Sightseeing in Tucson, Arizona

On Sunday we drove down to Tucson to visit my parents. The funny thing was that they were never both there at the same time. Dad was still in Phoenix for Cody's baseball and then when he was home, Mom had to work. It was a very disjointed visit, but it seemed to work out nicely. We saw everyone and had some nice visits. We were even able to play 8 & Back with Dad and Jamie, just like old times.


On Monday we did some sight-seeing with Jamie and visited to locations: San Xavier Catholic Mission and the Desert Museum at the Saquaro National Park.


The Catholic mission is located on an Indian reservation. The church was very beautiful and full of interesting details. It was built in the early 1700's. After we did our tour, we ate lunch at a little stand where they had local Indians making navajo tacos and fry bread desserts. It was very good. I am going to have to make that for dinner sometime soon.

The view from the hill was spectacular. And my kids really like to pose for photographs, as you can see.
Zach insisted on this photo. He did a great pose for it, and Raef couldn't help but join in the fun.

Wow, what a good looking little boy.

Zach, my sweetheart.

Here are some snapshots of the museum. It is a wonderful gem in Tucson. I loved it. I only wish we had more time to spend there. There was so much to see, and it was almost zoo-like with some of the exhibits. There was a cave to walk through, an aviary, river otters and a mountain lion, precious gems, and beautiful vegetation.



Here is a view of the area from the museum. Isn't it beautiful?



On Tuesday we took everyone to a local game/family place called Funtasticks. They rode go-carts, played mini-golf, arcade, and battled each other in laser tag. Mom and I hung out with Eli and then did a little shopping at the mall across the street to kill some time.

Raef had lost his second front tooth the night before. This is what his smile looks like now.

And this is a very happy baby, as you can see.

Welcome Home Jamie

Two days after Christmas we drove to Phoenix to have a family dinner at Heather's apartment complex and welcome Jamie back from his mission. He came home two days before Christmas. It was so great to see him and we had a wonderful time together as a family. This is a picture of all of my parents' grandkids. I have three and my sister Christi has four. What a crew, huh?

We took some facebook pictures of ourselves. Glamorous, huh?

Then we made sure to get some family shots. I put Thomas' facebook picture in the wrong collage, darn it. I don't feel like changing it, but it would have been better in the collage above this one.

Here we are (except for Cody). These are my sisters and brother in a rare family photo.

After our delicious enchilada dinner, we went to Cody's game on the other side of town. Here his is after he stole a bunch of bases and scored a run.

It was really cold in Phoenix, holy cow! I pulled out every blanket from my car and spread them around for everyone to use.

Santa Visited Our House

We got home late from St. George on Christmas Eve. The kids were all sound asleep in the car. But I still woke them up so that they could put cookies out for Santa Claus. They just couldn't forget to do that. Zach insisted on writing a note to Santa. In the morning, Santa wrote "Thank You" back to them.It is a tradition in my family to make the kids wait at the top of the stairs. We didn't make them wait very long: all of the vacuuming had been done the night before.
Look, Santa left a message. He really did stop by and he used the gift that Lyf and Angie made for me to say hello.

Zach told Santa he wanted a cool craft box and a sword, and a few other things. He was mostly nice and a little bit naughty, so he didn't get everything on his list. But he did okay. The Kung Fu Panda sword and craft box were a big hit.


Raef was able to get a bunch of army stuff to add to his collection. He had a little naughty problem also, so he got most everything he hoped Santa would bring.


Of course, Eli was just nice. He wasn't naughty at all. So he got a pretty groovy toy to push around.


It was a fun Christmas morning. Rinar got me a couple of really cool gifts. The first one was a sewing machine, a really nice one. The second one was six months of laundry service by my lovely husband; meaning he will be doing the laundry. What a nice gift, huh? I think he was tired of asking me if I could please, please, please wash some of his black socks. The poor guy never got any clean ones in his drawer. Let's face it, I really stink at doing laundry.

I got him some running stuff, like an iPod shuffle (so that he would stop using mine).

Christmas Eve

Halle and Caleb came over to decorate cookies and get babysat by us. Well, Rinar did the babysitting while I whithered in my bed, handicapped by a lovely bout of strep throat. It was great to get a nasty bacteria two days before Christmas. Luckily, I recovered in time...


A family tradition...

Every year we go to St. George on Christmas Eve to spend time with Rinar's family. It works out really well for a couple of reasons: it is his mom's birthday and we can be home for Santa Claus.

This year we met at Aislinn's house and had our traditional hoagie dinner.

The kids did the nativity story. It is a tradition I started about 3 or 4 years ago. This year I really made a bunch of official costumes and used the script from sharing time. It was fun and we even sang some of the songs. I think the songs were a nice addition to it because it keeps everyone focused on the story. Music can definitely be an effective tool for things like that.

We gave Aislinn and Jason a trip to San Francisco, using points Rinar has accumulated from his many travels this last year. They seemed really surprised.

The cousins exchanged gifts and it was neat to see what they got for each other. Raef and Zach had Mary Jane and Bethany. The boys made masks for them. They looked so cute.

Rayder got a homemade bean bag toss from one of Lyf's kids. It was a really cool present.

I also was a fortunate recipient of one of those homemade gifts. They made me blocks that I can use to decorate throughout the year. It was a really cool gift.

It was a very nice Christmas Eve with the in-laws.

Before we left, the boys had to hold this slithering denizen.

Vacation in Arizona

We are leaving for Arizona in the morning, not-so-bright and very early. My brother Jamie just returned home from his mission this last Tuesday. We get to go see him and are very excited to do so.

When we get back, Rinar and I will be jetting off to New Orleans to watch Utah play some football in the Sugar Bowl.

Therefore, I won't be posting anything new until the new year.

But stay tuned because I should have lots of pictures and stories to share.

Love you all!

Our Primary Nativity

Boy... doing sharing time combined with singing time, and then conducting closing exercises can sure zap you pretty good. But I managed to get through and it was a wonderful day.

The shepherds were sore afraid...

And then they were really happy...

The wise men are so very wise...and stylish, I might add.

Peace on Earth, and in Primary as well.

(The boys with the funny hats are wicked Nephites trying to kill Samuel the Lamanite. They couldn't you know, because he had he power of God to protect him.)

Boys Love Slapstick Comedies

Rinar and I have just experienced one of those wonderful six-year old joys: slapstick comedy. We have been watching Home Alone and Home Alone 2 for some fun Christmas entertainment. It is a riot to watch it with my boys. They laugh so hard and squeal with delight every time the burglars fall, get hit, get their hair caught on fire; all of it. It has been so much fun watching it with them.

I will cherish the experience. It has made me realize that the movie is definitely geared toward a six-year old boy's sense of humor.