It's A Bastian Life

Family Photos Fall of 2011

2011-12-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Family Trip to Missouri

2011-11-14T09:59:00.002-07:00

Over fall break we were able to fly out to Missouri to see some of Josh's extended family and enjoy the fall leaves. We got to stay with his cousins, the Pointer Family on their dairy farm. They were wonderful hosts and we had quite the experience on the farm. I have never really been around farm life, but I really enjoyed it. We got to see how they milk the cows, feed the calves and we even got to see a baby cow be born. Josh's grandparents just live down the road so we got to visit them too. They have a nice property with the iconic red barn. Josh's other cousins, the Lemon's have a turkey farm that we visited too. They had just got a shipment of 35,000 baby turkeys. Wow there were a lot of baby turkey bobble heads! We spent a lot of our trip driving on the winding roads and enjoying the countryside. We took a day trip to Branson and went to Silver Dollar City and a steamboat dinner cruise. We also drove to Bentonville, AR, the home of Walmart headquarters. We saw Catherine one of my childhood friends who just bought a house there and her husband also works for Walmart. While we were there, we couldn't miss Sam Walton's first 5 and dime store. Alta of course was very popular and was very good for most of the trip. She loved all of the new experiences, animals and many many babysitters. We were glad Josh's parents were able to come with us too. On our way back to the Kansas city airport we got to tour Liberty Jail. The church has done an amazing job with the restoration. Thanks to all the Missouri family, we had a wonderful trip!

Summer Backpacking

2011-11-13T09:56:00.001-07:00

Josh and Brad went backpacking up to White Pine Lake

Summer is Finally Here

2011-07-19T10:11:00.000-06:00

We were able to join my family for our semiannual trip up to the Teton area. We stayed at Signal MT. campground with my Grandma and Gene where we had beautiful weather and crazy obnoxious mosquitoes!

Some of the Bastian clan joined us for Trilobite hunting out West of Delta

4th of July fun in Moroni and outside the Stadium of Fire. Alta wasn't so sure of the fireworks, but with some earplugs she tolerated them.

Spring With The Bastians

2011-05-16T07:59:00.001-06:00

This Spring has just flown by. Alta is growing so quickly and is the sunshine in our lives! So here are some pictures of what we have been up to. Josh just got back from a backpacking trip to Canyonlands with his siblings. We have spent lots of time with our families and are looking forward to the summer!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T09:26:00.001-07:00

2010 was a great year for us, we have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to in 2011!

Alta's First Christmas

2011-01-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

Our first Christmas with Alta could not have been better. We spent Christmas Eve with the Treasure's and Christmas Day with the Bastian's. Alta was pretty popular and spent most of her holiday being passed around. It was a wonderful Christmas and we are glad we could spend it with our families. Both Lindsey and Russel came from out of state so we could all be together.

Live Nativity & Alta's Christmas Photo's

2010-12-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to be a part of the live nativity put on by our stake. What a special experience it was to play Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

We got Alta's Christmas pictures taken when she was 3 months old. What a cutie!

Alta's Blessing and Time Gone By

2010-12-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

We blessed Alta on 10/10/2010

Alta Kate Bastian

2010-09-03T16:10:00.000-06:00

Alta Kate Bastian joined us 8 days early, on August 26th at 2:21 pm. Six years previous to the day Josh asked for my hand in marriage. Good things seem to happen on the 26th for us. She weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 21 inches long. We are so glad to have her here with us.

Shower / Demo-Derby

2010-09-03T16:03:00.000-06:00

The shower was amazing. Special thanks to Jessica and Mom for putting everything together. We had a great time and really appreciate all the support. WOW, this girl now has everything.

As you can see from the photos we got in one more Demo-derby before the baby came. Our cousin Brian had a car in the derby, it was fun cheering him on.

It's Baby Time! or At Least Getting Close

2010-08-10T18:23:00.000-06:00

So here we are finally making our way though August. In some ways it seems like we would never get here, and in others ways, time has gone so fast! We are busy with preparations for our new little addition and can't wait to have her join our family.

The nursery was a bigger project than we had planned, but that's usually how these things go. We had some great family help and are pleased with how it turned out.

June & July 2010

2010-08-09T17:08:00.000-06:00

A brief overview of our comings and goings so far this summer

Josh went on the high adventure backpacking trip with the YM in our ward. It was a four day trip up Grand Daddy Basin in the Uintas.

Growing up, and out.

2010-05-26T11:47:00.000-06:00

Jordan was here last week, and I couldn't believe how much he has grown! He seems to have grown a 1/2 inch a week to be where he is now.

I have also grown some, but in the opposite direction.

Animal Rescue

2010-05-26T11:34:00.000-06:00

This past week we had a few brushes with the animal kingdom. While at Josh's parents a little bird flew into the kitchen window. The little guy was shaken-up, and visibly wobbly, but after a few minutes shook it off and flew away. Tough bird.

We also had a few gopher orphans in our yard (collateral damage in Josh's ongoing gopher war).

The little guys were so hungry.

We gave them some oats and then took them to the river bottoms and put them in a burrow there.

Mmm Turkey...

2010-05-26T11:03:00.000-06:00

We had a real need for a turkey dinner, so we prepared a Thanksgiving meal for Sunday dinner. They do Christmas in July celebrations, some lucky summer born kids at school get to celebrate their half birthday, why not let the other holidays in on the fun?

Goblin Valley / Capitol Reef

2010-05-17T14:17:00.000-06:00

We originally planned to go to Canyonlands, but apparently everyone else in Utah had the same idea. So we came up with a plan B that in the end was probably better.

We drove to Goblin Valley on Friday afternoon. Its a little state park in a remote part of the state. The park is full of odd shaped sandstone "goblins" and is surrounded by a crescent shaped sandstone wall (as seen in the film Galaxy Quest, 1999). Spencer found us a route to the top of the wall so we could have a full sweeping view of the park. It almost seemed like Spencer had glue on his shoes the way he scaled the sandstone.

We camped outside the park in the San Rafael Swell by Temple Mtn. We set up two hammocks side by side in a little juniper grove, can I just say hammocks and camping are awesome (especially when we forgot our camp chairs). For dinner we had planned on making Navajo Tacos. When we camp we typically keep the meals super simple so cooking the Navajo Tacos made us all feel like iron chefs, doing a good deal of improvising. Lucky for us camping makes everything taste better; and those tacos were tasty!

