Stephen and Jessica's Blog

Hawaii!

2009-11-18T16:50:00.001-08:00

Its a long story to explain why we went to Hawaii... so we won't! Though the weather had forecast rain, we were blessed and surprised to bask in sunshine throughout our trip. We went back to Kauai where we had honeymooned two years prior so we visited favorite beaches and explored new trails (though for general knowledge, the Kukui Trail was NOT worth hiking).

Mom and Dad Y's Visit

2009-11-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

Back in September we enjoyed a marvelous long weekend with my parents. They coordinated the timing of this trip to coincide with their 34th wedding anniverary, so the first day they were in the Southwest they shared together down in romantic Sedona. We hiked (some bouldering on Bell Rock, go Mom!), watched beautiful sunsets, rode bikes, played games, and had a fantastic time. Dad and Stephen attempted to capture some of an incredible lightning storm.
Biking along Lake Mary (where we also saw our first tarantula! Ahh!).

Sisters Weekend!

2009-10-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend Sisters Weekend:

This one requires an entire post for this one... my sisters came to town for 5 amazing days. Have you experienced all the J-girls together? We really should NOT live in three different states. We had a blast hiking in Flagstaff, Sedona, and up in Utah. Throughout the weekend we hiked 26 miles, danced at a beautiful wedding late into the night, laid out watching shooting stars under the brilliant Flagstaff sky, hitch-hiked and played games downtown at the Wine-Loft and in our home. Poor Samuel (who was still living with us at the time) got an overdose of estrogen.

Stephen shot his first full wedding that weekend; he did great, I'm so proud of my amazing husband!

Every Other Weekend (Part 1)

2009-10-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

Much has transpired since our last post... and with good reason. As a nurse I am required to work every other weekend. That means we have been making the most of the weekends when I'm not working. Ever since mid-August we have been filling the non-work weekends with amazing adventures... so here are the highlights which shall be elaborated on in following blogs.

Mid-August: Lake Powell House Boat Trip
Labor Day Weekend: Sister/Family Weekend
Mid-September: Mom and Dad Yaholkovsky Visit Flagstaff
Early October: 2nd Anniversary Celebration in Hawaii
Mid-October: The Mitchells visit from Colorado

There are a couple more events in the coming weeks but I'll leave those for a later post. Here are some pictures from our weekend trip to Powell. We accompanied a great couple we know through FMC. I work with Jill on the Stepdown Unit and Casey was my preceptor when I cross-trained in ICU (now he's in CVICU).

Had a great time getting to know new people, playing in the warm water, hiding from a sand storm, and playing games.

Patio and Party-time

2009-07-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

We built a patio! The last couple weekends have been spent shoveling loads of our ever abundant pink xeroscaping so that we could create an outdoor living space. Stephen and Sam took half days on Friday in order to complete the patio before we left for Stephen's birthday weekend camping trip (we pack things in tight).

Sunday was Stephen's 26th birthday so we grilled out on patio with a handful of dear friends, played bocci ball and frisbee at the park, and enjoyed strawberry shortcake.

We've been loving the patio! Each evening the sun tucks behind some trees and the neighbor's house allowing us a shady area to dine. We've also enjoyed breakfasts with the San Fransisco Peaks glorious in the distance, or watching the stars at night from the comfy chairs.

More Probert's in Flagstaff

2009-06-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we had the pleasure of having Joan Probert stay with us for a week. For those of you who are priviledged to know her, you know that she is a refreshment and blessing to all around her. Of course nothing was different during her time with us in Flagstaff. Both of my moms have green thumbs and annually put together the most beautiful arrangement of potted plants for their porches and decks. Joan helped me put together a few of my own pots to brighten up our xeroscaped yard.

In addition to a BBQ with the Toms family (whom the Proberts have known since their Santa Barbara days) and a lively game of croquette, Joan was able to go with Millie out to the Hopi reservation to visit some of the people the Toms have been ministering to.

A couple days into her visit marked the arrival of another Probert family member: Samuel. He acquired an internship at Gore for the summer and will be living with us for the next three months.

With two guests in tow, we tried to show them some of the most spectacular sites in the area (so we could entice Joan into making many more trips to visit us).

We marvelled at the majesty of the Grand Canyon.

Hiked through the red-rock desert of Sedona and the bizarrely shaped rocks.

Played Bocci ball in a neighboring park.

Enjoyed card games and Master Labyrinth (which Stephen has been trying to get me to play forEVER).

Walked by Lake Mary at dusk and watched elk run across a meadow.

We explored the cliff dwellings of the Sinagua Native Americans at Walnut Canyon National Park.

It was amazing to have a mom in town. Samuel's presence has been a bright part of the summer too. While I am at work in the evenings, the boys are at home practicing card tricks, playing hands and feet (cards), or watching u-tube videos.

Night Shift

2009-06-23T02:56:00.000-07:00

I'm officially noctural again.
About a month ago I returned to working the night shift.
That is why you may receive an e-mail at 3 in the morning. Or why I may not answer my phone when you call at 1 in the afternoon. Or why I seem frequently disoriented. But I love my job!

San Diego 2009

2009-06-23T02:45:00.000-07:00

In the meantime since our last blog post many an adventure has taken place. The first weekend in June was spent having a marvelous time soaking up sunshine in San Diego. Stephen had spent a summer there during college so there were a few places he wanted to show me. We packed those 3.5 days with many of the typical tourist sites that draw visitors to this lovely city. Take a look... San Diego Zoo. This critter was a hoot! Of course I don't remember what its called now, but I'm sure you can tell that its nose was quite distracting. Zoo again. I got too close to the animals.

Balboa Park. A garden at Balboa Park. Coronado Island. Spent a night at the Hotel del Coronado. Joy was on a bus advertising for Sea World!! (For those who don't know my older sister, this gal looks a TON like her!) Sea World. Stephen worked here that summer he was in San Diego. His navigation of the park was superb. Mission Beach. Julianne came down from LA for an afternoon/evening. We rented bikes at mission beach and rode them up to La Jolla. This was my highlight of the trip.Mission Beach. Wild animal park. Stephen was amused that I was completely unaware of the large bird sitting just feet above my head while I perused the map for our next destination. Claire de Lune: In honor of Julie Mitchell! This is her favorite coffee shop and where she dreamed of having her wedding reception (size and permanently situated furniture inhibited it from happening). La Jolla. My mom's favorite part of San Diego. Gaslamp District.

We miss you Jimmy!

San Diego is a new favorite!

LA Memorial Day

2009-05-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

So Friday afternoon leading into the holiday weekend, my crazy wife (this is Stephen, by the way....I know, crazy, huh?) called me at work and pitched a looney idea of driving to LA for the weekend. I was thinking we would hike the grand canyon in one day in the rain, but after a little discussion, I was persuaded to go along with the plan. The inspiration for the trip was that Josh Benjamin was in LA for the weekend....and as a bonus, so were both Joy and Julianne. :)

We left at 6am Saturday morning and got into LA a bit after noon. We picked up Josh (again, he was the focus of the weekend [wink]) and went on a hike a little south of Malibu. We were supposed to find a waterfall, but that water feature never made an appearance for us or anyone else we talked to on the trail it seems.

That evening we met up with Joy, Julianne and several friends of those two ladies and went to the Cheesecake factory for a delicious dinner.

Sunday, after a morning of cleaning and the concomitant searching for un-guarded dumpsters to dispose of a trunk-full of trash, we enjoyed a beach afternoon that wasn't really warm, but did have warm light, which was great for pictures. Here is that wonderful man, Josh, and also his girlfriend, Joy.

Jessica and Julianne were at the beach too. While I took pictures, the girls talked and shared stories from their lives.

Julianne contrived a composition for a photo consisting of me kissing my beautiful wife. Naturally I obliged without too much objection. :)

Monday morning Julianne joined us for a 5-mile run down by the Santa Monica Pier which involved running/walking up stairs to the bluff above. We finished off our trip with a breakfast with Juli.

It was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun. It was still raining when we got back to Flagstaff monday evening. I guess the canyon will have to wait for the fall when the temperatures are low again.

A Trip to the Great Northwest

2009-05-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Arizona, we have tried to make two trips to Seattle annually, one around the winter holidays (whichever one I can get off of work) and one summer-ish trip. Last year's summer trip was in September to attend the Cobb's wedding. This year we travelled north mid-May to witness our dear friends David and Shelby as they joined in the covenant of marriage. As with all of our trips, a great deal of time is absorbed in meeting with the beloved family and friends we so rarely get to see. Poor Stephen quickly grows weary as we jump from coffee date to lunch date, but it truly refreshes me! This trip we decided to try to meet up for adventures in memorable Seattle spots so we could see both our favorite people AND enjoy Seattle in springtime... Plus Stephen was excited and determined to take pictures anywhere and everywhere we went. What an incredible trip... (Melanie and I walked to Kerry Park from the Starbucks on Queen Anne that I often studied in during college; this walk was also one I frequently ran during my time at SPU)A comparison of Washington and Arizona...
The dogwood trees were blooming gloriously. I couldn't get over how breathtaking nature is when there is enough water to nourish it! It was also fun to enjoy being in a city. I got to visit Cari where she works on the 22nd floor in downtown Bellevue; we don't have more than 7 story building in Flagstaff and its a college dormitory without a view.

David and Shelby's wedding took place at a charming venue north of Seattle and the weather that couldn't have been better! The cascade mountain range was out in full splendor. Stephen was proud to stand as a groomsman for a man he's known throughout his college years as they shared in many adventures and grew in their walks with the Lord together.
Of course one of my favorite parts of the trip was spending time with family. Thursday evening while Stephen played hard at the bachelor party (they played ultimate-frisbee, capture-the-flag and poker all in one evening... all of them were sore and exhausted the next day!), I got to spend the evening in with my parents and Joy. My mom spoiled me with a few of my favorite things: Alaskan salmon, green beans, and Greek salad. Yum! That evening we walked the Tolt Pipeline together to watch the sunset.

Perhaps someday we'll get to live in the Northwest again...

Up to Page for the Weekend

2009-05-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

For months the Hibbs have been telling us how remarkable Page AZ is and we've been attempting to schedule a weekend to explore up there. Last weekend it finally happened. What unique beauty we discovered, and its only 2 hours away!

Jesse's parents live in Page, so that served as base camp for our expeditions. Friday evening we arrived and had time to visit the Glen Canyon Dam (which holds the Colorado River back and creating Lake Powell) and enjoy a campfire on the beach just feet from the beautiful turquoise water. Saturday morning involved hiking roughly nine miles through Wirepass Canyon. Stephen and I hadn't experienced slot canyons before. The Hibbs have been hiking through here several times before and remark that its always different because of the multiple flash floods the canyon experiences each year that deposit varying amounts of silt; the canyon floor can be several feet different from year to year. That log was lodged up there from a flash flood. Gives you some perspective of how incredibly tiny we were as we wandered through there. Here's where the story gets fun (or gross)... Before we were ready to turn back for the day the trail was completely blocked by 3 deep mud puddles. Did that stop our exploration? Absolutely not! We all waded through the knee-deep, bitterly cold, gooey mud.
We were never the same again. We call it friend-glue. After that we hiked approximately 3 miles barefoot (cactus spikes, sharp rocks, sandy patches and all) before putting our shoes over those dried, dirty feet only to repeat the process on the way back to the car. We put our shoes on much quicker on our way back, though, due to our tender feet. First thing Sunday morning we did a quick hike to Horseshoe Bend to see a world renown view as the Colorado River winds around this massive canyon island. Sunday's main hike was Jack Ass Canyon and was unlike anything we've hiked before. We essentially followed a dry riverbed down one of the fingers off the Grand Canyon until it led us to Colorado River. Surrounded by massive boulders, we were in awe of God's enormity and creativity. It was a more technical and involved hike as we had to create a trail through the rock fields (Kel's got some pictures of that part of the hike, I'll try to get a hold of those sometime). We were all thoroughly baked by the time we got to the bottom so a refreshing dip in the freezing Colorado River was in order. Page is definitely a place worth exploring!

