Our Life Together...

Whale Watching

2011-09-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

Sophie, Michael and I all went on an amazing trip to go see the humpback whales up in Gloucester, MA. We had such an amazing time and Sophie LOVED the whales. She would laugh at them when they came close to the boat. It was super cute! I love my little adventurous family!

After Whale Watching, we went to get some awesome seafood at a famous diner. It was SUPER tasty!!

Sophie is walking... mostly

2011-09-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

I know that it has been quite some time since we have posted an updated, and we have done many exciting things, but life has been busy. Sophie has been trying to walk now for the past month and over the last few days she has gotten pretty good. She still isn't walking as her primary mode of locomotion, but she has definitely gotten better. As an engineer that tries to make legged robots walk on a daily basis, it has been fun for me to watch and as her father, it has brought me great joy and excitement! Here's a short video to prove that it's actually happening.

We had Alan here visiting from Japan over the last few days and it was exciting for him to be able to see how much Sophie has grown since he last saw her. When he first got here we kept trying to convince him that Sophie indeed was taking steps, but she is an obstinate child and refuses to perform on command. Then yesterday Diane, Alan, and Sophie came to visit me at work so Alan could see the cool robots and Sophie decided she wanted to walk. I wish I had gotten that on video, because she was cruising around all over the place. It was pretty funny. She was so excited that she was even trying to run, which didn't go over so well. Anyway, we'll try and post some more of our recent adventures soon.

Splash Parks

2011-06-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

Something that is very popular in our area are Splash Parks! They are so fun, especially on the hot days. I know that Sophie and I will be going there A LOT this summer! Especially since there is one right down the street from us.

For: Grandpa Johnson

2011-06-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

My Dad and Holly just got back from a trip to Chile. They went and visited where my dad went on his mission around 30 years ago. They got this sweater for Sophie while they were down there and my dad really wanted to see Sophie in it. It is still a little big, but by the time fall rolls around, it should fit perfect! I love how there is a scene sown onto it -

It has a sun, sheep, flamingos, and even snails!

It is SO adorable!! Thanks Grandpa for the sweater!

Hiking at The Fells

2011-06-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, June 4th, Michael, Sophie and I went hiking at The Fells in MA. Our friends Brooke and Derek came with us. We had a lot of fun. It was a super fun hike. I cant wait to go back again.

Sophie is 8 months old!

2011-06-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Sophie will be 8 months old! I can't believe how fast she has grown. She is turning into such a sweet baby girl, with a super fun personality! She is on the verge of crawling and loves to hold our fingers and try to walk around. She also has tried to pull up to standing at the coffee table a few times, but about half way up she looses her grip and falls. She is SO amazing, beautiful and loving. Michael and I are so very blessed to have her in our lives.

Thank you Heavenly Father for our percious gift.

Sophie at the Park

2011-06-04T06:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sophie and I went to playgroup for our ward. It was lots of fun! Sophie got to hang out with friends, see some ducks and geese (She was very curious about them), and swing on a swing for the 1st time (She LOVED the swing)! It was a very exciting adventure for the little monkey.

For: Grandma Holly

2011-06-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma Holly bought Sophie a "Cutzee" little dress while they were over in Europe. Grandma Holly really badly wanted to see Sophie in it, so here are some pictures.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We love you!

Blue Hills Reservation

2011-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day, Michael and I decided that we wanted to go exploring in a new area. We decided to go down to Blue Hills Reservation in Quincy, MA. It was beautiful there! Sophie LOVED riding in the baby backpack! She was talking up a storm while we were hiking. My cousin and her family met up with us while we were there. It was really nice to visit with them. Now that the weather is warmer, we hope to continue to get out of the house and enjoy the beauty that we are surrounded by.

Michaels New GPS!! We are SO excited about it!

Sophie was SO tired by the end of our adventure! What a little cutie!

New York City - Part Two

2011-03-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Sterling and His New Wife Jillian! :)

Princess was the Photographer for the Wedding. She did such a wonderful job! :)

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson were SO excited to spend time with Sophie.

Happy Girl! (She was laughing at her Daddy! Silly Daddy!)

Nathan watched Sophie while we were in the Temple for the Sealing. I can't believe how old he is now. He is such a cute kid!

