I recently returned from a trip to the Phoenix area for a cousin's reunion with Greg's cousins. Greg's Mom came early for the sister's reunion and watched Luke and some of the other kids while the cousins played. Only the girl cousins 18+ are invited. It was super fun!
Luke and I flew there Wednesday and then took a nap while we waited at (Great)Aunt Donnie's house for Grandma Debbie and Emilee to arrive. Because we had gotten there early in the day, Luke was done with his nap not too long after they got there.
Thursday night we went to Stefani's for our cousin reunion. We ate ice cream, talked, watched movies. The next day we got on our black, red and turquoise for our photo shoot. We went to a pecan grove and got some shots and then to a nice man's yard. Our timer wasn't working so we had to recruit a friendly neighbor. He took lots of photos and then asked if we'd like to take some pictures by his swing set. We were all a little wary of it and then saw his huge self-built swing set. It was awesome.
We returned to Stef's for lunch and then went to the mall. We ate at a burger place and then returned home. Bree showed us how to make cute flower broaches. They had sent an itinerary about the reunion that just said what we were doing and the whole time I prayed that Bree was teaching it since she always does such cute things. We ate more ice cream, talked, watched movies and went hot tubbing.
We went to a stake women's conference with excellent classes and a delicious soup bar and mint brownies. It was very uplifting. We went back and lied around Stef's house. For dinner we got some delicious pasta takeout.
Luke turned 18 months that week so we sent him to nursery. He did well and then threw up in the last 5 minutes. He hadn't seemed sick before or after so we attributed it to the fact that we feed him to keep him quiet in church and then he had more snacks in nursery. He is usually ok about stopping except when the food is too good to resist. Remember vacation last year(muffins, yogurt, snacks in the car, fries and frosty) and the vomit all over me.
The next few days I spent mostly at Aunt Donnie's house having fun. We didn't play as many games as in previous times, but the addition of children decreases free time. Megan, Stefani and Allison all came over during our stay and made it more fun.
Wednesday we went to Annie's and watched Dina make up some delicious cupcakes. She knows how to make them real fancy and has such a gift.
Thursday through Saturday was the sister's reunion for Debbie and so it was a little quieter in the house. Thursday night we went to Aunt Heather's shower. Saturday morning we had a shower at Grandma Darger's house for Christina and Spencer's baby.
We left Sunday morning. It is so fun to visit Arizona where so many of the cousins live. Even after our reunion was officially over we still were doing stuff together. They have really accepted me into their family and I had so much fun there. I realized on the trip that I have known them for five years already. The time has flown. Greg was a great husband to let me go have fun with his relatives while he stayed home alone.