One Long Weekend, Three New States

2009-04-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend was a whirlwind of fantastic adventures. We've been watching for a longer weekend when we could cruise up to Colorado to visit our dear friends the Mitchells who moved up to the Denver area last June. Lots of driving, great new sites in three new states I'd never visited, and wonderful memories with friends! We spent our first night in "Enchanting" New Mexico, but let me tell you, we were less than enchanted. We drove right through up to "colorful" Colorado... so beautiful! We both decided this is a place we could live here. Our first stop was in Colorado Springs for lunch downtown and then hiking the trails around Garden of the gods. By Friday night we were already up in Denver hugging our much missed friends.

The Saturday included a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw an abundance of wildlife! Tons of elk, mule deer, wild turkey, big horned sheep, a fox, prairie dogs... Stephen had tons of fun documenting them. To see a couple of his favorites visit the guys photo blog.

We got dinner at a Brewery in downtown Boulder. Resurrection Sunday was a lot of fun! It was great to attend their church and thank Jesus for His sacrifice. Julie spoiled us with delicious meals all day, in addition to taking us on a scavenger hunt to find our Easter basket (a fun family tradition). The weather was a bit murky and chilly so we spent most of the day relaxing inside enjoying great conversations and game after game of Mexican train dominoes. It was a wonderful way to spend our Easter weekend! We're anticipating future trips to explore the beautiful state, see the Mitchells again and meet their daughter who is due in June.

Monday morning we left Colorado at 5:30am (4:30 Flag time) and didn't arrive home till 11:30pm Flag time. Our plan was to spend a couple hours exploring Arches National Park in Utah, but all of that changed when we ran into the Lee family (from Washington) at the visitor center.After a picnic at balanced rock we were invited to join them on the Fiery Furnace guided hike... which we couldn't pass up! Tamarah had to stay behind with Anika who was sick, but the rest of the family enjoyed the hike. Stephen, Kesia and I took up the rear of the group... it was a beautiful hike and such a treasured opportunity to spend time with Kesia who has grown up into an amazing young woman; can't believe she's 13 this year!

What an amazing and exhausting weekend!

Five Days Off...

2009-04-07T17:40:00.000-07:00

...as in five days off for me (Jessica). Stephen along with two of his Gore buddies had an opportunity to learn vascular catheter skills at Arizona Heart Hospital in Phoenix midweek which meant we got a hotel room the night before on Gore. It helps that the wives of his Gore buddies are two of my closest Flagstaff friends.
So while the boys were learning tracking catheters through a 300 pound pig, we were going for a run through fancy Scottsdale neighborhoods (so much easier at sea level!), sipping lemon water by the pool, and shopping at a mall with stores that can't be found in Flag. On the trip back home we picnic -ed with the Hibbs in Anthem.
A couple hours after we returned to Flag that night, Julianne drove in from LA. It was incredible to have my sister in town. Despite the crazy April wind, we went hiking in Sedona and enjoyed sister/friend-time, something we realized we hadn't had with just the two of us in a long time (pre-marriage). It was a treasure to have this time with her.

We returned home and started making the most delicious chocolate torte EVER! As we did so, it started snowing... Yes, folks, this is April in Flagstaff. That evening we enjoyed that decadent dessert while playing mexican train dominoes (chicken foot style, thanks Melissa for teaching us!).
We'd been planning on going on a bike ride on Saturday but with the chilly weather we decided to bundle and play Bocci ball instead.

(Finally Stephen in a picture... and only a shadow at that!)
That evening we had a wedding to attend for dear Clover and Tim. It worked out that Juli had homework she needed to accomplish. Stephen was the photographer for the reception; he does a great job. Here's the beautiful bride; we caught her after she'd already changed.

Sunday morning at church my Flagstaff sister Kaitlyn got to meet the girl who she reminded me of in the very beginning. What do you think? Not twins, but they could be sisters, eh?

Seattle, New York and Phoenix Visitors

2009-03-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had 5 visitors staying in our home: Joe and Trisha (from Seattle), Jon (New York), and Alex and Dawn (Phoenix). All the guys plus Trish went to University of Washington, so it was a fun reunion for them. Saturday night we took them hiking over Sterling Pass to see Vultee Arch. Jon and Stephen had a great time photographing our adventures. Even though they were all from Sea Level or close to it, they weren't slowed down by the lack of oxygen from the altitude while hiking.
The end point was well worth the effort exerted to get us there. The rest of the weekend was lots of fun too... we gave them the downtown Flag tour, took them to a National Monument and fed them lots of food. Alex and Dawn headed back down to Phoenix Sunday night. Monday morning the rest of the clan (minus us, we had work) headed up to the Grand Canyon to hike their legs off. We got to see them Tuesday evening before Joe and Trish headed down to Phoenix sunshine. Jon enjoyed some bike riding, hiking Mt Elden with Stephen, and eating out at our favorite restaurant on Wednesday. He flew out of Flag early Thursday.
We loved having these guests come through!

G'Bye to the Bike

2009-03-20T14:15:00.001-07:00

Our second vehicle is now property of another fellow. The Saturday before Stephen posted it on Craigs List we took a final ride out to Mormon Lake, about 40 minutes from our home. Many fun memories with that bike...

Friday Night Fun

2009-03-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Prior to Friday night we hadn't been able to coordinate an event with all 5 couples, there was always one missing. But on Friday we were successful!Have you played telephone pictionary yet? If so, then you know why our faces HURT from laughing so hard! If you want instructions how to play this game, let me know, I'll get you started.

I love these women... I'm so blessed!

Melissa Came to Flagstaff!

2009-03-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

I've got a tad bit of time for a quick update about our wonderful February guest... Melissa! It was such a delight to have her come visit. As is typical with us, the conversation was deep and the laughter in great abundance! Stephen was a trooper and listened to many the nursing tale (she's a peds nurse now).
There were a couple goals I had for this visit (other than the obvious: to enjoy the proximity of a dear friend and soak it up!). The first was that she would not get sick. She had visited twice prior to this and both experiences included terrible headaches (presumed to be from the altitude) and a souvenier cold to go home with. This time she would stay well! The second was that she would finally get to see the Grand Canyon. How many times should have to travel to Flagstaff without experiencing such a wonder? Well three times would have been too many! As you can tell, we accomplished the second mission, and only time would tell whether she would remain healthy after returning to the Northwest. Fortunately, that mission was also successful!
We also got to experience Sedona sunshine before she left (while Stephen was at work). We hiked, read and napped by a river, picnic-ed, and sipped lemonade from an incredible vista.

Overall, a fantastic time. Thanks for visiting Melissa!

Warm Weather is Just a Brief Drive Away

2009-02-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

Back in February a dear friend from Seattle was going to be visiting her family in the Phoenix area and we were blessed to be able to connect for a coffee date in a little city just north of Phoenix. Autumn had just gotten back from a YWAM DTS with outreach in Cambodia a couple days before that so you can imagine how fantastic it was to catch up.
Since we were already down in the sunshine, we decided to take advantage of running without being surrounded by snow. It was an incredible Saturday. After church the following day we stuffed the bikes in the Hibbs' truck and drove the 45 minutes down to Sedona to ride our bikes in warmer weather. It was also great to see Stephen in "jock" bike gear (as my dad would call it).

Another Storm in Flag

2009-02-10T16:39:00.000-08:00

So we just had a ton of snow dump in the last storm. The piles at the side of the driveway are back to their former glory of a couple months ago.

Sedona, Snow, and Sunsets

2009-02-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

I'm sick right now (explained in the last picture) so here's a photo journey through our past couple weekends:
Hiking in Sedona with the Hibbs. Peering down into the Devil's Sinkhole.
At the top of the Mesa. An incredible view overlooking Sedona.
Stephen put my tulips out in the snow to get some pretty photos of them.
Instead of watching the superbowl we took a picnic and the Hibbs up to the Grand Canyon and watched the sunset. No one else was there (they were all watching the game...) so it was ideal timing. It was also FREEZING! I had so many layers on and sat huddled under a sleeping bag and two blankets and was still cold. It certainly was beautiful.

Half Marathon 2009

2009-01-19T12:55:00.001-08:00

For a long time I have wanted to run a half marathon. I've even started training for 3 different runs. Unfortunately each time my knees gave me grief and I gave up the self-induced pain. Late in 2008 we learned about the Rock'N'Roll Half Marathon down in Phoenix. It sounded ideal. We would train at elevation, the half would be nearly at sea level. We'd train with hills, the half would be flat. We'd train in snow/freezing Flagstaff weather, we run in Phoenix sunshine! Throughout our training my knees continued to hurt at any run past 7 miles in length, but we were motivated and came up with creative methods that could help prevent pain or ease the pain afterward. Truth is that I just wanted to check this off my list of "things I want to accomplish in my lifetime". Even getting sick the week before the race couldn't stop us.

We did it! Yesterday we ran the 13.1 miles in 2 hours flat! (OK, it was 2 hrs, 0 min and 24 sec) We're really proud of ourselves because 2 hrs was our ambitious goal that we doubted we could reach with my knees acting up. They started hurting around 8 miles, so we slowed the pace and kept on cruising. We're so glad we did it! It was a fantastic memory for us to share.

A Tour of Tucson

2009-01-15T11:15:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had our first visit to Tucson, AZ. Kelly was shooting a wedding on Saturday and Stephen got the chance to be a second shooter to try out his skills in this avenue. We split a room at a nice hotel nestled in the foothills (priceline gets some great deals!). Saturday morning we drove around the city, walked through campus of the university the Hibbs attended, and scouted the wedding and reception sites. Around noon we split so Kel and Stephen could get to work capturing a special day. I'll let Stephen post some of his photos later; he'll want to pick out his favorites. Jesse and I spent the afternoon touring other parts of Tucson, hiking Pima Canyon, and catching a late lunch/early dinner at a great Mexican restaurant. We were faux-wedding crashers and hit up the wedding reception for the dancing portion. Sunday morning we enjoyed breakfast at Le Buzz (every city should have one of these... my goodness, it was delicious!), we visited their Grandparents, and drove through Saguaro National Park.
It was a great trip with dear friends. Unfortunately I got sick on Sunday and have been fighting the bug since... makes for a rough first week on the new unit.

Joshua Comes To Town

2009-01-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

Late last week we had the pleasure of a brief and fun visit from Stephen's brother Joshua. He came to check out Gore to see if it would be a good fit for him. We took him to Lake Mary in all its frozen glory. It was frozen solid, so we actually walked across it.
Stephen loves this picture of Joshua...

Our Northwest Family Christmas

2009-01-06T11:46:00.001-08:00

Seattle was coated in snow as we've never seen it, so Christmas travel was extra adventurous. The night we arrived Seatac had closed off all but one runway and cancelled most departures. We're grateful to Matthew and Joan for braving the weather and the late hour to pick us up!
We truly enjoyed a fun and relaxing time with our families. Due to the snow we spent more time with them than our usual scramble to see local friends. It also gave us an increased appreciation of the close proximity of our parents' residences. "Travelling" from one home to the next consisted of a brief walk through the winter wonderland.
Of course we participated in snow activities while we were there... The boys created a jump over which they flew.