The next morning we drove to Capitol Reef on Utah-24. We attempted our first ever canyoneering hike up Burro wash. Most of the hike in was up a less than scenic dry and sandy wash. Once the wash deepened, things began to get interesting. The deep sandstone wash would be worth the hike alone, then it abruptly turns into narrows, only about 2 feet wide.

Stepping into the narrows is a little eerie,its dark and cold and at the highest point the walls stretch 30 feet above you. What really gets your attention is the water at the bottom of the narrows, water you can't go around. So we waded into dark water and found to our delight that it was ice cold! Some went in more willing then others. Katie Jan got a ride on Spencer's shoulders but eventually she too was wet and freezing. The deepest pool was about four feet deep and SO COLD! Once on the other side it opened up again and we had lunch there. The group decided this was as good a place as any to turn around, so we headed back to camp.

We camped in Cottonwood Wash fittingly under some cottonwoods. Again the Hammocks went up, and again I have to say - AWESOME. This camp was some sort of lizard mecca. I am not talking about little lizards either, BIG lizards were spotted from the moment we arrived. Spencer made a raging campfire and the stars came out like they only do when your camping.

We had planned to stop and see Grandma and Grandpa B in Salina but we found out that morning that both were very ill and couldn't have company. So, we ate at Mom's Cafe. I have to say the place looked a little neglected, but the food was sooo good. Ever had home made sour cream blueberry pie?, you can get it at Mom's Cafe.

Going camping is great, you get to see amazing panoramic views, wildlife, and it lets us forget about our normal day to day worries. These are all good reasons why we love to go camping, but some of the best reasons to go camping are revealed in our thoughts when we get home. We take so much for granted in our comfortable life. Camping makes us notice how nice a bathroom with running water is, or how comfortable our bed is. When we return home and turn on the oven part of us marvels at how easy, and good, we have it. Of course we forget all of this too soon, so there will always be at least one good reason to go camping again.

Havin' a Baby!

2010-05-02T12:17:00.000-06:00

We are thrilled to announce we are having a baby girl! I am 5 1/2 months along and due September 3rd. So far the pregnancy has gone well, and I am watching my growing baby bump! Both Josh and I have felt her move so it's an exciting time for us. We are so blessed and look forward to our little family addition!

Cruis'n

2010-04-14T08:18:00.000-06:00

We decided to try a new type of vacation. Instead of hiking and camping we wanted to try the whole leisure and luxury approach. It turns out we kind-a-liked it.
We chose an itinerary in the Eastern Caribbean that had no "at sea days" so we could maximize our island experience.

It was incredible! Postcard blue water and white sand beaches and rugged tropical jungles on the island's interior. The locals were friendly and welcoming. It was an amazing experience to wake up every morning in a new port, with new towns to see and beaches to enjoy.

Briefly here is where we went and little of what we did....

We boarded our ship in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The flight there had some pretty bad turbulence but we survived the thrill ride. It was awesome to see our ship lit up at the dock waiting for us.

Our first port was St. Thomas. When we went on the deck to get our fist glance of the island we were stunned by the green rolling hills and million dollar yachts sitting in the turquoise blue waters. We walked the streets of Charlotte Amalie, the shopping was supposed to be "world class" and "duty-free" but we weren't really interested in diamonds or alcohol. Most of the ship went to Megans Bay but a local pointed use to Hidden Cove Beach. The beach was perfect for us! Good snorkeling and we had the beach all to ourselves. Everyone warned us to not get sunburned our first day, and despite our attempts we were burnt crisp on day one.

The second port was Dominica. This island didn't have the sandy beaches but it did have the thickest, and greenest rain forest. The interior was mountainous and we got to see some waterfalls while there. This was our first time on the trip to be off of American soil.

Our next stop was Barbados. This was a former British colony and Bridgetown is supposed to be like a little London. We haven't been to London but if it is like Bridgetown I think we might like it. One our favorite places we stumbled upon was St. Micheal's church. This little run down church and cemetery had been here since 1665! The church has been toppled by two hurricanes (1780, 1831) and then rebuilt again. It was here that we really began to get a sense of the history of the area. We also hopped a ride on a catamaran to snorkel with some sea turtles. Our snorkeling site was close to the famous sandy lane resort, so we swam to the beach to have a look around.

Our fourth port was St Lucia. The city of Castries was among the biggest cities we saw on our trip. We took a long walk through the city. It seemed like almost every street was lined with vendors selling their wares. We hardly saw a tourist while in the city and felt completely immersed in this very foreign place. The poverty here was obvious. Around every corner were shanty towns were families lived in improvised shelters. We took a very long and equally winding ride to Soufriere (our drivers name was Indignatious). The best part of the drive was seeing the Pitons. These duel conical shaped mountains are beautiful and are the icons of this island.

Our next port was St Kitts, and this turned out to be one of our favorite islands. The highlight has to be the Brimstone Fortress. The Fortress was incredible and the views from the ramparts were amazing. From brimstone we could see three other islands.

St Maarten was our last island while at sea. We made it a beach day and had the best snorkeling of the week here. Again everyone headed to one beach (Orient Beach) and we headed to another (Dawn Beach)! Having a total beach day was the perfect end to our island hopping trip.

Once back in San Juan, we has some time to kill so we put our baggage in a locker. Armed with a map, we went on a walking tour of old San Juan. We were really surprised at what the city had to offer. There were all sorts of interesting historical and architectural sites to see. Our favorites were the old castles and churches. Before we new it the vacation had come to a close and we were back on the plane headed home.

Arches in Febuary

2010-03-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Now that we are back in Utah, we wanted to see some red rock . We thought, what better place than Arches National Park? Katie Jan, Spencer, and Cameron joined us. We found Moab was ten to twenty degrees colder than it normally is this time of year. But we put on some extra layers and didn't let the cold slow us down. Spencer and Cameron took us to Wall Street where we rock climbed until our fingers were numb. Spencer forgot his harness so we had to make a comfy one out of webbing...ouch.

One of the highlights of the trip was hiking out to Delicate Arch (you know the one form the license plate). The arch is amazing, and it's scale makes it even more so.

Our longest hike was through the devils garden area. The trail was a slippery snow pack and hard to navigate, but it took us past several Arches along the way. The most impressive was Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch is impossibly large and impressively thin. The arch spans 290 feet!

On our way out of town we stopped at dead horse point. This state park is essentially an overlook. The point is surrounded by a Grand Canyon like view on practically all sides. Being high up, and more or less alone lead to a little mischief. Lets just say many rocks ended up hundreds of feet bellow us.

There was no camping on this trip considering the colder temperatures, so we all piled in a hotel room and made a party of it. On the way home we got to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bastian in Salina. It was a great trip and now that we know Moab is so close, we hope to return again soon.

