Family Ties: December 2015

2015 was an eventful year for our family. Of course as the year begins, one cannot know what the coming days will hold....

January was a cold, snowy month. As a matter of fact the entire winter 2015 was colder and snowier than usual in Kentucky. We experienced snow for 7 straight months beginning in Oct. 2014 and ending in April 2015 - not good for those of us who do not enjoy winter.
I passed the time planning for an adventure and visiting Madison in Chicago. On the way there, the outside temperature in the car registered below 0! Good thing family love warms the heart!

At home - backyard

Frozen river behind Madison's Lakeshore East apartment

February is always an exciting month. It's the one time during the year that Randy and I try to get away as a couple. He usually does most of the planning and I just show up and go. This year was a little different. I chose the destination and asked him not to plan a schedule for every day. I just planned to book the flights and car and wander around Arizona until our vacation time ran out. I could tell he was uncomfortable with that idea from the beginning. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and shared his concern that we were traveling over Valentine's weekend and would likely end up spending our anniversary night in accommodations that would not be suitable if we did not make reservations. I caved and let him research, plan a route and book hotels along the way. And---I am so glad he did. He chose some perfect spots and planned our time to get the most from the trip and I didn't miss a thing, except the stress I would have created without a plan. We do balance each other sometimes.

There is no photo that can adequately capture the vast expanse of the canyon, not width, depth, length...simply stunning.

A highlight for me was sitting on a boulder at Hopi Pointe as the very last rays of the day's sun faded and painted the canyon with it's sunset colors. We waited for sunset more than 2 hrs but well worth it.

At 5 a.m. and around 30 degrees, we waited for sunrise the next morning.

Still another unspeakably beautiful display as the first rays of sun touch the canyon rocks. Just before sunrise the haze was thick in the canyon but with the first light of dawn it faded to show the brilliant colors of the morning on the rocks.

Penrose B & B

Perhaps it was when we arrived in Sedona that I was most thankful that Randy had planned a good portion of our trip. He chose the Penrose B & B for our stay in Sedona. Perfect.