The Proberts celebrate on Christmas Eve, so we spent a cozy evening around their fireplace opening gifts. Christmas morning Stephen was introduced to the Yaholkovsky family traditions, including singing along with all the songs in Handel's Young Messiah while making breakfast.

We went on a "post prandial ambulation" to carol to the Proberts and the Lemkau residence (Ben just got back that day from 2 years with Peace Corps in the DR).

Joy is dating long time friend Josh Benjamin and we had the pleasure of double dating with them. We playing lots of games with them and other family members.

When we left for the airport we thought we had completed our adventures. That was until we went ran into the Rephs at Chipotle. We had tried to connect with them during this trip and hadn't been successful until then.

We also arrived at the airport early so we could spend some time with Melissa who had just landed after her Christmas travels.

Other interesting things from our great and crazy trip:

- The heavy snow tore the gutters off my parents house. Fortunately they didn't hit any cars or windows.

- We obtained a dog (briefly) and two cats (temporarily) to protect us from a rodent to tried to move in with us. Said rodent brought much adventure late one night when he showed his ugly face...

Warmth of Friendship, the Cold of Winter

2009-01-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since we've posted. Here are some December updates and adventures:

We had a fun Christmas party with some dear friends which was ever so delightful. While we were cozy indoors, a huge snow storm was dropping tons of snow outside so caroling was canceled. Stephen and I have been enjoying trying to continue going for walks outside even with the snow covering the paths with feet of snow. I certainly don't last very long; cold extremities make us turn back.

The Saturday before Christmas we enjoyed our first snowshoeing adventure with the Hibbs. We trekked up the forest service road that led to Locket Meadow (where we camped during the summer). The views were gorgeous and the company marvelous. After seven miles of snowshoeing, we were thoroughly fatigued and Stephen finally got that burger he's been dreaming of for weeks. A little hot tubbing, a glass of wine, and a movie and I'm surprised we didn't spend the night on their couch.

The final update for December is that I accepted a position on the Step Down Unit at FMC. I have one more shift on my current unit and its wrapping up nicely. I'll be starting on SDU next Monday where I will experience a brief orientation (the full critical care course will take place in July) then switch back to night shift. They say I will have 1.5 years on nights before I can return to day shift. Please pray that a door opens before then!

Soft Foods and Vegas

2008-12-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

We've had many adventures since our last post. One not so fun but necessary adventure was for Stephen to undergo gum graft surgery due to significant recession of his gums. Despite religious ice therapy, anti-inflammatories and rest, Stephen's face swelled up and bruised a nice shade of yellow/green. He's been restricted to soft foods since then. The scheduling didn't quite work out as this is when we had scheduled our trip to Las Vegas! We brought along plenty of pudding, yogurt, and applesauce... no hamburgers for Stephen!

We had a fun time in Vegas walking around and seeing the incredibly elaborate and ornate buildings. As neither of us are big shoppers, we spent most of our time tracking down some of the free events that Vegas offers as recommended to us by a friend who used to reside nearby.

We also did a hike though Red Rock Canyon (apparently a mecca for rock climbers) which was beautiful.

Overall we had a fun time in Vegas, though we don't plan on going back. A couple highlights of the trip were seeing an incredible Cirque du Soleil show, and exploring Hoover Dam which we'd never seen before.

I'm Certified!

2008-11-20T07:59:00.000-08:00

September through early October I was working extra hours each week in order to take a 5 week Med-Surg review course (essentially nursing school condensed). Loads of studying later I took a 4 hour exam that was actually worse than the NCLEX (which can shut off after 75 questions if you've passed); this exam was on scantron and we had to answer all 250-ish questions. They extend the misery by making you wait 6-8 weeks to find out the results. I was lucky to find out after only 5 weeks... I am indeed a certified Medical-Surgical RN!

The Schumachers Visit

2008-11-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

Our November guests were the parents of my beloved former roommate Melissa: Dean and Donna Schumacher! They are on a roadtrip through Arizona to see the Grand Canyon, visit long time friends in Prescott, and attend the wedding of Dean's cousin in Phoenix and we got to be a stop along their tour. We had a wonderful time showing them around Flagstaff and being tourists right along with them. For Flagstaff residents (past or present), have you done the Riordan Mansion Tour? Its amazing what that family created in the early 1900s, isn't it?
We entertained ourselves with a self-guided tour of downtown Flagstaff, a brief hike, a couple rounds of bocci ball, the viewing of an old film, and consuming tasty food. During one of our adventures Dean and Donna were even blessed with the chance to spot an Abert squirrel (I am fasctinated with those critters, if you haven't discovered that already).

It was great to adopt parents for the weekend. The Schumacher's blessed us with laughter, great conversation, and encouragement in our faith as well as our marriage.

Halloween Festivities

2008-11-04T07:46:00.000-08:00

On Halloween night we had a handful of couples from church over for a Harvest Party. We had great fun whilst carving pumpkins, acting goofy in our costumes, eating tasty treats, and passing out candy to the 82 kids that rang out doorbell.AJ the hunter made violent gestures toward the giraffe from Malawi.

And that crazy scientist was caught smooching the Sheriff...

The Call of the Wild

2008-10-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we were over at the Hibbs' place for dinner and decided it would be cool to try out their elk bugle. Bundled in many layers (I felt like the kid from Christmas story who couldn't put his arms down to his sides) we ventured through the dark onto the Campbell Mesa trail system. The four of us nestled together on some blankets, blew the bugle, and silently gazed up at the heavens while straining to hear the sound of elk. Though we saw many beautiful shooting stars, we did not hear the elk bugle back at our calls. Once we were thoroughly chilled, we headed toward their warm condo still considering the evening a success.
Some time later, Stephen and I were driving home only to be slowed down by a car at the side of the road with its hazards flashing. In driving closer we saw 6 or 7 elk at the side of the road! We quickly called the Hibbs to have them join us down by the driving range where these elk were. While driving toward the parking lot we noticed many more shadows of elk. Accompanied by the Hibbs again, we were out in the cold (without the bundles) some 30 yards from an enormous herd of elk! Our modest guess was 80 elk (The Hibbs stayed longer than us and drove around to get a better view; their guess was closer to 125-150!). This time when we used the elk bugle we heard them call back to us! It was an incredible experience!

Juli and Cari Visit Flagstaff

2008-10-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we had the pleasure of hosting my sister Julianne and life-long friend Cari Meyer. I love having family in LA; its close enough for an easily coordinated visit! Here are a few highlights of the weekend:
Friday was catch phrase/chocolate fondue night. We invited the Hibbs so they could all meet. Saturday the weather was perfect down in Sedona as we hiked along Soldiers Pass.

Hard to beat a picnic site like this, eh? We Sunday after church we hit up downtown Flag and browsed art galleries, then played a few rounds of bocci ball before they had to hit the road.
It was great having family come stay with us in our new home!

Autumn Beauty

2008-10-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

October 1st marks one year of being Flagstaff AZ residents. The final weekend in September we felt inspired to hike into the Grand Canyon; we'd be embarrassed to have lived here an entire year only experiencing the Canyon from the rim. The hike to Plateau Point was our longest day hike yet (12.2 miles), we did it speedily (4.5 hours), and we ran several of the miles. Let me tell you, I was ridiculously sore for the following several days! It was worth it, though. In early October we took another trip back to Seattle to attend my Nana's memorial service. It was a beautiful ceremony that celebrated her life well spent. Sometime in those two weeks between our Seattle trips Fall hit the Northwest. I had missed a cloudy, soggy Seattle Fall day with the brilliant autumn colors on the trees. While we were there I got my first migraine headache; I grieve for those who suffer from migraines regularly.
With fewer deciduous trees here in Flagstaff, Fall is less colorful but lovely in its own way. Last weekend we had the pleasure of hiking the West Fork of Oak Creek with the Hibbs and the Crawfords (the group picture was on Kelly's camera which I will try to obtain). Here's one of the girls (me, Kelly, Tammy).

Stephen wasn't too sore after our hike into the Canyon because he's been doing some crazy hikes of his own. In the past 5 weeks he's climbed Humphrey's Peak 3 times. The first one was with Jesse Hibbs before work (they did the 9 mile hike in 3 hrs and 18min, running a good portion of the trail). The next time he did it with a group of folks (while I was working one Saturday). The most recent time was this past Wednesday morning, its purpose was to catch the sunrise from the highest point in AZ. It was freezing cold and breathtakingly beautiful.
A brilliant full moon and the shadow of the mountain.

The group of all four men.

Dancing in Heaven

2008-09-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Emma Snowden, my dear Nana, went home to be with Jesus this morning. She went sweetly while sleeping. Family had surrounded her during her last days. This picture was taken a week and a half ago when we were with her. We had such a wonderful time enjoying her presence. She held my hand so tight the whole drive home from the airport.

She was a compassionate, beautiful, sweet-spirited, God-fearing woman. A little over a year ago her husband of 63 years went home to be with his Maker as well. Today they're dancing together before the Lord, no longer restricted by the burden their temporal bodies had become.

Best Year Yet

2008-09-09T13:22:00.001-07:00

A quick story through pictures...
We celebrated our one year anniversary! We went down to Sedona for a night away and enjoyed a beautiful hike around Bell Rock.I worked two weekends in a row. During that time Stephen was hammering away at a project he's been long dreaming of... a workshop.
His buddies Jesse and Cory helped out too.

Last Sunday I got standby for the morning hours and was able to go to church. We met up with the Hibbs in the early morning downtown to take some pictures and enjoy breakfast prior to church.

Our Hearts Are Full

2008-08-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Our last couple weekends have been filled with the delight of new friendships and enjoying the Lord's glorious handiwork in nature.
Two weekends ago we woke up at dawn to drive down to Lake Mary in hopes of finding elk feeding. We saw a few on the side of the road prior to arriving at the lake but ventured on only to find the lake serene and empty in the morning glow. It was still well worth our time. We had ridden our bikes out to the lake the evening before and had loved the ride along the water and the multitudes of wild sunflowers. Later that morning we hustled through a beautiful hike of Walnut Canyon which is about 4 miles down the road from our house. We were on a time crunch since the monsoons would be rolling in by the afternoon.

To add a little more fun to our hike we figured out how to get to the top of Fisher Point.

Last Saturday we got to summit Kenndrick Mountain (its on the AZ 20-20 challenge!). My ankles were hurting the whole time, but we made it to the top. The views were spectacular and worth the effort exerted.
From the top we could see a fire and two rain storms. It is incredible to be in the sunshine (sweating) while watching lightning and dark clouds in the distance. This one was much smaller than the one hovering over the San Fransisco Peaks.
God works in mysterious ways... I have been praying for friendships and community for many months. A couple weeks ago Stephen told me about a guy he met at work who was new to Gore, young, and friendly. We ran into the fellow (Jesse Hibbs) and his wife (Kelly) at the grocery store and left the conversation saying, "they seem neat, lets have them over!" They were supposed to come over to our place two Saturdays ago we had to reschedule because they ended up moving that weekend. The next morning I was scheduled to work but was blessed to be put on standby so I could go to church. Who do you think was sitting down the row from us... but Jesse and Kelly! Funny enough, the Hibbs actually moved into the same condos we just moved from, literally 2 doors down! I got called in to work after church was over; anyone else think the Lord wanted to coordinate that meeting?
We had the pleasure of spent all afternoon with the Hibbs last Sunday. After hearing the story our their courtship while enjoying a meal, we went 4-wheeling (ah!) in their truck to get to the Munds Mountain trail head. It was hailing when we arrived to we had to wait for it to blow over which is did quickly. Another storm was brewing over Sedona's red rocks while we looked on from our little mountain top. What a blessing to be connecting with the Hibbs. My Flagstaff sister and her boyfriend are back in town for school and coming over to hang out this evening. Grace Groups pick up in another couple weeks. I get to meet with my mentor and friend Judi Hartman every other week. There are 5 women who are interested in being part of a ladies bible study, so I'll be e-mailing them to get that going in the next couple weeks. Our hearts are full!