Wrapping up 2009 and Welcoming 2010

2010-02-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

Halloween, Our 5 year anniversary, Table refinishing projects and Christmas fun

Fall Trip to Salina

Fall Trip to Steamboat Springs and Aspen, Colorado

Fall Leaves on the Alpine Loop

Our Home

The mountains called, and we answered.

2009-09-05T08:59:00.000-06:00

In mid-August we went backpacking with Dad Treasure and Jordan in the Tetons. The timing was a little crazy because we closed on our home literally hours before we left on the trip. It was odd spending those few days with just the barest essentials, all the while thinking we had our first home waiting for us in Draper! It was unreal. We hiked into this incredible alpine area called the Alaska Basin. We stayed for three days and two nights. We expected a lot of rain on the trip from the forecast we got before we left. Every afternoon and evening there would be a big thunderhead on the horizon and we would all think today we are going to get soaked. Then at the last minute the storm seemed to shift and pass us by. We never really saw any big game wildlife but everywhere we looked we saw marmots and pikas. These little mascots of the alpine kept us entertained the entire time with their calls and antics. One brave marmot sneaked into camp and was caught dragging a day pack full of trail mix to its den.

From base camp we day-hiked up to Hurricane Pass at about 10,000 ft elevation. From the pass you got an entirely different view of the Grand Teton peaks. Even at 10,000 feet the peaks towered above us. Below the pass was schoolroom glacier and a small glacial lake. It was an amazing sight to take in. It was also the only place on our trip with cell phone service. We set up our utilities for our new home from the top of the pass!

On day three we broke camp and hit the trail. Eight miles later we were at the trail head and a few minutes after that we were eating monster hamburgers at O'Rourkes in Driggs, ID. The transition back to modern living was so fast it almost made or trip seem dream like. It was great to spend time with my dad and little brother in the back country. I wouldn't trade these memories for anything.

Pioneer Day in Heber

2009-07-26T15:59:00.000-06:00

This year we were able to join Trav's family celebration in Heber for Pioneer Day. The Christensen family have some really fun family traditions. Every year all the tractors in Grandpa Christensen's antique collection get started up. Each of the tractors is then lined up along the ditch bank for the whole community to see. They have a big spread of food for everyone and desserts too. The Christensen's made sure we felt at home and Chad gave little Ryan the ride of his life on the rope swing. We spent the night there and early the next morning we went out to Trav's fly fishing river. On our way back home we stopped in Francis to see Great Grandma Lemons old house and where Josh's mom grew up.

Jackson Hole

2009-07-25T21:16:00.000-06:00

It has been a long standing tradition to go to the Signal Mtn Campground near Jackson Hole with Grandma and Gene. We have been out of state for the past few summers and have only been able to go on the family outing once while we have been married. We were so excited to be able to join the family this year. We had a good time recounting memories from past trips to this beautiful area.

We always try to mix in a few Jackson Hole favorites into the trip. Some of these include: swimming at String Lake, a trip to Yellowstone, hiking, grandma's super breakfast, ranger talks at the campground, and a trip to Jackson Hole for pizza at Mountain High Pizza Pie.

This year our Yellowstone day trip was a real highlight. We saw a total of eight bear (four cubs), many many elk and bison, and a few gysers too. Trav brought his spotting scope so we could all catch a closer glimpse of the wildlife. We looked for wolves but never found them. I suppose we had to save something for next time.

We are so thankful for Grandma and Gene Summers. They are amazing! They set up camp with the trailer before anyone arrived, cooked for an army, and went with us on a hike to Hidden Falls at the foot of the Tetons! We are so grateful for Grandparents!

Bastian Family vacation

2009-07-06T16:49:00.000-06:00

Since the whole family made it to Glendale, AZ for Josh's Graduation, we thought why stop there? So we headed for San Diego, and the coast, to make a family vacation of it! Katie Jan and Spencer had never seen the ocean before so we made seeing the beach our top priority! We stopped and played at Coronado, La Jolla and Mission Bay Beachs. Everyone spent lots of time in the water and had a great time. The water was a bit cold for me, but really what natural nature water isn't?

Seaworld of course never disappoints! We saw lots of shows and sea creatures. Some of our favorites were the dolphins, shamu and the sea lion & otter show!

Some of our other stops included the grounds of the San Diego Temple, awesome homemade date shakes at an equally awesome rest stop in Dateland, AZ on I-8( if you get the chance, be sure and stop). We got some good information from a gas station attendant in CA regarding the US/ Mexico border: "You can stop at the border fence and you will probably encounter border patrol, but you shouldn't have a problem... as long as there isn't a problem." We did make our way to the giant fence and met several border patrol agents, and had no problems.
We figure we drove over 2,000 miles in 5 days so we saw lots of sights and made lots of memories. We missed not having mom along as she had to fly back to Utah, but we kept her in the loop with plenty pictures and txt messages!

We have a Dr. in the family!

2009-07-06T16:25:00.000-06:00

After many years of hard work, Josh got his Doctorate of Pharmacy from Midwestern University, Glendale. I couldn't be more proud of him!!

Congrats Katie!

2009-06-09T12:19:00.000-06:00

Congratulations Katie! We can't believe the baby of the family just graduated high school. We are proud of your accomplishment and we are so excited about your future!

Backpacking Capitol Reef

2009-05-28T18:11:00.000-06:00

Over memorial day weekend we went to Capital Reef in Southern Utah to go backpacking. Lindsey and her boyfriend JP came along, so we had good company. We were a little worried about the weather, but figured what the heck we getting out of the city! It was Capitol Reef or bust after that! It did rain rain on us, but we made due and the constant rain clouds over the red desert rock made for spectacular views. Our first night we did some hiking and set up camp off a dirt (mud, clay, etc) road, in which we were glad we drove in JP's all-will drive Subaru, it rocked! We were also inspired by Lindsey and JP to build a "tent patio". The better to keep our tent clean right?!

The next day we hit the trail with our packs. It was fun to have Lindsey along so we could reminisce about the old days. We sang songs, quoted movies and laughed about what we used to get in trouble for. About 5 miles into the hike, we made a last steep climb to the top of the ridge overlooking the waterpocket fold and figured it was the perfect view and the perfect place to camp. Luckily we got on top just in time to realize a huge storm was quickly approaching. We set up our tents as quickly as possible but gale force winds and pounding hail didn't help the situation. For a moment we thought our tent was going to get blown right off the ridge so we piled rocks on top of our tent stakes. We finally got her good and secure and were ready to face the storm when it passed as quickly as it had come. We watched the storm track across the valley and swallow the mountains on the horizon. Our only words, wow that was an EPIC storm! We spent the rest of the day hiking along the ridge and watching smaller storms systems pass through the valley.

