The Fluckigers

Anxious

2012-01-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

I don't know if it's just nesting instincts creeping in or what, but I have been super anxious to get all my projects finished and the house organized. I've successfully managed to reorganize my craft and master bedroom closets, which were at the top of my list, and with Dan's help got a huge jump on the play kitchen I've been wanting to make for Addie. I love that I don't have to pull every item out of my closet now in order to find something to wear, and the play kitchen is turning out super adorable! I still have a final coat of paint to put on plus some finishing touches, but I love love how it's turning out. Here's a picture of the work in progress, I'll post the final product as soon as it's finished.

We received a good dose of snow here at our place which meant Dan got to stay home from work a couple days. We thoroughly enjoyed the time off, quality family time and even the snow, Addie especially. It was fun to relax, play and not worry about going anywhere. I even gave Addie her first pedicure, which surprisingly she enjoyed. Here's a sneak into our week, hope yours was just as fun!

Sunny Arizona

2012-01-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

I think I've found my new home, at least for this time of year. I started missing Arizona the moment we got on the plane to come home! We had such a fun time visiting with my sister and her cute little family over the Christmas holiday. Sunshine, blue skies, t-shirt weather and familly were just what we needed and I feel like we took full advantage of our time there. Christmas morning we went to Church and them came home and opened presents. Addie was going crazy trying to open ALL the presents. We really had to keep an eye on her otherwise we had presents opened that we didn't know who they belonged to.

Chris, Carisa and James were great hosts and had all sorts of fun things planned for us to do. We went hiking, swimming, shotgun shooting and even had a joint anniversary celebration since we got married so close together. It was extremely good to see them and especially fun for Addie to have a playmate, or 3. They were so cute, and played super well together! We miss them A LOT!

Of course we couldn't have a Christmas vacation without a little drama in the travel department. On the way home, instead of taking the airporter shuttle or asking someone to drive us the whole way, we decided to go the public transit route. We landed at the airport and easily made it to the lightrail which took us downtown where we had a few blocks to walk to the ferry. Pouring rain was sure to greet us and we trudged along with stroller, 2 suitcases, purse, backpack, laptop and carseat all in tow. Not even halfway down one hill, the suitcases and carseat were strewn across the sidewalk and just as we (or should I say Dan) got them back together the handle on the larger suitcase broke off! I'm not sure how Dan managed to get all the luggage the rest of the way down, but he did, and we finally made it to the ferry. Needless to say, that is the last time we try that.

Last but not least, as if an awesome Christmas vacation wasn't enough, we had one more good thing to look forward to after returning home. We found out on Jan 5th, also our 4 year anniversary, that we are having a baby girl! We're really excited for Addie to have a little sister and I hope they'll be good friends. My brain is already going 100 mph thinking about what I want to do with bedroom decorating for the girls. Dan says I should finish all the other projects I've started first......which is probably a good idea, but I still can't help thinking about it. I already have in mind what I want to do for Addison's new bedding so don't be surprised if you all the sudden see a million projects pouring off the blog!

FUN!

2011-11-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

I started writing this right after halloween and I'm just getting back to it, so of course I have a lot to update on, but bear with me because this is good stuff!

We had a super fun and busy Halloween week/weekend. Wednesday I took Addison to music makers, it's a fun little musical activity for kids where they read stories, sing songs and march around to music. All the kids wore their costumes and it was a lot of fun. Friday was our ward Trunk or Treat and Addie went as Little Red Riding Hood. She had fun gathering candy to put in her basket and loved seeing all the other kids dressed up. It was cute to watch the expressions on her face as she tried to figure out what was going on.

Here are a few fun fall/halloween pics of our little cutie pie.

Most of November is a blur to me right now, but I do remember that we had a lot of fun for Thanksgiving. The Sunday before, we had a pre-thanksgiving feast with some of our friends who we met when we first moved to Washington. We had a full house with 9 adults and 8 little kiddos. We had such a good time and it was a lot of fun to see everyone. Here's a picture of the fall centerpiece I put toghether and the kid table, aren't those little ones adorable?!

We usually go back to Idaho for Thanksgiving but decided to go back earlier this year to soak in some sunshine and fabulous weather. I definitely prefer going in the summer over the winter. It was sad not being around family but luckily we have some great friends who hosted us for Thanksgiving dinner. It was fabulous! Plenty of food, good company and lots and lots of pie! I think there was enough for each person to have their own. Super delicious, and it was difficult for me to stop after just a couple pieces.

I am super excited for Christmas this year and have felt like putting decorations up since before Thanksgiving. I usually feel like you can't decorate for one holiday before another is over but this year I felt different for some reason. I managed to refrain, and to be honest we still don't have much up besides the lights on the outside. I have about a million projects I want to do though, so stay posted for them.

Our other big news is that we are expecting baby #2 in May! This is actually pretty old news to so many, and I still feel bad that I wasn't able to tell more people in person. So sorry if you had to hear the news second hand, or from a blog post. Kind of lame, I know, but I just can't seem to find the time to call everyone that I want to so I guess texting/facebook/blogging will have to do. It still feels a little unreal to me that I'm pregnant. At my first Dr's appointment I felt like I'd just been there for Addie, so weird. I guess it's just another one of those moments when you realize how fast time really does go by. We are super excited though for our new little one and we'll find out in just over 2 weeks whether we get another little girl or a little boy. So cast your prediction on the gender poll, I'll keep it open until Dec 20th.

A Lovely Getaway

2011-10-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we treated ourselves to a little out-of-town getaway. It's something we rarely do but both felt we could use. We had a lovely drive over to Leavenworth, WA. I couldn't get over the beautiful scenery and colors, one of the many things I love about Fall. It was gorgeous! The entire way there I couldn't stop saying how beautiful it was. Then when we got to Leavenworth I was even more amazed. It is the cutest little town set in the middle of the mountains. There were dozens of little shops, bakery's and restaurants. Right up my alley, I could have spent days there! We even "hiked" around waterfront park. Honestly, it was more of a nature walk but beautiful none the less. The park is set along the river and since this is the time of year for the salmon run, we were able to see them swimming and splashing around. We were hoping to go on a more rugged hike but with the weather not the best, and Addie along for the ride, we decided against it. There are tons of hiking trails to choose from and I'd love to go back sometime. Even with the drizzling rain we still enjoyed our overnight stay.

