AZ Trip 2014

So during Spring Break, we took a family trip to AZ.  It was different than normal this time around and I loved it.  Mitch came with us this time, which was so nice! He's never been able to come with us in the past and so it was really awesome that we could all experience it together.  Another thing that made this trip more unique was the fact that my older brother, Chris, and his family were able to come out for a few days as well.  I haven't seen Chris or his family in something like 10 years.  So, for the first few days, it was kind of like a family reunion.  No one told my Grandma Vetti that everyone would be there and she was so surprised.  My heart melted when I saw her cry.  With Chris and his family being there, my Dad's house was pretty full.  Mitch, the kids, and I stayed with my sister during that time and it was so nice to spend some good time with her and her family.

My niece, Payton, and Jenna had a great time drawing on the chalkboard together.

Payton, Kayla, and Jenna

Kayla had a great time with my Sister's Husband, Eric.  I'm pretty sure that Liam (or "Lem" as Jenna would call him) got a bit jealous.  Letting his Daddy play with a stranger child is no fun at all for a one year old.

 

Surprising Grandma Vetti with all of her children, grandkids, and great-grandkids was amazing.  She never thought she'd see all of us under one roof again in this lifetime.  My Uncle Mike and Aunt Sue live in CA (as well as my stepsister, Jennifer), we live in UT, and Chris and his family live in TX;  so it's not really easy to coordinate everyone's schedules and finances to all meet in one place at the same time.  I'm pretty sure that this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

 

My Grandma Vetti was so surprised when she walked into my Dad's house and saw everyone

I have about a million pictures so I will really try narrow it down.  Here are some of Grandma greeting us.

 Chris

Chris and two of his kids (Marc and Rose)

Jaxton

She's cracking him up right here.  I'd like to know what she said, but it's a mystery.

 

 

Here's one of the whole gang

 

 

It was such a good time.  The kids were just going nonstop and they all got along so well.  Jaxton loved his cousin, Rose, and was so sad when she left.  And the rest of us just hung out and talked and took tons of pictures. 

 

 

 

The kids playing with my Uncle Mike

Cousins playing together

My Stepmom (Debbie), my nephew (Liam [Lem for short]), and me.

The little ones loved dipping their feet in the pool.



My oldest brother, Chris, and my Dad

My sister (Brenda), my brother (Mike), and me

Owen loved my niece, Gina.  I think she loved him equally as much.  

My nieces, Payton and Memory

My nephews, Cheyenne and Marc.  Gotta love technology.

 Mike and Marc deep in conversation

The girls and their Grandpa Vetti

The girls and my Aunt Lisa

I love this picture because even Jenna is intrigued with this conversation.  Love the generations in this picture.

Jenna and her Uncle Mike.

I had to throw this picture in because it's funny.  Owen was fake crying and I love how hard Grandma Vetti and Aunt Lisa are laughing.  Only women would find something like a fake cry hysterical.

 

 

 

 

After the weekend had ended and everyone got on a plane to go home, we stayed with my Dad and Debbie for the rest of the trip.  It was so nice and relaxing.  We went to the lake one day and went on a bike ride another day.  One night we had a "Frozen" movie night, which I must say was amazing, since my family had not yet seen it.  I think we were the only people on the planet who had never seen it at that point.  It didn't disappoint.  It was amazing.  One night Brenda and Eric hosted a dinner at their new house, so we got to see them and the kids here and there throughout the whole trip.  We took the kids to see my Grandma at her house another day.  It was just so nice.  I was not ready to leave at the end of the week.  I loved seeing all the kids playing together and it reminded me of when I was little with my cousins.  I miss my family.  I was so happy that Mitch could go out and experience it with me.  It was such good family time.

 

 

While we were there, we got to go see the high school that Mike teaches at.  Here we are in his classroom.  I made him pretend to teach the kids for a picture... This being after Jenna peed all over his classroom floor instead of asking me to take her to a bathroom.  Mike got quite the taste of the joys of potty training.

This is at Saguaro Lake.

Owen checking out his Grandpa Vetti's beard

 

 

 

Jaxton, of course, found a "treasure".  This kid and his treasures.  He has quite the stash.

Cousin time.  This old piano has been around forever.  We played on it when we were kids and it is so neat to watch our kids play on it.  I love it.

I love this picture of Jenna at the piano.  She looks like she knows what she is doing.

"Frozen" movie night!

The kids with their Great Grandma Vetti

 Love this picture of Owen and Jenna so intrigued with the flowers and rocks.

Owen's keeping himself occupied with Grandma Vetti's fountain.

 

 

 

Well it all went by way too quick and we soon had to make our way back home.  On our roadtrip there and back, we stopped plenty and split up the driving with one hotel stay each way.  The kids were so so good and we all loved stopping to sightsee.

 

 

This was a setup on the side of the road across from the Arizona State Line sign.  Just a bunch of little goodies for sale.  We let each of the kids pick a rock.  They were so happy.

 

This was a place where people way back when built rock houses.  Obviously no one lives in them anymore, but people could stop and look and go in them.  It was pretty neat.  Messy though with all of the red clay dirt.

So this was a bedroom of one of the houses.  I like how they built this little window to perfectly align with one of the rocks outside.

 

 

It was such a good trip!