ARIZONA TRIP

DAY ONE: EASTER SUNDAY

Before we loaded up our dear babies, their Melin grandparents provided them with a fun Easter Egg hunt, as well as some Easter treats (blessings) for me: An activity bag for each child and a delicious lunch for the road.

James & Heidi hunting eggs
James, Heidi, and Addie

James with his loot!

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After the egg hunt, we got in the car and drove 10 hours to Richfield, Utah (approximately half way to Tucson, with a $25 hotel room!). It was snowy most of the way down...look at our car:


Our van was all icy when we stopped in Ashton, ID!
It was much warmer past Idaho Falls at this Sinclair Station...James on the dinosaur. I remember this was during Elder Ballard's conference talk on Sunday (we were so lucky--we could hear conference starting near Norris, MT on KSL).

Addie also rode the dinosaur in Idaho.

DAY TWO (Monday) was almost strictly driving from Richfield to Tucson. We got to Tucson at 5pm and stopped at eegee's for dinner. My heart almost burst as my kids squealed with delight as they ate their pina-colada eegee's and enjoyed the warm breeze and gorgeous sunset that night. We checked in to the hotel and I took and shower and hurried over to the hospital and then to Gram's house (see "Some Letters" post below) and Walmart. We had a wonderful night's sleep--the beds at the La Quinta Inn were wonderful!
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DAY THREE: TUESDAY

Tuesday Morning I went to the hospital at 8:30am and found Grandpa finihsing his breakfast (see "on Tuesday" post below). I had the best day with him and Gram and all the wonderful visitors. Richard took the kids to the zoo then back to the hotel to swim, but first he brought them to Grandpa's window (above). They were so excited to see him!

He felt so sick that day, but was happy to see the kids.


(We made the little sign on his wall there in this pic...each little circle has lyrics from "You Are My Sunshine")


Heidi was so happy to see elephants at the zoo!

James took a pretend ride!

Happy Heidi and her pachyderm friends

Addie in a log

My children at the Zoo Entrance

They loved this little Chihuahua in a bag at the zoo.

James at the hotel pool with Daddy

A German woman gave the kids swimming tips at teh hotel pool.

Later, Uncle Sam and Aunt Kristen came to the hotel with Owen!

James was so excited to see his little skyping buddy/cousin!

Heidi liked helping Owen walk

Late Tuesday night, my sister Jill and brother Michael and his friend Amber joined us for dinner at El Charro Cafe (birthplace of the chimichanga, right next to our hotel!). The food was sooo good, but the company was even better!

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DAY FOUR: Wednesday

My sweet SIL Kristen offered to watch the kids at her parent' home so Richard and I could visit Grandpa and help out at Grandma's house. We took the kids up to Dever's house, grabbed a Yokohama rice bowl, and went to work fixing the computer, cleaning up the laundry room, and washing some of our clothes, too. LAter, we picked up the children and met Grandma and Aunt Marti at Trail Dust Town to eat dinner at Pinnacle Peak. My Uncle Matt is the director of security there--or, as we like to call him, the sherriff of Trail Dust Town--and we planned to meet up with him, but he had already gone home to Sahuarita. He did make arrangements for us to ride the train and carousel for free, though. We had delicious cowboy steaks and ribs at Pinnacle Peak (the kids LOVED the atmosphere AND the yummy food) with Gram and Auntie, then we stayed and watched the gun fight show, rode the train and carousel, shot rifles in the shooting gallery, and bought vintage candies at the candy store for dessert. It was a memorable fun time for the kids--thanks, Uncle Matt!

In the parking lot of Trail Dust Town, our van turned over 100,000 miles!

She's been such a good car! (2005 Grand Caravan)

We parked by the Trail Dust Town Cemetery

Somebody was super-excited about the train!

Daddy nd Auntie-M took the kids on a quick ride before dinner while I waited with Grandma.

Naughty kids go to cowboy jail!

Addie wanted her sneakers shined!

Grandma and Me

This is a strictly-enforced rule at Pinnacle Peak steak house.

Heidi with the wagons and flowers in town square.

James says, "All Aboard!"

Going for a ride!

The cutest little cowboy

Rich and Addie shooting up the Saloon

Addie Get Your Gun!

HA! Rich is funny!

Addie and Heidi

Heidi and James

James on the carousel

Addie on the carousel.

After this, we went back to the hotel and actually got to bed at a decent hour. Thanks again, Uncle Matt. The kids had a great time and this made the trip more like a fun spring break than the sad visit it could have been. Thanks, also, Kristen, for babysitting. You always think of such kind and helpful ways to help in difficult situations (Of course we would have loved to spend the day with you, too! The kids loved being with you and Owen, though).

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DAY FIVE: THURSDAY

The day began with grandpa taking a no-visitors rest in the morning, so Richard and I took the kids out to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson. It was absolutely beautiful! I told Rich I need to start visting AZ in July so I don't get so homesick--March and April are just too beautiful! These photos are priceless!

After the museum, I went to the hospital and Richard took the kids to swim at the hotel. We met up with my Aunt Marti, my sis Jill, bro Sam and SIL Kristen and Owen at Grandma's house. We ate leftovers for dinner and picked oranges, then went back to the hotel to bed (but Addie went with Aunt Jill to eegee's first and brought me another pina colada :)).

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DAY SIX: FRIDAY

We planned to get together with Aunt Lisa and Aunt Jill (my sisters) this day at some point, but decided to let Rich have a chance to visit Grandpa first. We knew we had to head home and wanted to find a way for the children to hug Grandpa before we left (since one of the reasons we came was for them to see him alive/coherent/etc. one more time and take photos). Rich went in and visited for a few minutes, then came out and said that the nurses said the kids could come in if they wore masks and hand santizer. So I parked the car and we went in to see Papa (those are the photos I posted below). By the time we got in, Harold and Joni Preston were there, too. It was a wonderful visit--worth the whole trip.

Then we met Lisa for lunch at Panda Express. We took Richard and James out to the Pima Air Museum, then Lisa and I (and her boys) went on a girl trip to the Miniature Museum. We met up again at about 4pm and headed up to Sam's in-laws' house again for a taco party. Cousin Dave Mayberry's family was there, too, and Jill and Lisa joined us. We ate Kristen's delicious food, enjoyed the Dever's gorgeous NW-Tucson-backyard, the kids jumped on the trampoline, swam in the pool, played on the lawn with their cousins, and we savored the AZ weather (blossoms everywhere, orange slossom-scented air!) and family time. While we wre there, Richard adn I decided to leave as early as we could so the ids would sleep part of the way to Utah. So when we got back to the hotel, the kids crashed hard and we cleaned out the car and got all packed up. I cried the whole time. It was soooooo hard to leave knowing how different everything would be next time I came down. Heartaches!!

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DAY SEVEN: SATURDAY

(Happy Birthday to "big Heidi"--Heidi Egan!!!)

We left Tucson at 4am, stopping in Flagstaff for breakfast at 8am (which was 9am UT & MT time, back on the road an hour later), then--on a whim--stopping for lunch at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. This made a brutal trip even longer, but it was fun to let the kids see something that amazing. We got back on course in Page, AZ at 2pm, Kanab, UTat 3pm, and then the kids finally fell asleep and slept til sundown in Nephi, UT. We grabbed burgers and kept on truckin', arriving at my mom's house around 9pm. (I left my photos on her computer, which is why I haven't posted them yet!).

DAYS 8-9 and photos coming soon...