The day before our trip we had a little family work project in the yard, even Addison helped! She loved putting sticks into the wheel-barrow and trying on my work gloves. I thought she was super adorable.

Addie get's cuter every day. She keeps adding new words to her vocabulary. I keep wanting to write down all the words she says so far because I think it would be fun to look back on later, so I'll just do it now that I'm thinking about it. Here are the words she says so far, at least the ones that I can remember and not in any particular order

Mommy/Momma
Purse
Shoes
Pillow
Bye- and recently "Bye, see ya" or vice versa
Hello
Hi
Peas
Cheese
Thank You
Please
Dada
Oh no
uh-oh
side (for outside)
mess
nose

She had her 15 month check up last week and is back on the growth chart!

Addie's 15 Month Stats:
Weight: 18 lbs 14 oz (3rd Percentile)
Height: 29 in (10th percentile)
Head: 46 cm (50th percentile)

So she's still on the smaller side, but she's growing and happy so I think that's what counts. Plus, like I've said before, it's not like her parents are giants!
We love that little girl and are so happy she's part of our family, she brings us so much joy.

Slowing Down and Catching Up

2011-08-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

The past few months we have been super busy. We installed hardwood flooring, baseboard moulding, a chair rail and even painted our living room. The chair rail is still a work in progress but coming right along. Between home improvement projects and preparing for a family reunion we've had our hands full, but things are finally slowing down.

Addison had her first birthday! We had a little party for her on her birthday with just momma and daddy. It was a lot of fun even though we weren't able to invite anyone over since our house was still in dissaray. We opened some presents from her grammie and she ate her first cupcake. She could hardly contain herself while we sang to her, and held the cupcake just out of reach, yet was so ladylike when she finally got her hands on it. Then I helped her break into it and she's been a cupcake addict ever since. The Sunday after her real birthday Dan's brother and his family were at our house so we had another little party. Her cousins helped her open presents and she played on the table with the tissue paper pom poms I'd made.

Of course I must share some pictures from the festivities.

Mmmmmmm....I want that cupcake!

Reaching for the cupcake

Strike a pose with Daddy

A picture with Mommy

This is a cool toy!

And finally, the party decor

Happy Birthday Addie! (Well, a month ago!)

1+1= ELEVEN

2011-06-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Addie has passed the eleven month mark, my how fast time flies! I'd heard it a million times how fast they grow but until I had a baby of my own I didn't really comprehend. My baby's not really a baby anymore, when did that happen?! She sure is cute though, and of course to me she'll always be my baby.

Addison loves to climb the stairs, help daddy install wood flooring, play inside(literally) the kitchen cupboards and is constantly taking off her socks. She's sprouted 2 more teeth and wore her first piggy tails. She is such a sweetie and the highlight of our lives. Here are a few shots that are sure to brighten your day!

Celebrate!

2011-05-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

I have a cousin (ok, so a second-cousin-in-law some # of times removed but that's not the point) that had a super duper idea I decided to copy. She and her little family decided to start celebrating birthdays of family members even though they couldn't be with them on their birthday. I loved this idea, since we don't live by either of our families, and thought it was the perfect way to learn a little more about our family members. Plus I am always up for a celebration. Last Monday was our sister-in-law Sarah's birthday so we had a little party in honor of her and some of her favorite things. Sarah's favorite foods are any kind of soup/salad/bread so I made this minestrone soup along with this cheesy garlic bread followed by this chocolate cake (which I'd had my eyes on for weeks). It turns out Sarah's favorite dessert is a moist chocolate cake, so worked out perfectly for me! I would have loved to do one of Sarah's favorite activities (Like go to some kind of concert!) but we worked on our floor instead. Still, I thought we celebrated pretty well. Happy Birthday Sarah!

A couple shots from the celebration (of the food at least, Addie was asleep by the time the party started or I'd have thrown in a picture of her just because I think she's so cute!)

and our wood floor's progression

The Baby Walk

2011-05-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

Here's just a little clip of Addie's newest accomplishment. She is so proud of herself.

Ten Months and Tulips

2011-05-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe in just two months Addison will turn 1! She is getting two more teeth, started clapping and LOVES teddy bears. She gets so excited anytime she sees one and squeezes it real tight as soon as it's in her hands. I must say it is super cute.

Here are a few pictures at 10 months

I was really excited a few weeks ago when we decided to go to the Skagit Valley tulip festival. It happens every year and I'd heard what a spectacular sight it was to see. I've wanted to go since we moved here but would only remember about it when it was too late, so this year I put it on the calendar. The flowers were all I expected them to be and more. However, I could have done without the 6 hour drive which should have only been 2. It was such a beautiful day and everyone else must have had the same idea because traffic was horrible.

We recently took on the task of installing our hardwood floors. The last couple weeks were spent doing prep work and Saturday was deemed "Floor Day." It's looking really good so far but we've realized it is going to take A LOT longer than originally anticipated. Isn't that how it always goes though? It will definitely be worth all the work and we can't wait to see it finished!

aLL aBOUT Addie

2011-04-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl turned 9 months last week and I decided to have a little photo shoot with her to commemorate the event, plus I can always use practice on my picture taking.

9 Month Stats:

Height: 26 Inches

Weight: 15 lbs 2 oz

Learned to: Crawl on hands and knees,pull herself up, walk along the furniture and sometimes even stand on her own for a second or two

Loves to: Try and crawl off our bed, play in the pantry and be outside

Thinks it's funny to: Put things in other people's mouths, especially her pacifier, and pull on daddy's hair

We LOVE you Addison!

Home Sweet Home

2011-03-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

As many of you already know, we had quite the adventure filled trip to Japan(my plane was almost about to land when the earthquake hit). Too much adventure for my liking actually. I'll save the details for later, as it's a LONG story, and I want to update on a few other things right now. I will say that we are so glad to be home.

Addison turned her army crawl into a one knee-one foot crawl. It's pretty darn cute, and she's cruisin! She also learned how to pull herself up to a standing position. This happened right after we got back from Japan and consequently made the sleep re-training very difficult. The 17 hour time change didn't help either. The past few nights she has done great, falling asleep at least. She has been sick with a cold so sometimes wakes with a stuffed up nose that we then have to clear out. She DOESN'T like that part, and I can't blame her. Naps are still a bit iffy, but we are making progress and that's all I can hope for.

