Roadtrip Day 2: Grand Canyon to Sedona

On Tuesday morning we woke up to temps in the mid 30's and it started SNOWING at the Grand Canyon! Riley loved it! We just couldn't believe we had gone from the 90's in Phoenix on Monday morning to the mid 30's at the Grand Canyon on Tuesday morning! Even though it was cloudy it was so beautiful to see it snowing at the canyon. The pictures just can't capture the beauty of it!

On our way out of the park we saw wild elk on the side of the road!

Sedona was about a 2 hour drive away. Sedona is known as "Red Rock Country" and it was beautiful! We had a view of red rocks from our hotel rooms. Once we checked in at our hotel we headed out to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which is a chapel built into red rocks. The views from this elevation were beautiful.

Then we headed to Tlaquepaque for some shopping and an authentic Mexican dinner at El Rincon. We had their specialty...homemade machaca beef chimichangas and Riley enjoyed their cheese quesadilla! Then we did some shopping in downtown Sedona complete with dessert from a fudge shop. When we got to our rooms we had just missed sunset but it was beautiful nonetheless!

Grand Canyon

On Monday, Casey drove us out to the Grand Canyon. It was around a 4 hour drive but what a beautiful drive! We saw lots of desert and breathtaking mountains. We reached elevations up to 7,100 feet! Some mountains were still capped with snow that had not yet melted. For lunch we stopped at Wendy's in Tusayan, AZ right outside the Grand Canyon. Lets just say this Wendy's didn't have a dollar menu. They capitalized on their location with a combo costing $8 per person, haha!

We drove into the park and stopped at the visitor's center to take our first walk at the canyon and how beautiful it was. There are no words to describe one of God's greatest masterpieces. Here is our first view of the canyon from the South Rim:

Breathtaking. Tears to the eyes. All I could do was whisper a prayer of thanks to our Creator for allowing me to see one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World.

When Riley first saw the Grand Canyon he pointed and said, "Wo-ow!" I guess nothing describes it like the view thru an 18 month old child's eyes! He kept saying "Oooo...!"

We did quite a lot of walking then drove to check-in at the hotel located right ont he South Rim, El Tovar. This hotel was wonderful with its history and the staff was wonderful with suggestions and they had excellent service.

Once we were settled in our rooms we took another walk along the Grand Canyon Village past the other hotels, cabins, restaurants,and shops. Then we took the shuttle along the Hermit Historic Road stopping at many sites. This area is not accessible to cars. We ended up at Hopi Point for the sunset. The wind gusts were extremely cold (it was in the 50's at sunset) and Riley had windburn so Jeremy and I had to take the shuttle back about 5 minutes prior to the sun finally setting. But what we saw was still beautiful and amazing!

With sunset being at 7:23 and our having to make a trek back to the hotel, it was pretty late so Jeremy stayed with Riley while Casey and I got a reservation at the El Tovar Dining Room. We enjoyed our girls night and our waiter was even so kind as to deliver Jeremy his dinner to our room! Casey and I enjoyed smoked salmon crostinis and spinach salads with apples, bacon, gorgonzola and shallots. Needless to say we were only able to take a few bites of our main courses: grilled pork chops with smoked gouda and green chile cornbread dressing!

I can't think of a more perfect way to spend one day at the Grand Canyon! It is so amazing the way it changes colors according to where the sun is shining. It is one of the most peaceful, beautiful, spiritual places I've ever been.

Mother's Day 2010

Prior to leaving for our trip Jeremy and Riley gave me my Mother's Day Gift: a $100 giftcard for a spa/salon day at Heights of Converse! But needless to say the best gift of all was getting to spend the day with my 2 favorite men in beautiful Arizona! Unfortunately we were dragging and did not make it to church that morning. But for lunch we had a cookout at Casey's parents house including awesome ribeye steaks, twice baked potatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, and deviled eggs. Then Jeremy, Riley, and I went swimming in the Randels' pool. We were the first people to swim this season...the water was 78 degrees, chilly but refreshing! At first Riley didn't seem to know how he felt about the cold water but then he had fun and loved it.

Jeremy was pretty wimpy about it and did alot of complaining about swimming but finally jumped in!

Takeoff to Arizona

We decided for our family vacation this year that we would head out to visit our college friend, Casey in Phoenix, Arizona. Casey was my college roommate and best friend. Her parents live in Goodyear, AZ which is right outside of Phoenix so she has moved into an apartment out there.


