Arizona Trip

So I haven't gotten to post about our trip back in May. It was such a fun time. The kids all had a great time either playing together or driving each other crazy.

We traveled most of the day on Tuesday with the help of some very kind Samaritans who helped get us through the airports. We got in very late and spent the night at Brody and Sandy's house.

Wednesday we hung out with Sandy and Emma. We went to a play date at the park. The kids all had a pretty good time. Later we picked up Matthew from school and met Brody for dinner. Once the kids were put down to bed Sandy and I stayed up way to late chatting.

Thursday was quite the adventure. We picked up Aunty Ra Ra (RiKenna) from the airport and met Grandma Mony. Then we all headed down to Safford. After quickly catching up with Aunty Jay Jay (Jaron). We ate dinner and then headed to Jay Jay's graduation. Considering the late night the boys did fairly well at the graduation but were ready to go to bed as soon as it was over. So unfortunately I had to race home and put them to bed.

Friday was another traveling day. We headed back to Phoenix. We went straight to the Mesa Temple to go through with Brody and Sandy for the first time. Ra Ra and Jay Jay took care of the kids for us. It was great to be there with Brody and Sandy- not to mention all of my cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Then it was off to a buffet for dinner with lots of our family. It was such a good time. Joel LOVED it! He got to eat macaroni and cheese, ice cream and more ice cream. Then we went to the hotel and swam.

Saturday we got up and headed back to the Mesa temple for Brody and Sandy's sealing. Again we got to see lots of cousins and Aunts and Uncles. Angela was there and I got to spend some time with her. We had some good times. Again more ice cream for Joel. He loves spending time with family that is very liberal with the ice cream. lol Then we said good-bye to Grandma Mony, Pa Pa, Jay Jay and Ra Ra and went home with Brody and Sandy.

Sunday we went to church with Brody and Sandy. Then we headed over to my cousin Kim's house for dinner. It was great fun. My Aunt Sheri and Uncle Brent were there and all their children except my cousin Matthew. Even my cousin Jason was there with his daughter. We ate biscuits with chocolate gravy (sounds strange but is actually quite tasty) as well as sausage gravy (but NOT together). The kids played and we all caught up. It was a fun night.

The rest of the week ran together in a blur. There was more swimming and barbecue at Cousin Kim's house. Playing in the sprinklers at Brody and Sandy's. A trip to the Urgent Care for Joel (tonsillitis). And lots of playing with Emma and Matthew. Joel and Emma were either best friends getting into "trouble" together or arch-enemies. They did have a good time though. Emma was such a good little cousin to Vance. She was just so sweet with him. When we drove around with him next to her she would hold his little hand. It was really cute. Matthew was of course a great cousin too. One night Joel was having a hard time going to sleep. So Matthew went in and read to him. It was so nice of him. He's such a great kid and SO smart too.

We were sad to leave. We had so much fun spending time with Sandy and Brody and their family and of course were sad that we didn't get to spend nearly enough time with Grandma Mony and Papa and Jay Jay and Ra Ra and everyone else. But we did appreciate the time we did get to spend with everyone. We love our family!