Location: Ft. Huachuca, Arizona

After arriving in Ft. Huachuca we were so eager to have Spencer graduate from AIT. It really was fun to see all the guys there and we are all so VERY proud of Spud.

Look, it's his name! He IS graduating ;)

Steph and I got a kick out of this, it's like Where's Waldo on the last page where EVERYONE is dressed up like Waldo... Where's Spencer? Finally we found Spud, tell me why his first question was, 'Where's Tawni and DeWy?' Like thanks Spud, it's not like I HAVEN'T see you for 2 years!
Everyone getting some words of encouragement from the MC
Finally, Spud received his certificate. IT'S OFFICIAL!!!
One of the other soldiers looking over his certificate, YES, they've done it!
And I love this picture of Spud, I love that he allowed me to take this picture :)
And there he is! The newest soldier in our family, continuing the tradition of the Ray family.

Spud we love you so much, even if we do make fun of you... a lot! It's how we show you we love you ;)

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: Driving to Tucson, Arizona

So, I shipped my car home so I could have it already instead of having to buy a new one. I went to California to pick it up and when my summer was over it was time to drive to the new home.

Things worked out almost perfectly to where the day I drove home was right before my brother, Spencer, graduated from AIT.

I'll admit, the night before I drove home, I didn't sleep much, I was out the door by around 6 and I'll be honest, I cried; it had been a fun weekend and I dreaded what was going to happen next and that I'd miss more than anything what I had just let go.

So, to keep me awake for the 8 hour drive (again, I drove home alone) I got my camera out! PICTURE TIME!!!!!!

Tawni, I post this picture for you... KLUC KLUC! BA-GAWK BA-GAWK! Isn't that what chickens say?

Ah, good ole California... so happy to be out of it; but occasionally I'll visit for the theme parks :)Speed Limit 65? Are you serious? That's BARELY 100 KLICKS! Moving at the speed of a tortoise... No wonder it took me 9 hours to get to TucsonARIZONA!!! About time! Only 3 more hours... RIGHT... RIGHT???And I don't care what anybody says about Arizona, the desert is pretty; we have the cacti and mountains (both desert and snow mountains). And at night, the sunset is so pretty; there are pictures of those to come :)

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: Malibu/San Diego, California

So I'm almost caught up, just a few more months to go... I'll never be done :(

Alright, so I went to Malibu and San Diego this summer, the main purpose was to go get my car but it was fun meeting family and more friends.

Malibu was amazing. The general population was a little crazy for me, the cars, the houses the attitudes; but the atmosphere and it was a great view.

I really should call this my scenery blog, but I'll have to get other pictures from everyone else.

Malibu is home to Pepperdine university and we were right next to it, just on the other hill. The view from there was pretty cool.

I don't think the above is Pepperdine, but just a church... then again it could be part of the university. And look at that sky. I did NOT manipulate this picture in any way!

This picture is one of my favorites. The red lights going up and around are tail lights. I just left the shutter open a little longer than normal. This picture is also one with the shutter left open for longer. The house we stayed at overlooked the Pacific Coast Highway and that thing was busy ALL night! I liked the tree, the lights were bonus!And then finally, the moon over the Pacific Ocean. Look how small it is...

This picture was actually taken in Vegas, I just forgot to post it. I dunno, I like it though.

When we were in San Diego we went to Sea World. Still free for Armed service members and dependents. The shows are pretty cool, but honestly, The funniest is at about 9 at night. We dined with Shamoo and really just made the most out of it. GREAT day!

I loved my summer, I really did. I was sad to see it end and I know I may NEVER have another like it. Though I really would like to some day.

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Take III (Sky Diving)

Alright, so I've been skydiving before but wow! Jumping over Las Vegas was so cool though! Got to see Lake Mead, the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon and the Vegas strip. WOW!

So we get there and of course you have all the paperwork to fill out and I just LOVED their paperwork. Imprinted on each paper was the word DANGER just in case you thought jumping out of a perfectly good airplane for fun and PAYING for it was SAFE.

They even have you copy down an entire sentence saying that you know what you are doing and you pretty much give up all rights to sue.

They sell pictures and raw video; I didn't think I'd buy them, but I caved and bought the pictures but you know what I'm ok with that. They turned out good!

That's Lake Mead to my rightThe Colorado is behind me just to my right, you couldn't see the Canyon in any of the pictures, but it was cool to see from up there!

And then safely back on the ground:

I had to get a semi-picture of my diver because man, he was the biggest surfer dude stuck in a land lock state EVER! But still cool and made me comfortable doing this again.

I wanted to show you a picture of people with chutes open in the sky. Seriously, we were up there, it was a mile up when we jumped. Good free fall followed by nice long coast to the ground.

It really was a LOT of fun, I recommend it to anyone who has the nerve to do it. There was a girl on the plane with us though who I thought wouldn't do it, but she did. The hardest part is just scooting out to the edge because you don't want to pull your diver out before he's ready, but it's a good time!

I live on the edge sometimes, but I still am looking to do bungee jumping and hangliding. Maybe after that I can go parasailing! :)

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well now you know, she's missing this summer!

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Take II (Shows)

So after my last post I realized how much I had left out from Las Vegas. I know I said I'd only hit on the main points, but dang it, these are some of them.

Alright, so the shows, I have to talk about the shows! We went to three shows and I think that's all we wanted to go to; there was one of the Cirque's we wanted to go to but it just didn't work out with timing. But we still had fun, I think.

The first show we went to was Ka, it's one of the Cirque Du Soleil shows and let me tell you, the show itself was a little slow at times, but the STAGE! Oh my word it is amazing! There was a TV special on it once explaining how it all runs and turns and flips and if you can find that, I highly suggest watching it.

