My Adventures: Our Arizona Vacation (Better Late Than Never)

I bet you thought, I would be done posting about Arizona after two posts, but no. We did way too many things, and I was suppose to post about stuff while I was there but didn't so you get it all in one big gulp.

So the majority of days in Arizona consisted of similar activities. I would try to wake up early (about 5:00ish) I would read my scriptures and then try to be really quiet, so the girls didn't wake up. However, I only had to be quiet a few days because my kids were up at about 5:30 every day. Luckily, Oma could walk and I could run even though the girls were awake because Papa was around and they were more than happy to follow him around, play in the sandbox, play with skippy, or play around in the house. I will tell you one thing, Tia loves Skippy and the chickens. She would ask Papa every day to take her out to the chickens, and she would go outside countless times a day to just pet Skippy. Anyway, I would come back from my run and play with the girls. Sometimes we read books, sometimes we played in the sandbox it just kind of depended on the day. Then we would go inside and have scriptures and prayers with Oma and Papa before Papa left for work. Then Oma and I would try to get the girls outside one more time before it got to hot. Then it was breakfast. Then we would play and play and play. Sometimes we would swim. Sometimes take a shower. Just kind of did whatever we wanted to. Then lunch and naps. Then we would swim again. A couple of times after swimming Oma let us take a bubble bath in her Jacuzzi tub and it was so great.Then come help with dinner and then books and bed. It was so great. I so loved just hanging out it was so great.

With that schedule in mind we still managed to do a lot of little and big extra things too. One really big thing we did was go to the Tuscon Temple open house and Tuscon Zoo. We left early on a Monday morning with a sack lunch and headed to Tuscon. Oma and Papa treated us to the zoo. I had forgotten how great that zoo is. We met up with my cousin Michayle and her girls. It was a really fun trip. The animals are, so close that it isn't hard to spot them unless it has gotten too hot and they are inside there houses. We got to see almost every animal except the Jaguar. We played for awhile at their elephant kingdom. We probably spent a good 2 hours walking around the zoo and it was the perfect amount time to see everything. At the end of the zoo trip, the girls got so spoiled and got to ride on the carousel. They have wanted to do this since they noticed the one at the Denver zoo, so they were thrilled. After the ride, we went to a near by park and had a picnic lunch.

Kylee and Tia looking at the Giraffes.

Kylee playing the instruments that were near the elephants.

Cypress, Gilliene, Tia, Ginny, and Kylee at the Zoo.

Kylee and Tia loved this egg and insisted on this picture.

Kylee a little unsure in this picture, but loved it.

A little blury but here is Oma, Kylee, Tia, and I on the carousel.

Kylee, Papa, and Tia by the elephants.

Then it was off to the real reason we headed to Tuscon which was the temple open house. The girls were so excited to go inside a temple again. This tour was a little more guided than the Ft. Collins one, but it also had a a TON of people going through it. It was a beautiful temple and then it was so great to see it. You can't tell by the pictures, but the girls really did have a great time. Once we finished our tour, we started our trek home although we did make a quick stop at McDonald's for ice cream, and boy was that a nice treat after such a warm day. Oma and Papa were real troopers to put up with us in the heat and in the car, but I am so glad they did because I love taking my girls to the temple, and it was super fun to go to the zoo.

Papa and Kylee on the bus to the temple.

Tia and Oma on the bus to the temple.

Kylee, Me, and Tia at the temple.

Papa, Oma, Kylee, Tia, and I .

Tia and Kylee after the tour.

Another great thing I get to do when I go home is go to the temple. Oma and Papa live about 10 minutes from the Gila Valley Temple and it is so great to go. My first Friday home; Oma, Papa, and I went to the 4:00pm session while my cousins watched the girls. It was a fairly big session, but not too big and it was so great to just go to the temple. There is always such peace in the temple and really just lifted me to be able to go. Plus, I always love seeing my family in the celestial room. The second Friday I was there we went to the temple again. This time we did some sealings. The sealings were did were some of my Grandma's relatives from Germany and we sealed a whole family together. Then another couple was there too, and we helped seal some people too. After doing that Oma, Papa, Papa Ross (he joined us for sealings), and I went out for lunch at one of my favorite Mexican food places Casa. However, I just hadn't gotten enough of the temple that day and wanted to go back. So, my mom dropped me off at the temple to do initiatories and then went home to relive the babysitter. It was so great to go back. I loved hearing the initiatory blessings again, and then I loved going and sitting in the Celestial room. However, when I left I felt a lot more satisfied, so I am glad I went back.

Me at the temple.

So, it is now (7/11) and things are getting foggy in my memory, but I saw some more pictures and wanted to document two more things we did. One was on both Saturday's I was home we did firepit things. The first Saturday we did a weiner roast. It is always so good to have a fire roasted hotdog. Also Oma made brownies to put on instead of chocolate and it was so good. Plus it is always a treat to enjoy extra time with Papa Ross. He came on both Saturday's and I think he had a good time. Anyway, the second Saturday we did dutch oven. My dad really likes dutch oven food or at least I think he does, so I wanted to make him some because he never gets it. Well, I can't do it on my own, so luckily my dad was willing to help me out. It turned out so good. My mom grilled chicken and we made dutch oven potatoes, peach cobbler, and my dad made homemade ice cream. It was quite a feast.

Getting the fire started for hotdogs.

Me, Oma, Papa, and Papa Ross chillin in the backyard.

Kylee and Tia playing after the hotdog roast.

Finally, one last great thing was that we got to see Lindsay, Betty Jane, Allen, and Roxy. It was so fun to watch those kids together. Tia and Allen actually played with each other which is a first. They swam together and did that way after the other two were done, they played in the sandbox together, and they watched Papa together it was awesome! Kylee and Betty Jane also had a good time together. They did the normal things like play house and stuff like that. I just really love watching my kids play with their cousins. Tia and Kylee but especially Tia was thrilled to death to have Roxy around too. She loved to hold her and help her. Poor Roxy, but luckily for me Roxy handled it well. We really only had a about 36 hours together, so the kids had to play fast and they were just getting really good at it when we had to part ways, so we definitely need to get together for a longer span of time next time. I am so glad Lindsay survived the horrific adventure of their car catching on fire and still bringing Aunt Kitt to surprise my dad and bringing the kids over to play. I think it was such a great thing.