Sophie and Her Grandpa! They are SO cute together!

New York City - Part One

2011-03-08T15:24:00.000-08:00

Mike, Sophie & I all went down to NYC this weekend for Sterling Kramers wedding and while we were there we did a little sight-seeing because Michael has never been to the city. We didnt have much time to roam the city, but we were able to see a few things. We went to Central Park, The Empire State Building, and Times Square. Also, While we were in the city one of my old friends from High School, Erik and his girlfriend, Allison met up with us for lunch. We ate at hells Kitchen Pizza. It was SUPER good! We had SO much fun in the city that we are planning to go down again sometime in the near future.

We are on a electronic billboard!! See that's us in the right-bottom corner!! :)

I can not believe how big our little girl is getting

2011-03-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Sophie has been hitting milestone after milestone. In the past few weeks she has rolled from her belly to her back, from her back to her belly, and now she is even sitting up on her own. We're still working on the last one, but she's getting pretty good at it. I've posted a little video of one of her recent successes.

She continues to love the solid foods and is getting pretty good at eating them. So far we haven't found one she didn't like (except for maybe rice cereal, but if we add some pears or prunes, she loves it). Diane made her some butternut and acorn squash puree the other day. So far we have only tried the butternut squash, and it is a hit. When Diane made it she froze it in ice cube trays for easy serving sizes. The other day we fed her 3 ice cubes worth and she was upset that we didn't give her more.

Right now we're in New York City for a friend's wedding and the weather has been great. It's a nice change from the frigid winter we've been experiencing a bit further north. We took a walk around Central Park this afternoon and Sophie seemed to really enjoy seeing all the new things. I think it was one of the first times she's spent significant time outside without being covered up in her car carrier.

We continue to enjoy Boston and we can't wait for spring and warmer weather to arrive. Surely we'll have many more fun and exciting adventures to report about.

The Vote is In!

2011-02-25T08:20:00.000-08:00

The vote is in and Prunes are yummy!!! The doctor told us to try getting Sophie to eat them to help things move along a bit easier. She has been a bit constipated since starting solids two weeks ago. But she loves this whole idea of eating solid foods! She thinks it is the BEST!

Prints for Kim

2011-02-20T20:44:00.000-08:00

Kim, Here are some ideas of photos you can use for art your room. Let me know if you like any of them. And if you want some more choices let me know. I was kinda in a rush to get these up and did not have time to look through all of my photos. Love you!

*This one is not B&W but I thought it might work with your color scheme*

Valentines Day

2011-02-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!
This is a picture of Sophie in her super cute valentines day outfit that Grandma Rose got for her! I cant believe how big and cute she is! Mike and I are just loving every moment with her!! Thanks Grandma for the cute outfit!!

What do you think?

2010-12-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

So I found this picture of me when I was little and I think that Sophie looks a lot like I did when I was little. What do you think? PS. Dad I LOVE your 'stache!

Cute Monkey

2010-12-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

Our ward Christmas party was a couple of weeks ago and we dressed Sophie up all fancy! :) She looked SO cute!! I just had to do a mini photo shoot with her when we got home before we changed her.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

Tiffany came to visit! :) We had a BLAST having her here! :) We went to the museum of science in Boston, went rock climbing, went shopping and of course had thanksgiving dinner together. It was GREAT! Thanksgiving was really fun and relaxed. We slept in, and stayed in our pj's all day! It was awesome! Tiffany was a great little helper in the kitchen and I think that she was able to learn some new tricks. Out of all that we did, I most of all just enjoyed being together and talking. Sophie had a great time with Tiffany also. Tiff is such a great aunt! :) Love you lots little sis and thanks for coming out to see us.

Happy Anniversary

2010-11-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

Michael and I were sealed together for all eternity yesterday, 4 years ago. What an amazing day it was! :) I remember pulling up to the temple that morning and Michael standing there waiting for me outside with his dad. He looked SO handsome! I remember being so excited and happy to know that I never had to go another day without him by my side. What a great feeling it is to know that I get to be with my best friend forever! I am truly blessed! :) I believe that the Lord had a huge hand in bringing michael and me together, I dont think it was just a coincidence at all. I'm SO glad and forever grateful that the Lord brought him into my life, and that we fell deeply in love. I am so happy that we have had these last 4 fabulous years together. It has been so fun and such a wonderful adventure! It is true when they say "Time flies when you are having fun"...I can't believe that it has already been 4 years! :) I cant wait for all the years to come! Especially now that our two-some has become a three-some! I love you sweetheart forever and always!

