Year 2 Day 3 of 7

Day 3 of 7

In January 2007, we traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to watch the Gators take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the National Championship game. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us and I am forever grateful to our friends, the Osteen’s  who made it possible for us to attend that game. When we walked into the stadium that night, Steven looked at the Ohio State fans sitting in our Gator section. He then looked at me and said “mommy don't they know orange and blue Go Gators?” When the game ended, one of the Ohio State fans sitting in front of us turned and said to Steven “I should have known orange and blue Go Gators.”  That's when Jared put Steven up on his shoulders so Steven could see the celebration occurring on the field. During the game, a friend had called to tell me that she had just seen us on TV. I thought that was pretty cool. Jared was really indifferent, he was just interested in watching the game. Since we made the trip to Arizona, we decided to make it into a vacation and see Sedonand the Grand Canyon. When we arrived at the Grand Canyon, Steven wanted to run around. But I said absolutely not, my mommy heart was afraid my child would fall over the canyon. So instead, Jared and I took turns holding him. The Grand Canyon is absolutely beautiful and Jared and I marveled at it's beauty.   But the beauty was lost on our 2 1/2 year old.  Driving back from the Grand Canyon to Sedona we drove through the mountains and they were covered in snow. Steven just wanted to stop and play in the snow, so we did. Jared pulled over and we got out and played in the snow. Mind you, we were not wearing snow clothes and we were soon freezing in our jeans. But it was so cute to see Jared build Steven a little snowman. And then we all made snowballs and had our first family snowball fight. The next morning we traveled to Sedona to see the Chapel of the Holy Cross and the Red Rocks.  The chapel was breathtaking.  It was impossible to not feel close to God there.  And the Red Rocks were just beautiful.  Jared always wanted to see the Grand Canyon and this trip afforded him that opportunity. I will be forever grateful that our family of three was able to make such wonderful memories during that trip.