Monday, December 21, 2009

Sedona Arizona- it's a long entry!

Our latest adventure was going to Sedona Arizona for a week with some dear friends of ours.We left Friday morning before Thanksgiving and flew home Thanksgiving morning. When we left Friday it was raining in Houston, so Jon dropped all the luggage off at the passenger drop off and then I got Allie and my backpack out of the car. One problem; my backpack was in the front and I had been in the back with Allie and as I grabbed it in a rush somehow it must have locked the doors! So we started the trip off with our keys locked in the car, car running, no spare keys, Jon's phone in the car, plane leaving in 35 minutes, and a AAA guy coming 1hour and 45 minutes later! I had to get on the plane with Allie because we were meeting our friends Andy and Lorena (who flew out of Intercontinental) an hour after our flight landed. Plus, our flight was non-stop and the other ones were not and Allie had JUST gotten over an ear infection. I had not planned on flying solo with Allie and although she did great; she didn't scream or cry, she was non the less a handful on a full flight!
Jon missed the next two flights to Phoenix, but flew to Austin in hopes of flying standby from there as the next available one in Houston would arrive at 6pm that night! He got very lucky and was first on the standby list and was able to get on a flight and arrive 1 1/2 hours after Andy and Lorena got there. So, luckily Allie took a nap while we waited (she was exhausted) and then she crawled all over the place at the airport. BUT we all made it before 2pm!
We did a Diner, Drive-Ins, and Dives tour on the trip and we went to 3 of the places featured on his shows(one in Phoenix and 2 in Flagstaff)! We used our Time share to get a 2 bedroom place at the Hyatt in Sedona and it was fabulous! Lorena is SO good with Allie and we LOVE getting to hang out with her! They even visited us the first night Allie was born, which makes them in the family category! She taught Allie how to make the "bbbbb" sound with her hand on her mouth, which Allie loves to do all the time now. Click on link to see video http://www.youtube.com/jonklub#p/u/2/oZqXHtQPw7w They also watched her one night so Jon and I could go out by ourselves-Thank you! Jon wanted to see how Allie would look if she was Mrs. Washington!Jon also taught Allie how to flip backwards and she loves doing it. Click on hte link to see a fun video of her. http://www.youtube.com/jonklub#p/u/0/Lwu_eXMEuZwOur first full day, we did a short hike down to the creek.

We did the Devil's bridge hike another day which is really cool because you can walk out on the arch. The weather was great, cool during the day and then once the sun went down, it was cold!
We had to plan our hikes around Allie's naps, so we didn't get started on this one until about 3.Look at the rock formation we are sitting on- it is actually a bridge!
Allie wanted to do a little rock climbing on her own!We also took a day trip to the Grand Canyon which is about 2 1/2 hours away. It was in the 20's that day and VERY cold! I knew it was going to be cold- that that was a little too cold for my liking!
While we were standing here, I overheard the girl next to me ask the guy she was with "So all this was made by the Colorado River?" I thought it was appropriate for me to answer her-while talking loudly to Allie; "If a river made the canyon Allie, shouldn't there be lots of canyons where there are rivers?" "Good thing GOD knew what he was doing!" You really have to be crazy to believe that a river formed the caynon when you are looking at the enormous size of it!
About 5 minutes into our hike down into the canyon Allie fell asleep and she started snoring loudly! It was so funny because I have never heard her snore and she doesn't sleep unless she is in her crib or sometimes in her car seat. But she was exhausted and we had her all bundled up. Below is a link to see a short clip from Jon's IPHONE (I didn't have a proper hat for Allie at the time!) http://www.youtube.com/jonklub#p/u/1/68-rjCx1ntM

You can see the trail that you take to walk down into the canyon. We only went about 45 minutes down because the sun was setting and it was getting COLD and dark.The Wards taking their own trail down!Allie loved being in her backpack and would rock back and forth in it if we put her on the ground in it; which was her way of saying "Let's go!"As we were leaving, we saw a bunch of Elk just hanging out- they were obviously used to people being around.Lunch stop to get food for our picnic.Our third hike in Sedona, about 4 miles round trip.
Jon, Andy a, and Lorena went on the PINK jeep tour one evening and said they had a blast. I think Jon just wanted to ride in a pink vehicle! Allie and I stayed home as she was too young and I don't like off-roading in jeeps!
This is Allie on our drive home from the airport. we had to get up at 4:30 to drive to Phoenix to catch a 7am flight home and of course she woke up at 4 and only slept in the car for about an hour and she doesn't sleep on the plane! We got home Thanksgiving morning and then Jon went to the A&M ut game in College Station. It was a great trip!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Houston missed the Global Warming memo!

Last week, the weather man had been predicting snow for Friday- yes, SNOW in Houston in early December! Jon was very sceptic and didn't believe that it would get cold enough, but I had hope... Allie and I left to go grocery shopping mid morning and when we left it was raining and every so often a bit of snow would come down.
When we left HEB, it was really snowing! Unfortunately this picture doesn't do it justice and it came down even harder as I was loading the groceries! It was so weird to be driving in snow- and it was REALLY snowing hard- so cool! Allie was not too impressed when we got home and was more excited about getting her bottle and taking a nap than going outside in the cold again. The snow didn't stick too much in the yard because of our huge trees, but there was still snow in our hanging plants the next day!
Yesterday the weather here was in the mid 70's and it was so humid! You never know from day to day what will happen with Houston weather!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

The whole gang.
Klubnik familyMiller family This year, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving day while everyone else was out fighting the crowds on black Friday. We went out of town to Sedona Arizona the week before and flew home Thanksgiving morning. So, instead of trying to cram everything into one day and not have extended family be a part of it; we switched days! Jon actually benefited from it b/c he got to go to the Aggie game in College Station that night with a friend!
We had a great time with family and I enjoy having everyone over- especially since I delegate most of the dishes out to them! :O) (highly recommend it!) We even got to have a girl's game night because the guys all went to a Rocket's Game to celebrate Jim's b-day (Jon's dad). This picture was the next day.
It was a lot of fun to watch all of Allie's cousin's playing with her and figuring out who was going to hold her next! Allie was hungry that's why she is unhappy in the pictures!I also realized that Jon and I will always have the youngest kids and there will be an abundance of older cousins to play with them and love on them! Even Carson, the oldest boy- almost 16(!) loves holding Allie and is great with her!
Jon and I have so much to be thankful for this year. We have a beautiful, healthy, fun natured little girl whom we both just adore! Jon's business did not suffer too much this past year with the horrible market and he has been able to make do with less employees. I have been able to stay at home with Allie and take care of her (the best job; except those early morning wake up calls!) :O) We have been able to take 3 vacations with Allie so far (and she does great traveling) Jon and I have been in great health (and Allie minus one ear infection). And we have friends and family that have been a huge blessing to us by helping us in so many ways this year.