We've been saving for a while and finally felt like we needed to make a trip out to Arizona. We haven't been back as a family in 4 years, we have family that aren't doing to well, health-wise, and we knew we had to come. The boys had the whole week of Thanksgiving off, the next week 2 of the days were half-days, and Dan had time to take off, so we decided to make it a 2 week vacation. We thought we'd have to drive out, but miraculously we found a great deal on flights and my sister had room for us to stay at her house and a car that she could lend us that our whole family could fit in.
On Thursday, Nov. 15th our friend Stephanie came with us and dropped us off at the Grand Rapids Airport.
The kids were super excited for the flight!
The kids had a great time, they had lots to keep them occupied and had fun knowing they were flying. After the flight, the pilot let the kids look into the cockpit and see all the buttons and levers. They were pretty stoked about that! :)
To top it off, Allegiant threw a party for us when we landed! Well, not really. Frontier Airlines was having their first flight at the Mesa Airport and they thought ours was their flight. They had camera crews, free cookies, free water, free hand-outs, balloons, and even a band! That was pretty nice of them! My mom and sister Vanessa met us inside and helped us get situated and took us to my parents' house close by, where we got some dinner. We got the cars situated and then went to stay with Vanessa and Conrad (and their kids) in Phoenix.
Our wonderful, generous hosts! Newlyweds Vanessa and Conrad just got braces on Halloween, so there were many things, like yummy jerky, that we were able to take off their hands and enjoy because they aren't allowed to. :)
The day after we arrived, our great friends the Dibbles threw a party with friends that we used to hang out with in AZ. While we knew we wouldn't be able to see everyone we were friends with, this was a fun way to see a lot of them in one place. I can't believe how much kids change when you're not there! I didn't realize how much I missed some of my friends! One of the funny moments was while we were helping Whitney and Elliot set up for the party. Stella (their oldest that used to play with Donovan) was excited to play with Donovan once again. We ushered the kids to go out back to play and Stella came out of her room wearing her best Sunday shoes and lots and lots of lipstick. It was hilarious! I don't know what her plans were with that lipstick, but Whitney had her take it off - a couple of times. :) She seemed a little deflated after that. I wish I had gotten pictures of the kids playing together and of the party with friends.
Our kids, Grant, Zoe, and Zowie got along great! In fact a little too well :). It was a bit chaotic at times. We were sure feeling the love! Lots of fun memories for the cousins!
One of my favorite people that we had to see was my grandma! Before our trip, she had only met Ross 2 times and had never met Avery. That had to change!
They hit it off right away! Avery loved Great-Grandma! And I know Grandma loved playing and visiting with the kids.
Here the kids were giving Great-Grandma lots of love!
G-Grandma and Avery singing songs.
Avery kept giving G-Grandma things to play with. It was a game I guess. Avery is usually a blur in photos these days. :)
On Saturday, we celebrated Vanessa's 31st birthday (Even though it was really on Sunday). We were planning on going bowling, but plans changed so we winged it! The kids (big and little) had fun playing and watching movies and playing games.
And eating. (All the Elliott grandkids!)
After dinner we went out back and made s'mores. This was also the 1st time in 4 years that my whole family has been together at the same time.
Grant loved having Avery around. I loved having extra eyes on her because she is EVERYWHERE these days and into EVERYTHING and boy is she fast!!!
For the Sunday dinner (Vanessa's actual birthday) we tried sushi. It was pretty good! The kids liked it too!
Monday, Nov. 19th we took our family on a trip to Northern Arizona. There are many things we love about Northern AZ and we wanted to have the kids see some amazing sights.
We first came to Montezuma's Castle near Sedona.
Since we were taking the kids out of school for this trip, we wanted them to learn a bit of history.
At any of the National Parks, we had the kids fill out Jr. Ranger booklets and they got to become Jr. Rangers. They had to learn about the Park they were at and take an oath to protect the land and do their best.
Then they were gifted a badge to keep.
Ah! My Peaks! These are the SanFrancisco Peaks. This is my favorite place in the whole world! I've even hiked to the top of Humphrey's Peak (the highest point in all of AZ at over 12,000 ft.) while in college. We were able to take the kids around Flagstaff, AZ and show them where Mommy and Daddy met, where our dorms were at NAU, and we got to eat at our favorite spot - Crystal Creek Sandwich Co. - they make the best sandwiches! It must be the name. :)
We then visited Meteor Crater.
