Montana Mountain

A Rhino ride is one of the few reasons I will wake up extra early and be ok with it! We met up with Austin, Marcie, Aaron and Camille and caravanned together to the make shift parking lot! Then we all hopped in our off roading vehicles (a jointer for austin & marcie, a quad for aaron and camille and a rhino for us) and were off! It was definitely more off roadish than 4 Peaks...we went through a wash and over rocks!  It was so fun! It was kind of scary riding up to the top of the hill because the trail was small with a cliff on the other side of us so we had to go slow! We hung out at the top and followed Aaron in his dust on the way back! We ran into some puddles, got muddy and saw a snake but it was so nice to have good weather and be done with a ride by mid morning!

4 Peaks

We have ridden up to 4 Peaks a couple of time but this time we took pictures! Aaron and Camille joined us! We made it to the top by dark time and the city always looks amazing from up there! The moon also looked amazingly eerie behind us as it lit up the lake!

We saw tons of tarantulas on the trial all the way there and back! 

Anyone that knows me very well (mostly Kirk :) knows that I can NOT keep my eyes open for pictures in the dark! We tried on our honeymoon and I couldnt do it! Look here 

Bonus pics :)

I still cant...but Im learning! Aaron told me to focus just left of the camera, not to look straight into the light! You think at 24 I would have figured that out by now!

Kirk's 25th Birthday

Originally Kirk was going to be gone on his birthday so I had a surprised party planned when he would return but since he was home I canceled it and had to scramble a little bit!

When we woke up we got ready and I took him to The Aesthetic Institute and Laser Sciences school to get a couples hot stone massage! We waited in the lobby for our appointment and I noticed a student had walked out of the classroom with her back pack on and walked right into the Administrator's office! I heard her yell at the Director and say something about how someone treated her like an 18 year old and she wasnt coming back until that person was fired! She stormed out and while she was walking through the lobby she said "good luck with your facials...this is the most unprofessional schools ive ever been to!"

I figured every school has disgruntled students and doesnt mean the other students arent good at what they do so we went ahead with our appointments! We both got an hour massage and it was so nice!
Afterwards we met Austin, Aaron and Camille at Ned's Krazy Sub for lunch! We love Ned's!

Kirk's sandwich slipped off the table into a big mess on the floor!

We stopped at Austin's house real quick to check out his new Jointer then I went to work for a bit! When I got done we went to RA for sushi! We love sushi...have I told you that before? We love sushi!

Then we snuck...I mean...walked into the Hyatt in Scottsdale and swam in their pools for a little while! They have such fun pools, a couple hot tubs, a sand beach and free towels!

To end the night we went to the Sugar Bowl ice cream shop in down town Scottsdale! Its a cute place and really good! So many different ice cream treats and sundays to choose from!
Yummy! Go there!

Friday night we went to Sam and Cherri's house for dinner with everyone for Kirk's birthday! It's always fun when we all get together!

 Kirk is so cute to make Tristan a balloon! He LOVES balloons!

My husband is HOME!!

After I got home from California Kirk was getting tired of being in Louisiana! He worked so hard this summer working 6 days a week, from the meeting every day at 12 until late at night, never getting a summer vacation and starting right when school ended in May! The original plan was to leave Saturday, August 17 and be home by Sunday the 18 to start school Monday! Kirk couldnt wait that long!

Saturday the 10th Kirk went to work at 9am and called me while he was at lunch with the guys at a BBQ place! After work he went to the movies with the guys and called me after around 1230! The next morning he started heading home, midday he told me he had just made it to the other side of Dallas and had booked a hotel for the night closer to New Mexico! 

Later that day he said he was going through a security check point for border patrol...which I thought was a little weird because he couldnt have driven that far south in that short of time!

Sunday afternoon I was invited to have dinner at Sam and Cherri's house and help make dinner! On my way up there while I was on the freeway Kirk called me! I told him I was headed to dinner and he said "i think you should go home"...I said what? He said "you should just skip it and go home". I said "Im going to stay the night at your parents house why would I go home?" and he said "because you should just sleep at home tonight." So I told him "I dont want to sleep alone" and he said "what if I told you, you wouldnt be alone..."

I was a little confused at first but then I realized that meant Kirk would be HOME!! So I said "are you going to be home? Are you serious? Where are you?" haha Kirk said he was just on the other side of Phoenix and would be home in about 30 mins! I was SO excited! He told me to leave dinner ASAP and meet him at home!

So while I was helping with dinner I told Blair "I have to go home real quick...I forgot something" and she said "no dont go home, we can do without whatever you forgot." I was so excited that I just snuck right out without saying another word and raced down the freeway home!

