So I decided to make one of my fliers in Illustrator. I was so excited, when I pulled the image in to move around and change- all of the elements were separate. I didn't have to crop and pull images apart.
I also learned a little bit more about isolating layers. In photoshop you have layers you can edit. This is true in illustrator as well, however you can also have one image on a layer that is composed of different elements. You can click on the individual elements and adjust them in an isolated layer.
As I was working through this I saw a cloud shaped element but only half of it was showing. When I clicked on the element it showed a path of a whole cloud. I tried so many ways to get the whole cloud show up. Finally I realized it was invisible or not colored- it was hidden (embedded) within an object. I ended up not using it after all that work. But here is how my flier turned out.