The story is about a boy and girl who are the kids of an emperor who was assinated and the kids were separated. It's their story of how they reunite and grow from kids of play to mature young men and women. I'd go watch the show just for the stage; story is good, but not as good as I was expecting. I really wanted to go see the water one, but maybe next time. I am still thinking of moving there.

The next show we went to was Blue Man Group. AMAZING AMAZING show! It's so funny and these men truly are great musicians... anyone who's hands can move that fast and precise I am a fan of!

After the show we went out to the lobby and got to meet the three guys, I wanted a kiss on the cheek from one of them, so I asked him for a lip print on my cheek, he took his thumb, rubbed it on his head and then thumb-printed my cheek, so I wouldn't give up, I pointed to another area of my face and said, ok, if not there, how about here, no? here? here??? he just kept thumb-printing me! After about 20 dots were on my face I finally was ok, how about a picture that I still need to get from the person who took it, but I hear, 1... 2... 3... and of course on 3 I turned my head to give him a kiss on his cheek! As with every guy, their eyes look out of the corner of their eyes and look down at me as I look at the camera from the corner of my eye. I NEED THAT PICTURE! Since I don't have that one, I will post this one I took of myself, forgive the bare shoulders, I had already taken my t-shirt off and didn't want to get more paint on it. If you were to look closely you'd be able to see yellow lines running all over my face and neck. BMG uses black lights in their show and well, highlighter lights up amazingly well in blacklight. So, we grabbed a yellow one, they tend to fade the best, and drew random things on our faces. When the black lights lit up we saw the faces drop, it was AMAZING! And oh so funny!

The last show we went to was Phantom of the Opera, and I have to say though I throroughly LOVED BMG and it was my favorite to watch, GOING to Phantom was my favorite. We sat in the middle near the front, the company was the best; not a group like the others. And quite honestly, I like getting dressed up for the shows and this was just the cherry on top of my sundae!

The Phantom was a bit of an over-actor, but he was still good and the movie ruined the show for me, but it was still good. I plan to take Stephani for her bday in a couple weeks and I can't wait. Though there is nothing like going to the show for the first time and with the people I did it was AWESOME!

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada

That's right, I'm finally to the point of my travels where I'm back in the US!!!


This summer was amazing and if I had it my way it never would have ended. I spent it with amazing people who my heart still yearns for and I spent great time catching up with others. Aubrey it was like we hadn't missed a day!
Because of how much time I spent in Vegas I wasn't able to post a lot of pictures but I'll hit all the highlights.


This summer we spent a few days up on the mountains visiting some friends and boy did I have fun, a lot of inside jokes were being talked about but I still had a fun time. Not to mention a lot of inside jokes were made.

While there I knew I wanted to go and see the Las Vegas Temple. It was the temple I first did baptisms in when I turned 12 and the temple we'd go to growing up (Redlands was dedicated just before we moved).

Everything was just as I remembered it. The temple situated up against a mountain, long drive of road before you get there but the whole time you can see the angel Moroni proudly sitting atop one of the speyers.

The moment you get to the gates it is still just as jaw dropping as ever and spectacular. Maybe to others it is just another building, but it is one cool building.

I never realized it before but from the 'talking tree' you have a perfect view of the Las Vegas strip. I think it was on this day and specifically this trip that I fell in love with Las Vegas and would LOVE to live there if things worked out.

This temple was only built in 1989 but the Las Vegas valley was founded by Mormons, crazy huh? I use to love going to this temple and it was such a treat to get to go again I couldn't believe how lucky I was.

The house of the Lord, that says it all doesn't it? What is written in the temple is written in heaven and the bonds made in the temple are eternal. Again, it is just made of concrete and stone, but the purpose of the building is what is important; the fact that it was dedicated to doing the work of the Lord is what makes it a building more holy than any other.

It is the House of the Lord because it is where the spirit of the Lord resides always. We may not be able to see him or touch him, but he can touch us and we can receive guidance.

I often think of the temples now and wanting to strive for an eternal family. Life should be lived to the fullest and unfortunately if you do not love you are not living it to the fullest. 'Love' should not be thrown around like 'hello' or 'good-bye', rather it should be saved for those you truly do love. True love is wanting to be with someone every chance you can, yet understanding that sometimes they do have to go to work ;). Love is wanting to be with them forever and not just when they are 23, fit and hot. Love should be willing to bind you to that person not only in this life, but in the life that continues after this one. Wouldn't you want to be with your 'love' as long as you could? I do.

Thus ended my trip in Vegas, we did go to a few shows, Phantom, Blue Man Group, Cirque Du Soleil, a lot of the free shows of course. Las Vegas is amazing and I definitely loved being there this summer. I wish it could have continued for a LOT longer but I wouldn't trade the time there this summer for ANYTHING!

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.

Location: Kaiserslautern, Germany

So my final days in Germany were upon me. I never really thought that would happen, ok yes I did but still.

I finally quit my job, a WEEK before I was set to fly out... NOT the smartest thing in the world. My final days in Germany were full of late nights packing and stuffing and cleaning and trying to figure out what I'd take with me and what I'd leave until I make it back to Germany in December.

My final nights in Germany were actually rainy and grey, but how else did I expect Germany to let me leave? This past year though Germany has surprised me with some AMAZING storms, flash storms with lightning, hail, it's all been there. We even had snow that prevented me from driving up the hill to my house an entire week!

Yes, it was lovely. And I actually like the colors in the sky and the clouds. On to Arizona's monsoons... or so I hope.

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know.