I've had a few-maybe a little more than a few- projects laying around various places in the house waiting to be finished. I made A LOT of progress on them and even finished TWO in the past couple weeks! I love feeling like I've been productive with my time and it's always nice when my projects turn out like I imagined them. :)

We planted some flowers in the flower bed beside our driveway, we thought it would be fun to take Addie's picture by it....she thought it was more fun to eat the dirt...

I really enjoyed conference last weekend and I'm looking forward to reading over the messages once the next Ensign issue comes out. I loved Elder Scott's talk where he spoke about his wife, it was so sweet and very touching. I also thought that President Monson's advice on having a picture of the temple in each childs room was a wonderful idea. Right after I heard that talk I started looking for a picture to put in Addison's room. I found this great website that has many beautiful temple pictures. Some of my favorites are of the Salt Lake Temple. http://ldstemplephotography.net/

I am so grateful for the blessing of the temple in my life. I hope that I can teach Addison just how important it is so she'll have the desire to go there one day also. I'm so thankful for the inspiring words of our prophet and how they bring peace to my soul. It's wonderful to have a living prophet that leads and guides us through the troubled times in which we live.

No Stoppin This Girl!

2011-03-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Addison started crawling the other day. We call it the army crawl but she actually looks more like a worm. She's getting pretty quick now and it seems like she ventures out a little further each day. I really have to keep an eye on her. It's fun to watch her get around especially when she spots something she really wants. She'll get this big smile on her face and head straight for it. Favorites of hers are: Anything electronic, with a cord or tag, whatever I have and her all time favorite...paper! Today she spotted the printer paper supply, I retrieved it before any damage was done but looks like the paper needs a new home. She's started sleeping much better and hardly cries (if at all) at naps and bedtime. For the most part she still wakes up once at night but goes back to sleep rather easily. Last week she slept through the night four nights in a row! A tiny part of me missed seeing her those nights but most of me was glad for a full nights rest. I love being able to stay home with my sweet baby girl and feel so blessed.

Love this girl!

Addie at 6 months

Mommy's helper

Testing out her new bookshelf

Just being cute

7 months old!

Here, There and Everywhere Pictures

2011-01-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

Here, There and Everywhere

2011-01-18T12:26:00.000-08:00

We've spent the last couple months traveling from place to place and I wouldn't be surprised if Addison doesn't know which place is really home. Just before Thanksgiving we spent a week in San Diego. It was mostly a vacation for me since Dan was working there. Then we were home for a day and off to Idaho the next. I spent almost 2 weeks in Idaho came home for a couple weeks and then we all headed to Texas for Christmas.

San Diego was a blast. Addie and I spent a lot of time checking out all the cute little shops that lined the streets and walking along the beach, although it was too cold to swim. I feel like wherever we go we bring the rain along with us. They say it rarely rains in San Diego and I think we got their yearly rainfall within 2 of the days we were there. It was still beautiful and the whole time I kept wishing we lived there. We were able to meet up with some friends who were also down for work. We had a picnic on the beach, watched a movie in the theatre room of the apartments one of the couples was staying at and went to Balboa Park. It was a great trip and I hope we get to go again since there is so much more to explore.

The day we got back from San Diego we were greeted by a snowstorm. We barely made it to our house without running into the ditch and the whole town lost power that night. I guess we were lucky to only lose power for 6 hours, I heard of others whose was out the entire next day. Thankfully we have a gas fireplace so we set up camp for Addison in her pack 'n play near it so she didn't freeze that night. The next day we had planned on leaving for Idaho to spend Thanksgiving with my family. We went back and forth on whether we should go and decided to go for it. It took about 17 hours opposed to the 12 or 13 it should have taken, but we made it safely and were able to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving. My entire family was able to be there so it was really great to see everyone. I was even able to have a fondue party with some of my high school friends and college room-mates. I just wish we lived closer so we could all get together more often.

We had a couple weeks to recuperate before heading to Texas. This year we decided to take public transportation to the airport. Two ferry rides and a light-rail ride later we made it to the airport where we were met by a delayed flight. We knew it was bad news when we saw the flight attendants come off the plane with luggage in tow. Our plane finally left around 9pm instead of 6pm. We were just glad we were still able to fly out that night since we wouldn't have had a way home otherwise.

We had a wonderful Christmas with all of Dan's family. It was really fun to see our niece and nephews, and especially fun to watch them play with Addison. She was a little nervous at first, especially when they'd be right in her face screaming, but eventually warmed up and was all smiles. We spent a lot of time chatting, working on tough puzzles and getting our fair share of holiday treats. We even had a visit from Mr and Mrs Claus, the kids were overly excited and even Addison tried to see if his beard was real---Ouch!

For New Years we drove to Austin to visit Dan's brother and sister and their families. We set off fireworks, went to a yummy Indian restaurant and took a hike in one of the nearby state parks. It was a beautiful day and we had such a great time.

Addison seems to never stop growing, although she is only in the 10th and 12th percentiles for height and weight. She is much more vocal now and loves to splash around in the water during her baths. I was almost as wet as she was after her last bath. She sits up on her own, can roll over from her stomach to back and her two front bottom teeth have started coming in. She lights up our lives with all her giggles and smiles and we love her so much.

Trick or Treat!

2010-11-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

I love Halloween! My favorite part is seeing all the kids dressed in their costumes. This year ours was pretty low key. We carved a pumpkin the week before and I made Addison a bumble bee costume. I thought she looked adorable in it. I had a pea costume I was going to use, but then I saw the idea for the bumble bee and thought it was way too cute and had to make it. I've also seen ladybug and fairy costumes that are similar, it will be hard for me to not want to use the idea over and over again. My brother was able to spend some time with us over the weekend which was fun. He was stuck here for work so we were able to rescue him for a couple days. He was sad to be away from home and his wife on Halloween but we were glad to take him in. It's always nice to see family and I can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas when I can see more of them!

Here's our cutie pie and our pumpkin masterpiece!