The kids got to watch a little 10 min. video on how the asteroid flew through the atmosphere and struck the earth. With the music they chose, the kids were a little nervous but not completely scared.
The hiking backpack we brought with us was a lifesaver. Dan had a sore back for a bit but it helped us to relax and know that our busy girl Avery wouldn't be falling into any great holes. :)
The Earl family with a piece of the meteorite.
They have this cool window surrounded by brick which makes it look like a photo. So of course I had to take advantage of the photo opportunity.
More of the view of the peaks.
We then went to Sunset Crater, which isn't a crater from a meteor but a dormant volcano.
My sweet family on the lava flow. (It wasn't that cold out, but the wind made it a little chilly while the sun was getting ready to set.)
There was no age requirement on this one, so all the kids became Jr. Rangers for Sunset Crater.
Then we rested for the night. What was awesome was that we tried to find the best priced room away from NAU campus (didn't want the college kid atmosphere). When we got there, we asked for a portable crib -Avery is not still and would be into everything and never sleep otherwise. They had just given away their last one, so they upgraded our room for free. So instead of a 2 queen bed room, they gave us a 2 queens plus a queen sleeper sofa - a $130 upgrade! That helped our big family to not be as cramped as we thought we'd be to save money. And to boot, once we settled into the room they knocked on our door to give us a portable crib that they sent for from another of their establishments in town. Yee Haw! Go Days Inn and Suites!
Bright and early the next morning we set out for the Grand Canyon! We stopped at the Watchtower to get our first glimpse of this natural wonder!
We climbed to the very top of the watchtower.
So Beautiful!
The Earls at the Grand Canyon!
The kids got Jr. Ranger Badges here too, but we must have forgotten to take a picture because of the 30 min long line in order to have someone give them to the kids! It wasn't that busy either! That put us a bit behind schedule and thus Donovan chose to cut out seeing Dinosaur Tracks up by Tuba City for this trip. *For a cub scout belt loop Donovan planned out our whole N. AZ trip including finding the projected cost for our excursion.
As we headed east the kids started filling out their Jr. Ranger packets for the next stop. The minivan we rented for the N. AZ trip was nice and roomy!
I got to be the chauffeur of the entire trip because we didn't want to pay for a second driver and my name was on the credit card. I think we ended up putting almost 2,000 miles on the van in 2 days! I was happy to not have to drive for the whole rest of our trip!
On the long drive, we passed a llama farm...
and a fire that we hope was a controlled burn...
an awesome sign that said "Save Economy Vote Romney"...
and some dinosaurs wanting to say hi...
until we got to the Petrified Forest. In this picture Ross and Elliott are on the right of a petrified log, Dan, Avery, and Dono are down to the left on the other side, and I'm in the middle in shadow. :) It was a big petrified log.
A huge petrified stump decided to take a picture with my family. :)
The beautiful layers of stone in the Painted Desert. The Rangers told us that the park closed at 5pm. As long as we were in our car heading toward the exit we would be ok. At 5 till 5 we hopped in the car and headed for the exit through the 30 mile Painted Desert and prayed we'd be able to get out. I was a little nervous that we'd be trapped so I sped through the Desert well above the posted sign. Hence the pictures Dan took were a little bit blurry. We made it and saw beautiful landscapes as the sun was going to bed.
The beautiful sunset.
Colors on the Eastern sky.
Beautiful swirly clouds.
The mountains look so pretty. I miss them. MI has no mountains.
I thought this was pretty cool.
On Wednesday after our trip we got my family's picture taken by my friend, Whitney (will post those once we get them back), since all of my family was in town.
On Thanksgiving, we went to my grandma's for our traditional lunch, even though the timing was a little mixed up this year.
I wanted to get a four-generation picture.
Ah the memories. Grandma's house has always been small and this is the hustle and bustle I have always remembered to get the food ready.
We lay the food out, the menfolk stay and watch the game, and the rest of us head outside to eat. It was great seeing everyone and having them meet Avery. It was also great to see my cousin Jeff who had a tragic bike accident and is in recovery.
