Loving Halloween

I loved Halloween with Joseph. He got dressed up in his lion costume without a squeal or protest (which may have been due to the portable DVD screen he was standing 6 inches from).

We walked down Marci's street over to Molly's house and then back. That was it, but it took forever. Not too far for a 30-something adult but a marathon for a tiny tot like Joseph. He kept dropping his legs halfway through and sitting on the ground.

Of course, as soon as I took him home and put him into bed, he was completely out. Not a peep! (Not even when I went in and took this picture which required a flash!)

Back to Sedona

Sorry, I'm posting about the Sedona trip because I was inspired by a visit to my cousin's webpage. She has done a lot of videos lately and I thought I would try my hand at doing one as well.

Some call him roadkill

But I call him Joseph, the lion.The whole roadkill comment came after Joseph laid out in the middle of the church parking lot through which a truck was driving. The kids yelled out the window that they thought he was roadkill...ha, ha. I'm just glad he wasn't really run over. Other than his completely black knees, he didn't end up flattened by a truck or other such vehicle.Daddy held his hand as he walked over to the festivities...otherwise the kid kept trying to tear off his furry arm bands (which I made all by myself, I might add...aren't they cute!).Joseph loved the whole trick or treating thing. His words were more like "trick-treat" but I think that's pretty good considering. In the end, his pumpkin was so heavy I had to help him carry it. (Notice I said help him carry it...he wouldn't let go of it!! This picture below was taken before all the treats were added to the pumpkin, which is why I couldn't get him to hold on to it.)Grandpa came and joined us for the fun. He took so many great pictures that I may have to steal some of them and add them on.

Sedona Highlights

Sedona was a blast...just ask Joseph! We hiked up this really large formation (think of a really big, rock pillar), scaring me half to death because the ground was hundreds of feet down. William insisted on being "funny" and having Joseph climb all by himself. The pictures ended up gorgeous but my heart had a hard time :)

We stayed at a nice condo that my parents had for the week as a time share. We went hiking and shopping, played games in the condo and in the game room. The pool was freezing! The hot tub was great...basically, we had a wonderful time.

The landscape was over the top beautiful. I took so many pictures I'm not going to know what to do with them all...isn't digital great! The second evening I was there we went up to the airport in Sedona to watch the sunset. The view was really nice except for the hundreds of people who had also shown up to watch. Some of them had some intricate cameras, too. Despite my small point and shoot, I feel like I did get some beautiful pictures.

Joseph and Josie, his cousin, peeked out of this window in some Indian ruins. I thought Joseph would end up climbing out of the window, he was so wound up! I mean, look at that cheesy grin in this photo with him and his dad...he had the time of his life playing with everyone.

The picture of me was actually taken by Joseph...nice, huh?

The ruins were interesting, despite the problems Joseph had sitting through the long lecture the Ranger had about all of the cave petroglyphs and the cistern.

Strange Places

Can you say you've been to stranger places? This was the Flinstones Amusement Park. We passed it on our drive up to the canyon and could not help but stop because it looked so "ghetto." We walked up to the entrance accompanied by Aerosmith or some other type of band. Not really what I would have thought of as welcoming to young children, but maybe they were trying to stick with the whole "rock" theme. We were also assaulted (yes, assaulted) by the greasy smell coming out of the diner connected to the entrance. But it was not all bad...It cost only $5 to go through the entire park! What a deal! (I forgot to mention that we opted not to go through the park, as tempting as the price was.)

Out next stop along the way was supposed to redeem the disaster called "Flinstone Park." How could the Planes of Fame Museum be any worse? (It really wasn't, I promise.) But it cost more to go through the museum than it cost to visit Fred Flinstone, so it wasn't worth it to me. We just took pictures outside the place...just as fun for Joseph but not costing us the "booku bucks."

The Grandest Trip

* * * Warning * * *
This post is full of pictures of a trip you probably could care less about...proceed only if you really want to :)

We went to the Grand Canyon for William's time off. It was so much fun and was beautiful. Heavenly Father must love us a lot to give us such a beautiful earth on which to live. The entire trip was spent saying "isn't this place wonderful?" or "wow, it's so beautiful here!"

Friday, we drove the hour from our campsite to the canyon and spent the morning walking the rim. Pictures do not do it justice.





The KOA we stayed at was in Williams, AZ and had these Kamping Kabins (ooh, kabin's not spelled with a K, you say? I never knew!) It was really great because William could "camp" by cooking over the fire and getting really dirty and I could "camp" by sleeping on a double bed and waking up at any time of the night to use the nice flush toilets and sink just down the road from our site. (Did I mention that I showered there as well? I love "camping!")

Having the fire was really fun...smelly, but fun.

Joseph was a nightmare around the fire at first, though. Talk about making your heart stop. I thought for sure we would have to jump in our car and race to the burn unit at the nearest hospital (in Flagstaff, I think). He did okay after we yelled at him/swatted his fanny.

The best part about the cabin was that we could put Joseph down at his bedtime and then stay up later around the fire. It was really relaxing.

Don't worry, I did discover the best way to create the perfect s'more. (Use the old Jiffy Pop pan...the one with the handle, remember? Place a cracker down with some chocolate on top. Place pan close to fire so that chocolate can melt. Toast marshmallow while chocolate melts. When toasty to point of crispy, place all together. Enjoy the yummy goodness of a perfect s'more!)

On our way back we drove through Sedona. This drive convinced us that Sedona was the prettiest place in AZ that we've seen so far. Our next trip's going to be up to there, we think.

If The Shoe Fits

Dad's shoes are very reflective of who he is right now...strong, authoritative, work-worn each night but then religiously shined up nice and bright. It will be exciting and fun to see Joseph grow up and fill "dad"-sized shoes someday.