A Weekend for Mom and Dad

          First of all I want to apologize for the long delay in our blog! We had been sick, and had a lot going on with starting the church September 1st! I have decided to dedicate myself to updating the blog at least twice a week from now on! Every Monday and Thursday I will update the blog. We may have more blog post, but want to give everyone our promise of at least twice a week. Alyssa and I have two blog post that we typed while on our trip that we will be posting today as well. So again sorry if it's a little out of order while we catch up!
      God blessed us with one of the best weekends we've ever had! Last week Alyssa's Grandmother June offered to watch the kids all weekend for us. She wanted us to get a chance to spend the weekend together since our anniversary was soon. We were excited to say the least, it had been forever since we had a whole weekend together! I must admit I am truly blessed to have my wife Alyssa. I have been so busy with work and starting "Today's Disciples" that we haven't had much time for dates. Yet she has been nothing but loving and supportive through everything. Well of course we decided to make the most of our weekend together. Friday night would be take out and a movie at home. Saturday would be a road trip Sedona adventure. Sunday would be a leap back in time to the Renaissance Festival.
          Friday we took the kids over to Grandma Junes house and headed back home to get ready. I have to say it was nice to have the drive to just talk and be together. Having such a large and young family it can be hard to get quality time. Well needless to say we spent the whole night talking, laughing, and watching movies. I can't stress enough that as men we have to date our wives. God wants us to be married and happy. He wants us to appreciate and love our wive. As it i written in Proverbs 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from THE LORD."
        Saturday morning we woke up bright and early. We were like children the night before Christmas. We woke up sprang out of bed and got ready in record time. First we had to get food for our trip. You know essentials like chips, donuts, beef jerky, and water I guess. We stocked up on food and headed to the gas station. We filled up on gas, but had one stop to make at the body shop to let the workers in. We stopped at the shop and I handed the keys to one of the guys named Fernando. I couldn't help but feel like he was having a bad day. His head was hanging low and he was much less energetic than normal. Now as cheesy as it sounds, we must always be thinking what would MY GOD want me to do. I thought to Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." I didn't have a lot to give but I did have the donuts we just bought, so I handed them over to Fernando. He smiled and thanked me. I asked him if everything was okay. He said he was good, I wasn't sure but told him if he needed anything to let me know. Never underestimate the impact of kindness on the soul.
      We were finally on the road headed to Sedona! On the way up we saw a stop we were familiar with called Sunset Point. We stopped to use the restrooms (pregnancy had us making a lot of those stops) and enjoy the view. Alyssa and I took some pictures and goofed around for a bit before hitting the road again. Once we were about halfway I decided to get out some of our snacks. I had a Naked Smoothie I had bought at Fry's grocery store. Now I don't know if any of you have had these but they are amazing. My favorite flavor is the same one I bought green machine. Looks weird but taste great! Well I opened it up and took a big gulp. Instantly my eyes watered, I started gagging, and nearly spit it all back in the bottle. I looked at the bottle in shear horror, the label read kale blazer. The ingredients in this smoothie were kale, cucumber, spinach, and celery. Now I don't know everyone's taste in smoothies, but i think they should be made of fruit. Alyssa was cracking up in the seat next to me, while i just kept complaining about who in their right mind would create such a tragedy.
               After a fun and trivia filled car ride out there we finally arrived! We started off by going to trail in the heart of Sedona. Now I won't lie I have no memory of the name of it. It was interesting to say the least though. Little did we know it was national bike weekend in Sedona so the trail was full of mountain bikes. It was cool to see all the different bikes and take in the beautiful views. After about 3 or 4 miles we turned around to head back to the car. We were both starving and wanted to get into the shopping district to see what food we could find. We were able to find a Mexican restaurant called Oaxaca! We were seated right away on the second story patio! Our view overlooked all of Sedona. It was very relaxing and romantic. The food portions