Baby Room Revealed

2010-10-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

The moment you've all been waiting for.....drum roll please...... haha, maybe you haven't been waiting but here are the pictures anyway. I still have some pictures to put in frames and I'm going to move her butterfly mobile so its not in front of the tree branch, but for the most part it is complete! I think it turned out cute. Here's our sweet baby girl at 14 weeks, growing like a weed! She told me I had to take a picture of her in her carseat since she matched the cover, silly girl. Taking time to practice rolling over, not quite there yet but practice makes perfect!

Feelings of Fall

2010-10-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Is it really already Fall?! I usually love it and am so excited for the changing colors and all the fall festivities; corn mazes, pumpkin patches, pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating(Although I've hardly done any of these recently). I have so many good memories from this time of year. However, this year it really snuck up on me and I'm not quite ready for it. Maybe it's because my summer was so much different than usual, different in a good way but still different. I suppose I better do something "Fall"ish to get me in the mood since I don't think summer will be returning anytime soon. We sure could use at least another week of it in order to get our outside projects done.

Here's a peek at the work in progress

Addison's week by week pictures

and my long overdue haircut

Last weekend our Relief Society had an overnighter. Although I didn't stay overnight I did enjoy spending some time with the ladies in the ward and getting to know them better. Plus we were able to get a picture of the 5 babies born within a month of eachother. They are all so cute and I'm sure they'll be good friends.

Of course my post wouldn't be complete without a few more pictures of our little cutie. Enjoy!

Hanging out with Daddy

Ready to work outside

This is what she does whenever you get close to her face

2010-09-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

My Friend took these pictures of Addison, I love how they turned out!

Blessing Day and Visitors

2010-09-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

September 1st Dan's parents came into town to meet little Addie, and be here for her blessing on Sunday. It was a really sweet blessing and my parents and little brother were able to be there as well. I guess I should say younger brother though, I keep forgetting how grown up he is. Time really does fly, doesn't it? The guys were able to get a work project in while everyone was here and I was able to finish up Addison's blessing dress, while the grandma's watched her. They even had a birthday party for me on Saturday since my birthday was the Tuesday before. We barbecued and had some yummy ice-cream pie, everything was delicious and I'm so glad I was able to celebrate with family around. That doesn't happen often for us on birthdays.

On Labor Day we headed to Snoqualmie to visit some of Dan's cousins. It was really fun to meet them and all their kids. We were even able to stop at Snoqualmie Falls on the way back. It was a beautiful sight!

The day Dan's parents left we all came down with colds, mine included a cough which I am still recovering from. Luckily Addison's cold wasn't too major, mostly just a runny nose, and she seems to be doing much better.

Here are pictures from the festivities as well as Addison's week by week pictures.

It's Official!

2010-08-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

I know I just barely made a post, but I got this email and was just so excited I had to share. I knew that I had finished everything for my degree but there is just something about actually having something in writing that says you are finished that makes it much more real and thrilling! Now I'm just waiting for the diploma to come, that will be even better!

Dear Graduate,

We are happy to inform you that your degree has posted to your BYU–Idaho transcript. Your diploma and a copy of your final transcript will be mailed within the next 6-8 weeks.

If you need a copy of your transcript sooner, you are welcome to request a transcript online through your my.byui.edu account. Go to the student tab and select “transcript request” in the gray menu options on the left side of the page.

Congratulations!

BYU–Idaho Graduation
Student Records and Registration

3 WEEKS! NO WAY!

2010-08-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

It seems like just yesterday I was posting that it was only 3 weeks until our baby was due, now she is 3 weeks old! I can't believe how fast time flies. Everyone always says babies grow fast and the time just flies by, but until now I didn't really know how true that was. I look at Addison and she seems so much bigger to me already. I'm glad she is healthy and growing but can't they stay small just a little longer?(Ok, so I know she is not big yet, everyone always says how small she is but I still think she is growing too fast!) I'm still adjusting to life with baby. I love mommyhood and Addison is so so sweet. I still haven't figured out how people actually get anything accomplished in a day with a little one around. It seems like I can only get one thing per day done and sometimes it's a struggle to even take a shower. I'm going to say it's ok though considering I'm still new to this. Right now I'm just going to take it day by day and enjoy my little girl.

Our families new best friend is a baby swing that a friend loaned to us. It is amazing! I do loving holding Addison and if I could figure out how to do everything while holding her I would, but there are times when it is just not possible. That's where the swing comes in. She loves it and sometimes it's the only thing that can keep her asleep. Thank you Jacob and Joni, you are life savers!

We really enjoyed having my family come to visit and meet Addison. They were really a lot of help. It was so nice to have help cooking meals, cleaning the house and taking care of baby. We even managed to fit in a trip to the zoo which was really fun. I still have a lot to learn and was extremely grateful for their support. I was especially glad my sister was able to come. She came with her adorable little boy for almost 2 weeks, whithout her hubby. We know it was a big sacrifice and are so glad they were able to make it. Thanks again everyone for all your help, hard work and fun times.

We are looking forward to Daniels parents visit as well as seeing mine again for the baby blessing. It can be hard sometimes being so far from family so it's always nice when they come to visit.

Here are some more pictures of the last few weeks.

Sweet Baby Girl

2010-07-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

Where to start? I guess I'll just start with the fact that I love being a mommy! Our sweet baby girl arrived on Sunday July 11th at 7:26 pm, 6 lbs 15 oz and 18 1/4 inches long. We absolutley love her! Even when I'm getting pooped and peed on I still can't get enough of her. I could hold her all day long if I didn't have anything else to do, and honestly at this point holding her is mostly what I do. She's been a wonderful baby, of course there are still sleepless nights and I feel like I'm constantly either feeding or rocking/bouncing her back to sleep, but it is all worth it. We are so blessed to have her in our lives and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I'll update more later on the past couple weeks, but for now here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

3 WEEKS!

2010-06-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

We have a little less than 3 weeks until baby time! Hopefully she comes pretty close to her estimated time of arrival. We are getting very excited and can't wait to have her here with us. Here is my growing belly at about 36 weeks.

