Remembering the Alamo

I report to Provo's Missionary Training Center Wednesday January 27-- that is exactly one week before a certain love of my life turns 21... So we celebrated things early this year, and MLK Day gave us the perfect opportunity to do it!

It began at 5:00 in the am when we left my house (each in our own cars) to road trip it the two hours down to "Waco" to "celebrate" his birth {or so he thought!}. Once we got to Waco, we dropped his car off, got back in mine, and kept on driving down I-35. Lance had no idea where we were going... Which is funny, because he was the one driving!

Ready to hit the road!

After two more hours, we arrived in Schertz, Texas and took exit #175 when we arrived at Natural Bridge Caverns, just outside San Antonio. Lance hadn't ever been to a cave (which is ironic because his mom's great-great-uncle discovered Carlsbad Caverns) so he was super excited!

The tour was excellent, and everything was so beautiful! We also learned a lot about caves and limestone... Pretty much, we're experts now!

If you ever get confused... just remember: Stalactites cling tight to the ceiling and stalagmites might reach the ceiling!

There were these great dinos there for playing on... but they also made the perfect photo-op!

The baby was my favorite :)

...and so was the gift shop! We felt like we were five again!

Once we departed from the caverns, we headed down to the real San Antonio... or rather, the tourist-y part. But first, we had to stop at the San Antonio Temple. Since it was Monday, we couldn't go inside because it was closed. But we got some great pictures!

One of the neat things about this temple, is it's at the top of a hill. So, driving up from the valley, you see its simple beauty from just about anywhere! "You are never lost when you can see the temple!" came to mind... and it made me want to move to San Antonio just a bit :)

This is the edge of the temple grounds-- you can see the valley down below.

The rest of the day was simply wonderful as well!

We walked up and down the riverwalk-- despite the gross water, it's really a beautiful area!

See Daddy?! Jackalopes DO exist!

Apparently this hotel is super haunted-- so we got a picture!

Going to the Alamo was a wonderful experience, indeed. I hadn't been since I was little, and Lance and I are both big ol' history dorks. It was very humbling to know a gigantic part of Texas history and a big part of US history, which took place February 23- March 6, 1836, was made up by these 180 men who fought for what they believed in and died honorably for their Texas.

This plaque is fixed to the Alamo's chapel, and after hearing the story of the Alamo reenacted by a tour guide, I just about cried when I read it.

"Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word"- John Steinbeck

My sense of Texas pride was re-heightened after relearning more about our amazing republic... er, state :)

After we were worn out, we began the two hour (for Lance) and four and a half hour (for me) drive home, but not before we stopped at Ghengis Grill for some dinner. About a year ago, Lance swore up and down that he would not like 'Mongolian Barbecue'... but he begrudgingly tried it anyway. The result? It's pretty much his favorite place ever now.

San Antonio was a blast-- especially being there with Lance! Thanks for making these last four years so much fun :)

Happy {early} birthday, hunny!

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow!

As long as I remember, Grandma Jones has always had some sort of animal in the fenced in yard behind her house... on our last day in Arizona, we introduced Audrey to the Washburn's livestock!

There were moo-cows

And horses!

These equines were so great at posing for this photo-op!

Then we went to Tick-Tock's to pack up the trailer and everything at her house! Audrey was in fine form--- she was so excited when she figured out she could fit this ball IN her mouth!

Pretty blue eyes!

Here she is again, playing with the only other blue-eyed member of our family

While Daddy was on the roof fixing Grandma's solar panel, Kevin was in charge of getting the trailer all packed and road-ready!

The REAL reason we took said trailer up with us to Arizona is to bring these bad boys home. Dad's weight set dates back to his high school days... He's been wanting to bring them home for years--
Mission accomplished!

We so enjoyed Arizona this Christmas... There were a lot of wonderful memories made, I feel like I made a new friend out of my cousin Kari, Audrey learned how awesome Pine is, Mom learned how convenient a cement turkey pit is, Cam and Kevin added a lot of humor to the trip, Trevor was pleasant the whole time, Daddy got creative and MADE shadow boxes for mom's Christmas gift and decided to become a scrapbooker! Life is so good :)

A Fairytale of Humble Proportions

Once Upon a Time, in a land not so far away called Pine, Arizona, a beautiful maiden named Cheryl and a handsome young man named Kent, decided to build a darling little cabin. It was hard work, and while the cabin was under construction, this is where the young couple lived:

It was a humble little lodge in Strawberry, Arizona where light shone through the logs when the sun was up. It was cold in the winter, and hot in the summer-- so they were ecstatic when at long last, their cabin was finished!



