My Mountain

Ahg, only two more days till Thanksgiving and I still need to do 3 more posts after this.

I just might do all 3 tomorrow since I am working and I know it will be slow.

So look forward to a lot of goodness.

Back in the end of September Dave wanted to escape the heat and do something that he has never done since he has been in AZ.

I came up with the idea to visit Safford, hike Mt. Graham and do a temple session.

He was all over that since his little goal was to do a session in the temples of AZ.

So we pack up the car for a weekend of happiness.

We did invite others but one by one they all backed out.

So it was just he and I.

Luckily we can be with each other and not feel we have to entertain the other person.

We first stopped in Miami to partake of Burger House.

He thought it was ok.

Clearly he has issues.

We get to Safford and we stay with my Grandparents.

While there he found a picture of me in our huge family photo that was taken forever ago.

The day that I was sick and throwing up between each shot.

Family will know what picture I am talking about.

Anyways, he takes a picture of it (without my knowledge)

and sends it to all my friends.

Thanks Dave!

Yes, I was in my awkward stage back then and have yet to grow out it.

Head to the temple for a session

Such a gorgeous temple.

Afterwards we change to go hiking.

Dad was such a help and told us what would be the best hike that I could do without dying.

The weather was beautiful and the drive up Mt. Graham just brought back so many memories.

I was so happy to be back home.

The hike wasn't too bad, the only thing that was a little sad was the burnt trees from the fire.

Still there is something pretty about burnt trees in the midst of a blue sky and green brush.

He hiked to the towers (also more memories flood back)

and just sat enjoying the view and talked.

I love spending time with that boy.

Too bad he is leaving next month.

The trip was fun and relaxing.

Glad I got be home, see family and be a part of nature.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for letting us stay at your house.

Thank you Dad for lending us your map and for suggesting a beautiful hike.

Everyone else missed out.

Looking down on the valley

I think that is pretty

Taking a little break

Even sitting that boy is posing

Where we hiked to

Our only picture together

Gorgeous

We need a picture with map.
That map was so old and I almost had to "get in map"

Gila Valley Temple

Gratitude Rocks!!

- Howard Keel's voice (yum), missionaries, memories, pictures, Thursday's feast, vacations, Kara's heart leaping for joy

"We're off to the see the world"

I am still playing catch up.

I hope to be all done with this before Thanksgiving.

That is my ultimate goal.

Well maybe not the ultimate.

I do have bigger goals in my life that have far more importance.

Ever been up in a hot air balloon?

I have and it was thrilling!

My dear friend Brian, Dave's brother, celebrated a birthday and this is what we did.

We got a great deal from groupon and jumped on the band wagon.

We started our event with style viewing the classic cartoon

"The Chipmunk Adventure"

My post title is from a song from the movie :)

I'm happy to have friends that enjoy the same cheesy crap that I do.

The next morning we met with the crew and other passengers.

Watching the balloon get blown up is pretty cool.

It does take awhile and so we all just either took pictures or watched in awe.

Finally we got up in the balloon and off we went.

It was so peaceful and serene

I could have been up there forever.

However I did get vertigo.

I am not afraid of heights and love to do crazy things.

I went sky diving for heavens sake!

So because I got vertigo, I had to sit in the bottom of the basket.

Sad that I missed about 15 min of the ride

but better that than pass out completely.

Landing was a bit fun and wasn't scary out all.

We did freak out though, cause a neighboring balloon had a pretty rough landing.

They fed us breakfast and gave us a traditional Irish toast.

So I definitely recommend going up in a hot air balloon.

And a little tip, don't look straight down too much.

Look at the horizon and you won't get vertigo :)

Yours Truly, Brian and Dave in front of the van that would take us to the take-off area

In front of our balloon

Such a cool sight

Trying to recuperate from vertigo

Charly, Brian, Katie, Yours Truly and Dave
The woman on the side tried to get out the picture but all we got were her boobs
haha. She was a nice lady & celebrating her bday

Getting Brian's free dozen at Krispy Kreme

Celebrating Brian's birthday wasn't over.