Needless to say we were very nervous about flying with Riley at 18 months. He was SO excited when we got to the airport and he got to see the airplanes! He stood in the window shouting, "Ooooo....Ooooo" and beating on the window!

Our flight went really well. It was 4 1/2 hours long from Charlotte to Phoenix. We had a really nice girl in our row with us who was heading home from college for the summer. Riley fell asleep on takeoff and after about an hour Jeremy offered to take him to hold him for awhile. Big Mistake! It woke Riley up! We gave him a snack and played with his many toys we brought along...a wooden puzzle was the biggest hit, an Etch-A-Sketch, sticker book, crayons and coloring books, etc. He only cried out a couple of times and was easily distracted.


Landing in Phoenix was like stepping into a new world. It was hot in the 90 degree range but comfortable. It is amazing what a difference the humidity makes here in SC. At 90 degrees we'd be sweating here! There were blue skies and lots of dessert. It was flat in some areas then you would see mountains. And those mountains in the distance with the blue skies behind them were quite the scene! The cacti were blooming so that was pretty too but not too much fun for our allergies!


We grabbed a quick lunch then got settled in at Casey's apartment. She had bought whole milk for Riley along with kid food like goldfish, fruit, toast, etc. She had bought us all beach towels and some baby sunscreen as well as toys for Riley like a ball, a new book, and a float for the pool. And in our guest bedroom closet was a new t-shirt from Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium for Riley from Casey's Mom, Libby! After we were settled we went to visit the Randels' followed by a quiet night at home with some Chinese takeout.


And the best part was it was easy to adjust to the new time change (Pacific time is 3 hours behind us) because all we had to do was let Riley stay up late until he fell asleep on my arm sitting beside me!

Boys Will Be Boys

I just had to document this for us to remember in years to come...

We've been having some issues with these tiny red bugs in Riley's bathroom (the exterminator is scheduled to come tomorrow) so we've been bathing him in the "big" tub in our bathroom. For no particular reason we've never really let Riley run around naked or in just his diaper very much. However, since he's walking from his room to across the house for bathtime instead of just right outside his door he has started to get more comfortable with himself. He walks around rubbing his belly and making muscles. Tonight when I put him in the floor he ran over to his toybox then turned around to face Jeremy, Garnet, and I and just started peeing in the floor! Bahahaa! The best part was it scared him half to death and he busted out crying when he started peeing! It was so priceless and hilarious! ...But I sure hope this doesn't scare him off from potty training later.

Baby Talk

I've been meaning to write down Riley's words for quite some time and as usual I've procrastinated a little too long! So I thought I'd make myself a list to remember these special moments. Riley is currently 17 months old. Here are all of the words I can think of at the moment:
1. He-ey! or a quick Hey! accompanied by a wave to complete strangers at the grocery store, mall, etc.
2. Momma-Riley said Momma as his 2nd word (after He-ey!) and until recently he hardly said my name unless he was sick or crying. Now he calls EVERYthing Momma and points to objects as he says "Momma. Momma.".
3. Da Da
4. Bye.Bye. (very quickly)...now he says this often, accompanied by a wave. He likes to say bye bye when he hears you saying "bye" as you hang up the phone.
5. Garnet (our dog)= Gah-neh, Gaw-gey (combo of Garnet and doggy), GaGa All dogs are called Gah-neh and he even calls squirrels Gah-neh!
6. Ruff,Ruff= ruh ruh
7. What does the duck say? "kak kak!"
8. Ava= BayBa
9. baby=Baay-bee (high pitched bee at the end)
10. Carly= Ca-ee....over and over and over. Lately Riley even wakes up saying Ca-ee over and over!
11. Trent=Tit (haha)
12. Grandmomma= Neh Neh
13. Pa Pa
14. School= Cool (every morning when we get to school he calls it "Cool"!)
15. Blue=Boo (he randomly held up his blue sippy cup and said "boo!" yesterday)
16. Green=Geen
17. Yellow is my favorite but I can't describe it well. "Yeah-o"
18. Red=Reh
19. Go Gamecocks!= Go Tay Tock! (almost sounds like Tick Tock)
20. Night Night= Nigh Nigh
21. Milk
22. Mo Mo (more)
23. Sit= See it. For awhile we were worried he was saying a bad 4 letter word!
24. Ball
25. Bite,Bite-when he's hungry
26. Car
27. Truck
28. "E-I-E-I-O" (singing)
29. Riley=Ri Ri (b/c Ava-Reese calls him that so he calls himself that most of the time), Riley...he really can say his own name!
30. Bay-ball (baseball)
31. Bah-ball (basketball)
32. Eyes (and points to his eyes)
33. Uh Oh..often accompanied by Sketti-o's
34. Doll Baby!
35. Choo! Choo! (usually he whispers it)

