Trip to Arizona

This summer we spent a little more than 3 weeks in Arizona and had a great time! Jeff was working his crazy work schedule, so I braved the trip there with just me and the kids.  Fortunately, the kids are great to travel with. We made it with no problems and enjoyed our time on the road.

A little after we got there, Laura had her 39th birthday. We went with her best friend Mary to get a pedicure and then met Brent for lunch. I hope she had a fun birthday because I sure had fun celebrating with her. I really am blessed with the best sister in the world!

Whenever I go home, I always feel like I never have enough time to do everything I want or see everyone I want to see.  Luckily I got to see some of my closest friends this time and LOVED it! We got to meet with Mitch and Elizabeth Cluff a few times. I love being with them. Always enjoy their company. Got to enjoy lunch with her and Steve Wright from my old single's ward days too. So fun!! I got to have breakfast with some of my favorite girls from High School - Heather Andreasen Biggs, Jennifer & Jill Bott and Andi Clark Gooch.  I always enjoy doing breakfast with them and catch up on everything that has happened in our worlds.  Another highlight was reuniting (most of) the Session Brothers and Session Sisters! Our little gang had so much fun together through all the years we've known each other. Lance, Beau, Lynda, Shelly and I and our spouses met at Tim Knollmiller's home and had a great time reliving the good old days. I LOVED being with all of them again. Just wished Karla and Rob could have joined us to complete the gang. We missed them. It made me realize once again how I really have been blessed with the most AMAZING friends in my life! Lucky me!

Of course no trip to AZ would be complete without lots of swim time!  We had so much fun being in the pool enjoying silly dives and chicken fights. Laura even got some synchronized swimming going on.

Of course we also had to spend A LOT of time at Laura and Brent's Krazy Sub. WE LOVE KRAZY SUB!!! This year they added a new menu item....Krazy Kookies. Two homemade cookies stuffed with Thrifty's ice cream in the middle. SO YUMMY! And of course my kids had lots of fun with their cousins doing talent shows, shopping at the mall, playing the dollar store game and hanging out. They all get a long so well.  Todd and Jen moved up to California recently, but luckily for us Jen came down with the kids so they had them to play with too. They really love each other. And I love how sweet and kind the older cousins are to my little ones. Regan got really attached to Rebecca and cried every time she wasn't around. All of them are the best!

One Saturday we all took a little day trip up to Payson and then to the Natural Bridge. Payson was absolutely gorgeous that day. We went to the park to have lunch and goof around and play games. It rained a little while we were playing games, but we didn't get any of it. The temperature even dropped down to 68 degrees for a while. It was so nice. 

Afterwards, we went to do a short hike down to the Natural Bridge. It was a great little hike and very pretty.  We even found a bush loaded with blackberries that we picked. Laura was the champion of blackberry picking as she would jump smack in the middle of the bushes. And even though we all got scrapped up and dyed with blackberry stains, it was all worth it when we got back to my mom's house and Brent made us some fabulous blackberry cobbler. YUMMY! Loved that day!!!

Jeff had his 38th birthday and we celebrated our 16th anniversary while there. My wonderful sister was nice enough to watch the kids for us as we went over to Scottsdale and stayed a night at the Westin Hotel there. It was great!  The hotel staff was super friendly. The room was big and gorgeous. The grounds were beautiful.  Unfortunately the weather didn't quite cooperate. Monsoon season hit. The hotels have a bunch of awesome pools and even a lazy river. Jeff and I got all ready and got to the pool, stepped in the lazy river just in time for them to kick us out because there was lightening. That was a bit of a bummer. But we ended up doing a little shopping and then stuffed ourselves at    
PF Chang's for dinner. We grabbed a slice of cheese cake from the Cheesecake Factory then went to a movie.  The next morning we got a late check out and finally enjoyed the pools until we left to go and help decorate for my cousin Kelsey Passey's wedding. Great way to celebrate our anniversary.  Laura is the best!

Our last day there we got to go to Kelsey and Craig's sealing in the Mesa temple and then go to their reception. Everything was beautiful...especially the bride!  

I loved being able to see all my Utah Aunts, Uncles and cousins and spend time with them. I wish I could see them more.  I am blessed with the most wonderful family a girl could ask for! Right after the reception we loaded in the truck and headed home.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip!