Ok, where did I leave off. Kylie arrived right on time, we retrieved the bags quickly and headed out of the airport as fast as possible. We got her home (parents house) and let her get settled a little before heading out to lunch. We spent most of the day just relaxing. Sunday we got up and went a church where she was greeted by just about everyone :) Thank you all at Trinity for making Kylie feel welcome and loved. A little background info, before Kylie came I set up a trip to go see Sedona, the Grand Canyon and some of the Flagstaff area. Kylie and I talked about the trip and things we wanted to and decided she needed some hiking boots, so we went shopping. Shopping was fun, everything was new and exciting for her. Needless to say, we found some boots for her. That brings us up to February 14, the day we left for our little trip up north.
Valentine's Day started off good, I woke Kylie up with some flowers, cards, and some candy. She was really surprised. Little did she know that she was going to have a much bigger surprise later in the day. I mean Valentine's day, could there be any better day to propose on. We packed up our things and headed up to Sedona, our first stop.
We arrived in Sedona about lunch time so we grabbed something to eat and talked about what we wanted to do. By this time the ring was really burning a hole in my pocket, I really wanted to find a good place to propose. I had thought about the Chapel in the Rocks, maybe some of you know which one I mean. It seemed like a good idea so I suggested we go there. Upon arriving at the chapel it was much busier than I suspected and so I decided I needed to find a different venue, so I suggested maybe we should go hike a little. So we drove down and found a trail to hike out among the rocks. While hiking I found a place that I liked, that gave us a good view of the surrounding area. I gave Kylie a big hug and I asked her, if I could ask her a question :)
At this point I got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and asked her to marry me. Much to my joy, she said "YES!!!!" and slipped the ring onto her finger. So now I was engaged :) By the way it was a beautiful day, it had been cloudy earlier, but as we hiked the sun peaked out and lit up all the rocks around us. It was perfect. We finished up our hike, drove up to Flagstaff where we were going to stay. Valentine's Day 2006 had started good and it definitely ended good. A day I won't forget.
We woke up the next morning and had a great breakfast. Today was the day we were going to go see the Grand Canyon. We headed up to the east entrance and proceeded to drive all along the South Rim. We stopped at one place where the Little Colorado had created a canyon. Kylie was impressed with that, I was getting excited to show her the Grand Canyon.
It was quite windy out when we arrived at the national park entrance, the wind was blowing a good 35 to 40 mph, so it was really cold as well. We braved the weather and took a walk down to the viewpoint. Kylie was then really impressed. It was beautiful being there with Kylie, it just hit me then how much God loves us, a year ago I wouldn't have even dreamt this, but here I was with the woman I love. It was awesome! Kylie and I continued along the South Rim stopping to check out different viewpoints and taking some pictures. It started to get really cold as it became evening so we headed back to Flagstaff. It had been another great day.
On the 16th we woke to another great day. We had decided the night before to go hiking so we flipped through a book of hikes around the Flagstaff area. We found a nice one called the Red Mountain hike, you hike back into a crater of a blown out volcano. It was about a 30 minute drive outside of Flagstaff, so we decided to go for it.
Apparently the night before it had snowed because as we drove out of Flagstaff the ground had a nice white coating to it. We arrived at the mountain and started to hike in. We reached the base of the mountain in about an hour and you walk in through a split in the crater wall. Inside the crater there are amazing rock structures and rock colors caused by the lava flows. It was a very quiet, beautiful place. Also a somewhat of an alien landscape. Kylie and I spent some time hiking around the small canyons caused by the lava flows and playing in the little bit of snow that we found. After spending a couple of hours there we hiked back out and headed back into Flagstaff. We thought we would grab some lunch and then go out for another hike, but it was getting cold quickly so we decided to do a little urban hiking. I took Kylie to wander around one of the grocery stores in the Flagstaff. It was the first time she had been to the supermarket in the U.S. She was definitely overwhelmed and she was particularly impressed with the cereal aisle. As strange as it sounds there was a fun time had by all walking around that Albertsons.
Friday the 17th was our last day up north. We woke up, grabbed some breakfast, and packed up our things. We had talked earlier about going to see Montezuma's Castle, so that was on our itinerary for today. We loaded up our things and headed back down to Phoenix. We took the scenic route back, cutting through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedona. It is a beautiful and fun drive, going through the canyon. We reached Montezuma's Castle about mid-afternoon. Kylie had never seen any Indian ruins so the castle was a good stop. Apparently they don't let you go up into the castle any more so we had to make do with just taking pictures, it was good stop none the less. Finishing up at the castle we headed back into Phoenix. It was an awesome trip. I got engaged to the woman of my dreams. Kylie was able to see some of the most beautiful places in Arizona and most importantly Kylie and I were able to spend time together.
