Together Again!

This last week was the first time that Dax and I have been apart for more than 2 days. If you really want to gain a greater appreciation for your husband spend a couple of days away from him! I definitely noticed the little things that he usually does for me that I had to do for myself while he was gone. It's hard when you have a well running system set up and then all of the sudden you have to change how things are done! I'm sure I will really understand that when we have this little boy. Anyway...I am so glad that Dax is home! Here is what we both got up to this last week:

Dax was in Illinois for the Mini Baja Competition. He left at 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning and got back at 2 on Sunday afternoon. His team's car didn't do so well, but he still had a good time. He said it didn't help that his team's budget was about $3,000 and there were many teams there who had closer to $50,000 for their budget. He wants to work on the car again next year for his capstone project, so hopefully he can take what he's learned from the other schools and make a more competitive car next year.

Dax isn't a short guy...this is just a massive truck!

This is one of the courses they used to test the cars. That is quite the hill climb!

This is what consumed endless hours of Dax's time during the winter semester at school. However, it was what he looked forward to the most about being at school so I can't complain. Even though it didn't perform too well I think the car looks great!

On Wednesday Nicole and I spent the day going to some historical sites outside of Flagstaff. There are tons of Indian ruins and Sunset Crater is close by as well. I had seen some of these sites before because Dax and I have been out there, but Nicole and I decided we might as well see it all as long as we were there. It was a lot of fun, and when you see the small rock room that a typical family lived in it makes you grateful for all that you have! After our various hikes we went to the mall and shopped around. I'm not big on spending money, but all of my skirts are uncomfortably tight and I would like a nice dress that I can wear throughout my pregnancy. However, of all the stores in the mall only 1 had a maternity section! I couldn't believe it! Needless to say I didn't buy a dress or anything else during our shopping trip.

I am just amazed at all of the work that the Indians put into making these pueblos. They usually built them up on plateaus and other high points so that others could see their territory. Then they would walk up to 10 miles to the nearest water source or to find firewood! Talk about a long commute!

This is called a ball court. The Indians had ball games of some sort, and this was the ring they played in. Larger ones had a stone edge to sit on for spectators.

On Thursday we drove to the Grand Canyon. It is about an hour and forty minutes to the South Rim, and there are some great hikes there. We actually ended up doing the same hike that Dax and I did last year. For the distance it has some of the best views of the canyon. I decided I'd like to hike to the bottom some day, or better yet I'd like to hike from rim to rim. Obviously something like that would take a couple of days, but I would love it. That won't exactly happen this summer though, so I've got to commit Dax to bring me back to do it.

This is at Ooh Aah Point. It really does have a great view of the canyon.

On Friday we decided to take it easy because Nicole was going home in the early afternoon. We went to the pool and tried to even out our tan lines from the previous two days of hiking. I went in early because I really didn't want to burn, but I ended up burning anyway. It wasn't until afterward that I read that pregnant women burn easily! Nicole was burnt worse than me though, although she didn't seem to mind too much.
On Saturday I recuperated. Besides doing some laundry and other cleaning I can't say I did too much. Church on Sunday felt so lonely, because we haven't been in the ward long enough that I really know anyone well. The ward is very nice though. I'm sure I will really get to know people as soon as we go to some informal activities. I decided I'll know when I'm showing so much that it is unmistakable because someone at church will ask me if I'm expecting!
Well that was our week. We both had a wonderful time, but we are both so glad that we are back home together and back to a regular schedule!