2010-11-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

10 Reasons Why I Love My Husband
1. He Loves Me.
2. He is SO sweet and thoughtful. He is always thinking about how he can help me and make me happy. He is really good at making me smile and laugh.
3. He is patient. Especially with me when I am acting emotional and crazy!
4. He is VERY handsome! Especially when he wears a suit and tie.
5. He is SO smart! Sometimes it really blows my mind how much he knows and how good he is at complex math stuff!
6. He is adventurous. He loves to be outside in the mountains camping, rock climbing and hiking.
7. He loves his family.
8. He is not embarrased to sing loud, even though he is tone deaf. I love singing with him!! :)
9. He talks in his sleep and it always makes me laugh!
10. He is a wonderful father. I love to see him with our little girl! He is so sweet when he is with her.

Stop Growing SO Fast!!

2010-11-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

Sophie has started to get really good control of her neck, so I thought it would be fun to see if she could sit in the bumbo on her own. She totally did it!! I was amazed at my little girl sitting up all by herself! She is growing too fast! Good Job baby girl! I love you SO much!!

Tummy Time Hangout

2010-11-17T13:36:00.000-08:00

Sophie loves tummy time and Koa likes to do it with her. :) It is really cute how much Koa loves her and worries about her when she cries. They are going to be great friends when sophie get a little bigger.

Kisses for baby sister. So Cute!! :)

Not tummy time, but more baby & puppy love! :)

Sophie's 1st Halloween

2010-11-01T07:30:00.001-07:00

Our ward had a Trunk-O-Treat this last Saturday, So the three of us got dressed up and had a great time! :) There were so many fun costumes! People are SO creative these days. People really enjoyed our costumes, and Mike and I were surprised that some of the younger kids actually knew what we were! :) Everyone also LOVED meeting Sophie for the 1st time, and she was such a good girl. She slept through the whole thing, but that is ok. We had a ton of fun for Sophie's 1st Halloween! Also, I have to thank my Dad for the cute outfit he got for Sophie in Sweden, It was the inspiration for our costumes. I hope everyone had a fun Halloween! We love you all tons!

Family comes to Visit

2010-10-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you to my mom, dad and Holly for coming to visit us and for all of your help while I was recovering and while mike and me were learning how to be parents. It was SO nice having you around, and I wish you lived closer. We love you tons and tons!!

Our daughter is so cute!

2010-10-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I had to head back to work today. I know that she doesn't really do much right now, and that I have spent a good portion of the last few days just staring at her sleeping, but I missed my little monkey today. I think that she probably has to be the cutest baby ever. Since many of you aren't here to share in the joy of our baby Lulu, I thought I'd share some of the latest pictures.

She's adorable when she's sleeping

Snuggle time with daddy

Sophie's first bath at home. She likes the alligator washcloth

What a beautiful little girl

We love our little girl. She has already brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, healthy little girl.

Sophie Louise Rose, welcome to the world

2010-10-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Diane and I are proud and excited to announce the arrival of our precious little girl Sophie Louise Rose. She was born on October 5, 2010 at 8:20pm. Call me a nerd, but I think that her birthday/time is the coolest ever (10/5/2010 @ 20:20). She weighed 7 lbs, 8.6 oz and is 20 inches long. She is perfect and amazing in every way. Who knew that a single event could change ones life in such drastic ways. I love being a dad. Even though all that my bundle of joy does right now is eat, sleep, and make messes in her diaper, I love her so much. I love looking at her. I just can't get enough of it.

I'll let Diane go into more detail about the labor and delivery if she wants, but here's the quick version. Diane woke up around 5:30am when her water broke. We talked to the midwife who told us there was no rush, but that we should make our way to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 8:30am. Not much happened until around 1:30pm or so, and then the contractions started getting stronger and more consistent. By about 7:50pm Diane was ready to start pushing, and at 8:20pm our little girl came into the world.