The Fruit of Our Labor

2008-08-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying we're exhausted! But we've been having a blast. Mid-July we were visited by Samuel and Andy Probert on their road trip from Philidelphia to Santa Barbara. The Monday after they left was our close of escrow date so the moving, painting, unpacking whirlwind began as you know. We had a deadline because we knew MJ, Judy, Zach and Andrew would be coming to Flagstaff on August 8. Around 3pm that day we finished hanging the last of the blinds and the second coat of the kitchen paint was drying. We had a great weekend with them! Friday they stayed the night at our new place and we left early Saturday morning for Lockett Meadow. We did a hike into the Inner Basin of the San Fransisco Peaks, got drenched a monsoon, made a fire in the rain, and enjoyed a delicious meal and s'mores around the fire. Sunday we visited the Wupatki and Wokoki Ruins then drove down to Sedona to give them a brief taste of the Sedona Red Rock beauty. They left Monday morning to meet up with friends in Zion National Park in Utah.

We're getting excited that our first big house project is done (we're procrastinating on putting books on shelves or hanging items on walls) so our evenings have been spent riding our bikes and watching the Olympics. Its delightful!

Be sure to check out the before and after pictures of the house.

We're Home Owners!!

2008-07-30T09:24:00.000-07:00

As of Monday July 21st the Flagstaff Proberts are home owners! A whirlwind ensued at 11am that day when the deed was transferred to our name and the painting began. Due to the unique colors selected by the previous owners we're essentially painting every room in the house. Forunately we were blessed to have my incredibly helpful sister Joy drive out from LA for a long weekend to assist in our endeavors. How much we accomplished!
We're still in disbelief that its really our home. We're having fun picking out paint colors and really enjoying peeling back the masking tape to admire our handiwork!
Stay tuned for pictures...
I would also like to announce that this past Saturday was Stephen's 25th birthday (as well as our moving day, poor guy!). We were able to celebrate in little bits the whole weekend including dinner at our favorite pizza joint, strawberry shortcake (his all time favorite), and watching an old movie.

Camping Trip to Kings Canyon

2008-07-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

What a whirlwind of a trip! On Wednesday July 2 we left for work with our car packed full of camping goodies. At 3:30 when my 8 hour shift was over Stephen scooped me up and by 3:40 we were westward bound on the interstate! Kings Canyon, here we come! After midnight we arrived in Visalia CA where our exhausted bodies rested for the night. An early morning was in order, we wanted to get a fantastic campsite; specifically campsite 19 where the Proberts camped every year during their Santa Barbara days.
We drove through Sequoia National Park on the way to Kings Canyon. It was a beautiful experience! The giant Sequoia trees seemed unreal!

This road didn't bother me much on the way into the canyon, it was when we were leaving that I felt incredibly car sick. I spent much of that drive out with my eyes closed.
Though we didn't get campsite 19 we got a great one and Stephen was able to show me the places the boys all played. That first day we did a hike across a bridge to Zumwalt meadow. We also dipped our feet into the freezing water of the river by Muir Rock.

And on the 4th of July Joy and Juli arrived! What a blessing to be able to spend this time with family! We did a hike up to a pretty little cascade of water. Stephen scared us all a bit when he walked out onto that log resting precariously over the water.

We spent some time at the river after this hike but only Stephen was brave enough to fully dip in the water. On our way back to our campsite we showed them the beauty of the meadow.

Indeed, they appreciated the beauty.
Sisters behaving ourselves... or not!

To celebrate the 4th of July we roasted hot dogs over the fire and enjoyed a delicious patriotic cake.
Saturday we did a 9.2mile hike in to see Misty Falls. It was a gorgeous hike!

We were delighted to be cooled down by the mist while we ate our lunch. We started getting chilled by the time we started our hike again which was perfect timing! By the time we finished the hike we were ready to cool off in the chilly waters of the King River. Juli, Stephen and I plunged the 10-15 feet off Muir rock into the river (another fun memory Stephen had of his childhood visits here). That evening we enjoyed guitar playing and s'mores around the fire.

By Sunday morning it was already time to depart. We visited the largest giant sequoia tree in Grant's grove: General Grant.
If you look closely you can see a little man in green at the base of the tree... some guy whose friend was taking a picture at that time. Convenient for us to give you a little perspective on how enormous that tree really is!
It was a long day of driving back to Flagstaff. We arrived after 9pm, did a speedy unload and laundry... We were at work at 7am the next morning! Quite a whirlwind and worth every moment!

Life is full as tomorrow we're expecting visitors and we're in the process of moving (our lease ends at the end of the month). More on where we're moving to in the next post.

Enjoying June in Flagstaff

2008-06-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Mid-June brought Willie and Bethany Weber (and friend Annie) to Flagstaff for a brief visit on their way back to Seattle. They have a remarkable story of the Lord bringing them together and it was such a treat to spend time with them! The Lord has incredible things in store for them!

We also enjoyed 4 BBQs in one weekend! All sizes were represented, from a huge Gore BBQ with a live band and carnival rides, to a church BBQ at a local park playing bocci ball and lounging on blankets, to the six couples of our Grace Group enjoying delicious food and entertaining children, to a laid back time with the Mitchells and Proberts. We had a blast at all of them!

This is an awesome shot of Jackson! He was captivated by the M&Ms! It looks like he's trying to perform a magic trick with it! Stephen had been trying to capture a photo of Ethan looking between his legs while crawling. Success, he caught it on film! That kiddo brings us so much joy! We're going to miss watching him grow up...
The Lord has called and paved the way for the Mitchells to move to Colorado. We have been blessed immensely by their friendship during the past several months. We met them our third week here in Flagstaff at our Grace Group. They are an amazing couple who whole-heartedly love and serve the Lord in word and action. We have had so many adventures with them and our friendship quickly delved deep. Also, Ethan was born on September 1st (2 days before we got married) so we will always remember how old that boy is! We have loved watching him go from an adorable, sleepy baby to a crawling, giggling little guy. May the Mitchells be so blessed in Colorado!

Thank you to those who were praying for my nana, Emma Snowden. In April she was fighting newly diagnosed colon cancer which left her physically exhausted but spiritually sustained by the Lord. The last couple months she has slowly been regaining her strength, all the while maintaining her sweet spirit which endears everyone to her! She is so strong; she has fought and conquered breast cancer twice before this. Last Wednesday she went for a PET scan which will show possible cancer cells remaining in her body. Friday evening we heard the results. The PET scan showed an aggressive liver cancer attacking sweet Nana. The doctors are saying her time with us is short. Nana loves the Lord and misses her husband of 63 years who went to be with the Lord in June of 2007. Needless to say, our family is in need of prayer. We really look forward to seeing her in September when we visit Seattle.

Our Summit of Arizona's Highest Mountain!

2008-06-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

We did it! On May 31 we summitted Humphreys Peak at 12,633 feet elevation. It is not only the highest point in Arizona but also part of the stunning view of the San Fransisco Peaks which we daily observe as we travel through our quiet little town. Since late fall it has been our goal to summit this peak but it was necessary to wait due to the winter freeze.

Early Saturday morning we picked up the Mitchells (who had arranged a babysitter so Ethan didn't have to be submitted to our craziness) and began our adventure!

Roughly 20 minutes into our hike the trail completely disappeared below a thick blanket of snow. Would this inhibit our summit? Of course not! Without knowing where to go except up the mountain we followed a rock slide until it ended, then cautiously walked atop (or in!) the snow until another we discovered another rock slide to climb. Essentially we climbed straight up the mountain.
This was one of the first rock slides we trudged up. We met up with some experienced hikers who had GPS so we stuck with them for the confusing middle part of the journey.

We got our hopes up twice as we encountered false summits and realized we had further to go before truly reaching the top.
The view from the top was entirely worth the effort! We were on top of the world; we could see the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, the Hopi Mesas, deep into Snow Bowl, and all the rolling hills inbetween.

We followed the trail on our trek back down the mountain... until we lost it. So we went straight down the mountain. Goodness, we were ready to be done when we stumbled back to the car. Unfortunately we couldn't simply rest that night since both of us were scheduled to attend a BBQ with some other couples from church. What a full and exciting day.

We just learned of the Arizona 20-20 Challenge; Arizona's 20 highest peaks and 20 deepest canyons. We may start dreaming of this one; we've already done one of each! We'll keep you posted...

The Yaholkovsky Parents Visit Flag

2008-06-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend we were blessed with the opportunity to host my parents. They were anticipating basking in the warm Arizona sunshine and swimming in the pool near our condo. Instead, the first two days they were here were coated in snow and February-like temperatures!

It was still a wonderful time! We essentially got to show them what winter is like too! We avoided too many outdoor activities for the first two days but had plenty of fun showing off our little city, driving through various neighborhoods looking at houses, watching Planet Earth, playing Mexican Train Dominos, eating great food, and simply enjoying one another.

This elk was enjoying a grassy snack 20 feet from the road we were driving down. Certainly there are more flattering pictures of this majestic creature, but this shot is so entertaining!
Sunday after church we ventured down to Sedona seeking warmer weather (things were improving in Flagstaff at this point). We went on a lovely hike through the massive red rocks and got to explore a new trail. Its now a favorite! Spectacular views are all along the trail even if you don't finish the hike.

This picture doesn't do justice to the beauty surrounding us.
We continued on the trail past where it intercepted the Brin's Mesa Trail (the one we did with Joy, Jimmy, and Naphtali) in order to stand atop the Mesa and take in the breathtaking view!

Monday was our Grand Canyon day... why come to Flag and now visit the huge hole in the ground(poor Melissa, you've been here twice without seeing it... yet!)?!
It was still rather chilly as we walked along the rim trail, but we enjoyed a delicious picnic while enjoying the unique colors of the Canyon in spring.

On the drive back we hiked the "watchable wildlife trail" which wandered through a lovely aspen forest. We had a great BBQ (more shishkabobs!), visited the hot tub, and played pool that evening.

Ok, now for one of my favorite parts... both Stephen and my dad are getting more into photography. On countless occasions my mom and I found ourselves watching our husbands capturing the beauty around us while standing in the most bizarre positions!
Here are only a couple of the beautiful pictures these men took...

Flagstaff in May

2008-05-21T09:58:00.001-07:00

That was last Tuesday May 13. Wild, huh? Yesterday was in the mid-80's. And this weekend we're anticipating thunderstorms and rain (rain in Flag!?).
We've been having a great May... enjoying delicious BBQs, playing Mexican Train with the Mitchells (a lot!), going swimming, hiking and picnicing with our new friends the Guzmans, throwing pots while on the Art Walk, exploring sunset crater national monument, and planning various camping adventures for the summer!
This weekend we get to host my parents. Its their first time seeing us in our new home. Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

A Birthday Surprise

2008-05-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

On Friday April 25 around noon the doorbell rang. I was expecting Stephen, but he has a key so why would he ring the bell? Upon opening the door I discovered my birthday surprise: Melissa Schumacher for the weekend! Here are some of our adventures...Friday night we attended a party and bonfire for Naphtali's 25th birthday. It was great to get to know some other young folks in town.

