T minus 10 days and counting

We are now 10 days from The Walk.  I've been preparing my mind and my body and I've got to be honest, I'm still scared to bits!!  Last Saturday we walked just short of 13 miles and I could barely move for 3 days.  I'm so afraid of not making it.  I'm afraid I'll walk too slow and they'll force me to go into the support vehicle to catch up!  I won't do it, I won't go!!  I want to walk from the Draper Temple to the Salt Lake Temple and I don't want help!!!  I'm being stubborn.  I know I am, but this is something I've been working toward all year.  A friend of mine offered to use her fast Sunday in my honor, well actually in honor of all of us walking, and I told her I'd join her.  If anyone is looking for a reason for their fast on Sunday and there is nothing else you can think of, I'll take your prayers... all of them!!  This sounds selfish as I write it, but I know that this is a good thing, and I have such a testimony of it that I want to make sure it's a great experience for everyone involved and I have a testimony that Heavenly Father will carry me when I can't do it myself.  I'll do everything I can to be prepared and ready and rely on Him for the rest.  Good metaphor for life huh??

For Nicole... Michayla's Baptism

Last Saturday Michayla was baptized.  Since Todd and Nicole couldn't make it, they asked me to take some pictures of the kids so they could see them.  They've been living in Arizona for the last almost year, and the last time they visited was New Years, so it's been awhile since they've seen anyone.

Jaydon 2 1/2  and Karson 23 months

Spencer, Karson, and Katie and baby Gardiner due in January

Michayla asked all of her cousins to sing with her.  They sang When I am Baptized with Aunt Katie accompanying.

Malerie 13

Rachel 11 1/2 months

Best friends and cousins, Michayla and Colin-- both 8 (they are 1 month and 3 days apart)

Hailey 5 1/2

Michayla and her daddy

Karson

Kaitlynn almost 11

Tidbits

I know, I know... it's been ages!!  I should be doing dishes!!!  I just wanted to quick share.  I've mentioned  briefly the Temple Walk our young men and young women are doing, from the Draper Temple to the Salt Lake Temple.  Well now we're about six weeks away from the big day and so that means I get to train... a lot!!  We were given a training schedule by the ward that did this last year, and you walk 4 days a week, between 3 and 13 miles.  We've done five 3 milers, three 4 milers, a 6 miler, and an 8 miler.  Tomorrow I have to walk 4, Saturday we are walking 10.  It nearly kills me every time.  That may be a slight exaggeration, but this is the hardest thing I've done in a while.  Last Sunday we had a meeting to get our ward on board to support our effort and we talked about how this experience isn't about walking.  It's about showing our youth that the Temple is important.  It's a metaphor for them to prepare to be worthy to someday enter the Temple and partake of the work and the Spirit there.  It's an opportunity for them to sacrifice and to find out that they can indeed do hard things.  In the midst of teaching them this lesson, I too am learning what it means to sacrifice and to accomplish something hard.  There are a few of our youth and probably some of the leaders that could wake up that Saturday morning and walk 22 1/2 miles with very little thought or preparation.  I am not included in that number.  I can barely walk 3 miles with very little thought or preparation.  Last Saturday, we walked 8.  I'm learning with every week, that even though I think I can't make it, I can.  I may make it a few minutes behind the rest, but I am present and accounted for.  I've been thinking a lot about that.  Each of us is at a different place in our lives.  Each of us is striving to be the best we know how to be, and it doesn't really matter how we do it, or how long it takes... as long as we all end up in the same place in the end.  Holly, our YW president has mentioned before, that like this walk, some of our youth will probably make it to the Temple without much preparation.  They will probably end up in a place in their lives where they are worthy to enter and receive the blessings of the Temple, without having to endure the hard things, but how much stronger will they be if they figure out they can in fact handle hard things.  I believe with all my heart, that those are the kids that are going to endure to the end and make it back to Heavenly Father.  This walk is inspired by John Rowe Moyle, a stonecutter on the Salt Lake Temple, who walked this distance every year for 20 + years and then after being kicked by a cow, walked on a homemade wooden leg, and carved "Holiness to the Lord" on the east wall of the Temple.  There is a movie about him called "Only a Stonecutter."  At the end of the movie, it says "John Rowe Moyle was not just carving words.  He was setting in stone what it was that motivated him to act.  Holiness to the Lord."  I want to be motivated to act by Holiness to the Lord, and that's why I've chosen to do this hard thing.  I believe that this experience will change my life.