We came home from the hospital yesterday (10/7/10) afternoon. It was so surreal leaving the hospital with Sophie. As I walk out the doors and put her into the car, it hit me more than I think it had before. I'm a dad, this is my little girl, and I get to keep her. She's been such a joy to have in our home. I got to read to her for the first time last night. It was so fun. I'll be sad to go back to work next week and not be able to spend so much time with her.

Diane is recovering well from the delivery. She is really tired (and sore) which is to be expected. Luckily, her mom is in town, and she has been quite helpful. I am just amazed at the strength of my wife. She really wanted to delivery the baby naturally, with no intervention. There were times during the contractions that it was so hard to see how much pain she was in and not be able to do anything about it. But, my wife is tough, and she pushed through the pain.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support. We really appreciate it. I'll be posting some more pictures soon, so check back later.

New England Revolution

2010-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend Mike and I went to a New England Revolution game! :) It was TONS of fun and even better, they WON 3-1!! :) It was a great date night!

Three Points for the New England Revs!! :)

This is a video I took after the 3rd goal! :)

Spartan Race

2010-09-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

First, I need to apologize to everyone for not posting. I really got out of the habit after we started the whole moving process. Well here I am again and I am going to try and be better about letting everyone know what is going on in our lives here in Boston.

So 2 weekends ago (8-28-2010) Mike ran in a race called the Spartan Race. A bunch of people that he works with participated in it with there families and friends. (I REALLY wish i could have done it!) The race is a 5K run and through out the run there are different challenges that you must complete before moving on in the race. Most of the race was back in the woods and so I was only able to get pictures of the beginning and end of the race. So here are some fun pictures from our fun (and for mike very muddy) day! :)

Mikes Spartan Team!

All the people who participated from work.

CHARGE!!!

Here comes the hard fall!!!
wait for it....wait for it!!

He Defeated the BEAST!

(Look how HUGE my belly is getting!!)

This is a picture that someone took of me at the race.
I think it is such a hilarious picture!!

Everyone all tired and muddy!

It's a girl!

2010-06-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

It's official; we are having a baby girl. The ultrasound technician was so sure, she said we could buy clothes and take the tags off. We are very excited. Here are a few pictures from the ultrasound:

It's a girl!

That's our baby! Isn't she cute?

She kept trying to put her foot in her mouth.

Here it is again. Silly baby.

She's waving to the camera!

We're so excited for our baby to come. The new ward we are in has a lot of young families and a lot of babies. It is fun to watch them wander/crawl around and makes us excited for the arrival of our own.

We are pretty much settled into our new place here in Boston. We'll be posting pictures soon. There's still a bunch of work that needs to be done in the basement, but at least we don't have to spend much time down there. I'm enjoying my new job so far. I have already learned a lot and will definitely be learning much more over the next little while. We haven't had much time to get to know Boston yet, but we've made some friends in the ward and once things calm down a bit with the new job and the move, we'll find some time to go explore the area. We hope all is well with everyone else and we'll keep you posted.

We're having a baby!!!'

2010-05-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you that haven't heard yet, Diane is pregnant! We are very excited. We have a lot of big changes coming up that we are pretty excited about: moving, a new job, a baby. It is a very exciting time for us. We just had a doctor's appointment this week and got to hear the heartbeat again. The baby is healthy and doing well as far as the doctor can tell. We have our appointment next Thursday to find out the gender of the baby. Until then, here is a picture of the baby and the soon to be mother.

Baby's first picture

Diane's pregnant belly

We're moving to Boston!!!

2010-04-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

It is way past my bedtime, so I'm going to make this quick, but I want to share some exciting news. Diane and I are moving to Boston. I have accepted a job as a Robotics Engineer at a small robotics company called Boston Dynamics. It is located in Waltham, MA, which is about 10-15 minutes from the center of Boston. I start work on May 31st, so we'll be moving in about a month. We are both very excited. I'll post more about where we'll be living, etc. as I have more information, but know that we are both excited about the new and fun adventures that this move will bring into our lives.

I'm going to be famous!!!

2010-03-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, so probably not, but a news article was recently published on the College of Engineering website about the work that my lab is doing, and there are a few quotes from me in it. Here's the link so you can go ahead and check it out: http://www.eng.vt.edu/news/article.php?niid=2138

Who knows how long the link will work, but hopefully for a while. If it ever breaks, I apologize.