On Saturday we hiked to Red Mountain (which is north near the grand canyon). Stephen did some rock climbing... In the next picture there is a long drop right next to him (you can't tell very well in the picture, but its 50-60 feet!). He said this was the first time he's felt fear of heights. I'm so glad he didn't slip...

We made a delicious lemon meringue pie that afternoon which we saved for Sunday. That night we enjoyed dinner at Beaver Street Brewery.
I love this man...
On Sunday after church we drove down to Slide Rock National Park in Sedona where warmer temperatures greeted us. We spent some time wandering along Oak Creek and then relaxed in the sunshine with the bubbling water flowing next to us.
Stephen was the only one of us brave enough to dip in the water.
Slide Rock... makes sense now?
Yeah, it was freezing.
It was a great weekend! Many fun memories.

Pray for Nana

2008-04-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

Visitors to Flagstaff continued...

2008-04-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning began with an enormous and delicious breakfast of waffles with strawberries, scrambled eggs, sausage, and OJ. Naphtali joined us for the day's events. We all drove down to Sedona intending to do the Vultee Arch Trail... but the road was more difficult to cross than our little volve could handle. So we did a different trail which turned out to be a wonderful swap!

It was an amazing view when we got to the top. And very windy.

We tried to get a shot with all of us... this was all we could muster. I think its pretty fun.

We weren't quite ready to head back yet, so we followed our inclincation to climb the little peak that is behind our heads in that picture. It was well worth the views!
The city of Sedona is far below us. This is where we chose to enjoy our picnic lunch. It was amazing!
Jimmy looks so small surrounded by the huge red rocks of Sedona!

Once at home we hit up the hot tub. A late dinner followed as well as the Mitchells joining us to watch the movie Enchanted. We were all thoroughly exhausted from our fun and action packed day.

Early Sunday morning Joy started her drive back to LA; we were sad to have her go. We got to take Jimmy to church with us and introduce him to part of our new community of believers. Per Jimmy's request, we had a more laid back day. It involved dutch babies after church, going on a walk to feed the ducks, wandering through Barnes and Nobel, going to World Market, dinner at Oregano's (including a pizookie for those who know what I'm talking about!), playing Bocci Ball, enjoying the hot tub under the stars, and watching the movie August Rush.

Monday morning we all went to Macy's coffee shop before Stephen headed off to work. Jimmy and I stayed and read for a while. Then up to the Grand Canyon with us (its a 90 min drive)! We wandered the Rim trail till we were thoroughly hungry. Back in Flagstaff we hit up my favorite restaurant for lunch: Sakura! We got Jimmy coffee at Late for the Train, then went to Walnut Canyon. That night the guys played bocci ball (I was so tired), we watched an old episode of LOST and then we... played MASH! It was so funny! Should I share the results? I think I shall...

Jimmy lives in an apartment with his wife Barbara Walters with whom he has zero children. He is a for-profit college professor in Mexico City with a salary of $100k per year. He drives a 911 (porsche?). For a hobby he wathces demolition derby. Oh, and he likes to wear a sunhat.

Stephen lives in a shack in Bangkok with wife Jessica (yay!) but they have no children (sad). He is a federal senator and makes $1 million per year. He drives a jeep unlimited. His choice of undergarments is bloomers. A a hobby he is a photographer.

Jessica lives in a shack in New Dehli with husband Stephen (hooray), and they have 1 daughter, 1 son, and 1 Tsingtao (my adopted asian baby!!). She is a mechanic that makes $80k per year and she drives a mini around town. She stands out a bit because she wears a burka everywhere and has a Russian accent. She spends her spare time as a Turtle-neck-designer. (In case you didn't know, I hate things around my neck!!)

We had a blast with Jimmy being here! Thanks so much for coming, buddy! The next visitors we know of are Mr. and Mrs. Yaholkovsky over memorial day weekend... we anticipate your arrival!

Jimmy's Flagstaff Visitation

2008-04-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

What a treat we had last weekend! James Edward Malone graced us with his presence for a long weekend which we filled to overflowing with fun adventures! Here's how it went...
Thursday evening we scooped Jimmy up from the Amtrak station and brought him back to our humble abode where we had a delicious steak dinner. We rented a movie Jimmy had already seen but really recommended: Gone Baby Gone. If you haven't seen it (and are willing to watch R rated movies), its a film that will really get you thinking. You should also watch it with someone who has watched it before so you'll know when you cover your eyes if you don't like the brutal stuff.
So while all this was taking place, Joy was battling traffic on her way out from Los Angeles. We stayed up waiting for her. She arrived around midnight in quite an exhausted estate.
Friday morning Stephen went to work for half a day and the rest of us enjoyed the trails behind our condo. We also hit up the grocery store to get supplies for salsa (Jimmy took this opportunity to throw limes at me from across the produce department; crazy kid!). When Stephen came home we all piled into the car and headed toward the Lava Tubes... but the forest road was closed due to snow. So we headed back toward Flag and followed signs toward Schultz Pass where we explored a new patch of national forest.

Crossing the little creek... we all went across at different spots, I believe.

I love my husband! OH! While we were hiking an abert squirrel scampered down the tree next to me! We all got a brief glimpse of one of these crazy looking squirrels! Joshua's quote when he came to visit was: "I saw one! I saw one! I saw an abert squirrel! It was like seeing an elf!"

The guys were taking action shots. We climbed up to the top of a little mountain and got a decent view of Flagstaff.

Sisters... I love that she came all the way out to visit us!
That evening we went to Beaver Street Brewery for dinner. It was so delicious! Stephen had been with some coworkers, but it was a first time for the rest of us. Fantastic!
We got some fondue and tried some beer from local breweries. We had a blast. (Mom and Dad, when you come visit we want to take you here! The salmon salad was amazing!).

We hit up a used book store on the way home to find some reading material for later in the weekend. We also stopped by Malone's Deli so Jimmy could see that he belongs here in Flagstaff! He's considering moving here to share in the ownership of this mediocre deli (sorry, thats a lie right there).
At home we made salsa and cupcakes (not consumed at the same time) and enjoyed one another's company. More to come of our fantastic weekend in the next post...

Spontaneity... Road Trip to LA!

2008-03-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Three-day weekends simply overflow with potential! Since Stephen's work offered Good Friday as a holiday, we started dreaming of possible adventures we could have. After a day or two of brainstorming our destination was set for Los Angeles to visit my dear sisters! Joy even swapped a day of work so that our trip would not be in vain. We truly enjoyed our time in sunny California! Here is how our spontaneous adventure panned out...
After a long Thursday that started at 5:45am for Stephen (his discipleship group is at 6:30am) and at 4:30am for me (I couldn't sleep, probably due to excitement!), we drove those 492 miles that separate us from the other J-girls! By the way, the Mojave desert is experiencing spring. I was delighted to see the desert with a soft green hue and pretty purple flowers sprinkling the side of the freeway! We arrived in LA around 9:45pm which was just in time to spend a couple brief hours with Juli. She flew back to Seattle to spend Easter with our parents. At least we got to hug her!
Friday morning we met up with Joy. I had hoped to go to Disneyland, but since it was spring break we decided to avoid the excessive crowds and experience SoCal's other attributes. We went on a great hike in Malibu that climbed up to a beautiful view of the ocean! Stephen's only request to our adventures was that he could take as many pictures as he wanted. The above picture is one he took in Malibu; he's getting good, eh?! That afternoon we spent a great deal of time in search of a Jamba Juice (I love those and we don't have one in Flag).
We made unsuccessful attempts to go swimming... and we ended up spending a fun evening transforming Joy's living room from a room cluttered with things left behind from previous roommates into a welcoming and warm environment! Stephen's engineering skills were appreciated as he fixed a broken chair and helped with some obstinant drapes.

Saturday we spent a few lovely hours exploring the Getty Museum. What an beautiful place and such a spectacular location! We knew we were in LA when we saw a tv show actor (the Australian doctor from House) also appreciating art and history. This pic is great when its bigger... its a panorama of the view from the Getty.

Then we got snacks; Diddy Reise for Stephen (you create your own ice cream sandwich by picking your choice of ice cream and cookies) and Pink Berry for Joy and me. That was before we hit the beach! We enjoyed a great walk along the ocean on our way to Santa Monica Pier.

All three of us are in this picture... Joy's shades, Stephen's the camera-man, I didn't really know what was going on.
Joy and I on the Santa Monica pier with the busy and lovely beach behind us.
We got to meet up with Jodi and Kyle Gather at the beach and met their 2 year old son Micah for the first time. He is a cutie! The Gather's are a fantastic couple who we met through Joy and her Teen Mania days. They all did the Honor Academy together. I met the couple in 2004 when they lived with my parents. They became family to us! It was wonderful to spend the afternoon with them. Kyle was in search of a hat so we ventured to the 3rd St Promenade until it was too chilly to continue.
Oh, before I go on, Joy is too cute! She got tired from our walking and just sat down by the parking meter. I love my big sis! She also has her film friend connections and we all got to watch Die Hard 3 and 4 at an incredible screening room with leather reclining seats and surround sound like I've never experienced! It was our own private viewing! Amazing! When we got back to Joy's place we talked late into the night with Joy's roomie Robin.

We ended our trip Sunday morning (Resurrection Sunday!) going to breakfast before parting ways. I had to get back to Flag in time for work that evening. It was great to get to spend a weekend with Joy. Next weekend will be a treat as well... we have a special guest (from Seattle) arriving on Thursday evening!

Our Announcement... and other fun adventures

2008-03-19T15:31:00.001-07:00

Lets set the scene. We're at Grace Group a couple weeks back and I'm holding a 5 month old while talking with the other women. Stephen comes over and loudly "whispers" in my ear, "Have you made your annoucement yet?" Jaws dropped, eyebrows went up; they thought we were announcing a pregnancy. No! Not yet! The news is that I will be moving to the day shift on April 20! I've put my time in on nights and I am very ready to sleep at night like normal people. We are so excited for this transition!!

We've been having great adventures the last couple weekends. Events included but are not limited to the following:

- We enjoyed a potluck with Janie and Eric and some of their friends one Friday night; lots of new people to meet!

- We went on our first motorcycle ride of the year.

- We enjoyed hosting and visiting with Stephen's cousin Andy and Andy's mom Jeanie as they ventured across country.

- We spent a Sunday afternoon with Naphtali, Will and Millie Toms down in Sedona.

-We walked the trails behind our condo, spent some time reading and playing cards at a coffee shop, and went to dinner and watched a movie with the Mitchells one Saturday.

-We enjoyed a snow storm and brunch with the Mitchells last Sunday. On real news, the snow storm caused a white-out which provoked a 140 car pile up on the interstate! MDs and RNs were called in to help care for patients in what they call a "Code D" (for disaster). So that has filled our news recently.

Love from the Flagstaff Proberts!

A Visit to Dear Naphtali

2008-03-02T23:40:00.000-08:00

Did we mention that our dear friend Naphtali Toms has moved out to the Hopi Reservation to follow the Lord's calling for her to be a teacher? While it has been unfortunate to lose her close proximity, we are so proud of how the Lord has been using her with her group of fourth graders in the small Christian Hopi school. It was nearly a two hour drive out to her place but it was well worth the visit. Here are some photos to document our adventures... Hiking around a Mesa trying to find a good way to get to the top.

This was quite obviously not the way up for us... But Stephen gave it a shot anyway!
Some petroglyphs (our original reason to go visit this particular mesa). Wonder what sort of story is told from these pictures! They were all over the stone walls.

