Summer Travel Log 2008

I am back in Idaho now and have been for a couple of weeks. I came back early to get ready for the new school year which started this past Thursday. It is really good to be home, have the internet again, pick my raspberries, and have my pets around. But Daren is still working in Albuquerque and although the comforts of home are really nice, he is the biggest part and I don't think I will feel completely back to normal until he is back here takings something apart or building something.

Hopefully he will be back in a week or two. School starts September 8th for him so he has to be back by then for sure! He has done really well this summer, his goal was 250 installs and he made that a couple weeks ago. He was in the top 10 for company technicians for awhile and he was even offered a lead tech position for next year, but I think we will probably stay put next summer.

It is hard for me to let go of our oh-so-precious summer, but here are a few of our favorite pics from our adventures this summer:

This is our apartment on 5800 Eubank. It was in a nice neighborhood and just down the road from the temple.
Albuquerque is known for its artsy-ness and this is a super cool house that I had to have my picture taken in front of in a neighborhood known as “Nob Hill” (Note: The metal dinosaurs were really cool.)

This is the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple.

We spent the Fourth of July with my old roommate Chelsea Kunz and her family. Her husband Tyson works for Pulte Homes in Rio Rancho, right next to Albuquerque. It was fun seeing her again but crazy to see how much changes in just four years. Four years ago we were sitting up late into the night talking about boys, and homework, and what we should do on the weekend, and now it’s talking about how much we like having our own homes, her two kids and one on the way, what our hubbies are up to, and how I am excited to get back to my job. When did this whole grown up thing start happening? Really?

More Fourth of July. (My Honey holding Chelsea’s girls)

Weirdo pyro husbands making a gigantic smoke bomb. And getting their faces burnt off by sparklers.

We like taking Sunday drives and one day we decided to go and check out the Sandia Mountains just to the east of where we lived. It was amazing because the mountains held back a huge wall of clouds. It was really fun to walk along the edge of that mist knowing how high we were.



There was an old cabin ruin made of rocks up there and we climbed it. I look so cool. Notice the super buff arms. (not.)

Another super awesome thing we did was ride the (supposedly) world's longest aerial tramway. Again these are the Sandia mountains. I think the highest point was about 1000 feet vertical but the mountain was about 11000 feet. (I think.)




One of the best parts of the summer was going to the Black reunion. It is always trips me up a little bit when I see my nieces and nephews and how big they get in the short time that we are away from them. They grow so fast! Daren and I always do a double take trying to make sure we have their names right. When you have 40 nieces and nephews this is quite a task.

The camping resort we stayed at was really fun because it was right next door to the Manti temple and they did really fun things for the kids. They let the kids all have a pony ride. This one made me laugh because KB said to the pony guy, "Can you take this slow? I really want to enjoy this."

Another perk to having a family reunion next to the temple... All the grown-ups got to go! The Manti temple is a piece of Mormon history as it is over 100 years old. The craftsmanship is incredible and it is amazing to know that it was built as a labor of love with just hands and faith. We were so blessed to be able to experience that.

After the reunion Daren and I decided that we weren't done with our vacation yet; so we talked Daren's sister Rachel and her husband Jeremy into going to Arches with us. We had a blast camping and hiking but it was really hot!

This is my favorite picture! Rachel and I are looking at balanced rock off in the distance and Daren or Jeremy took this picture from way up high on the other side of the bowl. I think it was called Triple arch.
Me super exhausted at triple arch.

Rach, Jeremy, and me looking at the oh-so-famous Delicate arch.

This was a really fun trip for us and again were so inspired by God's creations. One cannot help but feel very small standing beneath this impresive rock garden. It was great to spend some time getting hang out with Rachel and getting to know Jeremy (The newest of the in-laws). We will go camping with them again anytime!

Well that is is the end of the travel log photos. I got to visit Prescott on my way home and see my grand parents, aunt, and cousins. I was only there for about 24 hours but it was really nice to see them too. This was a great summer. I hope next year's comes sooner than later.