On our hike out we got in a fight with the largest lizard we have seen in Utah. He stood his ground, hissed at us and launched himself at the camera when Josh went in for a closer shot. What a lil' bully!

When we finally made it back to the car, we were muddy and tired, but it wasn't anything riptide rush Gatorade couldn't cure.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!!

2009-04-28T09:30:00.000-06:00

I can't believe my little sister is turning 21! It is really unbelievable! You are such a wonderful part of our family and we are so proud of all you have accomplished. You are a beautiful, ultra-talented young woman and we hope you have a great 21st birthday!

Spring Time and Easter

2009-04-15T15:04:00.000-06:00

From Spring and Easter

We really had fun being with family this Easter. We may have even got a little carried away with the Easter eggs. Between the two of us we dyed at least a dozen eggs and had a good time doing it. Lil' Katie brought a kit that even had sporty little shrink wrap sleeves.

We saw lil' Katie off to her senior prom, and attended Cathryn Hutchings wedding at the SLC temple. We were surprised when Elder Perry arrived to perform the sealing! The sealing was perfect and the reception was a blast.

Earlier this spring we got to see Grandpa and Grandma Treasure. Grandpa continues to battle cancer. We were able to see him after a recent surgery at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. It has been nice to be close and be with family in both good and hard times

Real Season Opener

2009-04-11T09:16:00.000-06:00

Uncle Ben and Jodi have season tickets to Real Soccer in the new Rio Tinto stadium. Spencer and Diana were also able to join us. Although the weather did not cooperate, we really didn't get soaked until the end of the game. It was fun! Real took this one 4 to 1. Thanks Ben and Jodi!

Sister Fun!

2009-03-22T13:08:00.001-06:00

Since moving back to Utah I have been able to enjoy lots of good sister bonding time. We've been 80's dancing, where getting ready for the dance is half the fun.

The Real Salt Lake soccer team had a free exibition game. We went early, got great seats and have a sun burn to prove it. It has been fun to be close to family again.

A New Job! And Looking Back...

2009-03-21T13:05:00.000-06:00

We have been blessed and our circumstances have been very fortunate. One week after moving back to Utah I was able to get a job as the dietitian for Jordan School District. We moved on a Saturday and I interviewed that Monday! A week later I was working! It was a quick turn around, but it was just what we needed. We are so grateful. It's confirmation to us that we are in the right place at the right time. So while I am enjoying my new job and learning a lot, I miss all of my friends from good old Glendale Elementary School District. So here is a shout out to them. I miss you guys!

We Moved!

2009-03-19T21:43:00.000-06:00

Josh was able to get the last portion of his internship in Utah! So now we are back in the motherland! The move was a little stressful at times. I don't know how we would have done it without the help of friends and family.

We made the drive here in great time, thanks to our good old rental truck. Unfortunately it took us two trucks to get here! Truck number one died shortly after we picked it up! Once we got here, we had so much help that we unloaded the truck in just over an hour! It was like a human conveyor belt.

Jess and Trav are also our neighbors, they are practically next door in the complex! A week after we arrived in town we came home to find a washer and dryer in our kitchen! Jess and Trav, through some miracle, had a friend that was upgrading to a new set. We had been washing cloths in the comfort of our own home ever since.

Organ Pipe Natl' Monument

2009-01-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

From Organ Pipe Natl Monument

We had a three day weekend with MLK day and decided to spend a night camping by the USA / Mexico border. The Organ Pipe Natl Monument was created to preserve the Sonoran desert. The park is full of saguaro and organ pipe cactus. Pretty much every plant, tree and shrub in the park has thorns or is poisonous.

So of course we both got stuck a couple of times. With so much cacti, it's just a matter of time before you become a human pin cushion. I got up close and personal with a cholla (ie jumping cactus) while josh got tangled up in some catclaw.

Some don't really care for desert landscape but we have grown to love it. We went on a 21 mile scenic loop that took us the foothills of the Ajo mountains. While on the loop we took in a classic sunset with silhouetted cactus all around us.

Most of the park can only be accessed now by day hikes. They had to close the backcounty camping because of the drug smugglers and banditos that make border crossings there. We stayed the campground and even though we could see the border fence from camp we felt pretty safe.

While there we went to a ranger fireside chat. We were the youngest couple there by far. Any one of the other campers could have passed for our grandparents (mostly RV campers). It was fun, kind of like being invited to a traveling senior citizens meeting.

We are very excited about moving back to Utah in February but as it turns out moving can be pretty stressful. Josh has been working / interning 55 hour weeks for a few months now. I have started the job hunt and tried to get things set up for us to move. So it was nice to leave all that behind for a couple of days and just relax and enjoy the scenery.

A White Christmas

2009-01-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

For Christmas we traveled back to the motherland where we could enjoy the snow and time with our families. We went through Vegas to avoid winter storms and were glad that we did. Vegas is quite a place during Christmas, not to mention the stellar room rates. This year we did Christmas with the Treasure's. We wrapped presents while watching Christmas movies and had our traditional reading from Luke and Christmas Eve drive to look at Christmas lights. With 9 of us all packed in the Honda Pilot it's sure to be a good time! We had a wonderful white Christmas morning with everyone in PJ's, opening presents around the tree. Later we went up to WJ to celebrate with the Bastian's. It was fun to spend time with everyone but we missed not having Russ in town.

The rest of our break was filled with family time and Winter festivities. We went ice skating at the Galliven's Center down town and sledding up by Ben and Jodi's house on the East side. Josh's cousin Jenna had her mission farewell so we got to see a lot of the Bastian clan.

We are very grateful for our families and we were glad we could spend the holidays with them.

October / November: Kanab, North Rim, Halloween, a Wedding, our Anniversary, and Thanksgiving.

2008-12-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

So to catch everyone up, the past couple of months have been busy but enjoyable. In October we met up with the Treasures in Kanab. Why Kanab, well why not? For one thing it's about halfway between Phoenix and Springville. It also happens to be two hours from a handful of National Parks. From Kanab we visited Bryce Canyon and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and seeing the sights. We really made some great memories, like Jordan and his hat, and Ryan and Josh's discovery of "the caves".

Once back home in Glendale we wrapped up the month with Halloween. We didn't have great costumes (kind of the norm with us), but we did carve pumpkins with Russ which has become a tradition. The Lemons were in town for John and Amica's wedding. It was fun to get together and see everyone. The weather was beautiful and it was a great day for a wedding.

