Arizona Here We Come

At the beginning of October our little family had the privilege of heading  to Arizona for a visit. When I found out that we were actually going I was beside myself. I could not wait to visit our dear friends.  Not only have we missed our friends, but we LOVE Arizona! We were so excited to get to show off our little guy, take in the warm air, and see all of God's beauty we took for granted while living there.

Logan was one good little travel buddy.  We put together a plan of action to make flying with a baby as smooth as it could possible be. All bottles were ready, puffs in hand, tablet loaded with baby games, and a few of Logan's favorite toys were at grabs reach. Would you believe he enjoyed the window most of ALL.  He spent the majority of the time opening and closing the shade. Whatever made him happy and quiet worked for us!  When we landed in Phoenix Ali was there to pick us up and off to Cottonwood we went. It was fun to reunite our families and chat the night away catching up on life. We literally talked until Ali fell asleep talking. She hasn't changed a bit!

Entering Jerome, Az.

Ben and Ali had to work one of the mornings during our visit.  Kev, Logan, and I spent that morning  touring Jerome and Sedona. Our first destination was Jerome. We decided to go to the Jerome Historic State Park, which we never made it to when we lived there. Logan feel asleep towards the beginning of our outing.  It ended up being a little "date" for Kevin and I. We had a lovely time taking in God's beauty. Ahhh, SO RELAXING! 

View of the Valley from Jerome, Az

Old town Jerome, AZ

Our second stop was Sedona, Az. We had to get a few family pictures with the beautiful rocks of Sedona. These pictures do not do justice. The rocks are absolutely beautiful! We enjoyed our time in Sedona so much that the next day we loaded up the kids and went back for the afternoon. We took the kids to play at the park, enjoyed a nice lunch out together and took a walk downtown Sedona. 

My dear friend, Ali.

Micha and Josie enjoying the park.

 Ali and Logan. 

View from the park.

Josie and her yummy drink.

Strolling the streets as we talked about past memories.

Micha and Josie all tuckered out. Logan was sound asleep too!

Ali's parents were so kind to let us spend a couple days at their cabin. Not only did they invite us to join them, they provided all the food for our stay. All we had to do was come and enjoy ourselves. Vacation doesn't get much better then that! We had such a good time teaching them our new favorite game, 7 Wonders. They LOVED it! I lost count of how many times we played. We do have our signed box if we ever need to know!

Logan and Josie playing together.

Where we spent most of our time at the cabin

Early morning time playing with daddy

We made it home from the cabin to go to church together. 
Walking to church to take in the beautiful weather was priceless.

The whole gang after church!

One of the main reasons we were in Arizona was for Kevin's work conference. The time had come for Kevin to meet up with his co-workers and head to Phoenix. Before they took off on Sunday night, Ben put on his tour guide hat and gave one of the best tours of Jerome and Sedona anyone could ask for. Ali and I stayed home with the kids and had a girls night with a few other ladies. After dinner the guys made it back home and it was time for Kevin to head to Phoenix. There were a few short jokes about Ben going with Kevin and leaving the kids with Ali and I...the rest is history! Ali and I ended up leaving the kids with Ben, taking Logan with us and heading to Phoenix that night. We took Ben's idea and turned it into a reality. Ben gets Dad of the year reward for letting me have Ali all to myself for two days. We arrived at the resort in Phoenix sometime after 1 a.m. We may have had to pull a few strings and make a couple of phone calls to make it happen, but we did and it was so worth it! 

Logan's look after 1 in the morning!

Kevin gave Ali and I a night out. He ordered room service
 and kept Logan at the hotel.

The resort had the best pool EVER! It has pebbles that look
like sand. Sure felt like we were at the beach. Fun!

This kid has little fear when it comes to water! 

Ben, Josie, and Micha came up and joined us for a day of
swimming at the resort.

Logan met a new friend. Such a sweet lady!

We ended our time together by playing a game of 7 Wonders,
while the kids crashed on the beds.

The week we shared together flew by in a flash, but it could not have been any sweeter. We are beyond thankful that we are able to continue to live life together miles and miles apart. We love the Russell's and they will always be a part of our family. There is talk of us going to Cancun in the future. It usually takes time to make our talk turn into reality, but it usually happens. Can't wait for our next adventure to come true!