Phoenix

This is so behind, ah! I'm getting so busy, it's getting really hard to keep up with my blog. I think it's going to start slowing down, but that's okay. I am going to do my best to document our life. My writing may not be as perfect as I want it to be, but it's better than nothing.

At the end of May, my mom and I made a sudden trip to Phoenix. My mom's second cousin's son (I think that makes him her third cousin?), Jair Cabrera was killed while on duty as a police officer. Neither of us had met him before, but our family thought it would be a good idea for us to go to the memorial to support Jair's parents, Pattie and Alfonzo. My mom and Pattie used to play together as little girls in Mexico.

We wouldn't have been able to go to Phoenix had the Police department not paid for our hotel and flight. I guess when an officer dies like this they will pay for the expenses of the family to attend the funeral. All of the Cabrera's more immediate family lives in Mexico, so none of them were able to cross the border. My mom, Noah, myself, my cousin, Vagner and my aunt, Olimpia were the only family members there. I'm thankful we were able to be there for them in this tragic time. 

We left Wednesday and came back on Saturday, so it was a short trip. On the way there we had a direct flight, which was really great for Noah. I had no idea how he was going to do on the plane. Our flight was around his nap time so I nursed him as the plane was taking off and he fell asleep, thankfully. The flight was only about 1 1/2 hours and he slept for almost an hour, so that was nice. I was worried about his ears as we landed, so I tried to nurse him again to relieve some pressure, but he didn't want to and he seemed mostly okay. 

The first day we were there we spent the day with the family. The next day was the viewing. It was very emotional. Up until then I had only been to maybe 2 funerals in my entire life. It's not a familiar thing for me. So many people came and each one gave their condolences one by one.

Friday they had the memorial for Jair. Since we were the only family there, we rode in the limo with Jair's parents and brother. This was a really cool experience for me. As we drove to where the services would be taken place at, there were hundreds of police officers officers on bikes in front and behind the limo. And on the drive, we saw so many people who had been waiting for us to pass by so they could salute us and show their respect.

As we walked into the church auditorium and saw thousands of people standing up for us I just started crying. It was so overwhelming. It's amazing how many people knew him and loved him. He clearly made a huge impact in his community and in his department. The service was very beautiful and touching. The burial was afterwards, and again, very emotional.

We had one stop on the flight home which made it a long day of traveling but Noah still slept a little on both flights so it wasn't all that bad. He actually did surprisingly better than I expected. It must have been a tender mercy from the Lord.

Although it was a bit disorganized and a little crazy at times.. especially since I don't speak Spanish and 90% of the conversations were not English.. I'm so thankful for this experience that I was able to witness. I had no idea how much really goes into a funeral for an officer who dies on duty. It warmed my heart to see how much love, honor and respect everyone showed not only towards Jair but to his family also. It was nice to get to know some of my extended family and be a support for them. It was also nice to spend time with Olimpia who I hadn't seen since my wedding day. And it was sorta nice to just get away for a few days with Noah and my mom.

Noah's first plane ride..

First time on an escalator..

..First time staying in a hotel. Many firsts for little Noah. Our hotel was actually super nice for a Marriott

We had some time on Thursday to play in the pool for a bit. We expected it to be super hot and sunny, but it was actually quite overcast that day. 

Little munchkin

Looking so cute while he naps

For lunch, us 3 went to get some greek food before we met with the family again. It was the best greek I'd ever had!

In the limo

My mom & Vagner

I gelled his hair that day... (it's actually just sweat. Boy, it was hot in there)

Hard to see but it's the police men that are on motorcycles in front of our limo

Jair's brother, Edre was carrying the casket with Jair's department

This happened a lot that day 

Right before we left for the airport to come home. This is my aunt, Olimpia

Goodbye Phoenix! 

Zoo Days!

Since we got our Zoo pass on Noah's birthday, we've already gone five or six times! We love it! They just finished the African Savannah where they added zebras, lions & antelope. The train was closed the whole time they were building this, so we were super excited to have it open again this last time that we went. Noah loved it!

Here's pictures from the last few times we've gone.. some from my camera and some from my phone

I love elephants so much!

Noah just adores her

Noah really likes the bears

Trying to climb into the Sea Lion enclosure

He's such a monkey

I looove the big cats

Cuties

The next ones were during Memorial weekend. We went with Jared, Lorin, Dustin and Sophia. Daddy had Monday off so was also able to come.

He likes to sit like this. Also in shopping carts. 

It was SO hot that day. The splash park was extremely refreshing. Noah and Sophia loved it! They didn't want to leave (although the next trip to the zoo Noah didn't even want to play at all in the water.. so unpredictable this kid)

Pictures from a trip with Jess and Elijah

All aboard the train!

Our intense boy.. looking at all the animals

He was so cute with his binoculars 

Okay, this was awesome! They are usually asleep but this time they came right up to the glass. It was amazing, they are such beautiful animals. 

Stay tunes for more Zoo days!

This is The Place

AHH! I'm so behind on my blog! Sorry blog, will you forgive me?

A few weeks ago was Memorial weekend here in the US of A so we took advantage and did some fun outings. Jared's girlfriend, Lorin got some tickets for This is The Place Monument for us so we all went together on Saturday. We woke up to rain though and were pretty sad. I decided I still really wanted to go anyways (it was just drizzling out). So glad we did because it wasn't bad at all, in fact it ended up getting really nice out towards the end.

It was my first time there. I really enjoyed it. They had a bunch of old pioneer homes, and of course anything old is my territory. I LOVED the cute little homes and antique furniture. They had people dressed like Pioneers too and they would act like they lived in the house and talk to you about things the pioneers used to do. We learned some history and got to appreciate some Utah culture. 

They also had animals out, some we were able to touch which was kind of cool! Noah was able to pet a goat and some chicks, hehe. There was a train ride that took us around the whole park so we got to see everything, and some amazing views of the valley. We got some mini doughnuts (which reminded me of Calgary Stampede) that were to die for! You gotta indulge sometimes :) I actually did a lot of indulging that weekend. Later on we had lunch and Noah got his first shave! Haha... details below :)

Baby goat running around

They had a barber shop and they give pretend shaves to little kids. It was really cute. 

Sophia's turn. 

Native dance show

Hawryluks Visit!

This was a while ago now but we had some good friends from Calgary come to visit us! When Jared and I lived in Calgary, we were close with the Hawryluk family. Darwin and Patti were in town about a month ago and were able to spend some time with us. We had them over for dinner at our house. I made them turkey chili and we had protein cookies for dessert :)

They stayed for a while and we just talked and talked. It was nice. They were able to meet Derek, Noah, my mom and even Lorin.

Patti was our sunday school teacher at one point and also my Young Women's leader at another point. Darwin served in the Bishopric and was our home teacher.

I am so grateful for families like the Hawryluks. I was blessed enough to have had so many wonderful, caring and nonjudgemental people in my life as a youth. To say I struggled a lot is an understatement. I would not have made it through my teenage years without the support, friendship and examples of the leaders that I had. I know Heavenly Father was looking after me. I'm not sure if the Hawryuks knew then or know now -- I didn't even know at the time how much they helped me -- how valuable their example was to me.

I will forever be grateful for them and for everyone else in the Calgary 13th ward who was there for me and my brother.