I'm a little sad today

My son heard back from Moody today. He was accepted to the Moody program but not at the Chicago campus. Due to capacity constraints he has been accepted to attend classes either through their distance education program or he can attend at their campus in Spokane, WA. We are a little disappointed but recognize that at least he has his foot in the door. We have a ton of questions and will call an admissions counselor tomorrow and see if he can be put on a waiting list for the Chicago campus. At this point, I think he will do the online courses, continue working, and involve himself deeply with the local campus ministry that our church sponsors.
While this isn't exactly what we would have hoped for, we realize that " in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" (Romans 8:28). What more do we need to know?

Back Home

My lemon ricotta pancakes were out of this world!! Bob had blueberry something pancakes which were fabulous as well. We enjoyed a long, lingering breakfast and some great coffee and stood out on the deck at the restaurant, trying to embed the view into our minds. We had a brief workout in the exercise room at the hotel and then sat out by the pool reading. We headed back to Phoenix and did a little shopping. We met my brother Dean, who drove up from Tucson, at the Cheesecake Factory. Bob and I split the Chicken Maidera (FABULOUS!!). You simply can't go to this restaurant and not get a slice of cheesecake. I'm drooling as I'm writing. Bob had vanilla bean, Dean had lemon/raspberry, and I had peanut butter/chocolate fudge. We had such a great time just visiting and drinking coffee. This is one of my favorite memories of the trip.
We arrived back to Iowa around 12:30 pm, welcomed by snow flurries. We arrived back home around 2:15 and it all started up again. We had to pick Emmy up from school at 3:30, go to Logan's conference at 4, drop him off at Junior Players at 4:30, take Emmy to dance class at 5:30, pick Logan up at 6:00, and pick Emmy up at 6:45. We did manage to fit in a trip to Target as well. Back to the old grindstone that inspired this trip in the first place. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
Until later...

Day 4

We started our morning with a hike around Slide Rock Park. For those of you familiar with Decorah, its kind of a like a God-made Cut; gorgeous, gigantic rocks that have fallen from the cliffs onto a running creek. Had the weather been warmer, it would have been fabulous to walk around in the water but not yesterday. We have been surprised by the weather. The mornings start out in the upper 30s and peak around the upper 60s in the afternoon.
We spent about an hour at Slide Rock and then went to Huckaby Trail. If you look at the photos I posted yesterday you will see a huge expansion bridge. It is so high up I can't even describe it. I was so nervous and off balance up there I was certain I would fall to my death. Anyway, we started at the top of the trail just under the bridge and hiked down to the bottom of the canyon. There is a picture of the bridge from underneath so you can get an idea of how high it is.
We ate lunch at a great Mexican restaurant called Oxaca. I had a delicious portabello and spinach wrap and Bob had a hamburger and fries. I teased him that you can't order that at a Mexican restaurant but he said my wrap wasn't very "south of the border" either. Good point.
We spent the afternoon poolside at the hotel, enjoying some sun on our final full day in Sedona.
If you haven't been here you MUST see this place. As I blog, I find it difficult to not use the same words over and over again. The beauty here is inexplainable (sp?) and I never will tire of it. We talked about wintering here when our kids are grown but that will probably be a good 15 years from now.
This morning we are bypassing the free hotel breakfast and headed out to Wildflower Bread Company again to enjoy some lemon and ricotta cheese pancakes cuz I heard my brother loves them (Hi Mikey!!)
Until tomorrow...

Pictures

Much to our delight we realized we had our sd card in the camera and were able to copy the pictures onto the computer. Here are a few of them.