were humongous which was good because we were starving after that long hike. We finished the meal which was priced very fair, and headed to the shops. We stopped at all the street performers and outdoor decorations along the way. They even have xylophones set up in a couple places. I couldn't help but start rocking out on them! Alyssa laughed and took pictures of how much fun I was having with them. We visited nearly all the shops in the main area of Sedona. We had a couple good finds, a few decorations for home and some clothes for Alyssa.
         Shopping was over and we decided that a new exciting hike was in order. Alyssa had previously looked up a hike called Devil's Bridge. We set out to find it which was a lot easier said than done! We found what we thought would be it and ended up parking far away! When I say far I mean we easily put an extra 3 miles on our hike! The hike was long and hard, but I must say it is easily one of the most rewarding hikes I've ever been on. The bridge is awesome and breathtaking. It's amazing to see how truly awesome OUR GOD the creator of everything is. Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."Especially being on it with my beautiful trooper of a wife who made the 7 miles hike each way 6 months pregnant! The whole hike was amazing we spent the whole time asking each other any question we could think of that we didn't know about each other. This was hard because of how close we are, so the questions were very abstract! There were plenty of different trails on the way up to take, as well as areas to rock climb. Which I took full advantage of. After spending time taking pictures and kissing up on the bridge we decided to leave just as the sun was starting to set. We didn't want to get stranded in the dark! After getting to the car we decided to stop at Burger King. We got some sandwiches and two large chocolate milkshakes as a reward for our long hike! It was probably the greatest milkshake in the world in that moment! Completely exhausted and with a long day ahead of us tomorrow we headed home around seven. After a ride of holding hands and being in love we were home and exhausted. We made it upstairs to our room, I immediately took off my shoes and socks. Looking down at my feet Alyssa and I both burst out laughing. My toes were covered in red rock dust from Sedona. It was decided that a shower was much needed. We both went to sleep early to get well rested for our next day adventure.
            Waking up Sunday was a little slower because of the toll hiking took on our bodies. We managed to get ready at a descent time and out the door. We stopped at Fry's to buy our tickets because you get a discount when you them there versus at the door. We arrived at the fair right at ten which is when they open. It's always magical walking in and feeling the atmosphere change from somewhere you are sometime you weren't. One day at this place isn't enough to see everything. Every year we try to find something we haven't been to before. This year was my favorite, we saw a performer who goes by Gypsy Geoff. He was easily one of the funniest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was talented, funny, entertaining, and most of all family friendly. My wife and I spent the whole show nearly in tears from laughter. He kept the audience involved and even pointed out my smile! We gave him a tip which is important because we have to remember that this is how they make their living. I believe in supporting local artist and live performance art.


        After the show we started visiting all the activities and shops around. We tried on hats, went to the pirate store, Alyssa tried the different wings on. We both tried our hand at the throwing stars, I was able to get one or two to stick. Alyssa not so much, but she was better at it than archery! We were able to find a rock wall there as well, if you were able to make it to the top they gave you back three times your money. They climb was rated 10+ for all you avid hikers. This pretty much means they made it ipossible on purpose. Well me being me, I didn't give up so easily. Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." I gave it my all and even took my shoes off to get a better grip! Being drained from yesterdays hike was working against me and even giving it my all I didn't make it to the top. I was two rocks shy of pulling myself up to the bell. Once I got down everyone was still impressed, a few people cheered, and the workers kept asking if I was a frequent climber. I told them I wasn't at all but I had been to a few rock gyms in my life. I thanked them then Alyssa and I left. We spent a few more hours going through the storybook tour, shops, and doing a few more activities. By about four we were beat and it was hot outside at this point. We headed back to the car to leave to pick up our kids. We had an amazing weekend together, and made it memorable in so many ways. We missed our kids though and were ready to call it a day. We picked them up and headed home. I can't say enough how blessed I am to have my wife, or how much god has blessed us with. Enough money to have a small trip every now and again. Reliable transportation there and back, and family to watch the kids.