Zions

Sorry for the lame blogging activity lately - things have been going on, but - I just never seem to think of blogging about them these days. Can I pull the "pregnancy card" as James calls it? Lame excuse, but still... it's there. Plus there's the issue that I'm on the computer all day for work and by the time that's over, I pretty much want to pretend computers don't exist (not an easy feat in our home), so that may be another cause of the blogging apathy. However, we did just have an amazingly lovely vacation that I'd love to tell you all about, so here I am, blogging again.

First the big and best news and the reason why we were vacationing - James graduated! Well, he's done with classes in any case and technically graduates in August - but he's done and that's the main point of interest. :) We are both pretty excited (and a bit trepidatious) to begin the next, post-school, chapter of our lives. Couldn't have asked for better timing, that's for sure. Hurrah for James!

So, to celebrate we took a trip down to Zions National Park. We stayed in a little bed and breakfast called the Desert Thistle, which I would highly recommend to anyone going down that direction. The couple that owned it were just the sweetest, kindest, friendliest people I've ever met and they totally made us feel right at home. The place itself was beautiful, and the bonus was we had it all to ourselves! I guess that's the benefit of going on vacation on a Thursday :) Here are some pictures of the b&b:

Outside - aren't those flowers gorgeous? They have hummingbirds that come and feed through out the day - just charming.
The breakfast room - Maureen, the owner, did all the decorating herself. Quite a talented woman and such a warming personality. We loved her.

The common area - we actually spent most of our time in the kitchen dining area, talking to Maureen and Warner (James fixed their camera and helped them download Timez Attack - they were very impressed :) ), but the common area was beautiful. We are definitely going back.

The neighbor's llamas, which you can see from the backyard/pool. Maureen and Warner also have a sheep (but he was hiding) and two dogs - one huge Newfie and a tiny Scottie. You just don't get this kind of experience at a hotel ;)
Us at the pool
James getting sunscreen in his eyes and lamenting the fact that his wife wants pictures of this.
Me and my round belly in my preggie swimsuit.

We spent the first day at the b&b and then Friday morning, after a delicious breakfast and hours-long chat with Maureen and Warner, we finally decided to get going and went to the park. We found a parking spot just outside the entrance (what luck!) and then walked in to the park. They have this awesome shuttle you can take around and get off at the various trail heads. We did very easy walks (you can't actually call them hikes... they were even paved), and really enjoyed our time there. Here are some pictures:

8 months pregnant. By the way, it is a bad idea to look at pictures of yourself on your wedding day and then pictures of yourself 8 months pregnant right after. I'm proud of belly for carrying my baby for me, but . . . sigh . . .

Here's me dipping mmy feet in the Virgin River. Nice view of the belly, I'd say.

For more pictures, you can see the facebook album here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=269268&id=551240506&l=2b41d397d7

So, in any case, we had a real blast, and then had the special treat of coming home to James's family! They are here for a few weeks for family reunions and fourth of July festivities (boy I love this time of year) and we got to spend a little time with them (after we had showered, because boy did we smell.)

Anyway, I think this post is sufficiently long. I'll try to be better at posting in the future.