our trip to arizona

On Friday we left to go to Arizona. The trip was nice and long... especially for Livia! We stayed with Jason's cousin and his wife, Scott and Tiffany. They were so sweet and generous to invite us to stay with them. I realized the morning we left that I never took any pictures of them. It was so fun to get to know them a little better.

Two of my dear mission friends live in the Mesa area, so I was super excited to see them again. Mary Ann was my mission trainer, (aka mi mami) and I haven't seen her since she left Argentina almost 7 years ago. Erika and I were at BYU together, so I've seen her a lot more since the mission. But she's been back in AZ for a while now, so it was so good to see her again and catch up on both their lives. We met for brunch at Crackers and chatted it up!


Mary Ann, Sophie, Joe, Carter (hidden), Chris, Erika, Livia, Sally, Jason, and (a very uncooperative) Sam

After Brunch we went over to Jason's cousin's home for the Cook Family Christmas Reunion. We went to Heath and Michelle's house, and they had a very fun place for little boys! Usually Sam is a little shy at first to play and adventurize.... not at this place! He was quite excited to see this little site:


Heath recently bought these three giant toys from a rental company that was going out of business.... which means we'll get to see these little beauties every time we go down for a Cook Family Reunion!
After about an hour or two of bouncing and sliding fun.... Sam made a new discovery:

He drove this little toy around for another hour... and eventually let his cousin, Brigham, hop on for a ride. I was really surprised with how well he handled it. He learned to put it in reverse if he got stuck and was able to follow the curves of the paved path he liked to drive on.
Meanwhile Jason found some exciting times at the basketball court. He even won a game of Horse.

This is the back side of the pool. But it was pretty nippy, so no one jumped in (except for the two teenage girls that spent the entire afternoon making a list of how much everyone would pay them to jump into the pool... which they did after it got dark and even colder. I have no idea how much they made though.... I doubt it was worth it!)
I didn't think to take a picture of the front of the pool until after it was dark, but it was a super awesome pool so sorry for the darkity.

We all gathered inside and began the little program.

Our family sang Jingle Bells as the little boys rang the bells. I had to take pictures, so I couldn't stand up with them and sing.... ;) Way to go Jenny and Brian... you're good sports!

On Monday we went on a little Memory Lane Tour with Jason's parents. It was so neat to see the places that were significant to them in their early marriage. We started at the temple where Jason's dad proposed to Jason's mom... we even got to see the re-enactment! Very cute. Jason got a good picture on his phone of his mom jumping as she said, YES! We also got to see the homes where they both grew up, and the newspaper office where Jason's dad earned enough money for his mission and shared the amazing story that he had there. We saw each of their first apartments and homes, along with the home Dad's parents moved to while he was on his mission and the now-empty lot where Grandma Elsie (Livia's namesake) once lived. Most of the tour was spent in the car, listening to their stories via walkie-talkie. We really enjoyed sharing in their memories and hearing each of their thoughts as they started their life together. Not only was it great to see the sites, but it was also a blessing to hear some of their special experiences that greatly affected their lives and the lives of others.

Jason had some work to do, so after lunch we went back to Scott's house and laid the kids down for naps. Then I had some serious shoe shopping to do.... And let me tell you.... I did it. My friend, Erika, came with me (since she lives a mile away from Scott!) We both thought we might buy one or two pairs at the most.... we walked away with 4 pairs each. (Don't worry Jason, I only spent $50 which is pretty darn good!)

Later that evening was the night that we originally planned to make the trip for. Jason's mom's side was having their annual Christmas Family Home Evening. Since there would be 1 or 2 hundred people at the party, it was held at the church. We knew we wouldn't get to see Grandpa and Grandma Schlink much there, so we stopped by their house earlier on Monday to visit with them. They are such a sweet couple! They have been married for less than 10 years (Jason's Grandma passed away in the late 90's) and they are so good for each other. Grandma Jane was so excited to get toys for the kids and hold them and hug them. I forgot to get a picture of the little car ramp that Sam played with the entire time we were there.





We are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives. It was such a blessing to be able to see them (and in my case meet some of them!) and to enjoy a portion of this Christmas season with them. We look forward to going again some year, hopefully not too many years away.
It was a great start to a great Holiday Season!