Our Little Getaway!

Matt and I were blessed to be able to take a trip out west over Labor Day weekend. It all started when we realized we had an abundance of airline miles that would expire once we cancelled our credit cards attached to them. We decided it would be better to take a trip before the baby rather than after. I called mom to see if her and dad would be able to come to Maryland to watch the kids then we started thinking about where we would like to go. We chose Arizona because Matt had never been there and I hadn't been there since I was very young. We were gone for 4 full days and 3 nights. We flew into Phoenix, rented a car, and drove north to the Grand Canyon to begin.

We stayed at a hotel right outside the park entrance...close enough to go there the afternoon that we arrived and then back the next day.

I took this picture the first night we went to the Grand Canyon. Matt would've loved to go down on this ledge but we were being a little cautious that first night. The pictures really don't capture the beauty of it all.

A nice family took this picture for us.

The next morning we headed back to the park after a nice breakfast and enjoyed all the sites before heading on a little hike. We realized the squirrels were very aggressive and this one was climbing onto our backpack trying to get our snacks.

Another shot of the view.

Matt stops to pose with the canyon behind him.

And later climbs down a few ledges so I can capture a picture.

On the way out of the park he stopped to pose with Smokey the Bear.

We then headed south so Sedona. We had heard about this area from a number of people so we made reservations for 2 nights there...figuring there's really only so much a pregnant woman can do at the Grand Canyon.

The red rock formations were beautiful and it was a wonderful little town to be at for a couple days. Great little shops and restaurants to enjoy.

This picture was taken at a lookout just prior to arriving at the airport for our helicopter ride.

Yes, we decided to go on a helicopter ride. It was pretty inexpensive once we traded a couple hours of our time to go and look at a timeshare property. Somehow I got the front seat and Matt was in the back with a lady and her daughter. It was pretty cool being able to see everything from that vantage point.

After the ride we captured a picture of us in front of the helicopter.

We stayed at a lovely hotel that had a wonderful pool area which we enjoyed the first day we arrived.

This little sitting area was located right outside our sliding glass door.

On our last day we stopped at the Chapel of the Hills for a quick look before heading back to Phoenix. It offered some great views of the rocks and of a very nice house.

The front of the Chapel of the Hills.

We then headed back to Phoenix to catch our flight back to Maryland. Our trip was a relaxing time and although we missed the kids our time went by so fast.

5 Year Anniversary Trip

Matt and I were blessed to be able to get away for a short anniversary trip on Friday. We were able to go back to Gramercy Mansion...the place we stayed 5 years ago on our wedding night. Matt was able to book the exact same room so that was really special. Although we knew a huge snowstorm was headed our way we went ahead with our plans. Here are a few pictures outside the mansion prior to any snow falling.

After arriving we got all dressed up and headed to a lovely dinner at the Milton Inn...a large old home turned into a restaurant. Unfortuneately the picture of us taken by the Christmas tree turned out very blurry. Here is the lovely dessert (apple cobbler) we shared and how they blessed us with a little message written in chocolate.

We arrived back to our room to find it filled with rose petals and candles.

By 10 pm it had not begun to snow yet but we knew it was coming. Both Matt and I woke up around 4 am and peeked out the windows to find a few inches already on the ground. We finally got up around 6:30....nervousness of the ride home kept us from sleeping in. We snapped a few pictures from the little balconies off our room.

Here I am reading the journal that the guests of this room can choose to write in...5 years ago I wrote in it so I added a short note this time as well.

The little snow-covered patio off of our room which would be lovely in the summer as well.

One last picture before heading out and braving the snow-covered roads.

Our trip home wasn't too bad. We took it slow while we watched others going to fast and spinning out in the conditions. We stopped about half way home, got a Starbucks and actually went into the mall, which was a ghost town with many stores not even open. We made it home by noon, 4 hours before we had intended to, but Sandra who was watching our kids needed to get home as well.

We can't wait to go back here again sometime.