Over the weekend we thought we'd get some outdoor projects done. It was so nice on Friday and we thought the good weather would continue through Saturday so we decided to start working on our deck. We were able to pound all the nails back in that had started to come up, and began to sand it down a bit when we realized this process was going to take A LONG TIME. We opted for trying out some deck cleaner, which seems to have done a good job. That's as far as we made it though before the rain came again. The next step will be to stain, so we are hoping there are a few sunny days coming in the near future. I'll post before and after pictures as soon as we can get the after picture taken!(As a side note, I can't take much credit for the deck work. It was mostly Dan and my brother.)

Another project I took on over the weekend was burp cloth making. Well, not so much making as embellishing. I'd heard that cloth diapers made excellent burp cloths so I decided I'd pretty mine up a bit. Here's the result:

Sneak Peak

2010-06-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

The baby room is coming right along and I thought I'd give you all a peak at it. There are still a few things left to do but I am really liking how it's turning out.

Hope you enjoy! Stay posted for the final product coming.....hopefully.....soon!

Graduation, Family and Friends!

2010-05-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

We had a great time visiting my family in Idaho when we went for my graduation. It sure was a quick trip but it was really good to see so many people, I just wish we could have stayed a little longer. We were extremely busy just about everyday it seemed. We left Washington after work on Wednesday(which was also my last day of work!)and drove through the night. We stopped at my sisters place to visit for awhile and were able to see my nephew, he's getting so big! I can't believe how fast they grow. Then it was off to Shelley. Thursday we were able to do some relaxing then friday my sister threw me a baby shower. It was good to see so many of my friends and family. Saturday was full of graduation ceremonies followed by my cousins wedding so we were able to see even more of my dads side of the family. By the end of the day I was all tuckered out. Sunday we celebrated my brother Jason's birthday(it was the following Monday-the day we would be heading home) and had yummy cake and ice-cream. My brother made sure it was known that Sunday was NOT yet his actual birthday. I guess he wasn't quite ready for the big 3-0!

My biggest project at home has been getting the baby room ready, I can't believe she'll be here in about 10 weeks! I just need one more coat of paint on one of the walls and then the painting will be done. Now if I could just decide what else to do in the room! My next challenge, I think, will be the curtains. Wish me luck!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks(I wish I had more but we didn't take very many in Idaho on our camera)

One of my college room-mates and I at Graduation

My cousin Jenna and I at the baby shower (She's having a girl too!)

Our trip with some friends to Point No Point

These last two aren't from either of our trips, but I just have to show off how cute my nephew is!

It's a Girl!

2010-03-09T07:44:00.000-08:00

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we are having a baby girl! I am super excited and can't wait for her to be here. I love to look at all the darling little girl clothes and it takes all the energy in me to keep from buying it all. I have contained myself so far, but it has been difficult for me since everything is so darn cute! Here's my belly at 23 weeks.

We had the second ultrasound in February and that's when we found out we'd soon be seeing lots of pink!(I know there are other colors too, but let's face it,there will still be loads of pink!) It was amazing to see how much different she looked compared to the first ultrasound. Every day I get more and more excited. I love being able to feel her move, every time it makes me smile. Sometimes I'll just sit and do nothing but wait for the next movement. I feel so blessed to be entrusted with one of our Heavenly Father's sweet little spirits and I'm anxiously awaiting the day I'll get to meet her.

Our other big news is that we moved into our house! We LOVE it! The location is perfect, we are close to everything but on a quiet street where we still have our privacy. Dan has spent just about every day, since we moved in, out in the yard. There is lots of work to do but we've enjoyed working hard and seeing the benefits of our work. Yesterday we spent a good part of the day cutting down blackberry bushes-they grow like weeds here and I received my fair share of thorns stuck in my hands- but our back yard is looking so good!

Our Little Munchkin!

2010-01-21T20:31:00.000-08:00

We found out for sure the week before I went to Idaho to wait for my new nephew to be born that we are having a baby, but waited until Christmas to tell anyone. We are super excited! Since before I can remember I've wanted to be a mom and now it's actually going to happen. It is kind of strange to think there is something living and growing inside me, but wonderful at the same time. So far I have been lucky and skipped the morning sickness part, I did feel a bit queezy for a few weeks but have felt pretty good otherwise. Mostly I have just been tired and hungry ALL the time. Dan gives me a hard time because I always have some sort of food stashed in my purse, usually crackers or a granola bar, he keeps waiting for the day when I pull out steak and potatoes.

Our little one is due July 8th, so I am 16 weeks along now and we find out next month if it's a boy or girl. I secretly, or not so secretly, hope it will be a girl. I'll be happy either way though!

Here's our munchkins first picture(Sadly, my name is spelled wrong on the ultrasound):

Our other big news is that we are buying a house! We should close next week, if all goes as planned. We can hardly wait! It is a little stressful since it's such a big purchase but we are excited to get into a place we can call home, plus we'll have room for visitors! Anyone up for a trip to Washington?

November in Idaho

2010-01-17T22:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from my trip to Idaho, yes it was back in November, and yes I am just now posting them. Whoops, how time flies!

It was a super fun trip, I didn't take near enough pictures but I did get some of my new nephew who I think is just the cutest!(Sorry, it won't let me rotate that one picture)

Slacker....

2009-11-08T16:34:00.000-08:00

You can now officially call me the "Blog Slacker." I knew it had been awhile, but I just didn't realize HOW long until today when I noticed my last post was from August. Is it really November? I even some how managed to miss posting the big family vacation. How could I miss that? Usually I could at least say nothing has happened and that's why I haven't posted, but truly, SOO much has happened in the last few months I'm not that excited about getting caught up!

Here's my attempt though...
August: My Birthday! And it really was a good one! We met up with my brother Bryce and his wife Chelsea and ate dinner at TGI-Friday's. It was delicious and we had such a fun time chatting and catching up, especially getting in a few laughs about subbing/teaching in primary. Kids are cute :) It's so nice to have some family close, even though we don't see them near enough! P.S. Thanks for the cupcake, it was delicious!

