Party in Arizona

We really wanted to go to Arizona this summer, but we knew Keith didn't have the time off of work.  I was debating on taking the kids by myself when Mel, Tiff and I thought it would be fun to all go down together.  It worked out for all of us to go the last week in June and it came together really easily.  Keith decided to drive us down last Saturday and then fly home with Paul Monday morning.  I'm so glad he did, we loved having him there with us.

We made great time on Saturday and got there about 2:00 PM.  We were all so excited to be there.  Cody looked so grown up.  He is such a great kid, I could talk to him all day.  He is so good to Jonah and they have so much fun together.

Caitlyn and Elena are the cutest!  They have so many common interests.  They both love crafts!  Elena is so sweet and was amazing about sharing all of her things and letting us all take over the house.  She made the cutest crafts for Wyatt and Hallee and they loved them!

Tiff and Paul got there a few hours after we did.  Wyatt was so excited to have Rockwell there.  Our June has been so busy that these boys haven't hardly seen each other. They had so much fun on the air hockey table. 

Hallee and Tessa had a blast playing together all week.  They loved playing with all of Elena's toys.

Saturday night we left the kids home and went out to dinner.  I love adult dinners! We had a great time laughing and eating good food.

Jonah fell asleep fast Saturday night.  Cody went in to visit with the girls since Jonah was asleep and ending up falling asleep with them.  Caitlyn loves hanging out with Cody.  I miss the days when Cody and Caitlyn were best friends, they were so cute and always loved playing with each other.  Things have changed as they have gotten older, but they are still great friends and I love that.

On Sunday we went for a swim after church.  It felt so good because it was so hot! 

We all love visiting Matt and Lori.  We swam every day and had a blast.

Mel and her kids got there Sunday afternoon.  They were ready to hop right in the pool after that long, hot drive. 

Keith and Paul were supposed to fly out first thing Monday morning.  I got up nice and early to take them to the airport and we found out their flight was delayed.  Tiff took them to the airport later and found out that their flight was canceled until the next day.  It was great to have that extra day with Keith, but a little stressful that he was missing work. 

Keith worked as much as he could, but still spent the day having fun with us.  The kids were sure glad he didn't leave!

I came downstairs and found Tessa snuggled up to Keith, so cute!  Keith is so good with all of the kids.  It looks like Ruby liked snuggling up with Keith too!

I was very glad that Paul was there Monday night when Tessa broke her arm.  Tessa and Hallee were playing on Cody's bunk bed and Tessa fell off.  Hallee told all of us that Tessa cannonballed off the bed, but she changed that story and said she fell off.  Sweet, little Tessa was a trooper.  I never heard her complain about not being able to swim.  I was so sad that Tessa broke her arm, but I was so impressed with how well she handled it and that she still had a great time without swimming.

Mel was so good with Tessa and carried her around and helped her with whatever she needed. 

I loved spending time with Damon while we were there.  It was so fun to be able to watch and listen to him all day.  His voice is so cute and he says the cutest things.  He is such a fun boy.  I love his big smile and enthusiasm about everything.

We had lots of trips to QT.  The kids were always thrilled when they got a drink.

We all met Matt for lunch one afternoon.

We ordered a few sets of pancakes for the whole group.  Lori said two orders would be enough, but we couldn't imagine it.  The pancakes were huge and two orders was just right, too bad we doubted her and ordered three! 

Lori was an amazing hostess, if she was overwhelmed with all of us there I never knew it.  She cooked great meals every night.  I would be so overwhelmed cooking for that many people, but she did great and we all went home with new dinner ideas for our families.  Lori is so good at doing fun things with the kids.  The girls wanted to make sugar cookies so she helped them do that one night.  She is the perfect wife for Matt and I love having her as my sister!

EJ was amazing with Hallee.  He let her give him a pretend makeover and always played wither her whenever she asked him to.

Here he is having a tea party with Hallee.  My kids don't know how good they have it, they have the best cousins around.  I loved spending time with EJ, Elijah and Ataiya.  One night they went with me and Matt to get drinks.  They are so funny and so fun to be around!