We started November out with our 4 year anniversary. It's unbelievable how fast time flies. We are so greatful for each other and our marriage. We look forward to many more.

Jessica came to visit over Veterans Day weekend, Trav couldn't make it because of work. Josh was so excited for me to have some girl time. We had lots of fun shopping, laughing at really old inside jokes and just doing girlie things. With Jess even traffic is loads of fun - that's its own story.

Thanksgiving was funny because we didn't know who was coming until right before. It all worked out though. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house with Russ's help. Brad, Katie, and Spencer made the long drive for turkey, and we had plenty of turkey. We had a great meal, we missed Mom and Dad, but it was great to have all the siblings together. While they were here we did a little bit of everything; a little rock band, a little hiking, a little bit of "rock Frisbee", and of course a little bit of crazy black Friday shopping. We also fit in some movies in too. All in all, it was really great to have everyone here and sad to see them leave.

Arizona State Fair

2008-10-21T18:17:00.001-06:00

Fall must be here because the AZ State Fair has rolled around again. Where else can you pet the animals, people watch for hours, ride the "thrill" rides, see some cars smash each other up, eat greasy food, and oh, did I mention get sick from that greasy food? No place, except the good ol' state fair.

This years fair experience was pretty much like years past, except we saw figure 8 racing in the grandstand. Another wonderful event (a cousin to the demolition derby). Several cars race around a figure 8 and inevitably cars will crash in the middle, although not as many as we predicted. The crowd didn't disappoint either as we met our quota for mullets, and trucker hats.

Also new for us this year, was attending the pig walking/ judging. This is all new to me but apparently pigs are quite domesticated. It was fun to watch the kids perform and walk their pigs. Too bad for the pigs though because they were judged on their "market readiness".

That turtles got a cold.

2008-10-18T08:05:00.000-06:00

Kids say the funniest things. So there we were looking at this reptile exhibit when we stumbled across to two tortoises and a couple of kids. The turtle's were exhibiting some adult behavior and the kids were trying to figure out just what was going on. The kids had all sorts of ideas to explain the tortoise's behavior, and were sharing their insight.

"It could be a race", one said
the other disagreed, "no, they are wrestling"
"that one has a cold, or maybe hiccups"
"maybe that one is saying gitty up?"

We only caught a few seconds of it on video, we hope you find it as funny as we did.

Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico

2008-10-12T19:24:00.000-06:00

We have always wanted to see New Mexico, really I'm not being sarcastic; for some reason this surprises people. I guess we are suckers for the unknown. This years balloon festival, and some other circumstances, were just the excuse we needed to get out of town. Apparently New Mexico is the land of enchantment AND the national hotbed for ballooning. All just trivia until you see it for yourself. It was really amazing, and to think we nearly left town without seeing one balloon.

We spent the first day of our trip in artsy Santa Fe. What really caught us off guard is how old the city was (1607). When I think of really old colonial settlements I think of the East coast. I had forgotten about those Spanish Fathers wandering around the west. While in Santa Fe we saw the oldest Church in the USA and the oldest public building. The area around the Plaza was full of museums, art galleries, and tourist trap gift shops.

From Santa Fe we took a scenic drive down the turquoise trail to Albuquerque. Along the way we stumbled across Madrid, NM. As we drove through town it felt like we had been there before. We soon realized that this was the town they filmed "Wild Hogs" in. We saw lots of bikers and hippies while there. We also happened to time our trip with peak pine-nut season. So we spent some time on the side of the road hunting and gathering.

We then road the worlds longest ariel tramway to Sandia peak above Albuquerque. Unfortunately the town was full of tourists for the balloon festival so we waited in a Disneyland like nightmare line for a couple hours. The view from the top was amazing. Fall colors were just starting to speckle the forest.

That's about the time things went wrong. A storm blew in, that cancelled that nights balloon festivities, and we got stranded for several hours at a train station. It continued the next day with the mornings mass ascension also being called off due to the weather (unfortunately we found it was canceled after we had got up at 4:30 in the AM and got ready). Through it all we met some really nice people; the kind of people that restore your faith in humanity. So we started to pack up and get ready to head home when we had the same idea that comes to us at the end of every vacation, lets just stay one more day. We really wanted to see the festival and had prepaid for everything so... we stayed. And we were really glad we did.

That evening they held the "night glow". This is where they tie down the balloons and once inflated they twinkle and glow all different colors in the dark. By night fall there was several hundred balloons on the field for the show. The operators could then light up the balloons by turning on the torch/flame thrower. We were awestruck by all the balloons glowing around us, and words cannot explain the experience when the announcer called "all glow" and the entire field lit up.

The next morning we once again stood in awe as more than three hundred balloons lifted off with the sunrise. There was just so much to take in as one balloon after another floated skywards. After they launched we watched them dot the sky and drift away into the morning sun. As we left the field that morning we were so glad that we could see the balloons and also so grateful for all our other many blessings.

Route 66

2008-10-11T09:04:00.000-06:00

We haven't seen all of route 66 but we have seen the Arizona highlights. Most of it honestly isn't worth mentioning (like Kingman). Sure its a scenic highway but more scenic than others? Not really. What sets apart "America's Highway" is the little (nearly dead) towns that dot it. Once upon a time when these towns where not bypassed by our modern freeways, each developed there own roadside oddities to encourage people to stop, shop, eat, or stay the night. The restaurants along 66 make some people nostalgic and others just wonder how they keep their food licence. That being said we have had the gold standard/holy grail malt milk shake on route 66. This was the milk shake that all other milk shakes are measured against. Simply Amazing. If you ever find yourself in Seligman YOUR LOST, but while your there get a malt.

Along those same lines, there is a restaurant in Williams (by the Grand Canyon) that has a great little place called the Pine Country Restaurant. Maybe the best Huevos Rancheros and homemade pie on earth. It was the thought of that pie that motivated our hike out of the Grand Canyon.

Remember the old Eagles song...

Well, I’m a standing on a corner

In Winslow, Arizona

And such a fine sight to see

It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed

Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me

Well that songs the only thing holding Winslow on the map. The whole downtown is dedicated to the Eagles complete with "the corner", two gift shops, and Eagles music blaring twenty-four, seven. We loved it, I have to admit. We took our obligatory picture, and phoned home to tell family we were "standing on the corner in Winslow, AZ" ! Total tourists.