My favorite actions he does:
1. How old are you? He holds up a 1.
2. Where's your nose? eyes? ears? mouth? tummy? hiney (lol)? With tummy he pokes out his belly and rubs it with both hands, haha!
3. Where's Riley? He covers up either his eyes or just puts his hands on his head. Then he takes them away. There he is!
4. Do the Ava-Reese. He says "Ahh, Ahh, Ahh." while bobbing his head side to side.
5. Touchdown!
6. Give me love. He will lean in to "love" you but at very special times he now gives Mommy and Daddy real hugs and likes to play with our hair at the nape or our necks. So loving!
7. He does the motions on his own when you sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
8. He sings to himself often when he's playing alone, at home and at school. When I play the piano he always comes to play with me and often sits under the piano and sings!

How truly blessed we are! How I cherish these little moments. Thank you God for blessing us with Riley and changing our lives forever!

Happy Easter 2010!

What a beautiful Easter Sunday. The sun was shining and it was just an altogether beautiful day! Easter has always been a special holiday but I notice the older that I get the more I cherish it and seem to understand the meaning in deeper ways. Maybe being the mother of a son has something to do with it. Regardless, we are so undeserving but so blessed that God sent His Son to die on the cross to save us from OUR sins.

The "Easter Bunny" came to see Riley. He was very excited to see his presents. He ran over tot he coffee table where his Easter basket and presents were. He got Carolina squeaky shoes, a set of Cocky plates, a Gamecock basketball, Spring rice krispy treats, a Cars cellphone, and a Thomas the Train bubble maker.

To celebrate the Resurrection, we attended Bethlehem Baptist, where we have been visiting for a few months. Still praying over where God wants us to be but feeling like Jeremy and I are on the same page...God is dealing with us in so many ways!


Following church, we had lunch at our house. Mom, Dad, Mama Mary, Carly, Trent, and Ava-Reese came. Papa Cliff is still suffering with the cellulitis in his legs so he unfortunately was not able to make it. We had our family's traditional Easter dinner...turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, mac n cheese, green beans, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, and Aunt Joan's homemade rolls. Oh and for dessert a frosted pound cake. It was delicious but so filling...


After lunch we all went outside. Trent took some great photos of the kids. We hid Easter eggs. Riley really got into finding them and was finding them in the bushes and plants all by himself but I had to hold his basket and he literally "threw" the eggs into or beyond the basket! Grandmomma helped him keep his balance and he only had a couple falls. I just let him do as he pleased even though he was in his Easter clothes. Needless to say he has grass stains and all...oh well, I figure that comes with the territory of being a boy! Ava-Reese does not like grass. She would sit with her legs up in the air to keep from letting the grass touch her legs! She actually fit into her Easter basket which made for a great photo op! Mama Mary is going "down hill" at a rapid speed but it was so nice to see her really smile a few times today at the kids. Now she doesn't seem to remember that Riley was born on her birthday, but what a special date for us to always cherish! Daddy finally got to see the kids in the wagon. It is fun seeing him be a "grandpa"!

After supper, Nana (Judy) came by after work to bring Riley his Easter presents. Nana and Pop gave him Thomas the Train PJ's and a book, swim trunks, sunglasses, and a life jacket/swimmies.

With all of the Easter festivities, Riley got WAY off schedule. He usually naps from 12-1:30/2ish but did not go down for a nap until everyone was gone, which was about 3:15. He only slept for an hour but when he woke up went right to sleep on the couch with me and we both slept for another hour and a half. Oops! So of course bedtime was pushed back too. At 10pm I ended up having to hold him because he would NOT lay down! He wasn't crying or anything, just tired but not sleepy. So he let me rock him and sing him to sleep. You know we read books and people tell us what NOT to do but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. And none of those books or people tell you how special those sweet, rare moments are to feel your child's little arms around your shoulders, sweet hand rubbing your shoulder and then to sit and hold him peacefully asleep with his legs dangling down to your knees. I couldn't resist but to sit and hold him a few minutes because all too soon he won't fit in my lap because he'll be so big and/or won't want his Mommy to hold him! Oh how I cherish those kind of moments!