Mark & Jodie: 2008

Ok, we know that its a little late, but we are making up for it with pictures; there's over a hundred. If anyone wants higher resolution versions of the pictures, just let us know. Anyway, for Thanksgiving, Jodie and I drove down to Phoenix to spend it with my family. We left the Saturday before Thanksgiving because I had to interviews for med school, one in Phoenix on Monday and one in Tucson on Wednesday. So, here's a few pictures of the ride down.

After 6 hours of driving, we arrive at one of the best places on earth... Lake Powell. Here's some of the cliffs just north of the lake.

Jodie and I decided to get out at Glen Canyon Dam and stretch our legs a little bit. Here's a picture of the bridge that crosses over the colorado river to get to Page.

Us at an overlook spot.

Here's a picture to show just how big the dam is; we even got a picture with a tour group walking on top of the dam for a reference.

We went out along the bridge and took this shot of the full height of the dam. I'm not sure how tall exactly it is, but our boat's depth gauge says there is about 600 feet of water on the other side.

Here's the other side of the dam, or the beginnings of the Grand Canyon. Very pretty view shot from on the bridge.

Here's a picture of the river side during one of the worst floods they've had. The water was almost about to overcome a thirty foot extension built on top of the dam. They also had all the spillways open, the smaller streams of water, and two jet powered spillways open. Kind of crazy how much water there is.

At the bottom of the dam, they have a grass field. Apparently the workers will have picnics and activities on the grass.

Back on the road again.

Jodie's attititude about getting back in the car for 4 more hours- which also reflected how I felt inside too.

Here's one of my favorite spots on the trip down. The highway is cut through the rock and then opens up to a cliff that allows for an amazing view.

Going through the chasm.

The view on the otherside. Not nearly as impressive as on a clear day, but you can still see some of the finger offshoots of the Grand Canyon.

Well, that was the drive. After 10 hours of driving, we both were very glad to get out of the car. However, when we arrive in Phoenix, we arrive perfectly to catch the last half of the BYU vs Utah football game. And sadly to say, Dad had lots of reasons to brag about his team, it wasn't pretty for us.

On Monday morning, I went to the Phoenix campus of U of A's med school. I had an interview there and it went well. They have some very nice facilities and it really impressed me.

On Monday night, we went with my brother and his family to my mom's house for an early Thanksgiving dinner. The food was very delicious and the company was even better. So, here's some of the pictures we took, which sad to say, weren't too many.
Here's James, at this time he was trying to sing popcorn popping on the apricot tree while saying cheese for the picture. Needless to say, very cute.

James, once again, is the center of attention.

I thought that this was pretty impressive, James would take Robert's iPod and play a turkey hunt game. He did very well at it too, like got to level 12 or something. Easy to tell who his dad is.

Then on Tuesday, we went down to my dad's office and Jodie had her eyes checked. I figured that this would be a great time to take a picture, she couldn't move to hide at all.

Next stop we made was to the Gelato Spot, one of the most amazing ice cream stores on the planet. Besides being very delicious, they have the best selection of sorbet that I have ever seen. This is definitely handy for us because milk products don't get along with Jodie very well. So, we went to the gelato spot a grand total of three times while we were in Phoenix.

Then on Wednesday, we sent out early to spend the day in Tucson. It was a nice trip though, but with rain on and off throughout the whole time down. However, it did provide us with a very pretty sunrise and sky for our trip.

After I had my interview, which went very well. Jodie and I spent the day getting familiar with Tucson incase we end up moving down there for school. At the end of the day, we met up with my brother John and went to PF Chang's for a celebration dinner for being done with the two interviews.

Then, we had Thanksgiving. It was a banquet of great foods with a total of 10 pies- I was in heaven. But anyway, here's the pictures.

Here are the boys building up an appetite by playing some mario kart on the wii. James and I are playing with some marbles and I have to admit, I think I was having a much fun as he was.