We love Naphtali! She's quite the climber too! I was certainly impressed. We made it! It was quite the adventure. I've never been afraid of heights before, but with such deep chasms to fall into I suppose my instincts took over. My heart was doing some serious beating! Its a first for me, but now I have greater empathy for those who suffer chronically from fear of heights! Whew!
Stephen had to leap over holes that dropped 20-30 feet with sandy ground on the other side... Out on Hopi-land.

She's so cute peeking out!

So we had a great time exploring all afternoon, then went back to her place where we enjoyed a delicious meal, played some Mad Gab (Stephen and I were both much better this time! Its a fun one!), and got to know one of Naphtali's fellow teachers. We finished off the night with a great worship session (Stephen on guitar, Naphtali on Jimbay). It was a perfect way to end a fantastic day! There are more photos from this adventures on the website: www.StephenandJessica.Proberts.com/index5.html

As a side note, 3/3/08 marks 6 amazing months of marriage! There is also potential for some big news... just wait for the next post!

As of Late

2008-02-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

The month of February has been flying by! Perhaps it is because we are getting more plugged in at church and we're deepening friendships. We are incredibly grateful for the Lord's provision of friendship, adventure, laughter, beautiful surroundings, and the gift of our marriage.
Here are some of the adventures we've had in the last several weeks:

~The first weekend in February we (Stephen, his coworker Janie and myself) went out to dinner in downtown Flagstaff at a cute little restaurant and then caught the end of a show of some people we'd met in December.

~We went on a hike with the Mitchells down in Sedona. We had to wade through a FREEZING creek (it went up to my thighs) to get to the rest of the trail. Poor Mark threw his shoe across the creek and it fell just a little shy of the shore on the other side... he got rather wet in the shoe's rescue.

There's Julie, Mark and Ethan Mitchell.

This on the same hike. I carried Ethan for about 3 hours and I'll tell you, that's a workout! We love this picture because its like a fast-forward to 5 years from now.

~Over the last few weeks we've begun investing in the youth group (called GSM, Grace Student Ministries) at our church. Its been a great adventure other than the high schoolers asking me which high school I go to! They were a little shocked to discover that I had already graduated university, and a 4 year college at that!

~We have been able to attend our Grace Group more regularly! It has been hard with my inconsistent work schedule where I often work Tuesday nights. We weren't able to make it but once or twice (if we're lucky) a month. My new work pattern has made it more condusive to make an investment in the group. We've also been going deeper and discussion is flowing more naturally which has been exciting! Stephen and I are the only couple without kids, so we get a dose of kid-fun without the poopy diapers and short nights of sleep!

~Since I worked on Valentine's Day, we did a little celebration of love the following weekend. We spent the day hiking down in Sedona, caught dinner at this neat bakery/restaurant our friend's recommended (Jimmy, we're taking you here when you come next month!), and then had a romantic evening at home.

Here is one of the cliff dwellings we climbed up to (the right side of the image). What an incredible view, no wonder they built this place! I just can't imagine them teaching their kids to walk along this hillside, though. If you want to see more pictures from our two Sedona adventures, Stephen put up a gallery on our website. Go to www.stephenandjessica.proberts.com/index5.html to view them.
~Recently we had Naphtali, Clover, and Tim (Clover's boyfriend) over for dinner and to watch one of our favorite Jimmy Stewart movies. We are continually blessed by our friendship with these amazing women! I've been missing Naphtali while she's been out on the reservation teaching. Currently we're planning on going out to visit her this Saturday.

Last night we had quite the snow storm and got nearly a foot of snow! Stephen took some great pictures, so I'll be posting those soonish. Meanwhile, blessings to you all!

We're Back!

2008-01-30T13:08:00.001-08:00

And I'll bet you didn't know we were gone! We took a trip to paradise where our long time friends Abby Berger and Mike Reph were getting married! They have a fantastic story of waiting for God's perfect timing! Abby and I have been friends since 8th grade and were college roommates. Stephen and Mike go way back too... I think it may have been 9th grade when they became friends. So it was fun to watch these dear friends as they covenanted with the Lord in marriage! Plus we got to go to Maui, Hawaii!! We were there from Tuesday Jan 22 through Sunday Jan 27 (arrived home in Flag at 10am on Monday morning! Whew!).

Here is a sample of photos from our adventure. There are only a handful, so I recommend you visit the website to see a TON more pictures of the ceremony and various beach adventures. Stephen put together several galleries with photos. Here is the link: www.StephenandJessica.Proberts.com/index5.html

Our first day on the beach! It was great to spend time with these two on our days off!

The guys made a sand pillar... and then proceeded to destroy it. Go to the website for those pics.

At the rehearsal dinner... in paradise with friends!

This is where Abby and Mike said their vows! A humpback whale was spouting 5 minutes before the ceremony! Amazing...

They are such a beautiful couple! Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Reph!! Their vows were truly amazing and so Christ-centered. Our second honeymoon!

We hiked through the most recent lava flow (1790) one day. It was particularly rocky and windy, but an excellent hike!

So when we returned to Flagstaff, we were greeted by a snow storm and terrible blizzard-like winds! It was a crazy juxtaposition of two climates! I know which I prefer... We certainly enjoyed our adventure!

Let It Snow!

2008-01-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

We felt we should show off the beauty of Flagstaff's snowfall! Shortly after we returned from Seattle our little city was covered by a foot and a half layer of fresh white snow. Of course this inspired us to bundle up in order to explore the crisp, cold quiet of the winter wonderland!

You can tell this photo was near the beginning of our walk because our faces are normal in color; as we walk longer in the bitter cold, our faces grew rosier and more frozen!!
While I make snow angels, Stephen makes...

... scary snow-monster faces! (This was right before we walked inside our warm home, thank goodness! Brrrr!)
The view from our back deck the next morning. What you don't see is that at the moment I took this picture Stephen was unburying our car from its snow-grave so he could get to work. He actually had to dig a path for the back wheels in order to get out!

Later that day (less than 24 hours after the snow had started falling), the sun came out and was glowing gloriously! Its nice to be back in Flagstaff!

Though initially I had a hard time coming back from Seattle, the Lord has been faithful to remind us that He has led us here and has continued plans for us. Stephen continues to love work, I am seeing the Lord use me with my coworkers, and we are deepening our friendships.

Last weekend we went cross country skiing with Kaitlyn and AJ. (Left to right: AJ, me, Kaitlyn, Stephen) It was particularly entertaining since none of us had really been before, so there were great amounts of laughter and crazy falls as our exceptionally long "feet" got in our way. When we decided to turn back we didn't realize we had been heading uphill for quite a ways... which meant we got to slide all the way back down! We hope to have another cross country adventure again soon!

Our time has been well spent as we invest in friendships over dinner, coffee dates, movie nights, game nights or a big saturday breakfast. We are heading off the Flagstaff map for a while as we partake in the celebration of Mike and Abby as they covenant with the Lord in marriage! We leave Thursday for this tropical adventure! Photos to follow...

A Couple Days in Seattle

2008-01-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

What a refreshment it was to travel back to Seattle to visit our families! We had only been gone for 3 months, but it was still such a delight to spend time with people we know and who know us! I am also quite a family girl so it was wonderful to spend time with my parents and sisters. Proximity of family was marvelous! Since our car/motorcycle abide down in Flagstaff with us, we were without motor transportation. No matter! Our families are 3 streets away from one another! It was extremely convenient. We enjoyed many events which includes but is not limited to the following: lots of chill time with our families; we caught happy hour with Matthew at Daniel's Broiler; we had sibling time (no spouses allowed!); we celebrated Christmas with the Proberts one night and the Yaholkovsky's another; met up with friends at our favorite Starbucks before church; ate lunch at Costco; had a Probert/Yaholkovsky dinner; had coffee-dates with Sarah Perez and another night with Heather and Tulla (I've missed these ladies!); threw a New Years Eve party; picked up Melissa at the airport and dropped Juli off for her flight; went out to brunch at Brown Bag Cafe with 6 of our friends; watched our wedding video for the first time... Here are pictures from our New Years Event which was really the only time the camera came out during our trip. It was great to get so many people we love all in once place! The party was complete with a fantastic game of Guesstures (played Yaholkovsky-style!), pictionary, poppers at midnight, and plenty of catch-up time in between.

Amy (who surprisingly showed up at coffee on Sunday morning, much to my delight) was her ususally silly self on New Years Eve! Stephen caught some entertaining moments!

We're still crazy about each other... in case you didn't know!

There's a handful of our family! Joshua's profile, Samuel and Juli-bug!

Even in its brevity, we had a marvelous and very full time back in the Seattle-area. We don't know when we'll be back, but we'll certainly let you know when the time comes! Love you all!

Christmas

2008-01-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

Although the snow we got was two weeks or so before Christmas, it stuck around long enough to make our Christmas substantially white. We really enjoyed how our home looked all lit up with candles and our tree all strung so carefully with lights (thank you, David). As Jessica was on the schedule to work Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after, we adjusted our plans a bit to compensate. The Seattle Proberts most often celebrate "Christmas" (i.e. opening presents) the evening before Christmas and the Yaholkovskys celebrate the traditional way on Christmas morning. Combining these traditions, we each opened a present on our Christmas Eve (which was two nights before Christmas), and then we opened the rest of our presents Christmas Eve morning. We had a delightful "Christmas Eve" dinner with ham and all the trimmings (well, we didn't eat the trimmings of the ham) and "Christmas" morning we had a Y-tradition of croissants with ham, egg, and cheese as well as cranberry juice. Suddenly I feel as though I am going into too much detail.

To back up a little bit, the Saturday before Christmas we had a wonderful time at the Toms home for dinner. Good times were had playing Mad Gab and doing some impromptu Christmas and worship songs with guitar duet accompaniment. On Sunday evening we had the pleasure of having Jenni Ingram over. Jenni is a friend of Jessica's from her PCC internship summer whose family lives here in Flagstaff. Late into our evening Matt Joe came over (we had not met Matt Joe before, but had heard much about him). We had a lot of fun chatting (this was especially fun for Jessica who missed her dear Redwood City friend).

"Christmas" morning was rather entertaining with Stephen wearing his red long johns. He looked quite dashing as he tired on his Sorels which he received from his lovely wife. After attending our church's Christmas eve service, Jessica was dropped off at work to save lives and share Christ's love. On the actual Christmas day we spent time with an adopted family--Jessica had been a nurse for a girl the previous week and the family fell in love with her. We were incredibly blessed to have them share their home with us. They even had stockings for us with a nursing theme for Jessica and an engineering theme for Stephen. Surprisingly, Jessica ended up getting on standby, so she didn't have to work that night. As an added bonus, she also didn't have to work the next night due to a scheduling error, so our small family got more time than expected together for this grand holiday of our Savior's birth!

We feel so blessed to know such great people who are the hand of God to us, showing us love when we were away from our loved ones. Upcoming post... our journey back to Seattle to celebrate New Years with our families and dear friends!

Snow, Ducks, and the Mitchells

2007-12-22T23:05:00.000-08:00

We have been enjoying the snow quite a bit. It is especially nice when it all melts off the roads but you can still walk in it. We have been enjoying walking around "our lakes" without fear of stepping on any duck-droppings as they are all nicely covered with snow.

Here is a slideshow of pictures of our fun in the snow, with the ducks, and the Mitchells (our dear flagstaffian friends). All are fine company on a wintery day. As you can see, one of these ducks (I believe he is their king), has undergone quite the feather-transplant surgical operation. We enjoy seeing him every time we walk the lake. We fed the ducks two days in a row and it was lots of fun watching them slip on the ice and fall over or run into one another as we strategically place breadcrumbs to induce the most hilarious effects. I guess these fowl must think that Arizona is "south," but in my opinion, they should be flying to Mexico.