September: We had a super fun Fluckiger family vacation to upstate New York. Highlights included

Lincoln Pond- We rode in canoes, found an island and a rope swing
Lake Placid- A cute town with a walkway all around the lake and lots of different shops
Whiteface Mountain-We took a gondola ride to the top of the mountain, it was fun to hear the nephews(mostly Ben) talk about the Gondola ride for days after, so cute!
Ausable Chasm-A must see for anyone in the area! We hiked through the chasm and past waterfalls, it was really cool and beautiful
Other Highlights- Early morning exercise classes, spending time with everyone, playing games, entertaining the nephews/niece and having some time to relax!
Thanks everyone for an awesome trip!

October:
Homework:I started school again on October 5th! It's just one class, but I only have 2 until I'm done so that gets me halfway there. Yippee! So far I've received A's on all my papers. My next class won't be until March, so I'm not that excited it's so far away, but at least I found schools that have the classes I need.

Houses:We started the house hunt again, it's a lot of work and frustrating(especially when we finally find a house we like, put in an offer and it doesn't get accepted) but we are optimistic and hopeful that we will get something soon!

Halloween: At work we dressed up as pirates, I ended up making my costume the night before-even though I tell myself every year I wont let this happen, what can I say though, it was a long week- Then Saturday morning I finished Dan's costume so we could go to the Ward trunk-or-treat. It was a fun night, with lots of little trick-or-treaters and yummy chili

The Holidays are right around the corner, so I don't think things will slow down anytime soon. In a couple weeks I head to Idaho to see my family and new nephew-everyone pray he comes on time!

(sorry...pictures to come...my computer wont upload them right now)

One more post today!

2009-08-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

A couple Saturdays ago we were able to have lunch with my friend from high school and her husband. We had a really good time walking around downtown Seattle and eating at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Thanks for coming to lunch Whitney and Chad!

I always love getting together with friends, especially ones I haven't seen in forever!

My Favorite Snack!

2009-08-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Ask just about any of my old room-mates what my favorite snack is and they will probably tell you kettle corn. In college I'd get home from work and almost immediately pop a bag of kettle corn and mix up a cup of delicious chocolate milk. To this day I still can hardly get enough kettle corn. I LOVE KETTLE CORN!

Recently we bought a pop-corn popper and gigantic container of popcorn kernals, so couldn't bring ourselves to buy any microwavable kettle corn. I thought to myself, "Ok, this won't be so bad. I like freshly popped popcorn, I can do this....I can go without kettle corn!" However, tonight I COULDN'T go without it. So in desperation I searched the internet for a recipe....I thought, "Surely there must be a way to make this delicious treat from scratch." Turns out, there is! Even better, is that I like it 10X as much as the microwavable goodness.

If you like kettle corn even 1/2 as much as I do you are sure to love this!

To make:
You'll need.....
Popcorn (I used 1/2 cup unpopped kernals, Of course I popped them though!)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons water
2/3 cup sugar (I used white, I've heard white tastes more like kettle corn while brown tastes more like caramel corn)
salt (to taste)

First
Make sure you have popped your popcorn

Next
Combine oil,water and sugar in saucepan, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, cook 3 minutes

Then
Pour mixture over popcorn, mix to coat and sprinkle with salt to taste!

Finally
EAT!
YUM!

HEAT-WAVE!

2009-07-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

(FYI I started this post a few weeks ago and just now finished....so pretend it's three weeks ago when you first start reading!)
I have sooo much to get caught up on! The last month has been super busy and the last week has been super hot! For some living with temperatures in the 90's is no big deal, just part of life. For us over in Western Washington it is just plain miserable (unless you are out boating or swimming....neither of which I have been able to do). Only a lucky few are blessed with air conditioners. They've even opened up multiple "Cooling Centers" around the area where people can go to cool down, many of the centers are even offering free water and other beverages. I'll admit I kinda laughed at this when I saw it on the news, but it's actually a really good idea considering all the homeless that live in the area. I feel really blessed to have a place I can call home and escape from the major heat....even if it is small and stuffy, at least it is out of the sun!

Enough about the heat-wave though, I'll get back to what we've been up to the past month. We were delighted to be able to spend 4th of July weekend with Dan's parents. They came to visit and we had a WONDERFUL time! We spent one night in Forks,WA (The ever popular town made famous by Twilight)and were able to drive to LaPush and see the sea-stacks. It was really bautiful! Then we spent some time hiking around a few other areas and even made it as close as we could to the most northwest corner of the United States(minus Alaska), which was also very beautiful. After that it was off to Victoria,British Columbia on Vancouver Island. I LOVED this city. Tons of the buildings are Victorian style and just gorgeous. There's even a castle we were able to tour which I thought was really neat. We went to Butchart Gardens as well which is a lovely place and any gardeners dream! Most of all though, it was just good to be able to enjoy eachothers company!

Just before our trip we put an offer in on a house that we really loved, it seemed just perfect, but when we got back after the weekend we found out we'd been outbid. We were pretty disappointed but decided that maybe we would just wait a while longer and save up for a bigger down payment and a better shot at getting a house that we really like. So, it's back to renting. Which is not my favorite thing, especially since I would really like to be in a house now, but who wouldn't?

Continued.....
Since we decided to move (on the hottest day in Seattle history) I am just now finishing this post due to lack of internet.

No, we did not buy a house but we are fixing up our friends "barn" which is also the place we call home. It's not as bad as it sounds, it is really pretty nice. I especially love that we don't have to share any walls with our neighbors or the smoke they insisted on sending right through our window! In fact our closest neighbors are up the hill from us and our good friends. We are definately learning a lot and will hopefully be a step ahead when we get our own place.

We celebrated Dan's birthday (July 22) by going to Applebees (YUM!) and then had cake/cupcakes and ice-cream back at the apartment. I tried to make cute, yellow cake with boston cream filling and chocolate frosting, cupcakes...they didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped but they sure tasted good.

It seems like cupcakes are all the rage right now and I love to bake, so I see all these beautiful cupcakes other people make and then want to make them myself. So far mine haven't come out quite as good but I'll keep trying....if anyone wants to be my guinea pig let me know, I'll take any excuse to bake!

2009-06-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Puerto Vallarta!

2009-06-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time on our trip to Mexico. Weather....WONDERFUL! Hotel....AMAZING! Beach.....BEAUTIFUL! I don't think words can describe just how great it was, it really was the PERFECT vacation. Just what we needed!

