November 2015

November was a busy month! We went on 3 trips! 

Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas!

First up was Arizona! We went to Tucson with J's family for a family trip after Ty got home from his mission.

Here's the Idaho group on the airplane

Crammed into our car with all our luggage!

We went to a local joint for Mexican food. It was delicious!

Most of the pictures are mixed up, but I don't want to figure out where they all belong.

So enjoy!

Saguaro cacti are so much cooler in person! They're huge and they're everywhere! I didn't realize a forest could be a cactus forest until I saw the Saguaro national forest. Wow.

Hiking in Honeybee Canyon

We found the Honeybees! They were noisy!!

It was hard to get to the canyon, especially with a kid strapped to me, but it was beautiful.

 Out to lunch after our hike

These boys had so much fun playing together! 

We worked out every day. It was exhausting and I was super sore every day!

See? Exhausting! lol

this was on our way to family pictures. It was a big ordeal with him and a big fight. So therefore, he fell asleep on our way out... goob

Isn't it pretty?

 This was my first time meeting Coop. He loved me. lol

We went bowling. I am not a good bowler. I love going, but I stink, so it's not much fun for me...

There's a nice game room at the condos we stayed in, so we played Ping Pong and other fun games.

Todd brought his fryer. It was tasty!

The m&m's were better by themselves, though.

One of the coolest things we did was an Urban Adventure Quest. If you're in a new city, see if there's an UAQ where you are. It's so cool! You're sent on a scavenger hunt on foot around an older city. You find clues, enter it in online, and get the next clues. We loved it. Ciphers, counting, word scrambles...and history. 

So here's Tucson

One night, we left the kids with Gma and Gpa and went to Kitt Peak Observatory. It was a long drive to the top of a mountain where no light can reach you. We watched the sun set and learned about the stars, the sun, the atmosphere, looked at stars through binoculars, huge telescopes... it was fascinating!! and cold. Really. Really. Cold.

Ice cream cones one afternoon! Love TJ's mustache

We all wore our T1TJ shirts and did a 5K for JDRF. A neat walking path through neighborhoods.

 One day, the guys went golfing and left us girls for most of the day, so we got a girls night one evening and went shopping. 

 We got Sisters' necklaces.

It was a fun trip. We loved it!

On my way home, my dad called and told me his mom died. She had been struggling for a while and so it was wonderful to know that she would be walking easily, smiling, feeling confident, and remembering. 

She was such a wonderful, beautiful person. I loved hearing her sing. I loved her cooking. I loved watching movies with her. I loved going shopping with her. I loved how special she made me feel. I loved answering the phone as a youth. When she would call, she'd ask how I was. I'd say "I'm good," to which she'd always reply, "you LOOK good!" I would laugh every time. I miss this sweet lady!

So we drove to Utah!

My brother and nephew came and my sister and her family, and of course my parents. 

It was a nice visit with family on both sides. Funerals can be very sad. It's hard to part with loved ones. It feels so permanent. However, I believe we can see our loved ones again and be reunited with them. Therefore, funerals can actually be fun. You see loved ones you normally don't see!

My grandma had a fun style. She had excellent hats, scarves, fun jewelry, and cute dresses. I got to take home a few treasures and I love them. 

This is a beautiful silk scarf I got to keep. I also have a lovely white linen skirt of hers that I feel like she's with me when I wear it.

Back to Idaho we went!

I'm not sure WHAT he's eating, but he seemed to enjoy it!!

When I told him we could decorate for Christmas, I believe. love it!

Christmas light display in Caldwell is amazing. So many lights, just so pretty! And Santa was there at a salon nearby!

For our anniversary, we made a fort and watched a movie. It was cute and fun.

However, when C cried out, I went in and he sat up into my nose. It hurt for weeks.

Such an awesome dad.

He got his own cute pumpkin

heehee

Then I went to Arkansas for Thanksgiving!

zonked!

I told Sam I liked rock climbing, so he dragged me to the top of Pinnacle (I am NOT a hiker...) to climb. It was cold, windy, and almost dark. So we didn't feel good about it and went back down. But it was pretty!

 Handsome nephews

Ch and A "playing"

And the beautiful Lu

Making apple pie!

So beautiful!

Lu was such a sweet big cousin and read this book over and over and over and over and over to C

I love these tables done all fancy!!

And I LOVE ribbon jello! Jake and I were the ones voting for it, so I made it and we were happy. lol

I have the world's sweetest, funniest, awesomest nieces and nephews!

Playing SW minis. I was the big monster in the bottom corner. I got killed quickly. H was trying to figure out what to do, and I noticed she looked guilty. So I told her what I tell everyone we play DND with. Go kill the guy you first wanted to. She went and killed me quickly...lol

A got into sucking on heads of toys. His favorite was this lego clown guy. haha

I went over to play video games and got to do E's hair. It was lovely! I did an upside down french braid! 

Ru loved playing with A. Made me happy

Making cookies with Grandma!

We had a karaoke girls' night! I LOVED IT!! We had the volume up wayyy high, sang rather loudly and had a ball.

Girls' shopping trip. Recognize these earmuffs? lol

Saying goodbye to Gma at the airport. Thankful she could come to the gate with me. 

I hate leaving my home in Arkansas. So much of me is there. Love these wonderful people!

I'm getting into December, but that's ok. I figured I'd keep the trip together.