I was SOOOO excited to see Kirk and give him a big hug! We hung out for a little bit by ourselves then drove together to dinner! When we walked in I heard everyone say "oh Whitney's back" then Annalee and Phoebe ran to the door and yelled "KIRKY!!" so everyone came to the door and gave Kirk a hug! They were all so surprised! Im glad he got to spend some time at home to relax before school started and got to spend the week with Casey, Kimber and Maxson!

I could not be happier that my husband is home!!

Cali Video

Pictures say a thousand words...I think videos can say a thousand and one! Enjoy!

California Love

Thursday morning Sam, Cherri and I woke up early and left for California! The ride was fun we talked a lot, tried to stop for ice cream at a shop that ended up being closed, got to know each other, Sam slept and got frosty's at Wendy's!

Sam didnt like the sun on him so he used the sun shade like a blanket!

 Once we finally got to Newport we stopped at Jan and Jim's house but they werent home! We drove to the Newport Temple and found a Chipotle to eat dinner at! We drove aimlessly, found the beach, walked around the pier and near Balboa Island! We got a call from Jim that they were home so we headed over to say hi and drop off our stuff! 

 Jan insisted we go to Balboa Island and get frozen bananas at the original shop! They were so good and all the shops on Balboa Island were so cute! To get off the island we drove the car on to a ferry boat and it took us across the water! Im kind of leery of boats but it was really cool! We pulled up to the dock next to a party that was going on inside a big boat where people were drinking, dancing and throwing up over the sides! haha

The next day Logan and Blair showed up with the girls! Jim also left to pick up an old Japanese exchange student that was coming to visit them for a while! They hadnt seen her since 1982!

She was fascinated by Annalee and Phoebe and tried her best the next few days to get a good picture of them but each time they would shy away! 

We swam at their house and hung out and talked! Their cousin Coralyn came over one night to hang out...it was fun getting to know her! 

Jim cooked up breakfast and dinner every day! It was pretty awesome! 

Friday we went to Acapulco for lunch! It was a good Mexican buffet! 

Afterwards we walked around the Newport pier and beach!

While at the beach, I was playing with Annalee and Phoebe in the sand and they chucked it all over me...down my shirt, in my hair and in my mouth! 

Saturday we got up and went to a different beach! We spent a couple hours there it was pretty fun! It was right by a train track and it would come every 20 mins or so and blow its horn! Ive never seen a track right off the beach! Casey, Kimber and Maxson also joined us! 

Sunday we got up, got ready for church, took some pics and headed to the closest church building! Half the ward was visitors and some were fellow Arizonians! After church we packed things up, Jim gave the boys a ride in his vintage VW bug, and I rocked Maxson to sleep! He's so sweet!

We also spent a couple of our nights playing cards! I learned some of the games are a big deal for the Woodruff's and I must learn them soon to be a part of their fun!

 

Sunday afternoon we left for the resort about an hour away in Carslbad! 

Monday we spent the day at the beach! I got pretty sunburned on Saturday so I tried to take it easy...which wasnt hard because it was overcast and a little chilly! 

I took one of Kirk's hats in his memory!

 I tried for a good 30 minutes to teach Phoebe the ways of selling and purchasing...

I would say "Phoebe I would like to buy the markers you have" and I would give her 3 fake dollars! Then she would ask for my coloring book and I would say "that will be 5 dollars."

I thought she was getting the hang of it but when I asked how much her crayons were she said "umm...free"

I said "no Phoebe, I would like to BUY them...how much money is it?" 

She would say "um their free...free dollars" 

(and no, she wasnt saying 3, she can say 3 perfectly fine!)

She gave me everything I wanted for free while I charged her double to have everything back!

One day Phoebe...one day!

I did, however, teach her about services and that if she rubbed my feet I would give her 50 cents!

Annalee wanted in on that action and also got 50 cents for rubbing my feet!

The last thing we did on Monday was have a little bonfire...and by bonfire I mean little flame inside a BBQ! Can you believe they took out all the firepits and put up signs that said "no fires"??

So we improvised and it turned out fine! 

Side note: do not use extra extra large marshmallows...they will need to be cooked one layer at a time!

Tuesday we spent some time driving to Laguna Beach, swimming in the resort pool and packing up! We had dinner and left around 6pm! The girls slept most of the way home since it was dark and Annalee had her first day of school the next morning! 

Logan, Blair and I talked and talked and talked....

It was fun! They dropped me off just after midnight! 

Im so glad I got to go it was fun!