We mostly just hung out on the beach drinking pina coladas(virgin of course), swam in the ocean and ate yummy food. The place we stayed at was all-inclusive and there were 5 restaurants to choose from (3 of them practically right on the beach). So we'd sit and eat a lovely meal while watching the sunset, it felt almost like a dream.

One day we went on a canopy tour where ziplined through the forest and over rivers. It was a lot of fun, then at the end their were a couple monkey cages they let us go into and feed the monkeys! They jumped right on us and ate from our hands. I was a little worried I might lose a hand, but they were so so cute!

We spent a day in downtown Puerto Vallarta at the flea market and boardwalk doing a bit of shopping and feeling some of the Mexican culture. There were sooo many shops and everywhere you turned someone was saying "come in, look, what you like?.. I have good deal!" I was worn out by the end but did have a good time. One day of that was plenty, I preferred laying on the sunny beach relaxing!

Sewing!

2009-06-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

I finally got to work on a project while my mom was in town, well we both did, so I thought I'd share. We made a couple of baby quilts and had a really fun time. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the other one but it was super cute with little ducks and cute fuzzy yellow squares.
I thought this might curb my yearning for being crafty......nope, now I just want to make something else!

Mima and Poppy!

2009-05-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

The past few days Mima and Poppy (aka my mom and dad) came to visit! It was a very spur of the moment trip but since they were taking time off for graduations (which were two weekends in a row) they decided to come visit us in between! We had a grand 'ol time hanging out. Highlights included meeting up with Bryce and Chelsea, Downtown Seattle and the aquarium, eating, shopping, sewing and playing in the rain! It was so good to see them and we were sad to see them go. We hope they will come back soon, and in fact we hope everyone will come visit! Here are a few pictures from the week including my brother and I with mom and dad, the octopus (at one point it was all spread out across the glass, of course I didn't get the camera out fast enough), seahorse and lion fish.

Feeling Crafty!

2009-04-30T22:41:00.001-07:00

Lately I have ran into a few websites/blogs with the cutest ideas ever! (look the the right for links!) ! It has made me want to start a million craft projects, and the only thing between me and those projects is fabric and the cooperation of my sewing machine, the last time I broke it out the thread kept getting caught, I got frustrated and needless to say haven't even finished that project. Haha, and I'm thinking of starting more????? Honestly though, I do love to sew and plan on finishing my last project soon (a handbag made from tea towels -I found at the dollar store- and the idea from makeitandloveit). So if you are feeling crafty or, are hoping to feel crafty, be inspired by the links on my page- in other words....check them out! Hopefully I will finish mine soon so I can start some more and have some pictures to post!

LOVE General Conference!

2009-04-16T11:55:00.000-07:00

I always look forward to General Conference and was especially glad to be able to watch all the sessions. It's so nice to have a job now where I have weekends off, I feel so blessed. It's wonderful that we have a living prophet and apostles on the earth today that lead and guide us. I especially loved Elder Hollands talk titled "None Were with Him"

The following is a quote, from that talk, that really touched me.

"It was required; indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone."
I know that Christ suffered and died for us, that he felt totally and hopelessly alone but because of this we don't ever have to feel that way. We have the choice to have the spirit in our lives, when we are feeling sad or lonely we can turn to him. We can use the atonement in our lives to become the best that we can be and return to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love the gospel and know that it brings true happiness.

Check out the following video that was put together using Elder Hollands talk, it is really a beautiful message

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

Spring Fever

2009-03-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

We've been getting spoiled with beautiful weather the past few days, in fact yesterday was absolutely gorgeous and all that was needed was a light jacket! (Today however, is another story. It's been wet and cold ) I cannot wait for spring! I love when everything is green and the trees start budding, the flowers blooming! It's probably my favorite! I love summer too though, so that's a tough one.

We are happy and proud to say now that we are 100% debt free! Mexico here we come! We were able to pay off the last of my student loans when we sold my car! ByeBye Jetta. I was sad to see it go, but happy at the same time. We had some good, and bad times but overall it was a fun little car. (I really really miss those heated seats though.) Our reward now is a trip to Mexico, we've been looking mainly at Cancun or Puerta Vallarta, so if anyone wants to give us their 2 cents that would be great!

SNOW

2008-12-14T20:21:00.001-08:00

I love snow! It just makes everything so pretty and I feel more in the Christmas spirit when it's around. So it was a nice surprise to look out the window this morning and see a 'thin' blanket of soft white sparkly snow! I even ended up dragging Dan out in the cold to take some pictures. I was so afraid it would melt before we took any. I guess I didn't have to worry too much because it is still out there now.

The past year has gone by so fast but has been full of good times and lots of learning. I love the holiday season and feel like it's a good time to reflect on all that's most important in life. I am so blessed to have a loving husband who supports me and would do anything for me. I'm blessed to have the gospel in my life and to know the truth that families can be together forever. I love family!

Rain, Pillows and Halloween!

2008-11-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

We are finally beginning to see what everyone means when they talk about how rainy it is in western Washington. The last three days (at least!) it has rained pretty much constantly! I do love hearing the rain and it hasn't bothered me too much yet plus it makes everything so pretty. However, I haven't had to be outside in it much so maybe my feelings will change.

I finally finished my first project on my new sewing machine! I wanted to make some throw pillows for our couches and after much time spent looking for just the right fabric and even more time spent sewing they are finally done! Here's a peak at them!

At work for Halloween we all had to dress up so we decided our theme would be The Wizard of Oz. At first I was assigned to be Toto but then decided to be a munchkin instead. The picture they took at work turned out pretty cute, I'll have to get a copy of it to put on here. Dan and I hadn't really made plans to do anything for Halloween but somewhat last minute ended up having a party with some friends. It was suppose to be a costume party ( I just wore the costume I had for work) but Dan didn't have anything yet. So I searched for some last minute ideas online and he dressed up as, well let's see if you can figure it out. He had a quarter and a hammer.............
Did you guess it????? He's a Quarter Pounder! Haha, kinda cheesy but we thought it was funny. It turned out that not many people really dressed up, but it was still fun. There was plenty of candy and pizza and really yummy apple pie!

