AZ Christmas Break

***once again i'm behind. it's now been four months since we traveled to AZ so this will have to do***

after a loooong day of traveling we finally arrived in AZ and got to spend 10 days there visiting friends and family.  the girls were so excited to see grandma and grandpa skinner and their aunts and uncles!  it makes me feel lucky to have married into such an awesome family - not everyone has it so good!  we headed to dan's parents house and the girls were all set to open another slew of presents.  they were given such cute clothes, disney princess barbies, books and stuffed animals, littlest pet shop animals, more dress up clothes and jewelry, and that's only what i can remember off the top of my head. it was like christmas morning all over again for them and they got spoiled - to put it lightly. (thank goodness we brought an empty duffel bag with us to take all the goods back home in. :)   

madison even scored her very own marc jacob's skirt from aunt lindsay. 

we especially enjoyed the blue skies and sunny weather and made it a point to spend plenty of time outside.  grandma and grandpa skinner's new trampoline helped with that.

one of the cutest things ever was when grandpa skinner wanted to take the girls to build-a-bear to pick out their very own stuffed animals.  we left the four of them (g&g and the girls) alone in the store and came back at the end to see what the they had chosen.  apparently grace knew immediately which outfit she wanted and named her dog princess.  it was attached to her hip for weeks after this trip!

 

madison and grandma working hard on the "birth certificate" or something like it.  she chose a rabbit, dressed like a fairy, with red sparkly shoes and named her dorothy. :)

the finished products. 

we celebrated new years eve playing games and i think i might have fallen asleep early.  new years day, we drove out to usery mountain park for lunch and some hiking.  it was chilly but we chuckled seeing people bundled up with scarves and gloves and big jackets.  if only they they knew how cold it felt in MO... :)

our annual pass to the phoenix zoo hadn't expired so we ventured there one day and you can't beat free.  it was perfect weather too!  grace loved brushing the goats (her choker is actually a candy necklace) and hugged a bunch of them on the way out saying "i think this one needs a hug too!".

madison showed off her milking skills and knew exactly what she was doing since we saw our land lord's cow get milked twice a day for three years, while living lehi.  

a trip to the zoo would not have been complete without a ride on the carousel.  grace was in heaven.

not pictured but worth remembering:

*hannah and chris flying down to visit for a few days.  we went to nielson's frozen custard, ned's crazy subs, visited with shane and kamber, had a cousins night at g&g farnsworths, played games, and had so much fun.

*we met for lebaron family pictures where 80 something of the 95 people were present.  it was fun to see how much the family has grown.  

*while we were getting ready for pictures i had a coughing fit and felt something pop.  it ended up being my tailbone and it was excruciating!! it put a damper on the trip for sure and every time i coughed after that i felt like an old lady.  i tried narcotics for the pain and they made me sooo sick to my stomach.  diagnosis - probably a fracture and nothing fixable but i did carry around a donut to sit on for a few weeks. four months later...it still hurts!

*it happened to be our 7th anniversary while we were in AZ so after family pictures we took advantage of having willing babysitters and headed to the cheesecake factory.  dan didn't love what he ordered and i could hardly eat from being in so much pain from my tailbone, and madison was up during the night with a stomach bug.  it was an eventful anniversary to say the least but it's fun to look back on and laugh.

*one night we gathered with the woffindens and miner's for dinner and catching up.

*we attended Monument ward in lehi both sundays and it was SO GOOD to see everyone.  i wish we had been able to spend more time visiting with everyone there. i was also surprised to see how much it really felt like home still.

*we had an adult night out with dan's family and left the girls with their favorite babysitter - brittley.

*we enjoyed some quality mexican food - tia rosas, costa vida, and fili bertos.

*we went to the temple with dan's parents, grandparents, sister lindsay, and dan's uncle (who was also my dad's young men's president) performed the sealings.  it was such a sweet experience and one of my favorite things from the trip.

*the other best part of the trip was having an early ultrasound and finding out we're having a little boy.  it was fun to share that family and get a head start on the shopping.  a huge thanks to aunt diana and uncle eric for making it possible!

after 12 days of fun we flew back to the winter weather waiting for us in MO.  keeping this spunky little girl occupied for a four hour flight was an adventure in and of itself!

i have to admit, i was not gung ho about traveling over the holidays and spending christmas away from home.  but of course, and thankfully, it ended up being wonderful to go back to az and spend so much time with family.  the girls especially loved being surrounded (and spoiled) by so many people.  we are grateful to be part of such wonderful families!