In Holbrook we saw the Wigwam Hotel. Most everyone has seen "Cars", remember the individual tee-pee looking rooms? Yeah, this is where you can find them. They have all sorts of old cars parked around to give it a 50's feel. Some of the cars look like they might have been inspiration for some of the "Cars" characters (or vise versa). The place has seen better days but it was still fun to see. Have you stayed in a Wigwam lately?

In Holbrook there was also a dinosaur themed rock shop. Rocks are old and dinosaurs are old so I guess it works.
So that might be all of the Route 66 that we ever see. These colorful stops make long road trips memorable.

Man VS Wild

2008-10-01T18:36:00.001-06:00

Scorpions are one of the creepiest creatures on earth, everyone knows that. What you might not know is that they glow neon green under a black light. We came up with the idea that we should not only spot scorpions, but hunt them! The hunting party consisted of Russ, Josh and myself. As you can tell we were pretty intense about it too!

We headed out to the desert near our home. With black lights in hand we started up the mountain. It wasn't too long before we found a couple of small scorpions. Finding them is really pretty easy but catching them turned out to be more challenging. Luckily, we problem solved and Josh was able to get them into our prepared peanut butter jar (I know, high tech) by grabbing their tail with tongs. After we caught two scorpions we were feeling pretty good about our situation. We also became highly aware of other creepy crawlies there are in the dark, that don't glow under a black light! So we decided to head back to the car with scorpions in hand. All of a sudden Russell yells from behind, "oh my gosh, you have GOT to see this".

We could not believe the size of this guy, he was huge. We were freaking out to say the least. After we all got pictures with the beast, the men tried to figure out how to capture him. The Scorpion however had another idea, and quickly escaped down his tunnel. So that was the big one that got away. But to tell you the truth I'm okay with it. He gave me the heeby geebies anyways.

Tagged

2008-09-20T18:33:00.000-06:00

Tagged by Khanh Lemon, The Five

10 years ago I: was a freshman in highschool. I ran cross country, and danced at the Springville Ballet Academy. Nothing really memorable.

5 things on today's "to do" list:
Work on the blog
Clean the house
Go to a work conference
Watch the BYU game
Take a nap?

5 snacks I enjoy:
Anything chocolate
Chips and salsa
Smoothies
Hot chocolate
A perfect peach

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
Pay off our student loans
Become a professional traveler
Invest and save for retirement
Buy a home, with cash
New wardrobe

5 places I have lived:
Springville
Ephraim
Logan
Alaska
Arizona

5 jobs I have had:
Housekeeper
Desk clerk
Bakers assistant
Marketing consultant
Dietitian

I tag: Joelle, Jen, Catherine, Maren

Rules:Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags others and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

A Month of Movies

2008-09-14T09:46:00.000-06:00

The problem: Simply to many movies to watch, especially at the theatre.

The Solution: Netflix, we call it a month of movies. At least twice a year we become mind numbing couch potatoes for the entire month. Somewhere in that period of time we begin to understand all the one-liners we have heard people repeating. This month we have enjoyed such classics as: Enchanted, Bucket List, August Rush, Dan in Real Life, Fools Gold, Jumper, etc. All fairly good movies. We also saw some terrible movies, 10,000 B.C., and Rush Hour 3 come to mind.
How cool is it that they put TV on DVD now. We missed most of the Office last year and now after just 3 days, we are pretty much up to speed. If you want to talk movies with us, now is the time, because in another month you will be quoting a one-liner from a movie that we haven't seen and don't understand.

Happy B-Day KT

2008-09-07T13:00:00.000-06:00

KT turned 25 today. She handled it much better than I did. I had a bit of a quarter-life melt down on my 25th B-day. All the cards and packages seemed to arrive by mail on the same day. Kt seemed overwhelmed at everyone's kindness and thoughtfulness. We have such an awesome family, thanks.

KT I love you, your the best thing that has ever happened to me. I hope you have a great Birthday.

Labor Day in Flag....Again

2008-09-06T18:25:00.001-06:00

Last Labor Day we went to Flagstaff and climbed Mt Humphreys, the tallest Mountain in Arizona (12,637 feet). While on top we noticed a little meadow on the other side of the mountain... Fast forward one year later and we are in that little valley behind Humphreys Peak. The weather called for rain in Flagstaff, but we thought we would chance it anyways (given the cooler temperatures). We spent two beautiful nights in the Locket Meadow campground, where we had a large campsite dotted with pines and aspen.
While I caught up on my sleep, Josh forged new trails through the mountains. On our second day we both hiked up to the inner basin just below Humphreys. The hike was a gradual 2.5 mile uphill climb, we found ourselves out of breath most of the way up. I'm SURE it was all because of the thin mountain air. Once in the upper meadow, we set up the hammock, caught our breath, and took in the view. We never saw Humphreys, because it was always shrouded in clouds. We barely made it back to camp when it started to rain. We were pinned down in the tent for a few hours while some late afternoon mountain showers pounded the mountain. After the storm cleared, Josh proved to be quite the lumber jack. He went to town on some downed aspen and provided us with plenty of firewood. I was grateful for it too because that night it got chilly. On our way home, we went to the Lowell Observatory, just above the city of Flagstaff. This observatory discovered the planet/planetoid/asteroid/celestial body/?? known as Pluto in 1930. We took a tour of the grounds and saw some HUGE telescopes. Pictures of the moon taken from these telescopes where used as maps for the Apollo lunar missions. We really love Flag; its laid back, surrounded by mountains and pines, and has gentle hippie folk. If we make the trip back next Labor Day we will have to consider it an official Bastian tradition.

Gold!!

2008-08-25T13:50:00.000-06:00

Team redeem has tasted gold. After a few ruff years it's great to see America on top again in basketball.

Have you seen D-Will and Boozers new look....

Pierre our "Fuzz"

2008-08-20T16:21:00.000-06:00

So by now most of you have met the third member of our little family, Pierre. Others haven't had the chance to meet the Fuzz, so we thought we had better introduce him.

The first question everyone ask us is, "so... uhh... why a rabbit?". That's a fair question, especially because house rabbits aren't that common (and not everyone has experienced bunny love). We live in a apartment and wanted a clean, quiet, and low maintenance pet. Our Pierre meets all the criteria. Most people are surprised to hear that he is litter box trained. When we are home we let him out of his small cage to roam the house.

Pierre is a Mini-Rex breed, also known as the velveteen rabbits. His fur is very dense and soooo soft. It really puts all of your dogs and cats fur to shame.

