Our remedy, then, was to search our timeshare database to see if we could find someplace to go AFTER Nate's year-end busy season was over. But, we needed someplace close enough to get there by car (since flying a family of six can be prohibitively expensive), and we wanted someplace WARM to get away from our arctic Colorado climate. And, as luck would have it, we found an awesome deal for our timeshare in Phoenix, AZ! So, we celebrated the New Year by heading southwest for some fun, some downtime, and some educational experiences. But, we mostly did it for the great family memories!
I hadn't been to Phoenix since a business trip I had taken while I was working for Swank AV in St. Louis back in August 2000. I lived in the Tempe and Chandler areas back in 94-96 during and after my graduate degree at BYU, when I worked for Intel. I expected to be pretty good at finding my way around while we were there since I had lived there before. But when we arrived and I hardly recognized anything, I became aware that it had actually been almost 20 years since I was a resident of Arizona. WHAT??? Man, time just seems to fly so fast sometimes. It seems like that period of my life was just a few years ago...but TWENTY??? Sheesh. I'm old. I get it. Ha!
It is a 14-hour drive from our house to Phoenix, so we did spend a LOT of time in the car. On the way back, however, we took two days to make the trip so that we could stop at some interesting places and learn about some history while we were at it. We went to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, to Four Corners and to Mesa Verde in Colorado. It was still a lot of time in the car, but we got to see some great stuff, so it was worthwhile!
Please enjoy the photo album from our trip below:
 |
| This is the only picture I have from our loooooooooong 14-hour drive to Phoenix on the first day. We brought along a few toys for Trey, including this Buzz Lightyear. What we didn't know when we settled on this particular toy, was that when he pushed the buttons that made Buzz beep and flash and speak, that sometimes we would hear a siren that would make us think that we had an emergency vehicle approaching from behind *every time!* Haha! Very distracting! :) |
 |
| On the first day in town, we (foolishly???) agreed to go to a presentation for timeshare sales, just so we could get some extra cash and a few free games of golf for Nate. You know those guys have a way of trying to rope you into spending thousands of dollars, and it can be hard to get away. This picture shows how Trey felt about having to wait for us while that was going on! |
 |
| I should mention that after our first full day in town, we had dinner with some old friends of mine that I knew from the single's ward I attended when I lived there. They married each other and have lived in Mesa ever since! So, we met up with them and their children to eat, and then we went to church with them the next morning. So fun! Afterwards, because it was Sunday and we didn't want to head out to party just yet, we went to visit the grounds of the temples there! Back when I lived in AZ, there was only one temple in Mesa. But within the last year, they dedicated TWO new temples in the area. So, we went to see them all! |
 |
| This is my crew in front of the new (massive!) Gilbert, AZ temple. I love how Coco is wrapped in a blanket! We did not take our heavy coats on this trip because we knew we wouldn't need them and didn't want to take up the space in the car. But, it WAS a bit chilly on this day! So, the blanket was a good solution for the walk around the temple grounds. |
 |
| The cornerstone shows that this was dedicated just last year, in 2014! See the palm tree there? |
 |
| Amazing blue sky, huge palm tree and other desert plants, and a gorgeous temple! |
 |
| Trey in front of the Gilbert AZ temple. I am including several funny pictures of Trey here, because during this trip he had a hilariously difficult time figuring out how to pose and smile for photos. It was always, "Look at me! Smile for me!" And he would look somewhere past the photographer, and put on more of a grimace than a smile, and say, "I AM looking at you!" It was super funny! This photo wasn't too bad, though. Cute little bug! |
 |
| LOVE this face! |
 |
| Nice one, buddy. This one was at the Mesa, AZ temple. We couldn't find a cornerstone, but this temple is one of the oldest and has been there since 1916. |
 |
| Now we're talking! Success! |
 |
| It took so much effort to get a decent pose from Trey...can you tell these cute kids in the background are just holding their poses patiently while they wait for me to convince Trey to smile properly? Ha! Mesa Arizona temple. |
 |
| Avery! |
 |
| Oh, how I love this picture from the Mesa temple grounds! Two of the most handsome guys on the planet there! We found the desert foliage so lovely and interesting. They do such a great job of keeping the grounds in bloom year-round in Mesa. Here, Nate is pointing out to Chase some of the plant varieties they see. |
 |
| In this picture, Chase actually looks taller than Nate! He's almost there, that's for sure! |
.
