Sad news...

We are no longer expecting. I had my suspicions, so I went to the doctor and had a blood test done yesterday and they just called me and broke the news. Thanks for all of your congratulatory messages. It means a lot to have all of y'all pulling for us. We love y'all.

Flute?

Does anyone have a flute that they would like to sell? We are tired of renting and would like to buy one from someone we know - if you know what I mean. I'm a little germaphobic.

The Father's Day Tie

For Activity Days at church, Skyler made this awesome tie for Bryant to have as a Father's Day gift. One of the leaders went to Savers and bought up lots of ties for 99 cents. Then they provided fabric, paint, etc. for the girls to individualize the ties for their fathers. All of the girls made deals with their dads that they would have to wear the gift that they were about to open before church this morning. So, there were several fathers sporting these beautiful ties at church today, including the bishop, who was conducting. He had all of the other proud recipients of the ties stand up to show them off. I think it was a really cute idea. Happy Father's Day!

High School Musical

Grandma Slade was kind enough to take Skyler and Sibley to see the High School Musical play at the Broadway Palm Theater in Mesa. They had a blast! As you can see, they got to have fun with the props and they got autographs from the cast members. Thanks, Grandma!

The Grand Canyon and other great pictures I wish I were posting right now...

Last weekend we met my parents in Flagstaff for a little weekend trip. They are on their way to Utah for a 10 month mission in Salt Lake. My father will be doing historical research for the church and my mother will be utilizing her Registered Nurse skills in a clinic for senior missionaries. I am super excited to have them closer for a little while.

We had the BEST time. We met late on Saturday, checked in to the hotel, shopped, and had dinner. We stayed at a really nice hotel that was in walking distance of Kohl's, Walmart, and some good restaurants. On Sunday, we went to church and then toured Walnut Canyon National Monument. [By the way, Bryant unexpectedly saw one of his old friends from Snowflake in the ward we visited, so that was a good surprise.] It is a site of Sinagua Indian ruins near Flagstaff. The ruins are thousands of years old and were built under the mountain overhangs near the top of Walnut Canyon. These people literally lived on the edge of a 400 foot cliff their whole lives. It made me a nervous wreck to hike and tour it, so it blows my mind that they lived there. This was a good little practice for the hiking conditions and panic attacks that would ensue the following day at the Grand Canyon.

Sibley also had a panic attack at the top of Walnut Canyon, when we started to hike to the ruins. She inherited my agoraphobia and she started crying and saying she didn't want to go. Once it was evident that this episode would not pass quickly, Bryant had to literally chase her in circles, catch her, and hold her for the first few steps of the trail. After about the first 100 steps or so, she was fine. And after the next 100 steps or so, she started making me nervous by getting too close to the edge.

Another exciting thing that happened at Walnut Canyon is that Skyler and Sibley were sworn in as Junior Rangers for the Park Service. I filmed the ceremony and planned to download it here on the blog, but am unable to do so due to unfortunate circumstances which will be disclosed hereafter in this post. At the Grand Canyon, Skyler loaned Grandmama her official Junior Ranger pin. My mother acted in her capacity as Junior Ranger and reminded my father that he was not abiding by certain safety guidelines. When he tried to argue with her, she said point-blank, "I'm a Junior Ranger." I never laughed so hard.

On Monday morning, we got up early and headed to Williams, Arizona to board the Grand Canyon Railroad. Even though the train ride from Williams to the South Rim is two and a half hours long, it seemed very short because the scenery was good, the company was great, and the railroad has entertainers that go from car to car on the journey. They also have a little wild west show at the station before you leave on the train.

My favorite entertainer was, by far, the banjo player. The banjo is definitely my favorite instrument. Yes, I am from Alabama and I love the banjo. My daddy plays the harmonica and my mama learned how to buck dance clog at a barn dance in the Northeast Georgia mountains, and I am proud of it! Commence with the stereotyping and joking on Southern people now. I requested Orange Blossom Special, and he played it! He may have already been planning to play it anyway, but it was nonetheless great!

This paragraph is for those of y'all who know my daddy, especially my brothers and sisters. When the banjo player came aboard and started playing, he invited people to sing a long if they knew the words. He said nobody ever did sing along though. Well, he had never met John Enslen. Did John Enslen know the words? No. Did this deter John Enslen from singing at all? No. Did the fact that John Enslen was the only one singing along in a train car of 70 people deter him either? The answer is still no. [My grandmother usually refers to my father and her son as "John Enslen" for some reason, especially when she is saying something he did when he was a child, ie. John Enslen did this and John Enslen did that. It has rubbed off on me.] So, my daddy kept me in stitches with these and other antics.

Before we left on the train, Daddy found this great big engineer hat at the Gift Shop. Of course, he had to have it and he proudly wore it all over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We met one judge from Tennessee, and when Daddy told him he had practiced law for 34 years in Alabama, I wondered if the Judge thought he was delusional.

Here's a little side note about the banjo. Many people don't know this, but the banjo is not actually native to the United States. It is an African import. When the slaves were brought from West Africa to the Southeast, they brought it with them. It has definitely evolved a lot though, and the banjo as we know it today is almost unrecognizable from its predecessor.

Speaking of the South, I think there were more Southern people at the Grand Canyon than from anywhere else. We met people from Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, and lots and lots of people from Alabama. We saw a Roll Tide hat and a War Eagle hat. Of course, being the friendly Southern people we are, we made lots of friends. My father took many pictures of our new friends and I will post them later.

We got to the Grand Canyon at lunch time. How can I describe the Grand Canyon adequately? I can't, so I won't even try. Words don't do it justice. It is breathtaking to say the least, and so beautiful it doesn't even look real. And I only saw a small inkling of it. You could literally spend a whole lifetime exploring it. I can't wait to go back next summer with my family for our reunion and stay longer.

We walked through Hopi House and El Tovar and then hiked to Powell Point. Unfortunately, Powell Point is the last place I remember seeing my camera. Bryant used it to take some great footage of the view, and we haven't seen it since. I didn't realize it was gone until I got home today. Hopefully, it will turn up after I make some phone calls tomorrow. Worst case scenario, I will have my dad email me some photos and post them on here.

Also, outside of Hopi House, some Navajo men were dancing for the crowd. We saw them do the Eagle Dance and the Hoop Dance. I have seen those dances performed before, but it was the girls' and my parent's first time, and they loved it. Of course, Bryant and I enjoyed watching it again too. The hoop dance is my favorite.

Another fun thing about the Grand Canyon is the squirrels. Yep the squirrels. We had lunch outside the Bright Angel Lodge and there were these two squirrels who were so tame. They weren't the least bit afraid of people and would stop at nothing to get food. One of them literally climbed into Bryant's lap. He had to stand up to get it off of him. I was almost as amazed at this as I was the Grand Canyon. So were the girls. I couldn't resist and had to touch him. He didn't even flinch or look at me. It is the first time I have ever touched a squirrel. Sibley touched him too. Skyler didn't, because she is a stickler for the rules, except for not eating and drinking in her room and a few other exceptions. Both the warning signs and my daddy said not to touch the squirrel, and I know I was a bad example, but I was fascinated. So, enough about the squirrel already, right?

The only other thing I would like to say about the Grand Canyon is that while it may be exceedingly beautiful, it is also exceedingly dangerous. It is seriously one mile deep at its lowest point. They lose, on average, 13 people over the edge annually. They are ahead of schedule this year. They have already lost 8. Every time I closed my eyes to go to sleep last night, I would have flashbacks of the drop offs. I am already so worried about having my little nieces and nephews there next summer. I think I will need some counseling.