And who wouldn't be thrilled? It was a beautiful cabin that was finished just in time for them to welcome their beautiful bouncing baby girl, Chelsea, into the world!

Here's the 'young maiden' with her granddaughter on her inaugural trip to the family cabin!

Trevor was in such a great mood our whole Arizona trip... He even helped mama do the dishes!

After we had Tacos Sunday night, Mom, Cam, Kevin, Trevor, and I played a rousing game of Scrabble...

Trevor looked so scholarly looking through the dictionary! He was on my team... We did great!

Mom's so good at this game, she was able to be on a team with herself!
Cam and Kevin played together, and they kind of cheated a lot-- We'll have to put them on separate teams next time! ;)

This wood-burning stove is awesome! It radiates so much heat-- just don't open the door when the flames are going at full blast! Trev learned that the hard way!

We had lunch (because we missed breakfast) here Sunday morning, and breakfast (because we missed it the day before) Monday! I think this is one of Daddy's favorite places in the whole world!

It was so nice to spend some time up here with the people I love before I leave for a year and a half... We definitely made some great memories, and I can't wait to bring my own family up here one day!

Dairy Queen

One of my favorite things about Arizona is their Dairy Queens actually have butterscotch-dipped cones! It's a must whenever I visit Arizona!

The Holy Grail of Dairy Queen Ice creams... The butterscotch cone!

We're triplets-- and we all loved it!

It was so cold outside... Trevor and Audrey loved it though!

Daddy looked was really enjoying his special treat-- Ice cream is generally a no-no.

We {heart} Arizona DQ!

Grapes of Wrath

This year, our family was blessed enough to be able to spend the holidays together. We certainly have missed each other these last two years-- Christmas 2007 Cam and Kevin spent with his family in Florida while the rest of us were soccer tournamenting it up at Trevor's Disney tournament & Christmas 2008 we were all completely split up with Cam and Kevin in Plano, Dad and Trevor tournamenting it up in Florida, and Mom and me spending time with family together in Arizona.

Our Christmas Vacation began Sunday evening with all SEVEN of us piling into our beautiful new suburban. This is what we looked like:

We left Plano around 8:00 at night, and in order to keep three boys happy, we stopped at Taco Bell for some dinner before we actually hit the road...

Group Shot

Audrey's new thing is signaling 'touchdown!'... just in time for college bowl season!

After driving through the night, here's a morning shot of the Jensens in the back seat of the suburban. This is right before we grabbed breakfast at the McDonalds in Wilcox, Arizona. Audrey was a champ and slept through the whole night!

Here we are, after breakfast... looking like the grapes of wrath. Oh dear- good thing no one reads this!

We arrived in Mesa around 2:00 Monday afternoon after driving straight through. It was nice to get out of the car and s-t-r-e-t-c-h--o-u-t!

Trevor was in such a pleasant mood the whole trip... He even helped unload the car at tick-tock's house!

Tuesday, we were thrilled to meet up with Richard and Letitia along with two of their kiddos, Matthew and Elizabeth. We hardly ever get to see them, so playing catch-up was nice! They're such a darling little family!

group shot!

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

Nauvoo is filled with lots of memorable moments-- and this post is dedicated to all these moments that didn't quite fit into the other posts. 

All over were statues of memorable historic moments. They were all beautiful and very powerful. This was the statue across the street from the temple. It's Joseph and Hyrum Smith on a horse when he was riding off to Carthage Jail. There was a definite reverence surrounding this statue. 

After we saw High Hopes and River Boats, we walked out into the courtyard next to the Visitor's Center. Nauvoo's Brass Band was out there playing all sorts of great tunes! 

This cute little family was listening to the band as well, and they were dancing up a storm. It was so darling!

The Reorganized Latter-Day Saints are in possession of all the Smith's property. Things weren't as well kept as the church's property. But these are the graves of Joseph Smith Senior and his wife Lucy.

These are the graves of Hyrum, Joseph, and Emma Smith. 

Lance, being the Harry Potter nerd that he is, loved Granger Street!

After church Sunday, we changed into our road clothes and these were some flowers by the bathroom we changed in. They were absolutely huge!

We had to get a sunstone picture... This was after church too!

On the way home, we went through Bethany, Mo... Of course, we had to take a picture! I love that our trip came full circle-- we saw the Bethany road sign on I-75 driving up to Nauvoo, and we drove through Bethany the city on our way home from Nauvoo. It's just because we love her so much, we planned our trip around her! :)

The trip was amazing, and so was the ride home! We pulled into Bethany's house to drop her off at about 1:00 in the morning. We hugged and said our goodbyes, and we all agreed it was a wonderful and uplifting trip for all of us!