I haven't posted recently, so here is a quick update on my life. I successfully defended my Master's thesis on January 25th. It was quite the stressful experience, but I sure was glad when it was finished. I spent the next few weeks making the corrections that my committee requested and then turned the thesis in to the grad school. About a week later I got an e-mail informing me that I had officially met all of the requirements for my Master of Science degree. I thought that day would never come, and I'm sure the wait seemed even longer for Diane.

So, what now? Well, I have been working for my graduate advisor, continuing some of the research I did for my degree. I've also been tasked with the responsibility of helping manage and run the lab, which takes a surprising amount of work. In the mean time I've been hunting for a job. I haven't received any offers yet, but I've been pretty successful as of late in getting interviews. At the end of January I went out to Cedar Rapids, IA for an interview with Rockwell Collins for a job in flight controls engineering. A few weeks ago I interviewed for a job at SPAWAR (a space and warfare naval research center) in San Diego, CA. More recently I interviewed for another position at Rockwell Collins here in Virginia, where I would be doing flight controls for UAVs. Earlier this week I had a phone interview with Boston Dynamics, which is just outside of Boston, and I should be headed up there in the next few weeks for another interview. They do some amazing research in the robotics community. Here a video of one of their robots called Big Dog. The video is about three minutes, but well worth the time.

If you head to YouTube and look for Boston Dynamics you'll find many other videos of their other robots as well. I should also be hearing back from iRobot, the makers of the Roomba, any day now about an interview. I've already been contacted a few times, but things have been slow as far as setting up the interview. They are also just outside of Boston. If I were to work for them, I would be working with their military robotics. They also have a lot of cool videos, so here are some links to a few: Packbot, Blob robot, and the Bionic Hamster. You can also find a bunch more here.

Other than the job search, not a whole lot of news around here. Diane is still working at the physical therapist office. It's been nice to be less busy because I'm not taking any classes (at least not officially), so Diane and I have been able to spend more time together. We'll keep you posted and I'll post something when I find out more about the job situation.

Hound Puppies

2010-02-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

Mike and I had an opportunity to foster some hound puppies for 2 weeks. We had so much fun spending time with them, but boy it was a lot of work! One of our puppies cheerio, got sick with Parvo and unfortunately did not make it. I miss her and wish that I had the time to have seen her personality shine. They all went to their new homes this last weekend and seem to be doing well. I wanted to show you guys some pictures and videos we took of our cute little ones. :) enjoy.

Bath Time for Cherrio (left) and Autobahn.

Puppies laying on Mike. Left to right: Auto, Tsunami, Crash Pad, and Cherrio is under the pile. :)

Basking in the sun! :) (Crash and Auto)

Crash on His way to his new home! :)

North Carolina Trip

2009-11-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went down to NC to visit friends and revisit some old places. To family.... See if you recognize any of these places. :) I hope that as you look at these pictures they will bring back wonderful memories. Mike and I had such a fun time seeing our old homes and we were flooding with such happy thoughts and emotions. :) We love you all!

Mike's 1st home in Raleigh, NC

Mike's 2nd home in Raleigh, NC

Diane's 1st Home in Raleigh, NC

Playroom

Diane's Favorite horse to play on

Old Basketball Hoop

Diane's 2nd home in Apex, NC

My robot is alive!

2009-10-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally have a free minute to post some pictures and videos of my robot. It's been a very busy past few weeks trying to get ready for our big demo and such. The demo last week was a success. Our sponsors liked what they saw and have decided to continue to fund the project.

Designing and putting my robot together was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. I have learned and continue to learn a lot from the experience. The robot isn't entirely finished either. Right now it doesn't do much other than drive around. I'm still working on adding some functionality to it as far as mobility and perception goes. I haven't even touched the sampling portion of the robot, nor will I. That will be left for another graduate student.

Anyway, here's some pictures and some videos of the robot in action:

The front

The back

These videos are of my robot. I was driving the robot from my lab about 300 ft. away. The robot has a camera on it that sends video to my computer so I can see where I'm driving.

This first video is of me trying to find a drainage pipe.