Rabbits are social creatures, but it happens mostly on their own time. He gives you a good nudge when he is seeking some attention/rubbing/ treats. Turns out he has a sweet tooth for cereal, and can be quite a persuasive beggar bunny. When he gets real wound up he will do little wahoo jumps and heal clicks around the house. Some of his acrobatics even seem to surprise him. When he's relaxed he often feels the need to groom us; a large task for a tiny rabbit. He is one little licking machine!

A word about Warfarin / Coumadin

2008-08-18T17:07:00.001-06:00

Hey its Josh, I have had several questions about "blood thinners" lately and thought I would dedicate a post to some of these questions. Coumadin is taken to prevent blood from clotting within the vessels. If and when these clots form, everything down stream from the clot starves. If the heart is downstream we call it a heart attack, when the brain is down stream its a stroke.

So why don't people take their medication? Well no one wants to take a pill, its like admitting your sick or have a problem. And then... there is the history of this medication. It was originally used as a rat poison. The logic I sometimes hear is "If they use it to poison rats, how can it possibly help me?" Lets all remember that the "dose makes the poison". To much table salt or even water can cause death too. So this brings up the other reason people don't like to take this medication, the monitoring. This medication MUST be monitored. Many people see their doctor every couple weeks to have a simple blood test and their dose adjusted. This is done to keep the drug in a "therapeutic level" not a toxic or ineffective level.

Some patients try to go on and off their medication. I believe they think they can just use it when they need it. Sadly no one can tell when they are going to have a stroke or a heart attack or a pulmonary embolism. Coumadin takes about three days to start working, and within those three days it can temporarily increase the clotting risk. In addition this medication does not dissolve clots, it only prevents them. In other words once you have a problem it is to late.

I guess it comes down to this, taking this medication is not convenient BUT it is effective. That has been proven time and time again.

Summer Trip To The Motherland

2008-08-13T20:48:00.001-06:00

After six months of nearly complete family isolation we took a vacation back to the motherland. Our summer trips to Utah have become a favorite tradition while we have been away at school. We normally begin the drive to Utah at about 6PM and make the 11 hr trip. This is a true test of endurance and a bit of a living nightmare. This time around the stars aligned and we left at noon-ish. I can't tell you how much better the drive was. We had almost forgot how scenic old I-89 is. We made several stops, I read, we took some pictures, and even went on a little hike to horse shoe gulch.

Once we made it to home, (Yes, we still refer to it as home, I am sure we always will.) we found Grandma and Grandpa Treasure there too! Grandpa is receiving treatment (radiation and chemo) at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and is staying in Utah in the mean time. It was hard for all of us to see Grandpa suffer but we were all grateful he had chosen to undergo the painful treatments so he can be with us longer. Even through the pain Grandpa delivered some pretty good one liners to keep everyone smiling.

Once all the Treasure Sisters were together we decided to go to Seven Peaks water park for old times sake. Back in the day when we worked at Dad's hotel we had season passes and would spend several days a week at the water park. It was a mostly cloudy day, but warm enough to swim. My easily sun burnt husband didn't mind the lack of sun. We got to do most of the slides before lightning shut the park down.

Russell flew in to meet us at the Bastian's. It was like a mini reunion. We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon and roasted cheesy hot dogs and made smores. We all enjoyed the pines and the mountains but we all swore off cheesy hot dogs for life. Never read the ingredients on a hot dog package as you eat them. After the Sun went down we put on jackets and stoked the fire. Our home in Phoenix seemed so far away. A jacket in the summer is completely out of the question where the low temperature might not dip below triple digits.

Fun in Philly

2008-07-30T20:48:00.000-06:00

I recently returned from a work conference in Philadelphia, and let me just say it was pretty amazing! I was bummered because I had to leave Josh home. I went with some ladies from work and we had a good time. The conference was pretty informative, but the sightseeing was really what I will remember from my trip. I knew that Philly was cool but after spending a few days there, I really grew quite attached to the city. We spent most of our time downtown by the Pennsylvania Convention Center and in the historic district. It was super hot and super humid. Because I am thermally challenged I still managed to freeze in air conditioned buildings because it was soooo humid. Some of my favorite sites include seeing Rocky on the steps, Ben Franklin's Grave, the US Mint, the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall.

We took a guided tour of Independence Hall and I have to say that I was awe struck to be in the same room where The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution were signed. I felt so much gratitude for the fathers of our nation and all the others who sacrificed for our freedom. We really are blessed to live and be free in such a beautiful country.

While I was in Philadelphia I figured I should have a famous Philly cheese steak sandwich. I doubt I could find better! Philly has really given us so much, democracy, the philly cheese steak, and Will Smith.

Philly is the City of Brotherly Love. This was a fountain in Love Park.

The last day we took a tour bus up to New York City. We had six hours to see as much of the big apple as we possibly could, it was a mad dash of sightseeing! We were able to see the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park, the Chrystler building, and ground zero. My roomie Pat and I rode the subway all by ourselves up to Grand Central Station. We walked to the Empire State building and through Time Square; Whoaa and I thought Vegas was sensory overload! I bartered for a knock-off purse, and bought lunch from a street vendor so... I pretty much played the part of a good tourist. We finished our day off at the Top of The Rock, Rockefeller Center to get a good view of this vast and vertical city. I've never seen so many people and so many tall buildings, what an experience. I will definitely be back, next time with Josh in tow.

Monsoon Season

2008-07-20T10:25:00.000-06:00

Monsoon season is one of our favorite times of the year. At the end of July and throughout August we get violent thunderstorms and gail force winds. The meteorologist every year argue if this is a true "monsoon season" but everyone else here seems convinced that it is.

The thunderstorms are normally small cells that move through the valley. From our third floor window we can watch these storms zig-zag through the valley as if tracking that Eeyore character from Winnie the Pooh. When these fierce little storms wander over your piece of blue sky find cover! The storms pour down an incredible amount of rain, and put on a brilliant lightning show. We like to go out on the porch to watch them pass. They then leave as quickly as they came. The water left behind is almost instantly vaporized by the standard 110 degree temperatures we have here. The downside of this monsoon season is the increase in humidity!

The other part of Monsoon season is less enjoyable, but no less impressive. We have enormous dust storms that cover the entire valley. The official name for this type of a storm is a "Haboob" which is an Arabic word that is used to describe these storms in the Sahara Desert. They say the sand can go as high as three thousand feet into the air, and I believe it. Think back to the Mummy (the one with Brandon Frazier) remember the sand storm...that’s pretty much it, minus the mummy face.

The Mummy...

Actual picture of Phoenix. Scary huh.

