Friday, May 25, 2007

CRAZY MAY!
This month has been such a whirlwind for us. After finishing finals at the end of April, Mark left May 5th for Budapest, Hungary (first picture) as part of his Int'l MBA program. He spent a week in meetings and touring (while trying in vain to adjust to the 9 hour time difference) then took a train to Ljubliana, Slovenia (sed. He attended an LDS branch there on Sunday where he listened to an English translation of Sacrament Meeting via headphones. After another week of meetings and touring, and much picture taking, Mark returned home on the 18th. In the meantime, the boys did our best to survive without him.





Shortly after Mark's return, our family packed up and headed to Williams, AZ to see Thomas the train. Unfortunately, the tickets were sold out (Jessica was shocked) so we didn't actually ride the train, much to Jaxon's disappointment. We did get pictures of it and a chance to play games and get some new cars for Jaxon's train. Not a total loss. After about an hour, we took the beautiful drive through breathtaking forest canyons and red rocks down to Sedona were we spent the better part of 4 days. Although the hiking, jeep tours, and natural rock waterslide was out because of our kids, we still enjoyed the beautiful landscape and walking around old town Sedona. The resort had a mini golf course, which was fun until Jaxon hit the water trap. We had to fish his ball out of the water half a dozen times, not counting all the times Asher decided to throw it in for fun. The picture of Asher and me is in front of a little fountain at the resort.
Back for 2 days and Mark is heading to Secret Pass with the Young Men for the High Adventure. He'll be gone Friday through Tuesday, and then will return to a new calling! Knowing this is the last campout for a while makes having Mark leave again a little easier. The campsite is actually on private land, deep in a rocky canyon near Bullhead City, AZ/ Laughlin, NV. I called him the night they left (they were supposed to leave at 2 PM) at 10:15 PM and they were still a good way from the campsite, which requires 4 X 4 vehicles and ATVs to get there. I'm interested to hear the story of that camping trip . . .
Mark begins an internship with BDO Seidman, and accounting firm here in Scottsdale on June 18th. That lasts until the end of August and Mark hopes to travel to UT to see a Cougar football season opener. We can all dream, can't we? I'm hoping to go to France with my cousin in July and see my sister-in-law and her kids.

So, there's our crazy month and here's hoping we can survive the blistering summer in the scorching desert. Everybody, get in the pool, now!