Adventures in Arizona

The Mesa Arizona Temple

In January the kids and I went to Arizona to visit my family. Unfortunetly, Casey had to work, and could not go with us. We were very lucky that he was allowed to go past the security checkpoint and wait for the plane and see us off.

The plane ride went smoothly, other than Coralie pooping (it had been 9 days since her last one) and having to change a diaper and outfit in the small bathroom. Both of the kids were very good on this flight, I don't think I could have expected them to be any better!

The sunset out the plane window

Javen's stuffed cat Rufus

Our first full day in Arizona was on Sunday the 15th, the kids and I joined my grandma at her stake conference. This was not a good idea, we had to be there early for her choir rehersal and then were there for 2 hours during the conference. Have a 3-year-old in a pew for 3 hours is not fun, and I will leave it at that!


After everyone took a nap we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for a family dinner. As soon as we opened the door my cousins Ariana and Josh were yelling, " Javen, Javen, you're here!" Then they took him upstairs to play. They also loved holding Coralie, everytime they saw her they both asked to hold her.





              
                                                



It was very strange being in 65-72 degree weather in January, and it took a couple of days for me to adjust. A few things that I really like about phoenix are that you can see so much of the sky, there are lemon, orange and grapefruit trees everywhere, and there were roses blooming in January!

There were so many cranes and strange looking

 birds that I have not seen in Oregon.
 And what a beautiful park!

 We went on quite a few walks with my grandma and on one of them Javen was able to pick a orange off of  a tree. Before he went to bed that night, Javen insisted that he eat his orange, and how could I deny him that? (It was a very good orange)

My grandma is VERY active, in fact, she is probably more active than most people. One of her many activities is line dancing. Every tuesday night she joins a group of people and line dances. Since we were there on a tuesday, we went line dancing. Afterwards we went swimming.

On our last day we visited the Mesa Arizona Temple grounds and visitor center, we could not have asked for better weather!

Our trip home was a "little bit" more difficult. A few things were left at my grandma's. (My cell phone was one of them!) At one point we thought that we had forgotton Javen's backpack, I had packed suckers for the trip to help with the pressure during the airplane ride and other things to entertain him. We went into a store past security and looked for some suckers to buy. One of the options of suckers were scorpion suckers! I was not sure if they were real so I looked on the ingredients and they were high fructose core syrup and scorpions. (I did not buy these suckers, Javen might actually eat it) Well come to find out we only left his backpack in the car,  thank goodness!

Our flight was delayed for about a half an hour so we were able to find his backpack, and get situated for the flight. My grandma stayed with us for a while and then before crying too much, said goodbye and left.

I did not enjoy the flight home. It was a bumpy ride and the seat belt light stayed on the whole time. During this, Javen had to go to the bathroom. How do you keep a 3-year-old who has to go to the bathroom from freaking out? It is hard. Finally after at least an half an hour a (and asking a flight attendent twice if we can go to the bathroom) I see someone get up and go to the bathroom up front. I then asked the flight attendent if I could take him to the bathroom and he said he could not stop us. WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME THAT BEFORE? I felt so bad for Javen, he tried so hard to stay dry. We finally made it to the bathroom and everything was ok for the moment.

Both of the kids fell asleep before the plane landed. This was ok until we had to get off of the plane, Javen did not want to get up. When it was our turn to get off I was carrying Coralie, Javen's backpack, the diaper bag, and my purse. I get up and look at Javen and he says, "Mommy carry me!" I and I am thinking, "Are you kidding?" A very nice passenger behind us offered to take my bags, so I pick up Javen and put him in the isle and make him walk to the front of the plane. We then are able to get the carseat and stroller and I am able to put down Coralie and the baggage. Javen did not want to walk so I had to hold him and push the stroller until we met Casey past security. Boy was I glad to be home!

This was such a wonderful trip and I had a such a great time visiting my family!