Winter Wonderland!!

2007-12-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

Yet another fun weekend! Here is a brief run down...
Friday night involved the beginning of the SNOW, a little Christmas shopping, Papa John's Pizza (Stephen's fav), and a cozy fire.
Saturday was FILLED with snow!! We played a little skip-bo at one of 2 free standing Starbucks in town. And the snow kept falling. We drove home to take a nap. The snow kept falling. We got ready to go to Stephen's work party... and the snow tried to keep us from getting there.
The party was quite fun. I got to meet the people Stephen works with whom I've heard stories about. The food was fantastic! We danced a little. Stephen even won a prize!

When we got home, we decided to "experience the silence of the snow" by bundling up and walking down to those little lakes near our house. We were given a fright when the snow covered "rocks" by the shore suddenly shook the snow off their wings and squalked noisily! Our walk around the lakes were nice because we didn't need to watch our step (the snow nicely covered all the duck and goose poo!). We were a chilly, snow-covered pair when we returned.
Sunday involved church, finishing a bit of Christmas shopping, and wrapping Christmas gifts in the afternoon! The evening ended at Julie and Mark's place for a fantastic dinner! Tonight we're having Kaitlyn and AJ over for dinner, cards, and to decorate cookies.

We're very much enjoying our winter!! Ooh, I forgot to mention that we woke up this morning with even more snow and its been snowing all day! Schools are closed, which says something for Flagstaff. I was stranded in the city after dropping Stephen off at work because I didn't want to try to make it through the neighborhood roads which weren't plowed yet. We're supposed to get snow all the way through tomorrow evening! YAY!

The Seattle-friends Weekend (Part 2)

2007-12-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

Let us continue to tell of our weekend's adventures... Sunday we got to take our friends with us to Grace Community Church which is the church we've committed to here in Flag. To learn more you can visit their website: www.allaboutgrace.com. Our afternoon adventures would take us north along the road that would also take you to the Grand Canyon. But we had different plans this weekend... In the last week we heard about the Lava Tubes and thought it would be worth trying out!

The dirt road to get to the lava tubes had seen a lot of snow (its at 8,000ft elevation) so we were driving very slowly in order to stay on the road. Anyway, its always 40 degrees inside these tunnels, so we were bundled up and armed with flashlights.

It was a little creepy climbing in there since there was absolutely no light from above shining in. It was also extremely awesome! The guys kept their eye's pealed for "cave creatures" which we fortunately did not find! It was about 3/4 mile in until we could not continue any farther. There were a couple parts along the way when we had to crawl through in order to continue our journey to the end of the tunnel.

There we all are! And you should know that we never saw the walls as clearly down

there as you do in these pictures. The camera was able to capture a much more complete picture than our flashlights could display for us.

Our eyes hurt coming back into daylight... It reminds me of walking outside after working the night shift (all you night shifters can relate!).

That is a new favorite for us! We want to try it again during the summer months when its hot outside and the chilly air will be refreshing.

We got to experience a beautiful sunset on the San Fransisco Peaks on our way home. We finished up the evening watching a movie.

The next morning Stephen snuck off to work without any of us waking up. I don't think I've yet mentioned that poor Melissa has had a head ache and some congestion since she's been here. We can't tell how much was the altitude and how much was another bug she was fighting. Anyway, I'd had a sore throat too, so it was nice to sleep in. We had a lazy morning getting our things packed up. Stephen came home after half a day at work with a bouquet of pink roses and a chai latte in honor of our 3 month anniversary! So sweet! Anyway, after lunch we packed everything into the car and took off down toward Phoenix... with a detour through Sedona!! We stopped at Oak Creek Canyon briefly and continued down into the Sedona to show off the Red Rock. Since we enjoyed our time at Boyton Canyon so much, we took them on part of the hike back there. We had a great time down in sunny weather for a bit, then boarded back in the car for the rest of our journey to Phoenix. We did take a stop for dinner at Costco much to the delight of the guys! We dropped them at the airport around 7pm... what a wonderful weekend we had with them! It was so great for me to have some amazing girl time with Melissa; she is such a kindred spirit. We loved having these friends to visit! Thank you for coming, dear friends! Can't wait to have you back!!!

Really fast, we took an accidental detour on the way back that added 45 extra miles to our trip... made for a memorable drive home!

The Seattle-friends Weekend (Part 1)

2007-12-04T12:09:00.001-08:00

As mentioned at the end of the previous blog, 3 of our Seattle friends came to visit us this past weekend. Joshua, David and Melissa were our guests. Oh, what fun we had! They certainly brought some wet weather with them when they came too! It rained all day Friday and Saturday! The drive home from Phoenix was particularly rough with rain and fog inhibiting my visibility. Certainly made for an adventure! It also made it difficult to show off the beautiful place we live since most of it was enveloped in a cloud! Friday night we took them to the Horsemen's Lodge (a rustic steak house on the outskirts of town) to get them into Flagstaff spirit. At the Probert home that evening we made cupcakes in honor of Melissa's half birthday (we'll use any excuse to make cupcakes!).

Saturday morning we woke up to SNOW!!! Perfect timing since this was the day we were to get our Christmas tree! We set out after a delicious breakfast. Above is a picture of Melissa with the pointsettia we picked out while the boys were searching for a bow saw. We had a great time decorating the tree that afternoon... Melissa and I snuck off for a while to mail a package, search for mistletoe to hang in our home, and purchase another strand of twinkle lights.

It was an afternoon of Christmas music, sipping the season's first mug of peppermint hot cocoa, reading by the fire, and enjoying the familiarity of long time friends and family.

There's the group! We love these folks! Isn't the tree nice too? I only wish you could see the great idea Stephen had for the star... I'll show that in another blog.

Before night fall, we took them on a walk around the little lakes near our house to show them the funny ducks and the fantastic views of Mount Elden! Both were a success.

Homeward bound after our freezing cold walk for more relaxation and preparation for the night's entertainment: The Emperor's New Groove Party! We invited some Flagstaff friends to join us for the film (our favorite!), nachos, cupcakes, and warm beverages galore!

The Mitchell's came as well as Clover and Naphtali Toms. We had great fun with the movie and enjoyed playing Catch Phrase (guys against girls) and skip-bo afterward.

Just so the boys don't get upset I didn't mention it, the boys won the game of Catch Phrase by one point. I probably lost us the game when I was so excited to try to explain "Make 'em Laugh", the song from Singing in the Rain. I can't believe the girls didn't know it! All together, it was quite an enjoyable Saturday... more to come on our Sunday and Monday activities!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-26T09:46:00.000-08:00

We are entering the week so refreshed after a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I (Jessica) had to work the nights leading up to the holiday including Wednesday night which means I got home at 8am on the morning of Thanksgiving. Since we weren't able to travel to family, family traveled to us! My sisters Joy and Juli drove over from Los Angeles.

They arrived Wednesday afternoon around 3 AND since the hospital put me on standby for the first 4 hours of my shift, we got the whole afternoon and evening to spend time together. I had to work at 11pm which didn't matter much since they would just be sleeping! I had a strange night at work... made for good table conversation!

Thanksgiving morning... I took a little nap and since the rest of the crew slept in I didn't miss too much! It was great having so many helping hands in the kitchen! Ooh, when I was making the mashed potatoes we found 2 heart shaped potatoes! How bizarre... and fantastic!!

We'd been a bit nervous considering we'd never made our own turkey before. Fortunately, our meal turned out wonderfully!! After indulging in the fruit of our labor and a good deal of lounging, we dyed Juli's hair darker. We wrapped up the night gathered around the fireplace which we used for the first time! We all had a great time!!

Stephen and I hadn't been up to see the Grand Canyon since we've moved here; Juli hadn't seen it since Jr High and Joy had never seen it...so we went!

Laughter was our soundtrack the whole drive up (zzzz's were the soundtrack on the way back...). It was grand for all of us to see! It was so cold, but the view was certainly worth our discomfort! We walked the rim for a good while and then headed back to the warmth of the Probert home for a repeat Thanksgiving meal (we had lots of food...). We wrapped up the night with fresh from the ovenpumpkin muffins and our first Christmas film of the year, ELF!

Though I don't have the photo-documentation to prove it, the next day we all went to Walnut Canyon (a national monument about 4 miles from our home; it was mentioned in one of our first posts). Before the sisters could depart, we had to show them around the historical downtown of Flagstaff. We hit up Oregano's, our favorite local restaurant, for a late lunch and then Joy and Jules hit the road.

The rest of our weekend consisted of reading by the fireplace, church, out to lunch with a new couple we met at church, a hike through the trails behind our home, and Christmas shopping for the folks. We had a blast! My favorite is reading by the fire. We pulled the air mattress into the living room and cozied up in our delightful homemade afgan, reading by the golden glow of the fire!

What a weekend!! Just wait for next weekend... our second set of guests!! David, Joshua and Melissa are coming!! You can believe we're having fun preparing for them!

Hiking in Sedona

2007-11-17T19:45:00.000-08:00

So several hikes we found in Sedona are off of a road called "Dry Creek," and my recommendation to you if you are searching for this road is not to assume that it is very near to "dry creek" or even very far out of Sedona. If you have this misconception in your mind, you might find yourself driving up and down highway 89 getting increasingly frustrated at the unlabeled byways.....

On a perhaps unrelated note, Jessica and I went on a fantastic hike off of Dry Creek Road last weekend and had a grand old time. We hiked the Boynton Canyon Trail which is a 5 miles round trip with beautiful redrock views. It is kinda strange because it starts out alongside a resort and there are houses and fences and you say to yourself: "Aren't we supposed to be out in the wilderness?" There was an amazing house there which had several buildings and a hot tub and it was just nestled up into the mouth of the canyon... wonderful. I would have taken a picture but the battery in my camera died early into our adventure.

At the end of the trail there was a "nice" view back down the canyon which wasn't particularly spectacular compared to the amazing views along the way. There were a bunch of piles of rocks and a couple sitting in a circle made from strips of paper. Kinda weird, but we were in Sedona. I told Jessica quite resolutely that the stacked rocks didn't have any significance only to be asked multiple times at work on monday if I enjoyed the vortex energy at the end of the hike. So apparently we were at one of the four main energy vortexes (yes, vortexes, not vortices) which can be found around sedona and which heal, cleanse and energize the body. I guess there are a lot of new age people in that area.

On the way back out we detoured on a side trail which was my favorite part of the day because it gave us an incredible view of the canyon and got us closer to the redrock formations. Synopsis: come and visit!

Another Fun Weekend

2007-11-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

Since I've still be on normal daytime hours (I become nocturnal tonight) we have been delighting in the time we get to spend together and we particularly cherish the weekends. Last Friday was the beginning of my weekend, thanks to 12 hour shifts, and it was well-spent! I got to take my new little sister out to coffee in the morning (for those who haven't heard, I met a girl who is the same age as Juli and looks a good deal like her! Naturally we were instant friends.). Afterward was a double-lunch-date with the Proberts and Stephen's coworker Janie and her boyfriend Eric. We had a great time and have decided to organize lunch dates on a regular basis. A perk of doing lunch with locals is that we get to experience the great restaurants! After Stephen finished up his work day, we spent a little time gabbing and laughing as we leisurely walked the 2 miles loop at Buffalo Park. We finished off the night with a concert downtown (we got free tickets from my coworker).

