4th of July

We spent the 4th of July with a bunch of Bloods up in Gilbert! Mom & Dad Blood, Elizabeth and her kids, James, and Joanna all flew out. Mary and Michael had their combined 7 kids, so it was quite the party!

The general vibe

Elliot loved the sparklers at first, but got a little scared by the end

Of course there was room for him

How many ice-cream-cone-licking kids can fit in one slide?

We stayed in a rental place near Mary's house. It was a pretty convenient set up.

James doing push ups with Mom on his back. Why not?

Elliot LOVED Avery. Also TV. 

We took the kids on a couple outings. We went back to the Sea Life Aquarium and also to the dinosaur museum. The most memorable part of that adventure was when the keys to the rental car got locked inside. We squeezed the most food/nap needing individuals into the other car while others got to stick it out waiting for the locksmith to come.

A major highlight of the trip is that we got to go through the temple with Joanna before she left on her mission! She's going to be a stellar missionary, and I'm glad we got to share this experience with her. 

There were a few less pleasant aspects of this trip. Elliot got a nasty bug. He has only ever gotten really sick when we were at family gatherings with Bloods. It didn't last too long, but did mean that he had to miss out on the pool party. Mary had a bad colonoscopy experience while we were all invading her house. But other than those two downsides, we had a great time. I love spending time with the Bloods and catching up with everyone!

White Mountain Camping

We went on yet another lovely camping trip with the Hays. The challenge this time was that most of the state of Arizona was on fire. It was tricky finding a campsite that wasn't closed due to forest fires! Robb eventually discovered the White Mountains. It was super remote, about 5 hours away from us. It might have been the quietest campsite we have been to in Arizona. You have to drive through a huge mine with a tiny town to get to it.

How is that comfortable?

Claire got motion sick on the switch backs up the mountains and was EXTREMELY happy to be out of the car. She happily got straight to business eating dirt and sticks.

It is nice having friends with nice cameras

They were making "salad."

 It got down to the 50's that night, so we bundled up our Arizona boy in some fluffy zip up pajamas. He fussed for about 20 minutes when we put him to bed in the pack and play in the tent, then went quiet. We had a lovely evening playing Splendor and admiring some exceptionally great views of the stars. It was a new moon, cloudless sky, high elevation, and far away from any cities- recipe for success!

When we turned in for the night, we discovered that Elliot had stripped off his pajamas, thrown them out of his pack and play, and fallen asleep in just his diaper on top of all his blankets. He was freezing cold and sound asleep. We piled some blankets on him and snoozed until he woke up crying sometime in the middle of the night. I got him back into his pjs, and he fell asleep. When he woke up in the morning, the first thing he did upon becoming coherent was strip off the pjs that he realized he was wearing again. This is why we usually let him sleep in his clothes!

The next day we set out to find a hike to this cool sounding burnt out cabin that was the site of some dramatic post-bank robbery hideout a century or so ago. Unfortunately, the dirt road was much rougher than anticipated, and our car didn't have enough clearance to handle it. We decided to turn back after some terrifying clunks from driving over rocks and big old pot holes.

The men deliberating our options.

We went back to a trail head closer to the campsite with the plan to walk down it until the kids got tired, then come back for a picnic.

Elliot made it about 20 feet from the car, then demanded being carried the rest of the way. Not the best hiking day.

 

I think the dirt really brings out his eyes

So dirty and so happy

Alice with the perfect Hitler dirtstache

The crew minus our photographer

Tucson Temple

We have a new temple in Tucson! It is about 45 minutes away from our house. Before now, we had to drive an hour longer than that up to the Gilbert temple. We would go during our trips to visit Mary since it was such an ordeal to drive that far for a session. 

I love the unique design of the temple. It is the only LDS temple with a dome! I think it blends really well with the area.

Aaron and I volunteered as tour guides during the open house, which was an awesome experience. We were paired up so that I was the leader and he was the caboose. We started at a nearby stake center where they watched a video about temples in general, then we hopped on a bus for a short drive to the temple. During the bus ride, I got to read this great informational blurb with facts about the temple design, materials, and motifs. Then we got off the bus, lined up, and walked through the temple at "funeral pace." This is a rather small temple, and the amount of visitors was way more than anticipated, so we were always right on the heels of the group in front of us. 

It was a really neat experience! I love knowing more about the beautiful work that went into building this building. It will for sure make me appreciate the building more as I visit over the years.