Summer Regionals...

Beautiful mornings here in Tucson and lots of mule deer... I saw a pack of about a dozen or so yesterday morning on my run. We had our meetings this morning and then lunch. I spent the afternoon napping! I intended on going to the pool, but got comfy on the bed and fell asleep. I probably needed it though! The boys went to their kids club tonight while us adults went to our dinner. It was fun-- we got to sit with Megan and Todd (assigned seating on the last night) but we sat with the Bradley's and their son and daughter in law-- who is doing Jones. They were really nice! Afterward, they had some people come in and teach us country dancing and line dancing. Bill and I learned some new things and a lot of tips that make it a lot easier! It was a fun night. I didn't get any pictures at the dinner, but they boys were sleepy and ready to go when we went to get them from the babysitters. Daddy and Papa gave good rides back to our rooms! And then sleepy time for everyone. Tomorrow we pack up and head back home! It has been a crazy June and it went by so lightning fast! Now we slow down a bit and take a breath and wait for Miss Abigail to arrive!!! Her arrival will be so fun and I know Megan is READY!!!

Summer Regionals...

This morning after breakfast we had a really fun animal interaction at the hotel! People from a nearby museum/zoo brought several animals and talked about them with all the kids! They brought a King snake-- which I thought was pretty small or young, but they said he was 22 years old! They also brought an Iguana sized lizard, but I can't remember what kind he was.. but looked a lot like an Iguana... and then this here little desert tortoise, who they let walk back an forth down the center aisle of kids. Luke had a pretty good seat! Logan was more interested in the snacks in my purse, but sat happy and content on my lap and watched from afar. Right after, we found our own wildlife-- some sort of a stink bug/beetle. We named him "Stinky", but he wasn't there when we came back around. The boys looked for him every time we passed that spot and were sad when he wasn't there. Boys and their bugs!!! Later after lunch, we went to the pool and the lazy river. BOTH the boys had fun going down the slide... Logan just went head first by himself and the lifeguard didn't stop him... so he went down again feet first! Then he went round and around and around many times!!! He loved that he was allowed to go all by himself and as many times as he wanted to! We all floated on the lazy river several times as well. It was a very HOT day... even in the shade! That's where I hung out for most of the afternoon. Logan didn't sleep well last night because he didn't have his "gummies" so they went to the store to buy more before his nap this afternoon...smart! Later on, after a nice rest in our rooms, we went to dinner. They had such cute pioneer/cowboy type games for the kiddos--Luke especially loved the panning for gold and showed me all his rocks and treasures he got! Boys and their rocks!! Another fun day at Regionals!

EJ Summer Regionals @ the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson

What a beautiful hotel with the most gorgeous Sonoran Desert views I've ever seen! There are sahuaros everywhere! We are tucked away up in a canyon on the west side of I-10. I didn't know this place even existed! We got to the hotel a little late after getting caught in some traffic from a really bad accident! When we got there we found these 2 really cute cowboys! (They got to decorate their official cowboy hats and LOVE them!) We had a really yummy dinner with face painting, balloon animals and a magician afterward.) Luke had the lady make a balloon gun and Logan wanted the twisty sword with balloon balls inside of it! No animals this time, I guess. It was nice to relax after a longer drive than we'd expected and visit with people we haven't seen for a while! Our rooms are so nice and we turned in pretty early tonight after Todd and Bill watched the end of the USA soccer game, which I think we won??? ... IDK because I was dozing off... he had it on the big screen at dinner tonight too and a lot of Jones FA's are soccer fans, so they were grateful he put it on! Good start to our SRM's!

Surprise Visit from Katie & Kaden!

Sooooo... Tuesday morning, the day after Katelyn and Kaden supposedly drove back to Utah-- Katie comes walking up the stairs while I'm fixing myself breakfast and is recording my reaction and really I'm just completely confused... it was as if I was seeing a ghost! They wanted to surprise us but let dad in on it late last night after I had gone to bed when they came to stay overnight, so they could hide their car behind our gate WHICH I saw this morning after my run when I opened the side garage door for something and saw it parked there. I figured it was one of Jim's cars, but thought that was weird since he NEVER parks his cars at our house EVER... but I went on with my morning not questioning it more. Then they both come walking up the stairs! It has been a fun few days with them! They are back and forth with his family, but have mostly been here since his family has girls camp and other things going on. We have Edward Jones summer regionals this weekend, so they're going to stay with Brooke and Ben and then his family. They are here in AZ for a couple of weeks and are really hoping to be here for when Megan's baby comes! I hope Abigail cooperates! His brother also leaves on his mission soon, so will attend his farewell as well. Good times!!! (I took this picture because I thought it was funny that both Katie and Paisley are spread eagle on their backs on the ground...) I really did think it was weird for K & K to come as far as Flagstaff and not come and see his family here in town-- but they said they had to get back for work. But really... they just wanted to surprise us!

