Mom's Visit and our trip to Sedona with pics

I did say that as soon as I get around to it, I'll post the pics from Mom's visit and our sojourn to Sedona.  We did have a really good time, but it was as others had warned us very new agey.  There are psychics and palm readers and new age stores all over the place there.  We went on a trolley ride which gives you an overview of Sedona and for a good portion of it, the driver talked about the various "energy vortexes" there.  Apparently, Sedona is known worldwide for its abundance of these areas.  Of course we don't believe in any of that and after the driver continued to go on and on about these vortexes, I just turned around to Braden and prayed protection over his ears!  The irritating thing is that there is an actual tour you can go on that is specifically geared toward all the new age stuff there in Sedona including the vortexes and we specifically did NOT want to go on that type of tour.  RRRrrrrrr!  Also, at one point in his spiel about the vortexes, we were going by where the airport is located and he just happened to mention that there was one at the end of the runway, known as the airport vortex.  Yeah, I nearly lost control of myself.  I had the hardest time not bursting out laughing.  All I could think of was all these airplanes getting sucked up into the vortex.  Talk about a delayed flight! :)  Anyway, we did get to do some other fun stuff.  We went to a Native American Arts Fair.  My mom really wanted to look at some Native American jewelry and stuff, so this was just perfect for her.  She bought me and my sister a pair of earrings.  Here are what mine look like.

Aren't they gorgeous?!  Then, on Saturday night, Mom kept the kids and Sam and I went on a date...for the first time in over 4 months. We ate at a Mexican food restaurant called Oaxaca.  It has really good food.  Lots of variations on traditional Mexican flair.  It was funny because about half way through our date, we were both feeling like we should be getting back to the kids.  We stayed out a bit longer and went into a couple of stores that were still open.  There was one called Del Sol.  It is a very neat store.  All of their products change color in the sun.  They have t-shirts, rings, hair barrettes, bags, toys and even fingernail polish that changes color when you get it in the sunlight.  Anyway, Mom got the rest of her Christmas shopping done in there and got a free tote bag to boot!  Here is their website if you are curious. We ended up staying through to Monday morning, but Sam went back on Sunday night since he had to work Monday.  On Sunday afternoon, I took Mom over to Flagstaff and just drove around so that she could see what it looks like.  Yeah, we both prefer it to Sedona.  By Monday, we were very ready to leave Sedona and come back.  For Christians, there is almost a palpable darkness and evil there.  Yuck!  The longer we stayed the more the deception that shrouds that little city became obvious and we just wanted to leave!  Anyway, on to the pictures!  Just so you know, all of the rock formations have names and some of them are said to resemble certain things.  We all decided that somebody had way too much time on their hands!

This is me on our date being a nut.

If you look at the smaller formation immediately to the right of the large one in the middle, its supposed to look like Snoopy laying on top of his dog house.  It does kind of, but .....whatever.

Part of the trolley tour included the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Here is the website if you are more interested.  Basically, this lady built it in honor of her parents and anyone is welcome to come there free.

The two tall spires there are called the two sisters and the little knob immediately to the left of the larger one is supposed to look like the profile of Charlie Brown in his cap.

Sweet Zekey.  He and Sam sat outside the Del Sol store while we looked around and Sam decided to do a little photo shoot.

Lately, when he wakes up from a nap, his hair has been doing this funky fuzzy thing and it refuses to be tamed!:)

Mom and Braden chillin' at the Chapel.  Mom brought two digital cameras with her, but couldn't get either one to work.  She ended up using her phone some and we are going to send her the rest.:)

This is the entrance to the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

This, if I have my info correct is Cathedral Rock.  Apparently there is a vortex there, too.  I wonder if it could be called a wind tunnel instead? ;)

This "house" is directlly beneath the Chapel.  It is the vacation home of a family of four.  Its something like over 5000 sq ft. and it has an indoor pool with a waterfall.  That greenish dome on top is an observatory.  The driver made sure to point all of this out to us. Its not even finished yet.  Its been a five year project apparently.  Talk about nosy neighbors! hehehe

This is the inside of the Chapel

Mom sitting still trying to get her cameras to work.  By the way, that is the free tote bag she got from Del Sol.  The picture on the front is black and white inside and then it turns all those pretty colors in the sun.  Cool, huh? 

Sam and the boy-os. Yeah, just so you know, there is not gate or wall to keep you from plunging over the side of that low edging there.  Fun, huh?  Good thing my boys weren't interested in base jumping!

The front of the Chapel.

Inside the trolley in the very back.

The front of the tour trolley.  The boys really liked the trolley ride.  There were no windows.

This is from our little jaunt over to Flagstaff.  I took Mom up to the Sno Bowl area.  The road to the lodge was closed, so we just stopped for a minute to admire the scenery, snap a few pics and then drive back to Sedona.

More Flagstaff.  I love the trees.  It reminds me of the Durango, CO area.

More Flagstaff.  There was a couple of people who had brought their lawn chairs and were just chillin' out in this field.

Mom and Zekers on the Trolley.  Sorry, got the pics out of order. :p