 |
| The cactus garden on the Mesa temple grounds. |
 |
| Me and my honey posing for a photo in front of the temple. This really tugs at my heart, because when I was 24-26 years old, living alone in Arizona as a single woman, I used to get really lonely. I would go to the Mesa temple and pray for and hope for a day when I would have a family of my own. So, on that Sunday in 2015 when I took my sweet, forever family there with me, I felt the tender mercy of realizing that my prayers, offered up in that very spot, had been answered, and in the VERY best way. I can't even express it adequately because it is, and always has been, my FONDEST dream. |
 |
| So, so, so thankful! |
 |
| This was the last of the Christmas decorations that remained on the temple grounds. |
 |
| A lemon tree, bearing fruit in January, on the Mesa temple grounds! |
 |
| Later that afternoon we did a little more sight-seeing, including driving by where I used to live and work. Then we found our way out to the new Phoenix temple. The "family selfie" is something I haven't really mastered yet...obviously! Ha! But, here we are in front of the Phoenix temple. |
 |
| This is a much smaller temple than the one in Gilbert, and shares a parking lot with a regular old ward building. But, it is still lovely and majestic! |
 |
| Avery observing the saguaro cactus, taller than he is! |
 |
| Phoenix temple |
 |
| Me and my little gal in front of the Phoenix Temple! |
 |
| We stayed at a place called the Legacy Golf Resort, which happened to be located just north of South Mountain. The mountains in Phoenix are not quite as "mountainous" as those in Utah and Colorado, but they will do! On Monday, we decided to get up on that mountain and hike the "Mormon Loop." This was our view of the entire Valley of the Sun from up on South Mountain. |
 |
| My crew posing for a photo when we were about halfway up South Mountain. Although this was not the first time we have taken Trey hiking, he did make this observation somewhere along the way: "Mom, I think hiking is just walking on a mountain." Yup! Such a perceptive child! |
 |
| We LOVED having this guy to hang out with all week! |
 |
| Courtney hiking (or "walking on a mountain") with her water bottle in hand! |
 |
| There were a few places to climb up big rocks and get an even better view of the valley. Can you believe the gorgeous blue sky and the warm weather in January? It was perfect! |
 |
| Trey was showing us his muscles. :) |
 |
| Kids climbing up to high places on rocks. Made my uterus hurt a little! They're so high up there! |
 |
| Hello, Arizona! Now THAT'S a big saguaro cactus. Chase suddenly looks short again. |
 |
| More big rocks! This was a great day! |
 |
| An outdoor pool! During the first week of January! In this photo, Coco is showing me how she can sit on the bottom of the pool. And, I'm pretty sure that's my finger blocking the lower right of the picture. :) |
 |
| Daddy and Trey in the pool at our resort. Trey was a little reluctant, as is usual for him when we first get in the pool. To be honest, it was a little cold for him, AND for me, so we only stayed in the pool for a little while. It was around 72-75 degrees Fahrenheit, and the pool was heated, so it was GREAT for the guys who could swim and splash around nonstop. But since Trey can't swim on his own yet, when I hold him we have to take things pretty slow. So, I didn't warm up that much. So, we had fun for a little while and then got out and watched the rest of the kids play! |
 |
| At this moment, I was ALMOST convinced to move to Phoenix permanently! :) |
 |
| I'm forgetting exactly what day we did which stuff. We got out to do lots of fun things, but some days we spent a lot of time resting and reading. This was true on one afternoon when Nate played a round of golf, and on another day when Nate went to meet with a potential client in the area. BUT, we played hard the rest of the time! In this photo, we were at the Phoenix Zoo, late in the evening so we could see their Christmas Zoo lights! I thought the kids looked a little too stiff in this photo, so..... |
 |
| They got a little goofy for me! And, what made it even more fun was that the lights were changing colors around them. From purple... |
 |
| ...to green... |
 |
| ...to red! |
 |
| It was getting pretty dark, but we were enjoying the lights choreographed to music. |
 |
| Having a great time! |
 |
| Another morning, we went to a local park to play! We thought there would be a running train and other rides, but they happened to be closed that day (I think it was because it was a weekday). However, the playground equipment was fun...and it was FREE! Gotta love that on a vacation! |
 |
| Trey on the slide! |
 |
| Coco on the playground equipment. |
 |
| More playground! Even Daddy and the big boys had a great time at the park that morning, because they invented some crazy version of tag that kept them busy and helped them get a little low altitude exercise! |
 |
| Later that day, we met up with a former co-worker of mine from Intel, Wendy Callaghan! We worked very closely together for the last year and a half that I was there. We were both single at the time, but since then we have both gotten married and gotten busy raising families--she has 3 super cute teenage boys now. It had been 17 years since we last saw each other! |
 |
| Another fun morning playing miniature golf as a family! Thank goodness this was a weekday morning in January and was NOT busy, because our crew of six players had to take our time getting through the course. As it was, we had to let two groups play through around us. But, we had a blast! Here, Coco is lining up her shot. At one hole, she even got a hole in one! |
 |
| Chase is getting pretty decent at this game! And, this was the first time I heard him using a little "trash talk" with his dad on the course. Haha! Hey, Daddy can dish it out...so it's a good thing he doesn't mind taking it! |
 |
