Collin came to visit!

So Collin... What an awesome fireball! He has so much energy I could hardly keep up! He is such a sweet kid and it was a great experience to have him with us.

Ashamed that he likes The Voice

Sunday night we got home from Arizona and I gladly introduced him to The Voice. He thought it was silly at first, but soon he was saying, "I hate this show! Why do you make me watch this?" (I go to change the channel... "No! Wait, I'm watching this! I love this show!" Basically he hated the fact that he really did like it. It was a crack up!

Oh, ya know!

For the weeks leading up to his visit I was extremely worried that I wouldn't be able to entertain him much because despite the fact that he was here, we could not stop working. So, He got taken to work! He didn't mind that much because soon after the start of our first dealership he realized that he got to sit in and drool over all the nice cars we work with. The Yellow Camaro's and the sleek black Cadillac's got his attention.  :) We finished work with just enough time to get ourselves fed, courtesy of Collin, and to the Carnival that happened to be in town! Dinner was delicious! It was a big dinner of quesedillas and salad! Notice I said Carnival in one sentence, and big dinner following that. Yeah, BAD CHOICE, MCKAY! The carnival was a lot of fun, but I had to make myself spew halfway through so that my stomach would let me go on more rides. It took a lot of effort, but I finally was able to keep going and it was a blast! We rode every ride worth going on for us big kids, got some cotton candy, and even tried to get Mariah a fish!

This is why these two are friends....

Tuesday we worked again, but to finish off the touches of the day, we went to Chopes! The BEST Mexican restaurant in the area! They make some amazing food! I love their Chili sauces, both green and red! We go there as often as we can. Which isn't often since we try not to eat out a lot, but Collin gave us the perfect excuse!
Wednesday we worked again... it was a REALLY long day. At least I remember it being so... Maybe that was Tuesday that was long... Anyway, I got everything packed up to leave Thursday. Collin helped me clean the house and got himself ready, and Myles did computer work. The second we were ready for the road trip to SLC, UT we headed out the door to meet Mariah at Sweet Cici's. (The only self-serve frozen yogurt place anywhere near here.) We loaded up the sweets and prepared ourselves for the brawl! MARIO CART WII!!! That is a serious game between Myles, Mariah, and Myself. I'm pretty sure Collin thought we were nuts. We stayed there long enough to watch the new Criminal Minds episode. What a great story it was!

Chopes!!

Thursday we busted out the work and hit the road! We left town around 12:45 pm and drove... and drove... and drove... and stopped for the potty, and drove and drove... Holy cow it was a lot of driving. Collin has so much energy and he was holding nothing back in that little space! He kept asking if he could drink the Rock star that was in the car, and we would tell him no. He ended up drinking it anyway and that was more than I was every expecting! He was bouncing off the walls! lol at least it was a little comical for us. He commentated the entire Batman: The Dark Knight movie with such intensity that I can't even explain it! We pulled into Springville, UT to my Dad's childhood home at 1:30 am. What a long day! I crashed out hard once I hit the bed!
Friday was spent apartment hunting and on temple square. We parted ways with Collin shortly after the Temple. His parents also -came up for conference so we dropped him off at their hotel. I will go more into the conference weekend in the Next blog. It was great to have Collin with us and I know that he and Myles enjoyed their time together!

I couldn't find any pictures from the Carnival.. :(

Road trippin' part one!

The house of the Lord in Mesa, AZ

We have been crazy busy over the last few weeks! We had two short work weeks in a row with 2 long busy "vacation" weekends! The first was the week leading up to Easter. What a blessed week it was! We got help from our family in town to get everything done, and were able to do it with plenty of time.

Myles doing one of his favorite things!

On Thursday we spent the majority of the day in the car with Myles' family. We did the 6 hour drive to Mesa, AZ to spend the rest of the evening at the Easter pageant that is held at the Temple. What an inspiring production it was! If you ask Myles, I was hysterical the whole time. I, however, think that I sat there, quietly letting the tears of joy and humility run down my cheeks. The show is about Christ's life with a special focus of his last week on this earth. It quotes the KJV Bible and puts many of the stories into music! The power and awe that was impressed upon me is in describable.
I am beyond thankful for that opportunity. I know that my Redeemer lives and he lights the way for me in all things! His Atonement is REAL and it is for YOU!

Diamondbacks game!

We were housed by the hospitality of Myles' Uncle Bruce. He had all 8 of us in every inch of his house! Myles and I were lucky enough to get a real bed. :D
Friday the long awaited trip to the Temple was finally here! I love to sit and bask in the knowledge that comes when you spend in the peaceful environment of the Temple. The LDS Temples truly are places where Christ resides. Following the 2+ in the Temple we went to the massive mall to shop and have lunch with our Friend Austin. It was great to get to know him a little better. What an honorable young man and a good friend! I don't enjoy shopping much, but I did end up surviving and I even purchased some new church shoes. Even though we hadn't been home since 8 am we went trucking on to the last spring training game for the Diamondbacks. It was a really slow game, but it was really fun anyway. We even got to be on the camera in the background of a outfielder trying to catch a home run!
Bruce is a real estate agent so he helped us try to find some apartments in Salt Lake City. We found a couple but only one responded. (See the results of that in a blog soon to come.)
Every road trip needs a touch of Mabee! We were able to spend 4 or so hours with Paul, Gena and the boys. Gena made some delish salad that was a breath of fresh air compared to my previous fast food meals! We told some funny stories, watched Paul be the star of Marshals video for school, Myles and I even went to their ward's Easter activity with them! It was so cute, it seemed Gena was almost bragging about us as she introduced us to everyone she saw!

Myles, myself and Jess at the open house

Enjoying ourselves in the car by feeding the dog hot cheetos

We made it back to Bruce's house in time to get changed into nice clothes so we could get in the car and drive for an hour to their cousins wedding open house. It was a nice gathering with tasty food, nice company at my table, and short and to the point! We left around an hour after we got there because we needed to get to the airport. Here is where our next adventure begins! We were picking up Collin Howald! He and Myles met at EFY the same summer we did, and he was coming to spend his spring break with us.

The set for the pageant

Sunday we got up early and spent the day in the car again. Home again, Home again, Jiggety jig.

We LOVE to see the Temple!