Saturday was also a treat; it was our 2 month anniversary. We can't believe only 2 months have passed since we've been married! Anyway, Saturday began with Dutch Babies which has become a weekend favorite. Those who are coming to visit may anticipate these delicious breakfast items!

In the afternoon we got to host people for the first time at our house! We were so excited to have Juli and Mark over. They are an amazing couple we met at a Grace Group. They spent the first year of their marriage in Malawi Africa working at African Bible College. Recently they have been blessed with their first child, an adorable and quiet little boy named Ethan. We had a blast with this couple; we made caramel apples, walked around the lakes by our home, made dinner together, and had an all around great time.

After church on Sunday, we decided to break out the safety glasses while we ate a grapefruit. The juice was trying to squirt in our eyes with incredible aim, so it was a necessary safety precaution.

That afternoon we were able to host for the second time: Clover and Naphtali Toms (the YWAMers) came over to hang out for a bit. We enjoyed getting to know Clover and Naphtali better. The evening was spent at a church event called Grace at Nite. It is essentially an all church potluck intended to facilitate fellowship. It was time well spent.

What a weekend! We feel so blessed to have friendships once again. We feel like our roots are going down here.

Oh What Fun We're Having!

2007-10-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

We have been having a grand ole time exploring our new home as well as settling into our new home. In the last blog you saw pictures of our place which continues to feel more and more like home. We mentioned our bulter Charles in one of the photos... and here is his brief story.

Since we had movers, all of our things were extremely well wrapped in layers of 3'x2' white paper. Two examples of how well wrapped things were: we found a USB cable snuggly wrapped in about 3 sheets of paper; multiple pairs of Stephen's sneakers with each shoe warpped indivually. So there was lots of paper cluttering our condo. To organize it a bit we'd smoothed it out and stack it, laying on it when the stack grew too tall. Finally we got fed up with the emormous, ubiquitous stack of paper. Our solution: Stephen rolled it up and we fought with a roll of masking tape to keep it reasonably contained. When stepping back, we noticed that this roll of paper was taller and weighed more than me. It looked creepily like we had wrapped up a former friend (or enemy!) in paper! We also noticed our paper friend appeared to have legs... when telling Melissa about the "body" in our living room, she was very distraught to hear that we had already killed our butler. And there he is... he's since been recycled. Poor guy!

Other weekend adventures... our first weekend here we went to Walnut Canyon to explore the cave dwellings. It was so fascinating! Can't believe people actually lived here for generations. We're looking forward to taking some people here when you come to visit. You can see the canyon in the background of the photo. It was on our second weekend in town and we certainly felt the altitude... whew!

Our third weekend here we did a beautiful hike down in Sedona. It is apparently one of the most popular hikes in the area and the reason is quite obvious! It was remarkably beautiful to see all the colors of fall so vibrant here in AZ where we weren't expecting to experience the beauty of fall. Here are several photos from that adventure:

It was so beautiful walking through those colors (the photos don't do them justice)! And since it was down near Sedona the weather was delightfully warm until the sun started to set!

It was a fantastic hike and the longest one we've done so far while here (8 miles round trip). We're trying to get adjusted to the altitude so we can go on hikes with people we're meeting and we won't be struggling to keep up.

No hiking last weekend (I'm sick, boo!), but we did walk around the little man-made lakes near our condo. They are a smaller/fake version of Green Lake! Fake though they are, they make us feel at home... water!!

We've also been on the church hunt since our first Sunday here. We're praying about a church we've attended twice (and already attended two grace groups, the membership meeting, and met with the pastor and his wife!). There is another church in town we want to try out before completely committing. Its so fun to be meeting wonderful people through the Grace Groups (fun young couples at the one we tried last week). God is so faithful to offer us opportunity to set roots down in this town.

We'll talk about our jobs in the next post... maybe!

Settling In

2007-10-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Weeks in Flagstaff count: 3.

So we are settling in pretty well now. Stephen has successfully finished his second week at Gore and is well on his way towards attaining the flattering title of a "Goron" as Gore associates are lovingly referred to both internally and externally. Jessica will be starting her first week at the hospital (Flagstaff Medical Center, now to be referred to as FMC). Thankfully we have one more week of Jessica being on a daytime schedule before we have to figure out how to keep sanity with three 12 hour night shifts a week and being newly weds.

To give you an idea of the progress of moving into our condo, we have included some pictures. We have really been enjoying this place and are glad we are not in a one bedroom apartment. The first picture is of our place before the movers brought all of our stuff and we were still sleeping in sleeping bags. (We had a temporary condo for a while, so we did have a bed at that time.)

Next is a little snapshot of the chaotic milieu that ensued post delivery of our goods...if you look closely, off the corner of the counter is a long white "body" we affectionately referred to as Charles, our butler. More to come on his brief time with us...

And now with some amount of rhyme and reason and feeling more like a home....

So there's a look at our home! Its much more inviting when you are in it... so come visit! We'll work on the extra room and make it cozy for your time with us!

Big Day Tomorrow!

2007-10-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning the moving trucks come to deliver our things! We finally get to move into our new home! Stephen is going to return in the afternoon to a completely different home... I'll post pictures soon.

Southern California

2007-10-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

I'll wrap up our road trip in this post...

Thursday evening's destination: Santa Barbara! Stephen spent the first 13 years of his life in Santa Barbara and still has some family there. We got into town by night fall. We walked to Stearn's Warf for dinner and made it back to the hotel in time for the season premiere of The Office!

Friday's activities: we explored State Street, went to the Mission (in the picture), ate lunch at a park with a fantastic view of the city, drove by his old home and old stomping grounds, drove through UCSB's campus, walked the breakwater... and that was all before dinner! We got to meet up with Stephen's Uncle Dave, Aunt Julie, and cousins Jordan and Hannah for dinner on Friday evening. We had so much fun playing Apples to Apples before we left! It was wondeerful to meet this other part of his family.

Saturday we drove down to LA where we got ot meet up with my sisters and Juli's boyfriend. We did lunch with the whole gropu but Juli and James needed to scoot off to a concert. Joy, Stephen and I had a fun afternoon: we went to a movie, walked through a creepily perfect neighborhood, caught dinner at Red Robin, played in the hotel swimming pool, and watched the Fugitive on tv. It was wonderful to have a whole day of hang out with Joy! The next morning before hitting the road we got coffee with my roommate from the internship I did in Redwood City, Melissa Otis. It was the perfect ending to a remarkable road trip! We made it to Flagstaff by 5:30pm that evening.

To Yosemite!!

2007-10-05T22:06:00.001-07:00

Tuesday morning we left the bay area, destination: Yosemite National Park. We had the opportunity to meet up with Stephen's Aunt Mary (on her lunch break from teaching!) as well as his Aunt Debbie, Uncle Sanjeev and their beautiful daughter Evelyn. These amazing people had traveled all the way to the wedding but we didn't get to spend much time with them (I didn't even get to hug Aunt Mary!), so this worked out perfectly! Aunt Debbie was great at providing us with maps and ideas for our time in Yosemite. This is a picture of Aunt Mary.

Yosemite... what an incredible display of God's glorious handiwork in creation! We had a fantastic time during the two days we spent here! Wednesday we explored the Yosemite Valley and did several hikes to various falls. Bridal Veil Fall was still flowing but unfortunately Yosemite Falls (the tallest falls in north america) was dry! At any rate, we loved our camping adventure and another opportunity to use our gear! We had camp fires and s'mores, played cards, saw a bear near our site, made more pancakes (These turned out great! A little oil does the trick), and met darling Israeli neighbor kids (didn't speak english but so precious and friendly). We loved our time, but I was certainly ready for a shower by the end of it. I felt like the Charlie Brown character Pig Pen when we went to In-and-Out down near Fresno.

I'll wrap up the road trip in the next post!

More Northern California Fun

2007-10-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Again!

Last we mentioned we were heading off to Andrew's soccer game. He wasn't expecting to see us until later that day so we were able to surprise and startle him a bit. It was great to see him zipping around out there. We got to spend the rest of the day with my Uncle MJ, Aunt Judy, Zach and Andrew. For those of you who were at the wedding, you would probably recognize my uncle MJ for multiple reasons: 1) he looks nearly like my dad's twin, 2) he was the dynamo moving chairs and getting the reception site ready, 3) He was incredibly intentional at going around and meeting people at various wedding weekend events. I really treasure each member of this family! Stephen and I loved the time we got to spend with them, particularly the time talking around the dinner table (after an incredible meal!).

The next morning Andrew was our alarm clock (our permission was granted the evening prior) and I'll never forget how he came bounding in to the room with a song playing "get up, get up!" After some delicious omlets, we headed off to explore Redwood City where I did an internship with a church during the summer of 2004. We got to do coffee with Jenni Ingram at Cafe Borroni's, dinner with Natty and Marc Matters (Natty was a dear friend in my care group) at BJ's (Yes, we got Pizookie!!), I got to show Stephen around the church grounds and the pool I had lifeguarded at, AND we got to stay the night at Mari and Dan Cornelius's home. Mari has been my "adopted" mom and mentor since that summer. I loved the opportunity I had to introduce Stephen to them and to have the chance to connect with both Dan and Mari. I have always admired their walk with the Lord and how that is reflected in their marriage.

We were constantly delighting in how God blessed us with so many opportunities to connect with people we love so dearly! The timing was so perfect and people were incredible at making an effort to connect with us at such short notice!! And the roadtrip and fantastic friends don't stop yet...

Our Journey Begins

2007-10-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

As you learned from the previous post, we have indeed safely arrived in Flagstaff! Now you get to hear of the adventures that brought us here. Let's go back to Sept 19, the day the moving trucks came and packed up all our goods and the day we planned to depart for AZ. Unfortunately, late that afternoon we discovered that the apartment we would be living in wasn't ready yet and wouldn't be ready until October 5th (it was supposed to be done early August...). Several phone calls and a little creative thinking later we decided to leave the next day on a road trip of unknown length with the plan to arrive sometime before October 5th. And so begins the best roadtrip yet! Thursday September 20th we waved farewell to Seattle, destination for the night: The Oregon Coast. We had an incredibly beautiful drive down the 101 as the sun was setting. That night we got to use the camping gear we had received as wedding gifts.

The next morning, after making some delicious pancakes (a little more like scramble cakes to those who went to Fort Ebey), we got to explore the Orgeon Dunes! The night's destination was Sacramento, CA to stay with my Uncle Tony, Aunt Vicky, and cousins Andrei and Tasha. We took a spontaneous stop through Medford and got coffee with a dear friend of the Proberts, Laurie Finear as well as a moment with her daughter Hannah. I have long heard stories of this beautiful, hospitable woman and it was delightful to finally meet her. After our brief rendezvous we were on the road again. We spent the night in Sacramento California.

Somehow we forgot to take any photos while at Uncle Tony and Aunt Vicky's. Anyway, they were a blessing to spend some with. They were continually inviting others into their home for a meal, a dip in the hot tub, a geocashing adventure, a ride from the airport, a listening ear and prayerful insight, and a bed for the night's rest. It was a great blessing to spend Saturday with them. And Sunday morning we were off again, destination: San Jose and my cousin Andrew's soccer game... you'll have to read those details in the next post.

Hello Flagstaff

2007-10-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

We just got into Flagstaff on Sunday, September 30th, and we are not quite sure where we are living yet. We had a great time on our roadtrip, which will be another post, and now we are settling in. Jessica got her name changed officially yesterday at the Social Security office and tomorrow we should be getting our AZ drivers licenses. September was our favorite month yet. It was like our month long honeymoon! Until the next post...