Sunday, August 29, 2010

Eureka Springs


This is our little cabin in the woods. We stayed at this place called Red Bud Valley. It was honestly the creepiest place I've ever been. It was down in this secluded valley and I think we were seriously the only people there! We were pretty sure the guy that gave us our key was going to murder us in our sleep. Fun times though!

Christ of the Ozarks



This is the Crescent Hotel where the first night we were in town we went on a ghost tour. It was a lot creepier at night. I promise! This place was built in the 1860s and it has been featured on 3 different ghost hunter tv shows. so scary!

Grant looking down into one of the springs that the town is famous for.



The architecture of Eureka Springs was one of the best parts! Everything was either ornate victorian style, or built out of limestone.








Hopefully this video works because everyone should hear these guys. They are called Mountain Sprout and they play classic hillbilly music with a bass, a banjo, and a crazy violinist.
They played in the middle of downtown for 2 hours. It was so great.




There was a VW convention in town while we were there and they had a parade right through downtown. I was in heaven! I couldn't believe how far some people had travelled to be there. There were over 300 VW vans, busses, and bugs all around town.








We spent Saturday afternoon at Beaver Lake. We lounged on the rocks and had diving competitions (Grant always wins). The weather was perfect and the limestone cliffs and rolling Ozark mountains make the whole area so scenic.
We had a wonderful time celebrating our 2 year anniversary in Eureka Springs!!

second utah trip of the summer

The first day we were in town I was lucky enough to meet up with some friends for a quick lunch. It was so good to see them! It seems like this summer we are all going our separate ways, so it was nice to catch up before we spread out all over the place.

The original reason for the trip out to Utah was go to a family reunion with the whole Crane side. It has been years since we've all been together! We rented a few condos up at Moose Hollow in Eden. We decided to eat out and ended up at this little Mexican place called Carlos and Harley's. There were so many of us we pretty much took over the place!

One of the kids tables.

Reed and Grant are such buddies now! I have missed this little guy so much!

Little Axel is growing up!

Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Brent


Aunt Betsy and Dad (who is sporting his Camp Cherry Valley shirt woot woot!)

The "fun" table. It was obvv the one that I was at :)

The kids were so excited for the cake!

Mine and Gardner's birthday cake!

Grant was so sweet. He stayed home with the kids so that we could all go on a hike together. He's so great. The hike was amazing! I have so missed the mountains.

Wheeler Creek

The is one of my favorite pictures. I love these two sweet boys!

sand castles at Pineview

The train at This is the Place state park. Asher looks like he's a had a long day. Poor little guy!

Reed having a wonderful time at the park in Huntsville.

The kids taking pony rides at This is the Place state park.


We had a wonderful trip to Utah! It was so great to spend time with our family. We also would like to thank Sam and Mark for our next trip to Utah. They're getting married October 9th in the Draper temple. We can't wait!!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Tulsa Mud Run!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Saturday afternoon Grant and I and our new friends Stephanie and Jason ran in the Tulsa Mud Run. It was a two mile run through a muddy obstacle course. It ended with a giant slip n slide into a mud pit. The Tulsa fire squad was there to hose everyone off after the run. It was so fun!

After the run we went home and changed and then ate at my new favorite restaurant JoMamma's! Delicious! Best pizza ever!








Sunday, August 22, 2010

the best decision i'll ever make






When I was about 14 years old I made a checklist for the man I wanted to one day marry.
  • Tall...CHECK!
  • Handsome...CHECK!
  • Funny...CHECK!
  • Served a faithful mission...CHECK!
  • Athletic...CHECK!
  • My dad loves him...CHECK!
  • I love him...DOUBLE CHECK!
  • Can take me to the temple...CHECK!
Grant, thanks for fulfilling my inner 14 year old's dreams!
What I didn't know was that Grant was going to totally exceed every expectation I ever had about marriage. I have more fun with Grant than I do with anyone. I laugh so much harder with him. Grant, you're helping me to become the woman I always wanted to be. Moving to Tulsa was a very small price to pay to be with you.
I love you.