The final Alabama post... finally

Okay so let's wrap up May!!!  Wednesday was my last day in Alabama and I had to leave Florence at about 1:30 to catch my plane on time.  It was the day we had to pack in everything else that I wanted to do.  I had no idea that Helen Keller's birthplace was just minutes from Lynae and Tyler, and I decided I'd feel really bad if I didn't take the opportunity to see it.  Tyler went to work and Hannah, Lynae, Camden, and I headed to Tuscumbia to take a bite of history in.  Lynae decided to stay outside with Camden, so Hannah and I went in for the tour.  It's a pretty small house, and I didn't learn a whole lot I didn't know, but it was really fun.  Here's a few pictures:

The house Helen Keller was born in.

 Helen's parent's bedroom, with Helen's dresses hanging in the closet.

 The dining room where the incident with Annie happened. 

 Hannah standing in front of the cottage where Annie and Helen went.  They put Helen in a buggy and drove her around for a few hours and then went to the cottage.  It's about 15 feet from the main house. 

 The famous water pump, where Helen finally spelled "water" to Annie.

 Me, Lynae and Camden

 Lynae and I

After walking around for a little while, we met Tyler for lunch at Ricatonis Italian Grill.

This was the restaurant that Vance said I had to go to before leaving for home.  I asked Cheryl what her favorite was and she said "I can't remember what it's called, but it's got chicken in like a lemon mushroom sauce."  Well that was enough description for me to find it on the menu.

Rotolo di Pollo (al prosciutto e formaggio)  

IT WAS AMAZING!!!  Everyone who gave me suggestions on what to eat, was right on!! It was delightful!! Lemon mushroom sauce is a great idea!!  They also had this AMAZING bread!!  So yummy!!

This is really a terrible picture, but it's the only one I have of everybody.  

When we were done, we went out and I took this picture of the Alabamites!! 

It was nearing time for me to head south to the airport.  Lynae didn't want to take Camden in the car for 5 hours down and back and had an interview with the Bishop before she would make it, so we decided Hannah would take me.  

My last picture with Camden!! I'm missing this face!!!

Lynae asked if I'd mind driving to Birmingham so Hannah only had to drive one way.  I told her I didn't mind, but we'd need Kiki Von Garmin, to tell us where to go.  She hooked it up and I had fun following the directions.  I need to get me a Kiki.  We got to the airport safely and I bid farewell to Alabama!

A big shout out to Lynae and Tyler for letting me crash their house for a few days, and to Hannah for sleeping on the floor in the living room and letting me sleep in her bed.  It was probably one of the best vacations I've ever had!! Love you guys!!

Alabama: Tuesday

On Tuesday, Lynae had to go to work for a little while in the morning and then she and Tyler had an appointment for life insurance.  Hannah and I got Camden up and ready and waited for Lynae to come and pick us up.  We were going to go with them to the life insurance place so that we could go to lunch before Tyler had to go back to work.  Lynae ended up being late from work so Camden and I entertained ourselves with little kid youtube videos.  Camden really likes this one version of Old McDonald Had A Farm, and while it was annoyingly 2 year old, it was pretty cute.  When he (I) got bored with that I went to the Boowa and Kwala website and played silly songs from that and he really seemed to like that.  When Lynae got there, we left to go get Tyler and Camden and I waited in the car while they went in to the life insurance place.  Due to some technical difficulties, it ended up taking much longer than either of them thought it would, and there is only so much you can do to entertain an eighteen month old in the car, so I pulled out the camera.  Here is the result of two people trying their best to be entertained:

Camden took this picture of himself.

When Lynae and Tyler came out, we headed off to Singletons BBQ.  I figured that as long as I was in the South I'd better fit in as much barbecue as I could.

At Singleton's you order your meat and sides and then they have different sauces on your table and  you go wild.  I had pork and chicken and Tyler recommended his favorite sauce and it was delightful!!  Seriously, aside from the company; the best thing about Alabama was the food!!  After Singleton's we went home to put Camden down for a nap and Tyler headed back to work.  Camden doesn't sleep if it's at all noisy, so Lynae and I were really careful to be quiet.  We grabbed the computer and watched the latest episode of The Bachelorette.  Hannah came home and Camden woke up after only sleeping for about an hour.  It was kind of evident to us that he wasn't done sleeping, but he wouldn't go back to sleep.  Lynae said she'd pack up the house for our next round of adventures if Hannah would take me to get the car from Tyler on her way to work.  I memorized the route so I could find the house again, and successfully drove back.  We had decided that day to go to the visiting center and the 5 star Marriott Hotel where Hannah works and to see the fountains.  The point of the visiting center was to see if I could find a souvenir.  I found some free maps and a pen that writes better than any pen I've ever written with.  I love free souvenirs!!