This second video is of me trying to drive over a gravel pile. Everything went great until the camera fell off (it was held on my some spring clips) and then I drove over top of it.

To help out a friend...and maybe myself

2009-10-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

By putting this on the blog, i am helping my friend with his advertisment company and it also enters me to possible win free whooga ugg boots. we will see... i most likely wont win...i never win anything.

Busy-ness

2009-08-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone for not being so good at updating out blog this last month! Life has been really busy. I (Diane) have been working a lot still doing PT and Mike will be back to classes Tuesday. He has been busy this summer building his robot, working on his thesis and looking for jobs. I also have been working on my photography quite a bit more and started a new blog for it. Please check it out... it is dianerosephotography.blogspot.com. We love you all and thank you for all of your love and support! :)

A Day of Sailing

2009-07-19T08:25:00.001-07:00

Mike and I got invited to go Sailing by a couple in our ward (The Grosbecks) yesterday and so the 4 of us headed down to Claytor Lake and headed out on the water! :) Mike had been sailing before, but i never had and was REALLY excited! :) We had such a good time! It was a lot harder work than i thought it would be. We had to keep shifting our weight on the boat to keep it straight and at one point we almost flipped the boat over! We were able to save it though! :) It was such a rush being out there and we hope we get to go out again some time! :) Thank you Jackie and Rick! :)

Rick (aka: the Skipper)

Jackie and Me

Mike Demonstrating how to counter balance the boat
(We had to do TONS of this!)

Pulling in the Boat (Jackie almost fell in right here...)

The Beautiful Alynne

2009-07-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

Alynne and I went up to Pembroke, VA the other day and took some amazing photos and had a fun time hangng out together. She is such an amazing girl and she is super cute ad smart! Thanks Alynne! :) You are Amazing!

Cute Family Photos

2009-07-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this family! They are so cute and SO sweet! :) The 2 older girls are in primary with me, and their mom is my music assistant and pianist and helps me a TON in primary! I don't know what i would do without her...
I asked her a few weeks ago if i could do a family photo shoot and get some practice with bigger families and she agreed! I was SO excited to take pictures with them and we all had TONS of fun! Thank you to this family! :) you guys are GREAT! :)

Annika said the most hilarious thing while we were catching fire flies. She said, "I think i kind of squished this one" (referring to a bug she was holding) "But then i pushed it with my finger and it started walking around!" It was so cute! :) She was so excited!

Teddy and Jessica

2009-07-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to work out my schedules with Jessica and we were able to take family pictures. It was tons of fun and we got lots of good pictures! Thanks guys! you are SO cute! :)

Rotten Beast!!

2009-07-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

We have been leaving kekoa out of his crate during the day for a few months now and have not had any problems. He does not chew anything up, except every once and a while we have found him running off with dirty tupperware (so he can lick it clean) and we have caught him sleeping on the couch a few times. I think he has done really well considering what he could do. But, every once and a while, when a couple days go by and he has not been able to run around due to our schedules, he gets bored and finds things to destroy. this time it was....mike's electrical razor!

This was the most expensive thing he has ever destroyed! usually it is a few papers left out or something small. but he got in BIG trouble for this one! ROTTEN BEAST!

The Other Diane

2009-07-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

This girl is the COOLEST punk rocker chick ever!! :) We had TONS of fun hanging out and taking pictures! :) Diane, you are amazing and SO beautiful! Thanks oodles and bunches!

Cariss and Alison

2009-07-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

These 2 girls are SO cute and TONS of fun! :) I had a great time taking pictures with them and practicing taking portrait pictures. I feel like i still need some work, but practice makes perfect! :) Thanks girls for helping me out! You both are So beautiful! :)

Trip Day #8: Zion National Park

2009-06-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday (our last day of hiking) we went to Zion National Park. Mike and I have been there before, but mom and dad haven't so it was nice to go, but we were SO worn out by the time Saturday rolled around. We went on two hikes, but unfortunately half way through the second one the rain started pouring down on us! We had to stop and find shelter for a little bit to try and save the cameras. Even though we got rained on, It was an amazing trip! :)

The next day we flew out of Las Vegas and headed home. What a fun trip! :) Thanks Mom and Dad, it was a great idea for us to go on this trip! :) Love you TONS!