We went to Wet 'N Wild for a couple of hours, dinner at Cheesecake Factory that night and to a huge dance at an airport hangar.

This day was filled with 2 wonderful men and met some really great people.

Thank you Brian for letting me crash out your house and for inviting me to celebrate the day of your birth. It was so much fun!!



Birthday Boy

Gratitude Rocks!!
- reassurance that my lesson was good, the fact that my AC is off, wedding receptions (I know, strange), hot chocolate, playing new games, dollar theater movies, FHE

The Beauty That Is All Around Me

Zion's National Park

That place is so beautiful

At times though I wanted to leave and never return

Dave and I were reminiscing the other day,

he asked me my favorite and least favorite part of that trip.

I answered, "I hated the third hike we did but I loved that I finished it."

While we were there, we saw 2 shows at Tuacahn

The Little Mermaid and Grease

TLM was amazing!

So very creative and magical

What Disney creation is not magical?

Grease was good too.

I love all the old cars that were all over the stage

It was nice weekend away from the heat and spent with some really great friends.

Now enjoy the many photos that I had to narrow down.

Ryan and I at the end of our 1st hike

Kristen, Dave, Ryan, Troy and Yours Truly

Love this view

Kristen is terrified of heights.
It took a lot to get her to take this photo with me as you can tell

I don't know who snapped this, maybe Dave.
I was enjoying some alone time taking in the beauty

We had to leave Dave at the bottom of our 2nd hike, his knee was killing him
I got control of his camera and snapped these.
Troy, Ryan and Kristen

That's right, I snapped this gorgeous pix

Troy, Kristen, Yours Truly and Ryan

We saw a lot of wildlife
We were coming down the hike and saw a deer.

Kristen and I

We met up with Ellen and Lindsay later the 1st day
Here we are at the beginning of TLM
Ellen, Lindsay, Troy and Dave

Ryan, Yours Truly and Kristen
I was actually sick during that night
I fell asleep during the performance, whoops

The stage with the gorgeous natural background

Us with Prince Eric and Ariel after the show

Getting ready to load the bus to what I like to call our "Death Hike"

The boys were already ahead of us on the many switchbacks
Yours Truly, Ellen and Kristen

Lovely

You can see in this photo a little part of the switchbacks that we had to climb
Kill me now! Kill me now.

After many many many stops and 3 hours later I made it to the top
People were actually cheering for me that I didn't know
I got a little choked up, I admit

What I climb up a mountain to see

The whole crew
Lindsay, Ellen, Ryan, Kristen, Dave, Yours Truly and Troy

We like craziness

The boys and I

The gals

Coming back down which was such a breeze
I need to find a hike that is downhill both ways, haha

Resting for a bit

You can already see the joy on my face that the "Death Hike" is almost done

Finished and happy as I can be

We went to Iceberg before we headed to Grease
Yummy shakes and a friend that teases me to no end

We had to stop to see the St. George Temple

Ryan had to leave so it's just the 3 of us

Dave, Lindsay, Yours Truly, Ellen, Kristen and Troy

I loved Tuacahn and can't wait to go see more shows

The gals

On the way home we stopped at some bridge that Ellen wanted to see
Definitely beautiful. I love the red rock

This is funny. We walk into the bathroom and see that the stalls are super short
So weird to see heads pop up when us women were done.
Love the face Kristen!

So much fun and memories that I will always love and cherish

I love being in nature cause you see Christ's love for us with his creation

Thanks Dave for putting this together :)

Gratitude Rocks!!

- knowing that a good friend is serving a mission in Iowa and one leaving soon to Wisconsin (those people are so lucky and blessed), time, my new calling of teaching RS, the brilliant minds behind making the Disney movies (love singing to all those songs)