Life in the Northwest

2008-09-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Where to start!? Well, Dan and I are both working. Yes, I finally got a job! I've been working at MVP Physical Therapy as a PT Aide/Office Coordinator I. At least that is my fancy title, however, it pretty much just means I do whatever anyone asks me to do. I take phone calls, do laundry, clean, clean and clean! I do get to work with patients sometimes and that can be really fun. I get to meet a lot of new people and some very interesting ones at that. All in all it's been good, it gets me out of the house and gives us a little more income so that is great. Anything that gets us closer to having my student loans paid off is good. I just found out yesterday that BYU-I is going to accept my job as my internship so that means I will be one step closer to graduating. All that's left now is 2 classes! YAY!

We both had Labor Day off from work, which was nice especially since my birthday was the same weekend (Thanks everyone for all the cards, phone calls and messages!). To celebrate my birthday we took the ferry into Seattle on Saturday where we walked around and then ate at The Cheesecake Factory! It was delicious, it may be my new favorite restaurant. Across the street from the restaurant there is a HUGE convention center. There were tons of people going in and out of it so we decided to see what was going on. It turned out to be a huge video game convention, the biggest one in the world. People from all over came to it, we met one boy who came from New York with his family to go to it. Here are a few pictures we took while there. In the first one you can see someone who dressed up like one of the characters in a game (there were people all over who had dressed up, crazy!) In the next one you can see everyone spread out on bean bags playing their games, this convention went on for 3 days!

On Sunday my wonderful hubby gave me my birthday present, a sewing machine! I've been wanting one for awhile and didn't know if I ever would get one so I was very happy!

It has 66 pre-set stitches, so I can't wait to make all sorts of cute stuff and finally hem all my pants that are too long for my super short legs!

After opening my gift we headed to Port Angeles and Olympic National Park. Port Angeles is beautiful and we saw some starfish which I thought was cool. You can kinda see it in the picture.

We camped in Olympic National Park (where we froze during the night) and went on a nice hike the next day. From the top of the mountain, were we hiked, you could see out to the ocean. It was beautiful. In the picture the clouds are covering the ocean,

so sad :(

The deer on this mountain were so used to people they'd walk right up to you. On our way back from the hike we heard some people had spotted a bear on the trail, I was kinda sad we didn't get to see it. I'm not sure if it would have been as friendly as the deer though. Here is my National Geographic picture of a deer as it ran right in front of us.

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful world where we have all the Lords creations around us to enjoy and I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful husband who I can share these wonderful experiences with.

Arches National Park (update)

2008-08-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Arches, we finally got them off the camera. This is the trip we took when our camera got broken before we were able to take many pictures. Of all the places to have a broken camera!

Mt Ranier

2008-07-23T15:25:00.000-07:00

We decided one Saturday to take a day trip to Mt. Ranier. The weather was awesome and the drive beautiful! On the way there we passed about 50 different fireworks stands (it was the week before 4th of July). At one spot alone there were at least 20 stands! I don't know how any of them were making money.

We took a hike up through the mountains and had snow under our feet most of the way. We kept seeing people with skis attached to their backpacks and once we got to Glacier Basin we could see why. There were snow covered mountains all around us and if you looked closely at them you could see little dots of people hiking up and then skiing down. We even got a little taste of what they were experiencing. We didn't hike up near as far but did go far enough to where we could slide back down. We didn't have skis, however, but it was still really fun.

It was a really fun hike, the perfect day and so so beautiful!

Seattle!

2008-06-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

We made it! After driving through what seemed like half the country that is! We arrived in Seattle a couple weeks ago and were able to have some time to just spend together before Dan started his job. It was REALLY nice! I'm sure we will miss having so much time to spend together but we are also extremely grateful to have this job. We have been blessed so much this year.

During the last two weeks we have been very adventurous. A couple days after being in Washington we headed to downtown Seattle where we walked along the waterfront (it is BEAUTIFUL I must say and the weather was lovely!) and went through a place called Pikes Market. There were all kinds of little shops and the best of all was the fish market place. When someone orders a fish they all start yelling and throwing fish around. It's pretty exciting, everyone just stands around and watches....it's crowded but fun!

Last Monday we decided to go on a camping trip so we headed to North Cascades National Park. It is gorgeous there! There were tons of waterfalls, lakes, rivers, streams and of course mountains! At our campsite there was a tree were a woodpecker had made it's nest and you

could hear the baby birds chirping inside. The mom and dad kept flying in and out almost colliding with our heads! Tuesday we woke up and went on a hike which went for 12 miles and would have been 8 miles longer if we hadn't got a ride from one of the park workers who was working on the trail. We got pretty lucky there. The hike was awesome though, even if it was long.

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-05-13T19:50:00.001-07:00

Colorado

2008-05-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

We made it to Colorado! Another long drive, not 24 hrs though thankfully! We are living in Aurora which is on the very outskirts of Denver. In fact I was beginning to wonder if civilization even existed here since our whole drive consisted of desert landscape. The GPS said we were just a few miles from where we would be living and I still don't think we'd even seen so much as one house. I was getting a little worried. Some how though, a town sprouted and we actually live in an apartment, not some hole in the ground. There's even a Walgreens across the street from us! The best part though are the prairie dog infested fields which surround everything and the bunny rabbits which hop along through the apartment complex....so cute and fuzzy!

Road Trip

2008-05-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well who would have thought I'd ever leave Idaho, I guess that's what happens when you marry an 'outa stater,' but I couldn't be happier! Dan graduated in April...YIPEE!!....then off to Dallas we went. We decided to make a road trip of the 24 hour drive and spread it out over 3 days. On our way we stopped in Arches National park, it was AMAZING and almost unbelievable. I can't believe those rocks don't just topple over. We had planned on camping in Arches but got there and found out the campground was full so we had to find one nearby. That night there were 50 mph winds. We set up our tent (Thank you Camilla and Lucas!) and went for a short hike through the park but kept wondering if we would still have a tent when we got back to camp. Luckily we did and the winds even seemed to die down! The first day there we took a few pictures but the next day when we actually got to get up close to the arches (And I mean close, you could actually touch them!) we found out Dan's camera was broken and I had left mine in Idaho....not very smart of me. Unfortunately we don't have many pictures of our trip :( Thanks to Google I found pictures of our favorite arches, maybe one day I'll get to put some of our own pictures on here!