Katie is Back

Katie got back from Wyoming yesterday. It was great to see her. We really didn't do a good job at planning for the trip. then again how can you plan and prepare for a trip like that. Just so ya all know Katie went to Wyoming to see Garrett's graveside service. To start the rocky trip off Katie left her wallet and ID at the house. She drove to Wyoming so the ID wasn't that bad of an issue since she didn't get pulled over. Coming home was going to be a problem though because she needed the ID to fly home. So while I stayed home I went to get the ID and shipped it to her overnight! Wow what an expensive mail. On her way home she realized she didn't have any keys or anyway to get into the house so we met up in the middle and got the keys to her as I continues on my way trucking. Everything happens for a reason right? Well just before she realized she needed the keys I got pulled over with my truck for not having my legal numbers on the truck and not having my commercial driver's license. That kept me on the highway long enough to meet up in the middle with Katie and Tiffany before they got home.

Pirater caught Redhanded!!

Katie is trying to get "Phantom of the Opera" free on the computer! But now we have proof of her trying. hahaha. lol. She looks just a bit upset because its more difficult than she thought. Not having much luck!

At the Funeral

Took lots of Pics of family and friends that were at the funeral. It was fun to hang out at the Russell house after and during the event with family. I guess that is something positive that we get to remember and experience. Call me optimistic but there is always something good!!!

Garrett's Pics

I took only one Pic of Garrett at the jones reunion at the Russell's house. It was a really good Picture of him with his mom. Not the most glamorous pictures of Garrett, but nonetheless I have included some coffin pics.

Sad day in the neighborhood

Garrett Russell AKA Goosey Loosey is not doing well. He is the son of Bekki and Adam Russell my wife's sister and brother-in-law. He got sick with some sort of infection and has been in the hospital for two days. The infection has caused the brain to swell and make living with functionality an impossibility. Tomorrow morning he will be removed from life support and pass on. Funeral activities will be on Saturday afternoon probably around 1:00. Life is pretty rough for all of us involved. We all appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

After the wedding

The wedding was exhausting so afterwards was a relaxing enjoyable day with extended family. We really enjoyed playing lots of card games and being with each other. The downer feeling after such a good time like the wedding is rough to cope with. I especially have a rough time.

Los Dos Molinos

Favorite restaurant of aunt Sandie and Uncle Joe. Good spicy Mexican food made by hand by true blooded Mexicans. Yummy

Little Sister Marriage

Yeah my sister is married. She married a wonderful guy named Brad from Mesa. We had a blast of a good time with the wedding and lots of family and friends to hang out with. Lots of card games.

Anniversary Trail

Katie and I decided to celebrate our first year anniversary in the wonderful outdoors. I have had the urge to go for a back pack trip with my lovely wife since we got married. She agreed after much convincing. I got a permission slip from Katie to allow us to miss the last two hours of church in order to have more time on Sunday to hike and have fun. YEAH! I'm not really always that anxious to miss church just sometimes.  (LOL). After church we hurried home having packed on Saturday all we had to do was get the gear into the truck and head out on our trip. I spotted out a wonderful area to go hiking in the Superstition Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest. Once we got to the Trailhead we put on our packs and started trekking. It was a bit tough to get accustomed to the packs and the weight. After about 3 miles of hiking we finally arrived at the designated area known as Oak Flats where about 3 trails converge and make an excellent camping spot. It also has a huge corral for horses or whatever kind of animals you want to keep in the corral. We were surprised at the diverse types of plants and animals we could see. We saw cactus amongst the large trees and pretty flowers. Also we saw many birds lizards ants and even a jackrabbit (Hoot Hoot to Mesa High). All the flowers and the cacti were in bloom with many wonderful colors to make the trip even that much more enjoyable.

We stayed two nights in our little camping spot. the first night was a bit chilly to say the least. The second day we planned for a chilly night and made wonderful preparations to stay warm and have a better night rest. During the second day we also had lots of fun playing card games chatting about the successes of our marriage and planning for our life together. We even got to play in the freezing cold water of the creek! Wow It was cold. Katie had to coerce me into the water by splashing me. The second night was much more pleasant with warm fires and hot rocks under neath our sleeping pads. Waking up the third day was a bit tough especially for me because a wonderful vacation was about to come to an end. I hate leaving wonderful times. So Sad. We packed up and headed out to the truck. 

Once at the truck we headed into Globe, Az to enjoy some yummy lunch at the infamous burger house. I also took the opportunity to visit with some fire fighter buddies I have in globe. then on to home we went.

We were both very anxious to enjoy warm showers and a soft bed. It was one spectacular trip!

Anniversary Trail

Wonderful pictures of both Katie and I on our wonderful first year anniversary trip!

Anniversary Trail

Katie sleeping in on the first night after a really cold night and not getting much. Isn't she cute?

Anniversary Trail

Just so you know where we went and that we actually made it to the site. We have actual pictures of the posts all over the hike. Hope you enjoy our lovely faces with them as well.

Anniversary Trail

Pretty flowers all over the place were in bloom while we were camping. It was great to see the different colors and the wonderful smells they bring to the environment. We even collected some and put them in a book that Katie brought along to flatten and use in our scrap booking endeavors. Katie looks fabulous in the flowers doesn't she?

Anniversary Trail

Take a look at our kitchen! Its fantastic with all the pleasantries of cooking in the woods!

Anniversary Trail

Katie in various positions as she is trying to make the pack a bit more comfortable. Including the "Monkey Position" with Katie leaning over and swinging her arms back and forth. Also something noteworthy here. Katie because of this new adventure understood why horses do some of the silly things they do. Including walking slow through the water because they don't want to trip, moving their bodies and shaking a bit to adjust their packs, and going slow down hill again to watch the footing.

Anniversary Trail

Trying to stay warm at night we collected some fire wood for fires during the night. Also we warmed rocks and buried them in the ground under our beds. It worked much better than the first night when we froze. Warm during the day and freezing cold during the night. During the first night we even got desperate enough to try sleeping in the same sleeping bag. Well then again it is only our first year anniversary. Ha Ha.

Anniversary Trail

Packing for the wonderful trip.

Katie's Threatening Shot!

Watch-out here comes Katie armed and dangerous with a bow and arrow. not to mention she is a pretty darn good shot!

Game Time

While on our crazy campout with the kidless bunch we decided to get our game on! Rage is the name of the game. Its a game that never stops and keeps on changing the momentum. Watch out for the Change Rage and the Out Rage and the Mad Rage cards.

Kidless Campout Set-Up

Yahoo a weekend away from the city and busy life to get out and camp camp camp. The unfortunate thing is it only lasted one night. But we totally enjoyed ourselves. We also really loved being with friends.