My sisters put together a 2 week tour in Arizona and asked if the boys and I would like to come along for the trip and visit family. When I was a teenager we lived there for two winters with my dad's sister Theresa and her family! Can you imagine 10 kids in 1 house? Half of which were teens and only one boy! :D James fared pretty well though, I think!
I jumped at the opportunity to get to see family and introduce my boys to them. At this point my Nana is the only one from my dad's side of the family that has met my little men and Derek. Sadly, Derek couldn't come with us on this trip because he had work and school.
So there was my dad and us 5 girls, and my boys, Uncle Rob, Aunt Theresa, Mariah. Amanda and her husband Andrew and their 2 girls Lilly and Evalyn. James and his wife Hillary. Megan and her husband Craig and their little girl Cambria. My Uncle Guy and Aunt Tracy and there two boys Austin and Brady, who I remember as two darling little toddlers, came down from Utah to see us as well. Of coarse Nana was there too! Talk about a FULL house :) It was awesome!
Hillary made chocolate chip cookie with the little kiddos. I think Xander was the only one patient enough to wait and help the whole time. Mmm, mmm, mmm, were they good.
With everyone together like this, we had to have a Talent Show. Yes, the musical genes just ooze from both sides of the family! So we all gathered together in the Dining Room and had ourselves a show.
Since Nana came up with the idea, it was only fair that she start us off ;) She played her little purple Ukulele and sang to us all. I love her, she is so sweet and cute. Everyone should have a Nana like her!
Amanda's little girls were dancing away during the whole show.
Uncle Rob and his girls sang Duets together. They get the talent from both sides too!
James sang us one of his original songs. I love his music. I think he needs to send me a CD (hint)
Austin and Brady played and sang a Blink 182 song for us.
Uncle Guy serenaded Aunt Tracy and Cambria on his Ukulele. It was so cute, Cambria just sat and giggled and smiled the whole time he was singing.
Anna, I mean Muffy, told us the Mist of Darkness story. She had everyone laughing so hard we were crying. Muffy is quite the character, if you ever get the chance to meet her, you are in for a treat. I know there is a video on You Tube somewhere. I will have to find it and post it so I can pass the laugh!
One of the days we were there Amanda brought the girls over and we did some crafts. Then we took the kids on a walk to the park and had a picnic. Of coarse they had already filled up on sprinkles and cookies with Uncle Guy. He always had a little kid or a baby in his arms. He's a softy!
Nana had lots of conversations with the babies! They understand her silly speak. It was so fun watching Jacob try and talk to her.
Anna gave mani's and pedi's one afternoon. Lilly didn't leave her side, she is a girly girl just like Anna. Anna, showed her how she does all of her cool designs and how to take off polish.
And Nana ended up Napping during all the excitement, she tends to do that :)
While we were In Arizona, Jacob turned 4 Months old.
NO! He is getting so big and WAY to fast. He is getting taller and heavier a lot quicker than Xander and Skyler ever did. It's so crazy having a baby that LOVES to eat. Ha Ha
Aunt Theresa wanted to take the boys to the Carnival at the park just down the road. It was the neatest little set up just right inside the park. They got to ride the Train and the Merry-Go-Round, and lots of other things. They still talk about their Auntie that took them to the park with the rides! These little men sure are loved and they have so much love to give!
The night before we had to leave we had a game night. It was a lot of fun and of coarse very competitive. It was so much fun getting to go and visit The Bitter Family. Thanks Aunt Theresa for housing us, feeding us, and keeping us entertained! You are awesome!
We had heard that there was BAD weather in Texas just before we left. We had NO idea it was this bad. Our trip took double the time and we had to stop over night because the roads had gotten so packed with snow that we were sliding all over the place. I was so proud of my little boys. They did so good at not going crazy being stuck in their car seats for 2 days. They did have 4 Aunties and lots of movies to keep them entertained. But I don't know a lot of 2 and 4 year-olds that would fare that trip to well. Jacob just ate and slept, so that helped too :)
There were lots of accidents, most of which were single vehicles. Obviously some people don't know how to drive in snow! There were also quite a few Semi-trucks and trailers that had either run off the road or swerved to miss a car and ended up unable to move in the middle of the Highway. It was a crazy and scary trip home. I am so glad my dad is such a good driver and we made it through Texas safely.
