The Great Getaway...

About a month ago Lance told me that he was going on a business conference to Arizona.  He wondered if I would want to tag along, since my dad lives out there.  It might be a nice little get away.  I hesitated for about one second and then we started to plan.  We decided to take Hilary with us so the kids wouldn't have to worry about her while we were gone.  I also thought that if the plane went down it would be a lot easier for Halea to raise the other kids without having to worry about a toddler:)  This is just how I think.

We left on Wednesday morning.  We got to the airport a little later than we planned on and we were really racing to catch our flight, but we made it.  The whole time we were running and hurrying through things I just kept thinking that we would have never been able to do this if we had Tates in tow.  The entire plane was staring at us as we entered.  Embarrassing.  A few people commented on how cute Hilary was, especially when she would talk.  Again, then only thing that I kept thinking of was how cute Tatum was too.  How people were just drawn to her when she was a baby, because she was a sweet little baby and quick to smile.

reading the sky mall magazine with dad..

She was so brave on her first airplane ride.  Much braver than her mom.  On the way home we hit turbulence and I shut my eyes and started praying, she started belly laughing and saying that it made her tummy feel funny.  

When we arrived in Arizona it was about 80 degrees!!!  Lovely.  We got on the freeway and what did we see?

Signs, literally, from above.  So sweet, it made us smile.  Welcome to Arizona.

 We met with my Grandma and Grandpa that night and had dinner and just visited.   After they left I was really looking forward to just relaxing and falling asleep when I wanted to and getting up when I wanted to.  Nice try!  I tossed and turned all night.  I think I woke up every hour.  It was a really nice hotel, with a great cozy bed.  I was so sad when I finally just got out of bed around 6am.  Boo.

On Thursday we went to the zoo with the grandparents.  Hilary was sooo excited.  We hadn't been to the zoo since we went in March or April.  That was Tatum's last  really "big" outing.  She was so uncomfortable when she wasn't home that we really limited taking her too many places.  That zoo trip was really fun, and I felt "normal".  The Phoenix zoo was a little nicer than the Hogle zoo.  It was warm, but it was a really good day.  Hilary had so much fun.  She was pretty cheerful for most of the day.  She loved seeing every animal, for a second until she realized that it wasn't the elephant.  We would get to the rhino, she would look for a second and then say loudly, I want to see an elephant.  She would then proceed to turn and start walking.  It was really funny.  Especially since we did not find the elephants until the very end of the day!  We finally arrived at the elephant encounter, and there were no elephants!!  Just the workers.  They were restocking the food.  We waited for 10 minutes and then we finally got to see the long awaited elephant.  It was a really fun day.

 Highlights from swimming at the pool and the zoo.. She fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.  Long day for a little girl.

What a little cutie pie..

 showing off her new wallet from grandma..

she was a natural at brushing the goats..

 Thursday night we went and met a friend that I made at the hospital.  I totally forgot that she was in Arizona.  She had been in California for 2 years, and I had forgotten that she moved.  I was so glad that she sent me a message.  We met and got frozen yogurt.  She has twins that are the same age as Hilary.  I met her when we were both pregnant.  One of her twins had a terminal disease, and lived for a short time after birth.  Then she had a little boy one day before we had Tatum.  It was really fun to get together and visit with her.

The next morning was Friday.  Ugh.  I decided to sleep in and go to breakfast with Lance and then go running with Hilary after he went to his conference.  We hung out in the hotel for a bit, then off we went.  We ran a mile or so down the road and found a great park.  We stopped and played for a bit.  Then we did some more running and then back to the hotel for more pool time.  Then we both got ready, packed the rest of our things and then we went and found a store that has the "last chance" Nordstrom items.  It was really fun and crazy.  Luckily Hilary slept in the stroller the entire time.  It was really relaxing.  Afterward we went and picked up Lance from the hotel .

Then we went and found the Mesa Temple.  Lance's parents were married there over 60 years ago.  What a blessing that they made the choices in their lives to be married there.   What an example they set for the rest of us.

It was a quick stop then off to the airport.  We didn't want to be late again.  I felt like we had made the best out of this Friday.  I had a lot of fun hanging out with Hilary.  She was so good.   One is so easy.  When we went through the airport security, guess who got "randomly" selected to have her purse searched?  That's right, me.  I was a little worried because I had lip gloss and lotion in my purse.  They are my favorites, so I didn't want to throw them out!  Luckily they only swab the inside of your purse.  Probably looking for bomb residue or something?  I was lucky.

I had to take a picture of Hilary eating a hamburger.  This is only seen in the wild people.  She lives on nuggets, bread and anything that starts with candy.  I know that a hamburger is no better than a nugget, but I think that there is a piece of lettuce in there.

The kids all did well while we were gone.  I was so grateful for all of them.  I didn't have to worry about them at all.  I did miss them.  It is good to be home.

I feel like I am in a little bit of a funk today.  Probably just a little tired.  I have been thinking a lot about my talk for stake conference.  i have been writing notes as inspirations come to me.  Gathering scriptures and quotes.  I want this to be something really special to honor Tatum and Trevin and what we as a family have learned from them.  I want to always live up to their sacrifice that was made for our benefit.  I want to be that better person from it all.  Today, I just feel flat and exhausted.  Looking forward to the Sabbath.  I love the feeling of renewal that we have every Sunday.  What a genius plan.  Heavenly Father knew what our world was going to be like, and what we would need to recharge our batteries.