So that pretty much covers Kylie's first week in AZ. Exciting times :) Stayed tuned for more.
While I was still in Mesa, Kylie had a found a church for us to get married in, as well someone to perform the ceremony. The church is Sandgate Baptist Church and it is a sought out location for weddings so it is amazing that we were able to book it on such a short notice. On the Sunday after arriving Kylie and I drove up to Sandgate and went to the church service at the church where we are to be wed. It was really nice to see the church and everyone at the church was quite friendly. We talked to the guy who is in charge of weddings there and confirmed everything, so we at least have a place to get married at and someone to do it. All of this has been an answer to prayer.
It is good stuff, I highly recommend it. We also stopped at the Saguaro national park and looked all the cacti. Kylie enjoyed it all, since where she lives at they don't really have cactus. It was once again a beautiful day. Leaving Tucson we headed down to where we would be staying, a place called Cochise and I went for a hike. It was beautiful the walls of the canyon had pink, yellow, and green rocks all through it. While we were out hiking we came across a little javelina. In the morning we woke and there were deer outside of our window and all kinds of beautiful birds. We got a our breakfast delivered to our room and we sat outside with my parents and watched the deer and birds. It was an amazing experience. After breakfast we loaded up and headed to Bisbee. I have never been to Bisbee so it was fun. It is pretty much a tourist mining town. We wandered around there visiting shops. My dad orders coffee from a coffee roaster down in Bisbee so we found his shop as well. It was a relaxing time just being with Kylie and hanging out with my parents. We left Bisbee about mid-afternoon and headed back up to Phoenix.
We arrived in Sedona about lunch time so we grabbed something to eat and talked about what we wanted to do. By this time the ring was really burning a hole in my pocket, I really wanted to find a good place to propose. I had thought about the Chapel in the Rocks, maybe some of you know which one I mean. It seemed like a good idea so I suggested we go there. Upon arriving at the chapel it was much busier than I suspected and so I decided I needed to find a different venue, so I suggested maybe we should go hike a little. So we drove down and found a trail to hike out among the rocks. While hiking I found a place that I liked, that gave us a good view of the surrounding area. I gave Kylie a big hug and I asked her, if I could ask her a question :) 
At this point I got down on one knee, pulled out the ring and asked her to marry me. Much to my joy, she said "YES!!!!" and slipped the ring onto her finger. So now I was engaged :) By the way it was a beautiful day, it had been cloudy earlier, but as we hiked the sun peaked out and lit up all the rocks around us. It was perfect. We finished up our hike, drove up to Flagstaff where we were going to stay. Valentine's Day 2006 had started good and it definitely ended good. A day I won't forget.
It was quite windy out when we arrived at the national park entrance, the wind was blowing a good 35 to 40 mph, so it was really cold as well. We braved the weather and took a walk down to the viewpoint. Kylie was then really impressed. It was beautiful being there with Kylie, it just hit me then how much God loves us, a year ago I wouldn't have even dreamt this, but here I was with the woman I love. It was awesome! Kylie and I continued along the South Rim stopping to check out different viewpoints and taking some pictures. It started to get really cold as it became evening so we headed back to Flagstaff. It had been another great day.
Apparently the night before it had snowed because as we drove out of Flagstaff the ground had a nice white coating to it. We arrived at the mountain and started to hike in. We reached the base of the mountain in about an hour and you walk in through a split in the crater wall. Inside the crater there are amazing rock structures and rock colors caused by the lava flows. It was a very quiet, beautiful place. Also a somewhat of an alien landscape. Kylie and I spent some time hiking around the small canyons caused by the lava flows and playing in the little bit of snow that we found. After spending a couple of hours there we hiked back out and headed back into Flagstaff. We thought we would grab some lunch and then go out for another hike, but it was getting cold quickly so we decided to do a little urban hiking. I took Kylie to wander around one of the grocery stores in the Flagstaff. It was the first time she had been to the supermarket in the U.S. She was definitely overwhelmed and she was particularly impressed with the cereal aisle. As strange as it sounds there was a fun time had by all walking around that Albertsons.