Trip Day #7: Bryce Canyon

2009-06-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Next, We were off to Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon was very different from anything else we had seen while we were out there. The rock (which was Limestone) does not usually weather in other places like it does in Bryce. The rock was weathering like it was sandstone. Also, another neat thing about Bryce Canyon is, the rock formations that stick straight up are called "Hoodoos". The Indians believe that if when you lived and you were bad, you turned into one of these "hoodoos" when you died. Dad brought up an interesting thought about the legend; maybe it all spawned from the story of Lot's wife.

My Mini Hoodoo

Mike's mini Hoodoo

The Queen from the "Queens Garden" (Do you see her?) It took mom and me about 5 mins to finally have dad and Mike see it. :)

Mom making a funny pose! :) Love you mom! You crack me up!

The Bryce Amphitheater

Trip Day #6: Arches National Park

2009-06-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

Thursday we went to Arches National Park. It was TONS of fun! It was neat to know that sand and air sculpted all of these arches. I couldn't believe how many arches there were! It is really amazing how beautiful the world is. We are truly blessed.

Delicate Arch

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Landscape Arch

What is left of Wall Arch. It fell down last Aug. :(

Double "O" Arch

Mike Climbing on some rocks! :)

Navajo Arch

Double Arch

Trip Day #5: Antelope Canyon (Part 2)

2009-06-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

After we got out of lower antelope canyon, we headed to meet up with our tour guide to go see Upper Antelope Canyon. We took our tour of the canyon through a tour guide service. We went to their office, and they loaded a bunch of people in trucks and we were off to the canyon. When we got there it was a lot like Lower Antelope Canyon, but more enclosed and dark. It was a lot of fun and cool to go with the guides because they showed us things we might not have noticed and also told us cool stories about the Indians.

These are the trucks that they drove us out to the canyon in.

The Indians believed this to be "the bear" of the canyon. Do you see it? (PS Sorry the picture is kinda blurry)

This is "the eagle." You can see the head and 2 wings.

Sand "Water"fall

One of the many sun rays that can be seen throughout the Canyon

The Canyon's little Monument Valley (Do you see it? Cool huh?!?)

Trip Day #5: Antelope Canyon (Part 1)

2009-06-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we headed up to Antelope Canyon which is right outside of Page, AZ. In the morning, we went to Lower Antelope Canyon. It was so neat to go and see it. Also, because Dad had a tripod with him we got a "Photography Pass." Having the pass gave us up to 4 hours to wander around down in the Slot canyon without a guide. It was SO neat to just take our time and enjoy being in there.

The Gang! :)

Mike trying to climb the rock like always! :) I love you sweetheart!

Stopping to take some pictures

Coming out of the canyon

One of the Guides. He played the guitar while taking people through the canyon. It was really cool! :)

Trip Day #4: Grand Canyon

2009-06-27T15:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was Grand Canyon Day! :) We said good-bye to my Dad and Holly in the morning and headed off to the the Grand Canyon with Mom and Dad Rose. Let me tell you, it was AMAZING to go and see it! No picture can ever show what you see in person. It is SO huge and beautiful! The Lord truly loves us because he gave us such beautiful places to see here on earth. It is amazing to see how the world is ever changing.

Dad being Hilarious! :)

This little guy was trying to make friends with me and make me give him some food! But i know better than that Mr. Squirrel!

Mike and Me riding on the Bus! :)

Mom and Dad Rose on the Bus! :) (Mom i think you look so beautiful in the picture!)

Trip Day #3: Flagstaff (Part 2)

2009-06-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Downtown Flagstaff was our next stop. It was so neat to go and walk around because i felt like i went back in time. Route 66 goes right though Flagstaff and there are lots of old hotels and restaurants that were famous stops on route 66. Mike was in heaven too because there were about 6 amazing outdoor stores within walking distance of one another. I really wouldn't mind living in Flagstaff one day. It was really nice.

This was a really cute church that i saw. I really liked it because 1st it had pink on it, which i thought was really hilarious and 2nd it had dragons instead of gargoyles which was really neat! :)

This is the old Town Hall. It has now been converted into a Museum.

This is the Weatherford Hotel. It was one of the many popular stops on route 66 to stop and eat and sleep.