Freedom and Camping

2008-07-06T11:46:00.000-06:00

For the 4th of July weekend we decided to beat the heat and head for the pines. We were lucky to grab one of the last campsites in the Upper Tonto Creek campground. This is a beautiful area with lots of pine trees. After we set up camp, we watched the sun set and we listened to the distant rollings of thunder. Unfortunately we were awakened that night at 2:30am by some new neighbors setting up camp. The whole family was yelling and calling to each other, chopping wood and starting a huge bon fire (it was clearly posted everywhere that it was extremely high fire danger and no fires of any kind were permitted!). You know when you have those moments when you think "are these people for real"?! The next morning we overheard other campers grumbling about the new brood next door. I was thinking we could probably round everyone up to vote them off the island, but instead it rained and the newcomers got what they deserved. We on the other hand really enjoyed the rain because it brought even cooler temperatures. On the morning of the 4th we hiked up to Horton Springs, which comes right out of the mountain, so that's cool. We drank from the head water and it was tasty, especially in comparison to Phoenix water! Later we went into Payson to enjoy some small town celebrations and fireworks. That same rain followed us into town and put a damper on the festivities, but the show went on and we watched fireworks from our car. Saturday we packed up camp and made a stop at the fish hatchery (which Josh got a kick out of) before making a the trip home. While we were in the neighborhood we figured we would drive up through Snowflake so we could see the first of the small temples. I don't know what we were expecting, but as it turns out, it's like all the other temples. The grounds were beautiful and there was a wonderful spirit about it. The drive back to Phoenix was scenic and especially GREEN compared to our home in Glendale.

A Little Behind the Curve

2008-06-29T16:49:00.000-06:00

Josh and I started our Lord of the Rings adventure by reading the Hobbit. It was my first time into the world of JRR Tolkien and Josh had read it as a boy. Once we finished the Hobbit we were ready to move onto heavier things. We had many road trips planned, which include some of the posts below so we decided to listen to the Trilogy on disk. Although this process is much slower than reading, we enjoyed the narration by Rob Inglis. We have spent many a night hanging out with the rabbit and listening to Lord of The Rings. After we finish each book we watch the extended version of the movie and most of the extras (4 hours long!) pretty intense, we know, but we must see our task through. So now we are halfway through the Return of the King and and feel almost a part of the "fellowship". We laugh at ourselves because we know we are several years behind most fans. We also feel pretty nerdy listening to hour after hour of fantasy books on disc, but we are loving it.

Havasupai Falls: There and Back Again, A Bastian Tale

2008-06-09T19:00:00.000-06:00

Upon moving to Arizona we saw a lot of pictures of these gorgeous turquoise blue waterfalls. When we finally figured out that this was Havasupai Falls, we decided we had to see it for ourselves. The falls are in the Grand Canyon drainage on an Indian reservation. It is about a 5 hour drive to the North of us, so we decided to make a trip of it. We were lucky to get permits as they fill up months in advance. The hike wasn't very hard, just long, which made it hard. It was 8 miles to the Supai village in the bottom. This a village that still gets their mail via a horse back rider. It was very odd to be in an isolated village in the middle of the good ol' USA. After the village there was another 2 miles to the falls and the camping area. We spent our 2nd day re-couping and swimming in the waterfalls. The water was cool and a beautiful blue color. Even I took a dip (I normally don't do cold water) and swam in the pool under the waterfall. That night we enjoyed a starry sky from our bug free zone (our tent). The third morning we packed up and set out on the trail just in time to see the sun coming up over Havasupai Falls, it was breathtaking. Coming out was a lot harder because now it was all up hill and we were pretty sore to begin with. The last mile and a half were particularly long, steep and hot! We just kept telling each other when we made it out we would find a chocolate malt somewhere. When we finally made it to the top, there was a sense of accomplishment to look down in the valley and see where we had come from that morning. On our drive home we stopped in the tiny town of Seligman on the old route 66 and found a 50's drive-in that made the best homemade chocolate malts ever. What a trip!

Family Fun in The Magic Kingdom

2008-05-26T21:05:00.000-06:00

It has been 7 years since most of us have been to Disneyland and if you could picture it, we were giddy like school kids! We spent two wonderful days between the parks and covered quite a bit of ground for a group of 9. We were pretty impressed with the new California Adventures, and how could we not be? Disney does not disappoint. Some of our most favorite rides were: Space Mt, Indiana Jones, Thundermt Railroad, Screamer, Tower of Terror, Soar in Cali, OK actually they were all great. After two high impact days we took a day off at Coronado Beach and around Sandiego. It was an amazing day and believe it or not the water was a few degrees warmer than the air. Our last day in California was cloudy and a bit rainy, but we still enjoyed Sea World. The shows were amazing and we just shrugged when we got wet on the Journey to Atlantis roller coaster because it was already raining. Thus, we turned around and got right back on the coaster to do it again. Before going home the family came back to AZ to stay with us a couple days before their long drive back to Utah. It was a great family vacation and we hope to get back to the Magic Kingdom sooner rather than later.

Twilight & The Stephenie Meyer Book Signing

2008-05-14T17:10:00.000-06:00

Well I have joined the leagues of fans who enjoy all things Twilight. The Twilight book series for those of you who don't know is written by Stephenie Meyer, a Mormon Mother of 3. She is an amazing author who writes gripping literature. I really enjoyed reading the Twilight series and can't wait for the 4th installment to come out in August! We can also look forward to the Twilight movie that comes out on December 12th!!

On Stephenie's book tour she had a stop in Phoenix so I thought it would be fun to go. I was just one of over a thousand people there! I waited for over five hours to get three books signed for me and Jessica, my sister. I actually had a great time and met some really nice people.

Before the signing, Stephenie answers questions from the Audience.

Stephenie in action, talk about writers cramp!

Bastians come to thaw out

2008-03-28T22:11:00.000-06:00

It was great to have Brad and Spencer come all the way to Phoenix to see us on their spring break. We know better than most how long that road is. We had a great time and Josh got to go rock climbing with the bros at Camelback Mountain.

Brad and Spencer spent spring break with us

2008-03-27T17:55:00.000-06:00

Summers

2008-03-27T17:40:00.000-06:00

We had some new snow birds in town. Grandma and Gene came all the way to Glendale to see us. On the way here their flight was cancelled and they spent 6 hours in the airport. On the way home their flight left them and they spent another 5 hour day at the airport! But in between airport disasters we had the best time. I don't know if I have ever been so many places in so few days. It was all we could do to keep up with those two.

2007-12-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

So Katie and I have been inspired by some of our friends blogs so we thought we would give it shot.