Here's the table waiting for us.

Here's one of the turkeys we cooked, it tasted really good.

Here we are trying to carve up the turkey.

Jodie made some amazing place settings. The feathers are from James' hand, pretty impressive for a two year old.

A picture of the kitchen hard at work getting everything ready.

Here are the girls enjoying some time in the sun.

Ok, so after the amazing Thanksgiving dinner, we went and played crochet. This is a traditional Thanksgiving game that gets pretty intense and cut throat by the end of the game. But anyway, as we got to the park, Jenna ran to go play on the pull up bars. So, here she is.

Setting up the course

Ok, so when we got started play, per the usual, Dad took a quick early lead.

The girls posing for a picture.

Here's a picture of Thomas trying to get through the first hoop.

John's attempt.

There's not much room for error with our hoops; they are solid cast iron (the box in the back weighs a ton when fully loaded). So, here's John trying to get through the hoop again. However, as you will notice, the blue ball (mine) is no longer around the first hoop. Woohoo.

Here's Jodie battlling it out with Robert, the red ball, to get through the second hoop. However, she was at a serious disadvantage because the mallet was so tall.

John getting through the second hoop.

While Dad was getting through the fourth hoop (still in first place), Robert and Emily attacking each other around the second hoop.

Finally, the rest of us catch up to the fourth hoop.

Emily makes her come back from battling it out with Robert; wedding rings even came off during the heat of the moment.

Robert and John protected each others' interests around the fourth hoop.

As did Jodie and Jenna

Emily takes a commanding swing to get back into the game after being knocked away by Robert.

Here's a picture of dad reaching the pin first and becoming the first poison ball.

Dad, not wanting to single out one son for attack (Thomas, Robert, and I are hiding behind the hoop for protection), Dad closes his eyes and hits toward us. However, he hit the ball too hard and goes out of bounds and is the first to leave the game.

Thomas and Robert then battle each other as poison balls.

Both quickly were eliminated and found other ways to occupy their time.

Jodie made a long attempt to get Jenna, but fell just short. So, Jenna hit Joddie's ball and the game quickly came to an end.

Three monkeys.

The next day, John, Dad, Jodie, and I went out Jeeping. It was an awesome ride. But here are the shots.

At this point, John took over for a little bit and started taking us through the desert.

A picture of my arch nemesis, the Jumping Cholla. They are a very sneaky cactus and very prickly. The spines have little barbs on them like fish hooks. It's a nasty little cactus.

We got out for a little break to enjoy the view.

Our chariot.

Jodie exploring the cactus.

Posing for a shot after climbing the boudlers.

Next, we took a little detour from the road and followed a wash of some sorts. But here's the trail.

We climbed about 200 feet up and then had to turn around because it was too muddy to climb further. That became a very interesting adventure as we began sliding while trying to turn around. But we made it safely. Here we are coming down the mountain, it was pretty steep.

Still coming down our trail.

Johnny boy navigating.

I took the wheel and had some fun coming down the rest of the path.

Here, you can see the skeleton of a dead Saguaro cactus.

The road also took us through a creek bed for a little bit.

Through the trail, I tried to get a picture of the water splashing up as we went through the water. So, this was the best one I could get. The water is completely covering the windshield. I didn't think it was going to be that much.

Finally home.

Next step, wash the Jeep.

On Saturday night, we all decided to go to the Mesa temple lights. So, here's the pictures from that.

Here's James, ready to go see the lights.

Here we are arrive at the temple.

I really liked the Bethlehem scene this year, the lights they chose for the star were very, very bright.

Classic pose.

Nice shot of the front of the temple; I love the reflection.

Jodie and I posing in front of the temple.

My favorite palm tree, it was blue.

Another one of my favorites, the wisemen.

They also had an international nativity exhibit. I've seen it before, but every year they have different nativities from around the world. Its very pretty. But here was one of our favorites.