Vacation #1-- Southern AZ

We were so lucky to be able to get away with Jeff's parents over Memorial Day weekend. I think that we were all ready for a break. We decided to do a Southern AZ trip since I had never been to any of the places and Jeff had only been when he was little. We got up Friday morning, hopped in the van, and headed off to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson.

There were peacocks everywhere! Emery loved them until one walked right in front of her and squawked so loudly. It was literally right in front of her and scared her. She ran behind me crying.  

She found a lizard. 

Giraffes are her favorite!

The great thing about the Reid Park Zoo is that it's not as busy and the animals are so close to you. 

Our next stop was to the hotel in Sierra Vista. It was Emery's first time staying at a hotel and she thought it was great! We went to the mall there and then ate Mexican food that night. We stopped at the Best Buy to look at laptops and Emery found the speaker aisle where they were playing music. She danced and danced. It was definitely her favorite.

The next morning we got up and headed to Bisbee. We went to the Mine and took a tour. We got to get all dressed up in hard hats and coats. Emery even got her own. They didn't have any more little ones so hers was gigantic. Luckily we just had to have her hard hat with her, not on her. We rode a 'train' down into the mine. Emery liked that part but about halfway through the tour decided she was done. She also continues to remind me that I smacked her in the head with the camera at the end of the whole thing. She is so silly and doesn't forget anything. It was so cool seeing inside the mine. Surreal really. I could not do it and cannot believe how many men worked in the mines in their hayday. Our tour guide actually worked in one of the mines and had many stories and first-hand knowledge about what being in the mine was actually like. We stopped and looked at the open-air mine...much more my style. It is gigantic. There was a bulldozer or something down in it and it really put the magnitude of the mine into perspective.

We drove through downtown Bisbee on our way to Tombstone. The houses/buildings there are amazing and it is so interesting to see the history driving through there. Then we were on to Tombstone. It happened to be Wyatt Earp Days the weekend we were there and that meant they had street acting and many people dressed up in old Western Town attire. We watched the historama about Tombstone and watched the Gunfight at the OK Corral. It was so fun! Emery didn't like the gunfire so she hung out with Grandma. It's amazing the history that this part of the state holds.

After walking around Tombstone for a little bit we headed back home, but not before stopping at Barros for some pizza on the way. Emery sung songs for Grandma and Grandpa and told them "What do I always say? There's no business like bow business." Thank you Minnie's Bowtique. We loved getting away with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoying our time with them.

The Joy of Womanhood

The Joy of Womanhood

That's the name of the talk that this quote comes from. This has been on my mind a lot the last week or so and then it came up yesterday while my Visiting Teachers were over. I would like to add that this does not only apply to women of the LDS faith. It applies to women everywhere who are trying to be better people and closer to Christ. Maybe it is because I am now a mom of a little girl but I love everything that this talks about. In the world today, women are expected to be so rough and harsh and, sometimes, downright rude. We seem to be seen as weak if we are kind. I'm not saying that we need to let people walk all over us (or cut in line) but why is there this view that women who serve one another or (gasp!) enjoy spending time with their children are the ones with something wrong with them. I truly believe that the world would be a much better place if women didn't have to be so rude, so guarded, so harsh. So be a working mom, a stay at home mom, not a mom. Be celebrating your 50th anniversary. Be newlyweds. Be that college student drowning in homework and jobs that are awful. Be a 15 year old trying to figure out high school. Be a 12 year old trying to figure out middle school (I'm sorry). But good grief, be nice! That's all I'm asking. Let's make the world a little better.  

In case you want to read the talk that this quote comes from, here's the link: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/10/the-joy-of-womanhood?lang=eng

Easter 2015

Easter this year was so fun! Emery is at such a great age where she's starting to get into holidays and get excited. I don't think she quite understood Easter Bunny yet but she sure did when she saw what the Easter Bunny left Sunday morning. It was also nice that General Conference was on Easter Weekend. It helped us remember the real reason why we celebrate Easter, plus it allowed us to have a nice, relaxing morning. 

Coloring Easter Eggs (Saturday). Last year we did this while Emery was napping and then gave her a plastic egg. This year she got to participate in the fun. Green is her favorite color so that was her first choice. 

Easter Morning. The Easter Bunny definitely delivered. There was a lot of candy along with things that helped us celebrate the Savior. Emery got a couple new shirts and headbands, along with 2 new quiet books for church. See that cute Easter Bunny on the right? All of the Clark cousins got together the weekend before Easter and made them. 

I think this chicken was her favorite thing from the Easter Bunny. It's one of the ones that you wind up and it hops. She still loves it. 

Sharing her jelly beans with the chicken.

Once Conference came on, we settled in to watch and listen to such beautiful messages about the Savior, Easter, and how we can improve and draw closer to Him. Emery and Dad also had a makeshift fort out of her blanket.