December in Arizona

While we didn't make it to Arizona for Christmas this year, we did make it down the following Monday. We made the long drive with the kids, complete with movies and snacks. The kids were actually really good most of the trip, but we were ALL ready to be out of that car when we got there. Matthew loved when we got to stop for a potty break, because that meant a short reprieve from his dungeon we call a car seat, but it was usually followed by a short tantrum when we tried to put him back in it. Oh well. We made it.

Lunch Break at Burger King - a chance to run amok!

Lisa and TJ and Riker were there for a couple of days more before heading off to Washington for the rest of their vacation, so we were able to overlap and spend some time with them.

Calli and Brendan are now in Arizona (hooray!) because Brendan is now done with Chiropractic school (hooray! - Anyone need a referral?) and they live less than 1/2 a mile from my mom's house, so many nights we got to go over after the kids were asleep and play games (don't worry, my parents were still at home, it's not like we left them alone in an empty house while we played games down the road).

Summer and Jessica were there too, Summer home for Christmas break and Jessica enjoying her vacation from school. Didn't see a ton of Summer... she really only slept at the house. Jessica, a little bit more, but not much. Gotta love a social life!

Of course we spent lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa! What did we do? Well, most of the time we ate. Yes, ate. Why, you ask? Because on January 1st we were starting the Biggest Lewis-er again (because we all got fat again... boo...), and we had to eat all the candy and fattening things in the house or else mom was going to throw them away. Honestly, I was tired of junk at the end of it... although I could totally go for some of it now.

Mike was only there for a week because then he had to get back to work. We worried whether he would get to come at all, since he just started this job and we didn't think he'd have any vacation time built up to be able to visit. But, just one more reason we love this company, the CEO "gifted" Christmas Eve to New Year's Day off for everyone in the company - no charge to vacation time. HOORAY! So Mike came down for one week, and we tried to fit in everything he wanted to do before we came back. So what did we do?

First of all, we spent some time with my Grandparents. We laugh that Mike is Grandpa's favorite because my Grandpa is a story-teller - mostly fish stories at that - and Mike is an attentive listener and asks questions about said stories. We had spent some time with them up at their place in Lindon a few summers ago and had learned to play 42 with them (it's a dominoes game that's very fun), so we went over a couple of afternoons to visit and to play 42 with them. It was so fun. Amy and Matthew ran around outside (because it wasn't freezing in Arizona and they refused to come inside because they knew when we came back to UT they wouldn't be allowed to run outside without coats anymore) and played in the leaves and looked at the horses. Of course Amy had to pick an orange or two... along with the whole box of oranges and lemons we brought back with us.Gotta love Arizona citrus! We sure do!

We also got to spend some time with our friends the Owens. Man we miss them! We used to live around the corner and we practically lived at each other's houses. They were the type of friends that you could call on a Friday night and say "we're not doing anything tonight. Want to come over and do nothing with us?" And they would, and we'd eventually pick a movie or game or just hang out. Yep, definitely miss them. We made it over to Goodyear for some pizza and games with them. They also came over on New Year's Eve.

Speaking of New Year's Eve, that was the last day before Mike went home. So of course he wanted to get some disc golfing in. So the Owen's came over to Calli and Brendan's with us after the boys went disc golfing. We had a great time with the Potter's - eating (of course), playing lots of games (my new game learned is Puerto Rico - very fun!), and shooting off fireworks (did you know they legalized it in AZ for a couple days a year? I'm really surprised!). The kids ran around crazy and the babies crashed in all different rooms.

Amy and Matthew loved playing with cousins. Taylor, Keaton, and Brody were at my mom's house a lot because she watches Calli's kids while Calli's at work. So we got to see a lot of the cousins. Amy and Keaton are really good buddies now - most of the time. Brody and Matthew played in tandem pretty well. Taylor liked to be the queen of the babies and tell everyone what to do. Such is a life of 5 kids, 6 and under.

Amy, Matthew, and I stayed an extra week to spend some more time with my family. It worked out well that we did because my Grandpa was getting knee replacement surgery that week and Mom spent a lot of time shuttling Grandma to west Phoenix to visit him the hospital, so we were able to help out and watch Calli's kids while Mom was out.

I also celebrated my 27th birthday in Arizona. I spent the morning shopping with Calli and Mom, followed by lunch at Pita Jungle (yum!). Later I went out to Goodyear and had dinner with Nikki (miss her so much!). It was a low-key day, but very nice.

The trip ended with the drive back to Utah. While I am totally and completely capable and comfortable driving back by myself with the kids, my very loving father and mother insisted on driving back with me. Thanks Mom and Dad! They got to stay for a couple nights and then flew home. They even willingly sat in a car for 11 hours on their ANNIVERSARY! Now that's true love.

All and all it was a great trip and we are definitely missing the warmth of Arizona these days! Can't wait to go again!