Avery discovered she liked olives after G-Aunt Barbara put some on her fingers. I caught her snitching them like this ever since. She tried to be all sneaky! It was a great laugh!
We then headed to Vanessa's for dinner.
The kids' table :)
The adults (our family and Conrads)
Conrad's Aunt Mary and my dad
After Uncle Conrad made pies, Avery decided to be of help.
Of course there were games too!
Then Vanessa and I headed out for Black Friday shopping the next morning.
We also spent time with Nama & Papa Earl. For some reason we didn't take a whole lot of pictures. We went out to brunch and spent some time at their house (with Avery trying to get into everything, of course!)
It was going to be so warm for us in AZ, and Vanessa has a pool, so we thought we'd take a dip in the pool. HAH! We had a few jumps in, but it was a bit freezing!
Avery and Ross stayed out because it was too cold. I don't think they missed out!
Elliott was bouncing and knocking knees he was so cold!
Avery decided to cuddle with Uncle Conrad once he got home from work.
One day we went to Ben Avery with Dan's parents. Avery was actually named after this facility, not because we love to shoot or have fond memories of the place, but because this was always the road sign I would pass in my youth and know that I was headed to Flagstaff - my favorite place. I've always liked the name and it stuck. Dan's parents play cowboy and help out at the Winter Range every year at Ben Avery, so they wanted to show us around.
Avery had to get her picture taken with her namesake.
The Earl Family at the Saloon
N & P Earl and Grandkids
We also had a combined park outing with some of our friends from AZ (Hales and Travis') and some friends (Hills and Worsleys) that we've made out here in MI that have since moved to AZ. It was a great time catching up and funny that some of our MI friends knew some of our AZ friends. It really is a small world! We ate some of our favorite food (Costa Vida) afterwards, actually for the second time this trip! Yum!
Then we stopped by to see the new temple that is being built in Gilbert. It wasn't open to visit, but it should be ready for the open house very soon! The open house is where anyone of any religion can go inside to see the beauty and history of the temple before it is dedicated. Once it is dedicated, only worthy members of the LDS church that hold a recommend are permitted in. We're so excited that Arizona is having so many temples built!
A fun time after church our last Sunday was to get together with my Grandma, Aunts, Uncle, and cousins to play five crowns. It was great fun. I miss the craziness of my family, they're lots of fun to be around.
On another outing, we got to spend some time with my best friend Kelli and her family at a park.
After dinner we lined all our kids up. L-R: Elliott, Donovan, Maya (she kept calling Dono her boyfriend - it was so cute), Tavyn, Roswell, Avery, and Eden. The kids all got along great together! We used to play together every week when we lived in AZ but now our kids have doubled in quantity and have gotten big!
Kelli and Bob (It's really funny too- Bob's dad was one of my dad's groomsmen at my parents' wedding. Such a small world!)
Playing at the park.
The night before we were heading back to MI we were having a family party with Dan's family at the Deer Valley Airport. Conrad owns some planes that he is fixing up that stay at that airport, so we decided to go early and take a look at the planes too.
I have no remembrance of what the planes are called, but the kids had fun sitting and 'flying' them. (They're not air ready yet.) Here's Donovan and Elliott.
Avery and Ross took turns looking at the camera.
Lots of buttons!
Grant and Zoe
The Earl Family
Another plane with Elliott and Ross.
Avery and Dono having a good time too.
Dan and I had to join in on the fun! It was close quarters!
Zoe and Elliott. They are only 3 months apart.
Then we got in Conrad's dad's plane that is almost ready to fly.
You can tell Elliott was loving the affection! ;)
Then we went inside to see Dan's family.
It was great seeing everyone! We got to see Dan's parents, Aunt and Uncle, lots of cousins (we even met Mike's new wife Anna and their new baby Emma - so cute!), and even Dan's dad's friend from childhood and her husband.
We had our own room in the restaurant so it was great visiting and eating some yummy food.
We had a great time in AZ! There were so many more things to do and family and friends to visit with that we just didn't seem to have the time for - even though we seemed to be doing stuff all the while! We hope to be able to come back again soon.
