The 4th of July and other fun things

 We've been able to do a lot of fun things lately here in Phoenix. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that heat doesn't stop people from playing outside. And we've learned the same thing. We are still making memories through the heat indoors and out. Scott had to work on the 4th of July which was a bummer, but we attended our ward breakfast and that evening we went to Tempe Town Lake for festivities. It was so crowded and ridiculously hot, but we had a good time and we're glad we went. It was our first chance since moving here to get to eat some food cart cuisine. 


Waiting for our first ride on Phoenix light rail



Not so healthy dinner. But oh so tasty!  

 


It was a ridiculousy beautiful night overlooking the lake.

 


The fireworks were awesome and went on and on and on.

  So on the to the next adventure. We got a Pogo Pass which is pretty much one of the coolest things. It's $50/person and you get passes to all sorts of things, like 2 trips to the zoo, 2 Diamondback (baseball) games, 3 Rattler (indoor football) games, a visit to the aquarium, a visit to a museum, 13 sporting events at ASU, a visit to a small amusement park (more like a county fair), a visit to a water park, laser tag and a few other things. It's been a great way for us to do some things around here without spending tons of money. The zoo alone is $20 a visit so that made it worth it, because we'll definitely go twice.

Our first experience was an Arizona Diamondbacks game. The seats weren't great but we had fun. Luckily for us, they close the roof and air condition the arena so it was nice.

Two days later we went to an indoor football game. Wow was that an experience. It's definitely different from regular football. The field is only 50 yards long, so it's a very offensive game. I think the final score was something riduclous like 70-40. We had really nice, comfy seats, but it was very loud. I'd probably wouldn't buy tickets to go to a game but if they were free I'd probably go. I'm just glad I got to experience it.

 We are loving the adventures we get to participate in here. We're hoping to go to an Arizona Cardinals game for our anniversary and go to the opening Phoenix Suns game (gotta support Jeff Hornacek as our new coach!). 

Our First Camping Trip

After over 5 and 1/2 years of marriage, we finally had our first camping trip as a family. The last 2 summers we've planned weekends, even gotten to the day of a camping trip and cancelled just because our lives were so crazy and other things took priority, but for Scott's birthday I promised him a camping trip. So we planned one and followed through!

We drove about 3 hours northeast of Phoenix to Show Low which is up in the mountains. Unfortunately we went camping on a the weekend when the majority of the west was getting a heat wave. It was 95 degrees in the daytime in the mountains and only 75 at night which made for a really hot night in the tent. Cosmo enjoyed his time but was done by the next morning. While we cleaned up camp, he sat in the air conditioned car, it was a little too warm for him.

 I think we've done a good job at making a camp kitchen.

 Beautiful view of Fools Hollow Lake.

 He was filthy!

 We couldn't have a fire, so we had to be creative and cook solely on our stove. We used our pie irons and made pizzas for dinner and breakfast sandwiches for breakfast. And we made some cinnamon roll pull-aparts which were so good.

 Beautiful day to play in the lake.

It was a fun trip, but we'll definitely watch the weather next time and go when we can use our sleeping bag. The irony of the whole thing was that Scott and I didn't use any bug spray and I only got one bite and Scott didn't get any... The next morning after sleeping in our bed, we both woke up with bites all over our legs (like dozens of tiny red bites)... I ripped off the sheets and found a teeny tiny baby spider in our bed and it did it's number. Jokes on him since he's dead now.

P.S. A shower never felt SO good than after sweating for a full day and night and coming home and unpacking when it was 117 outside.

Parental visit long time ago

A long long time ago, like back around Easter, my parents drove down to see us, and the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. We had a great visit, were able to do some fun things and then I drove back with them to attend my cousin's wedding. 

One of the things that we were able to do is take a tour of the University of Phoenix stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play. It was so much fun! It was fun to see how excited my parents were as well.

After a few days of playing here, I drove to SLC with my parents. I felt like a kid again, hanging out in the backseat and my mommy buying me treats. It was fun. He stopped in Page, AZ and saw Lake Powell, it was so pretty. That's one of the things that I like about roadtrips is being able to see things like that.

 

 I was able to spend time with family in SLC. I even got loved on my by sister's doggies, love those dogs and they love me.

Then the highlight of the trip was getting to see my cousin Laurel celebrate her wedding. Laurel lived with us for a while when I was young and she became a role model to me, we've always been close and I'm so happy for her and her new life as a wife!

 

 

It was great to spend some 1 on 1 time with these 2 kids as well.  Family time is a lot more special now that we live away.