the tv stand. He had a big bumb on the back of his head where Lydia lost control with her "Bear Strangle" and they fell back and hit the entertainment center! Then, at church, Grant and I were leaving and he whacked his head on the cement and had a nice road rash! Also, he fell off the bed in the middle of the night! Which, it was a REALLY REALLY high bed!
Here is another picture at South Pass! I struggle with the order of things sometimes!
More South Pass!
We stopped at Independence Rock on the way home! I was so excited to get to stop at all these places! I went about four years ago with our Stake but I did NOT want to be there and didn't pay attention to anything! I have always completely regretted that and have wanted to go again so badly!
Grant and Lydia are sitting on Independence Rock!


Here is an awful picture of Devil's Gate! We didn't really get to stop there! It's actually like right across the street from Independence Rock!


Here is the sign that leads into Martin's Cove! We didn't have the chance to take the little walk up to the cove, which I wish we would have, but being near it, well, it's a really surreal feeling!
Here is a post that marks part of the Oregon trail! You can still even see the road a little bit!
Grant hanging out on Independence Rock!

Reading Frenzy

So, I have been on this crazy reading kick lately! I really really love to read and there are just so many awesome books out there! I swear that I live at the library! I also really love to read best sellers to see what all the buzz is about! It has to be good if it's on top of the New York Time's best sellers list. I also love to read classics! Anyways...here are some of the books I've read and I will write something under each of them telling you my opinion on it! Maybe it will spark your interest and maybe you'll think this is lame! Who knows! I really liked the "Twilight" series. I wouldn't say that I LOVED it though (I'm just not a huge romantic kind of girl. I also just really love Stephanie Meyer as a person because 1. she's LDS 2. She's from Phoenix and 3. She went to BYU)! I just read the last book "Breaking Dawn" and the beginning of the book was AWESOME! I couldn't put it down. All the way until towards the middle and then it slowed down a little! It picked up again towards the end but it wasn't what I expected! I wouldn't say I was disappointed by any means, it was really good, just different than I thought! Over all, I'd give it two thumbs up!
This book was SOOO good! It depressed me for pretty much the entire day after I read it though! The things that the people go through back in the Middle East was really brought to my attention and it really gave me a whole different outlook about the war in Iraq, even though this book takes place in Afghanistan! I actually listened to this book on cd's which I recommend because the author is the one narrating it and you get to hear all the pronunciations of the names! Definite two thumbs up!
Jane Eyre...I'm sad to say that I had the hardest time finishing this book! It's good and all, I mean it's a classic, I'm just not a big romantic sort of girl! I'd give it one thumb up!
I really like this book! It's actually a series! So far I have only read the first but it was way good! The librarian recommended it to me after reading the Twilight series! So, if you like Twilight, you'll probably really enjoy this! It's a two thumber!
The Giver! Wow, what an awesome book! It really left a lot on my mind after reading it! It was completely not what I expected but also exceeded my expectations! Definite two thumbs!
His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman! This is where the movie "The Golden Compass" comes from! I read the whole trilogy this month and have to say it was a complete disappointment! The first was way way good, the second, bored me to tears, and the third was just plain WEIRD! I don't recommend it at all! It's really religious and makes God into this horrid, evil tyrant, who lies and deceipts and manipulates! Two thumbs DOWN!
I was really skeptical about this series! When I checked out the first one, I didn't know what it was and then found out it was the first book in "The Women's Murder Club" series! I had seen previews for the show on tv and it looked SOOOO lame! But I have to say the books were great! They really had me going kind of crazy! I do have to say that they swear a lot in it! If these were rated as a movie, it would be a definate PG-13! But, I would give the whole series two thumbs up!

Memory Tag

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.