Day 3

After breakfast, we drove about 25 miles to a little town imbedded high, high up in the hills called Jerome. It was established in the 1800s as a copper and ore mining town and at one point was quite thriving. When the mining rush subsided it was pretty much a ghost town. Now, its part Gunsmoke part Brady Bunch and part high-end chic. Nevertheless it was way cool and I'm so glad we went. It has VERY steep streets lined with neat shops. The views were absolutely amazing.
After lunch we spent another 2 1/2 hours hiking. This time we went to Sugar Loaf Summit and Coffee Pot Rock. We made it to the top of Sugar Loaf for the most incredible panoramic view. We descended that summit and started heading for the Zane Grey cave. Bob said, "If you were a guy we wouldn't go on the trails but would just cut straight across, through the brush. But since we don't have the right shoes and clothes (i.e. pants and long sleeves) we'll just follow the trails."
Shortly after that, I found myself off the trail, walking through the thicket. It was hard to move because every time I took a step my shirt, coat, skin, was caught by a group of thorns. Clearly, I was not happy. We had no idea where we were or how far off the trail we were. I was P.O.d. All I could think of was being lunch for a group of hungry mountain lions or coyotes.
FINALLY, we made our way back to the trail and continued hiking. I chickened out as we got higher and higher onto the cliffs. I really held my husband back. He could have gone on and on.
We got back to our car and headed back to the ice cream shop and got the chocolate chocolate stuff I had been yearning for.
For dinner we went to a gourmet pizza place called Picazzos and enjoyed an appetizer of artichoke/spinach dip followed by a pizza, half shrimp scampi and half with bacon, artichokes, black olives, spinach and alredo sauce. YUMMY! (In fact, I had a piece of that for breakfast this morning.)
Today, I think we will do some more hiking at Slide Rock Park. This will be our last full day in Sedona. Until tomorrow....

Day 2

We had a great day yesterday! After breakfast we drove around for a bit, trying to plan out our visit. I've always felt I should have been a realtor and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to look at houses, especially ones that are different than what I am used to. I'm sure people that actually live there hate it when people like me just drive around in their neighborhoods for no reason other than to look at their homes. I'm a voyeur.
After that, we drove down to the main strip, parked, and visited the many shops lining the street. We had a yummy flank steak pannini for lunch. (Yes, we are the cheap people who split meals at restaurants. After 4 kids and lots of expenses you learn to cut corners where you can AND it cuts back on the calories.)
We came back to the hotel where I took an hour long nap and hubby researched nearby hiking trails.
We drove to a BEAUTIFUL area and headed out towards Cathedral Rock. I cannot explain to you how absolutely gorgeous the world is out here. We hiked a total of 2 1/2 hours and stopped just short of Cathedral Rock. It was just too steep for me. My husband could have made it but he didn't want to leave me waiting for him. Personally, I wouldn't have minded sitting there on the edge of a rock and staring at that vista for a while longer. I thought of Cheesecake Maven, who often blogs about her hikes in NE Iowa, and wondered if she had ever been in this part of the world.
We took a ton of pictures but forgot to bring the cord that we need to transfer the photos onto the computer.
We returned to the hotel and freshened up a bit and headed for dinner. We ate at Wildflower Bread Company and had some great sandwiches. (We didn't split this time!!)
As if we hadn't had enough food, we went out for ice cream. I had butter pecan and white chocolate coffee. Bob had butter pecan and vanilla bean. I think I will have chocolate something tomorrow.
I do have to say and I know no one will feel sorry for me but it was cold here yesterday. It was in the low 60s and was quite windy. I think today will be cool too.
Today we plan to find a biking trail and possibly do some more hiking.
Until tomorrow...

Day 1

Well, we made it safely to Sedona. Interestingly enough, as we were boarding the plane in Cedar Rapids, we realized we were flying with two sons of some dear friends of ours. We were close enough to see each other and wave but far enough away that we couldn't talk. When we got off the plane in Phoenix, our friends were there to greet their sons. Our friends had rented a house and had been there 2 weeks vacationing. Funny! We ate dinner at our oldest son's favorite restaurant, Chipotle, (sorry Lucas) and headed to our destination.
Our rental car is a Prius which is a hybrid. It, so far, has gotten nearly 48 miles per gallon. It doesn't even sound like its running most of the time. Way cool!
It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Phoenix to Sedona which landed us here after dark. There is a 2 hour time difference and even that little bit messed me up. I couldn't understand why my eyes were so itchy and tired at 6:30, which, in realty, is when I'm wanting to go to bed. So, of course, it was to be expected that I rolled over this morning at 3 something, ready to get up and go. I "forced" :) myself to go back to sleep. We just came back from breakfast and will drive into town to decide what this day will hold for us. Until tomorrow.....