| Trey, on the other hand...has a little work to do on his form. |
 |
| This guy is just happy to be there, so we throw out the rule book and the score card on his behalf and let him at it. |
 |
| Avery is improving AND having fun! |
 |
| And, of course, Daddy shows us all how it's done. |
 |
| Trey looks a little better on this shot, although he's not waiting his turn very well! |
 |
| He does what it takes to get the ball in the hole! |
 |
| This was a FUN place--Butterfly Wonderland! Great smile, once again, from Trey! We actually have a similar Butterfly Pavilion right here in Westminster, although it is not as clean and new as this place was in Scottsdale. Aside from the warm, outdoor activities, we didn't really do much that was "Phoenix-exclusive." We could do many of the same things at home, but it was SO much better to have the entire week just to play AND to have Daddy there with us all the time. |
 |
| Coco and I enjoying the indoor butterfly habitat and the beautiful sun rays shining through the roof! |
 |
| There were hundreds of live butterflies all around us! We even had to be careful to watch for them on the walkway, so we wouldn't step on them. :) |
 |
| And...ANOTHER great smile from Trey! |
 |
| This was adorable! They had this pool with sting rays (don't ask me what that has to do with butterflies, but there it was), and Courtney really wanted to be brave enough to stick in her fingers to touch them. But, she was also scared at the same time! So, here she forces herself to keep her fingers right on the edge, waiting for the sting rays, but closing her eyes so that she won't chicken out when they get too close. Ha! Way to face your fears, girlie! |
 |
| The crew enjoying some of the beautiful butterflies...with Nate trying to imitate Trey's "camera" smile. Haha! He nailed it, don't you think? :) |
 |
| Fun at the butterfly photo booth! |
 |
| The dark glasses were for the 3D film they show at the beginning of the tour. Cute! |
 |
| And, another precious moment with Trey! Nice one, buddy! |
 |
| For some reason, the butterflies only landed on Nate! We think it must have had something to do with his manly lavender-colored shirt. |
 |
| We decided that one thing we just HAD to do while in Phoenix was to eat at The Rainforest Cafe. This was the very same restaurant where Nate had spoken to (or rather, shouted to) my Dad to ask his blessing to marry me back in 1999. And you can only understand why that is so funny if you have been there. It is one of those old theme restaurants that were big in the 90's, and is supposed to represent eating dinner in an actual rainforest. Trey was completely mesmerized. Haha! There are fake jungle animals everywhere, big plastic trees and vines and tropical fish tanks, mists and fake stars on the ceiling, and loud recordings of apes, cheetahs, elephants, thunderstorms, etc. blaring electronically over the speakers. Can you imagine trying to have an important conversation with someone in a place like that? Haha! We still laugh about that. And we wondered aloud at dinner what it would have been like for us, on that night in 1999, to have had a glimpse into the future and see ourselves there almost 16 years later, in the same place, with our four amazing children...and still happily in love with each other. Heck, I think I would have been even MORE excited than I was back then...to know the great blessings of family that awaited us by our choice to take this great adventure together! |
 |
| The rest of these pictures come from the road trip home. It is difficult to see here, but this is a picture of the petroglyphs on the side of the mountain in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. We hiked to several ruins in this area, and this was the first one. |
 |
| Courtney found a little hole in the wall where she could rest at Chaco Canyon. |
 |
| A large rock in the distance. Trey called this, "Taco Mountain." |
 |
| Avery exploring near the ruins of one of the many buildings at Chaco Canyon. |
 |
| Coco and Trey looking down into a kiva at "taco" canyon. There was a little snow on the ground there; we were headed back to the cold weather again! |
 |
| Look at this gorgeous crew taking a short hiking break at Chaco Canyon! |
 |
| The next morning, we made it to Four Corners Monument! Chase is in Arizona, Avery is in New Mexico, Courtney is in Colorado, and Trey is in Utah...all at the same time! |
 |
| This tiny circle represents the "official" monument at Four Corners, USA! |
 |
| Daddy was in four states at once! He was trying to take a panoramic photo of all four states. :) |
 |
| Chase is in four states all at once! |
 |
| Courtney is in four states all at once! |
 |
| Avery is in four states all at once! |
 |
| Trey is in four states all at once! |
 |
| Finally! A reasonably executed Family Selfie at Four Corners! And by the way, it was really cold in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah that morning. I know because I was cold when I was in each and every one of them! |
 |
| Back in Colorado! These are some of the Anasazi ruins at Mesa Verde. Cliff dwellings--so mysterious and so cool and so...brown. |
 |
| Another kiva at Mesa Verde. I wish I knew what these things were used for! |
 |
| Cliff dwellings at the Green Table. Mesa Verde! It really does mean, "green table!" |
 |
| Avery and Courtney with a view of Cliff Palace, the largest site of the ruins at Mesa Verde |
 |
| I mean, look at that place! This is Cliff Palace, and it is huge! How did they get there and why? And it looks like kind of a miserable place to live. I hope it wasn't! |
 |
| The cutest kids in the whole world hanging out at Mesa Verde |
We had a great trip! But by the end of it, I think we were all ready to be home and to start the New Year routine, just a week later than most people did. But creating great memories and having fun as a family was a fantastic way to spend the first week of 2015!
No comments:
Post a Comment