After the visiting center, we took Camden out to the playground and to the fountains.  It's a lot like the fountains at the Gateway mall in Salt Lake, but much bigger.  I am a total failure, and left my camera in the car, so there is no picture evidence, but it was funny!  We hadn't put him in his swimsuit, and so it was like a joke trying to keep him from getting in too far.  We only had one moment when he went running and I had to go running after him, and so resulted in a little soakage, but not too bad.  We laughed about it, and headed back to the playground!  After we left the hotel, Lynae wanted to stop by one of her visiting teaching ladies that lived near there, so we turned on Kiki von Garmin (the GPS system) to find her house.  After a quick stop we decided to head into town and visit Cupcakes and Co.  We'd seen it a few days before, but it had been closed for the holiday.  The lady at the visiting center told us they had happy hour from 4 till 5 every day and so the cupcakes were buy one get one free.  It smelled amazing when we walked in.  They had 6 different kinds and we decided that for 2 for 1 we'd try all 6.  There was strawberry, M&M, red velvet, white, triple chocolate, and my personal favorite, Mississippi Mud.  We grabbed some forks and some water, and went at it.  We each took a few bites of all of them, and then took the leftovers to Tyler.  The only one we didn't really like was the Red Velvet.  It was really dry.  And like I said before the favorite (for me anyway) was the Mississippi Mud.  It was more like a brownie than a cupcake and had lots of chocolate and marshmallows and YUM!!!

Camden and I trying the Strawberry one ( I think this was Tyler's favorite)

Our "Six" cupcakes   The strawberry one was already on our plate!

The spoils.  

For the record, Camden's favorite part was just the mini M&M's from the top of the M&M one.  

After Cupcakes and Co. we went to get Tyler from work so we could go to dinner.  Like I said before, the food was one of the best things about this trip and our choice for Tuesday night did not disappoint.  We ended up at the local Mexican place, Rosie's Cantina.  Jocelyn told me that we needed to go there and since the Cinnamon ice cream with chocolate chips experience, I don't doubt what Jocelyn tells me.  It was DELICIOUS!!!  I ordered Pollo Fiesta!  I think Lynae was jealous!  It was so good!!

After dinner, we had about an hour to kill before Lynae and Tyler's softball game so we drove around and saw some fun sites.  There is this park right near the river.  I took some pretty cool pictures.  Apparently it used to be a golf course, but anytime the river ran high, it got flooded so they just turned it into a park.

I really liked these cliffs reflecting in the water... it was a really cool view. 

They had all these teepees set up.  Tyler took Camden on Saturday while Lynae and I were at the temple.  Pretty cool!

There was something about the bridge and the cliffs and the water.  So pretty!

We also drove to The Rosenbaum house.  It was designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  I thought it was a little weird.

We headed to the ball park where it was evident that Camden was overly tired.  It was hot and humid and he was so cranky.  He was super sweaty, so Lynae gave him a new spiky hair do.  It was pretty funny.

Anytime Lynae and Tyler went to field or bat he'd throw a fit.  It was hard to take care of him when all he wanted was mama.  If I had it to do all over again, I'd encourage them to take Camden and I home and I would have put him to bed while they played.

 However, if I had done that I wouldn't have gotten these cool sunset pictures.

After a win, and a complete melt down from Camden, we headed home to put him to bed.  As soon as he was settled and Tyler was talked into staying with him (not that that took much), Lynae and I headed back to Ice Cream Corner.  It was actually closed when we got there, but they stayed open to take a few more orders.  Lynae was in the mood for something refreshing, so ended up mixing orange pineapple ice cream with orange sherbet in a waffle bowl, and I got Coconut cream pie in a waffle bowl.  It was so amazing.  Cheryl called while we were out, and was very jealous of us. We told her we'd be sure to have a few bites for her.

This is their mailbox.  It made me giggle!

After our ice cream binge, we headed home.  We sat in the car in the garage for a while and talked about some stuff.  Besides the food, the other thing I miss is just being able to talk to Lynae about anything.  I know I could call her, and chat, but it's just not the same.  While we were talking in the garage Tyler came out and told us he was tired, and ready for bed, but we wanted to play a game.  Hannah came home and we played 5 phases of Phase 10, which I think Tyler won.  Surprise, surprise!!  It was a long day, but very fun and we went to bed exhausted and sad that there was only one more day.