To Arizona and Back...

Since we last chatted here on the family blog, we've been to Arizona and are back in the great state of Alaska once again. The kids and I met Clayton in Arizona for another fast and fabulous visit with the family. As my kids get bigger, they enjoy their cousins, aunts/uncles and grandparents more and more! This visit was no exception. My kids revel in their time with their cousins. That is no exaggeration. It doesn't matter if we're at PPP, the park or jumping on a trampoline, they're in hog heaven. Believe it or not, there is very little bickering. In fact, it's a regular love-fest most of the time. I love watching Kara with her cousins. She's a little bit of a celebrity with them and instead of capitalizing on it, she tries to find things that each cousin enjoys while spending a little one-on-one with them. It's really quite amazing to me as a mom.

Here are some bullet point highlights from this trip:

*Hiking South Mountain with the group. Clayton and I got engaged on South Mountain and we used to hike it all the time when we lived in AZ pre-AF days. It was fun to be back in that element with our own kids plus the cousins.

*Valentine's Day party. It is fun to watch the kids be creative and make messes. What I REALLY love is watching them gift one another. I think they kind of get how it's actually fun to give and receive.

*Visiting the Great Grandmothers in Duncan. Both of my grandmothers are still living and are in good health. My kids LOVE going to visit. They have their own Duncan Expectations like I did growing up... they want quarters from Great Grandma Jeanette at Gi'Mee's and they want pancakes from Gram Boyd.

*Sleepovers at the Filleman and Johnson cousin's casas. There was not an overabundance of sleep happening, early rising but good times (on my kids' end, at least..... may have to break out the kid Ambien for the next time).

*For Mommy: happy hours, Bachelor watching, Super Mario Bros. playing, shopping, almond tequila margarita drinking, ice cream eating, sitting-round-the-table-talking, and the Paisley Violin top the charts.

*For Daddy: seeing Mommy (ha ha, not really), bromances with his brother and brothers-in-law, gun shooting and eating decent Mexican food. (These are conjectures, but I'm pretty sure I'm spot-on here)

Naturally, I forgot my camera and I wasn't very diligent using my dad's this time. With all the Arizona highs, there are the "saying good-bye lows". This gets exponentially harder every time as well. It is especially hard for Kara. She was WAILING when she said good-bye to her aunts, uncles and cousins on Saturday night. It was heartbreaking, really. She and Eli were two sad little messes and it got the rest of us tearing up as well. SO HARD! But very sweet to see how much they love eachother.

Big thanks going out to the Arizona contingent. You guys put your lives on hold for us when we visit and I know it isn't always easy or convenient. Needless to say, it's not lost on us! We know how much work and time you put in pre-, during, and post-visit. Thank you!!! Thank you for loving on us and the kids. To our friends that we missed (once again) while in AZ, I continue to ask for forgiveness. I swear to you, our time in AZ is over before it begins, especially when it's for a week-long visit.

Our trip home was blissfully uneventful. The kids did great. The only glitch was me not thinking to medicate Kara before the flight.. her ears were REALLY hurting on both descents. Our flights were on time. Kamdon and the kids picked us up at the airport and we hit up Moose's Tooth for lunch. Two of our favorite Alaska things within an hour of being home! Can't do much better than that :)