Family Trip to Flagstaff--Day 4

We found a ward and attended church today... it's Father's Day, so kinda special! We saw Tricia and Brit Ferrell! They are up here at there place here this weekend too--escaping the heat! Luke and Logan were up and ready early this morning. Logan thoroughly enjoyed nursery-- especially the bubbles. (Papa went with him.) On the way home, Bill and I and Brooke and Ben decided to drive past the newly announced Flagstaff temple site. It is on a hill in a gorgeous and quieter part of town, but actually pretty central! In the picture, you can see the "sold" real estate sign. Me and the girls fixed dinner for the boys tonight. (Bill couldn't resist helping.) I did a crock pot roast, and we had potatoes and carrots and wedge salads to go with it. After, we celebrated McKenzie and Ben's birthdays (tomorrow is Mac's birthday and a week from tomorrow is Ben's birthday). I thought it would be fun to celebrate in Flagstaff while we were all together as a family. I got cheesecake because we are celebrating Father's Day too and it was requested by Bill. It had all different flavors and was consumed quickly! We did gifts afterward... Todd got all the guys Miami Dolphins jerseys with some Dad's Root beer in honor of Father's day and he got all the girls Dr. Pepper--so as not to leave us out--haha! (McKenzie hates soda and is just posing with an extra bottle we had--too funny!) It was a fun day of celebrating! We played games again after the boys went to bed, as has been the procedure each night. We go home tomorrow and I'm kinda sad about it... I think 5 nights would've been perfect v. the 4 nights we did. There is so much to see and do in Flagstaff. Maybe we'll come here next year for our family trip! It sure was fun and you can't beat the weather. It is so nice up here and we can be out and about in the middle of the day! Good memories were made and fun times were had! I've got some pretty amazing sons in law and everyone just gels and vibes so well! It is fun to have everyone all together! Fun times!

Family Trip to Flagstaff--Day 3

Another great day with a little slower morning. I took Luke and Logan to the store where they got to pick out a treat and we got a cheesecake (Bill's choice) to celebrate Father's Day tomorrow and McKenzie and Ben's birthdays, as well. We had fun going up and down the aisle's and we saw a huge Spiderman balloon-- they really liked that! On the way home they got to have some of their treats. Logan can pack down gummy bears... and Luke got some watermelon sweet and sour candies. Logan did not forget about his gummy bears, either! It was fun lounging and watching the boys play in the yard! Everyone except for Megan and the boys went to the Flagstaff Extreme ropes course. Logan had his nap and Megan was too pregnant to do the course... We had fun but it was a difficult course! I finished 5 of the 6 courses. Brooke and I stopped at the same spot. Katie, Kaden, Todd and Ben finished all 6 courses and got a cool bracelet for completing the challenge. It required a lot of upper body and core strength, but some of the obstacles were just awkward and you had to make sure you were balanced and took them slowly! I came in funny on one of the zip lines (of all things!) and tweaked my back crooked-- and my ribs/muscles in that area are sore! Next time I do one of these courses, I'm bringing gloves! I think I could've completed the last course if I'd had gloves. My hands were pretty beat up! I liked following Brooke because we are about the same level and it helped me to watch her do it and she would explain the best way to do it--that helped. We all did that for the one behind us but just seeing someone else do it helped a lot! We encouraged everyone as we went along!!! I was exhausted and so thirsty by the time I finished! We all were! Everyone really enjoyed it though. It was just as challenging mentally as it was physically. At one point you had to Tarzan style swing into a mesh rope, cling to it with your feet and use your upper body strength and foothold to get your hands to the mesh rope and then climb sideways over to the platform! It looked harder than it was, but the guy after me didn't swig hard enough and had to get momentum from the stopped rope to get his feet to the mesh rope! I was glad I had swung hard enough 'cuz I was pooped after that obstacle! (Many of them were challenging and they got progressively harder!) It was nice to have a platform to rest between each of the obstacles! It was fun though, and I'm glad we did it as a family-- good bonding experience! After, we went to another great restaurant called Fat Olives-- this time Italian food and it was soooooo good! Megan met us there with the boys. I'm not sure if it tasted good because we were all so tired and hungry, or if it was just really good food. Either way, our appetites were satisfied! We went home and enjoyed s'mores at our nice fire pit! ...And watched more soccer! And played games... we played Chameleon and for some reason I got it almost every time, but I managed to fool everyone on most of the hands and won the game! I'm not usually able to fool so often and I don't usually get it so often! Another very fun, but exhausting day in Flagstaff!