Arizona here we come, right back where we started from...

END OF SEPTEMBER... Curt had a Masters' Colloquium in Phoenix,  
so we took advantage of that and took the kids out of school and headed to the desert to stay with Kevin & Brooke.  Curt was occupied with his Masters stuff, 
so we were pretty much on our own...  NO PROBLEMO.

First Stop:  Searles.  

We hung out and swam all day... and then Malisa and I were obedient big girls and went to the LDS Womens' Broadcast together.  I had to get my fill of Cafe Rio that night, and then ran into my good friend, Chanda.  Later in the week, we squeezed in the best brunch ever... {Gilbert Farmhouse} and inhaled their amazing apple cider pancakes. And then I had to introduce her to this fabulous boutique right under her nose in her own neighborhood.    

So  good to keep in touch with Missy & her fam.

We had dinner at The Ricks one night... 

one of our favorite families from way back when we first moved to Gilbert.  

Loved catching up with Dave, Lynette, and their darling kiddos.  

My kids still ask to go back and hang out with the Ricks' clan.

And we spent a lot of time with one of my long-time friends, Dannielle, and her fam.  We've been friends since we were five, and have gone through different seasons of life together, including crazy adolesence, first dates, BYU, newlyweds, first pregnancies, etc.  I love it when forever friends can just start back up where they left off the last time....  and I didn't even get a pic of us two... shameful.  We spent some time at her house... 

Alexandra adored the dog, of course.

 The kiddos were introduced to 'just dance' on the wii... 
and we all enjoyed watching Izzie's awesome hip moves

We went to the Goldfield Ghost Town.. super great place when it's not 110.

We spent HOURS in Linda DiPadova's resort pool (Dannielle's Mom)...

 complete with pina coladas served poolside.  Dreamy.

and sadly, only saw Kevin & Brooke for a few hours even though we crashed at their house.  Kevin is busy in Dental School, and Brooke was out of town most of the time.

 We were able to visit with my 100-year old great Aunt Julia... the only living sibling of Grandma Williams.  She's hilarious... but the little ones were a little frightened. 

 

She is blind, but still whips out these crocheted purses... made from plastic bags.  Pretty impressive.  She told us how she learned the art from her sister, Dessie.. and I made her repeat it on video.  She got a little perturbed and then told us to 'scoot.'  

Got that on video too.  Oh, to be 100 years old.


UPDATE:  I just learned that Aunt Julia passed away this morning (1/11/11)... how grateful I am that I had the chance to see her once more.

Of course, we had to get a picture in front of the lovely Arizona Temple.  

Because there's several now in Arizona, is it now called the Mesa Temple?

 Why does Vivie ALWAYS make that face?

and just to squeeze a little bit more into the week... I had Lynette arrange for a lunch with some oldies, but goodies.   No, we're not that old... but we were buds back in the day when we were first starting our families.  SO sad I didn't get the pic until after our friend, Teresa, had to leave.  We'll have to plan another one soon. 

I realized just how many amazing friends and influences I have in Arizona.  I still didn't even get to see a few of them like Jamie Sherwood, Whitney Sims & Robin Adrian... not to mention all of our dear friends in Tucson.  

Guess we'll have to make it back to the land of the sun again soon!

Monson's Week-Long Birthday

...and equally long post.

Monson's favorite friend is his first friend, Seth Ogden.  The Ogdens were our next door neighbors in Utah and the boys have been hanging out ever since Monson was 6 months old.  We've been talking about his big 'ten' year old trip forever... and he's never settled on any one thing.  Rather than surprising him with something, we decided to let him choose... within reason.  He wanted to bring Seth back to Cali and just play play PLAY.  So that's what we did.  

The celebrations all started as we left Ama's house with Seth in tow... and so the week became all about the boys (except for the brief Izzie birthday celebration).

{Eclectic Cake}  It tasted good to the kids, anyway.

 Seth apparently loves the color orange... so the boys found everything orange they could and he put it on.  Gotta love the simplicity of what hits their funny bones.

{Beach Day} The boys wore themselves out boogie boarding-- but it was one of the few beautiful beach days there's been this summer 

{the marine layer permanently settled over Carlsbad this summer, it seems}

{Pat & Oscars Pond}  feeding the ducks and horsing around after dinner... 

{Pole Position Go-Kart Racing} Monson's actual birthday treat...  the boys pretending to ride motorcycles, and then raced 10 loops around the go-kart tracks.  Seth came around one of the curves and didn't quite turn, so hit the barracades head-on...must have hurt just a little:)  Monson was really excited that he came in 2nd place that day {there were only 3 racers}  Way to focus on the positive!

{La Brea Tar Pits} Cool little history lesson for the kids.  One of the world's most famous fossil sites... home to millions of fossils from the last ice age.  

From their website:  "It was here that huge mammoths, fierce sabertoothed cats, and giant ground sloths became trapped and entombed in the asphalt that has been seeping out of the ground for the past 40,000 years.

Discover and explore how these "tar pits" formed, what types of plants and animals became trapped, and how scientists have used these fossil deposits to open a window into the world of prehistoric Los Angeles."

Paleontology in action! 

As we walked up the stairs from the parking lot to this landing to get around to the front entrance, I just about had a heart attack as Monson ran straight for the edge.  From my vantage point I thought there was a sharp drop-off to the parking lot below and I screamed as loud as I could as I dropped everything and ran towards Monson.  Everyone around starred at this odd crazy woman {that'd be me}... the 'drop off' was only 1/2 foot and beyond it was a grassy hill that you just couldn't see because of its steep grade.  Heart-attack averted.... I recovered quickly and kids thought it was a great photo-op:

{Griffith Park} Picnic lunch before enjoying the rest of the sites....

{Griffith Observatory} Cool LA landmark... public observatory & planetarium with space & science-related displays and learning tools.  The kids especially loved the foucault pendulum which shows the rotation of the earth.  In the basement there's a working seismograph, so you can see any earthquake or seismic activity.  The kids stood right in front of it and in unison jumped and the seismograph recorded the way they moved... very cool.

We didn't make time to watch the laser show or other movies... but I'm sure we'll return soon.

cool view of the Hollywood sign at the tip of Monson's hat.  It was a smoggy day (when is it NOT in LA), but the views of LA from the deck are amazing

{Los Angeles LDS Temple} As long as we were touring LA, we thought we'd show Seth the beautiful temple amidst the craziness that is LA

{Venice Beach} My kids have been here many-o-time....  I think the Venice Beach education we gave Seth was eye-popping to a Utah kid and I hope we didn't ruin him too much:)  The street performers are always fun to watch, but you kind of have to wear eye blinders and ear filters at Venice Beach Boardwalk.

 Famous 'muscle beach' Gold's Gym.  It's laughable when only the fat & old guys are working out when you expect to see the Arnold Schwarzeneggers of the world.

{Titos Tacos} Can't go to LA without stopping here...

Monson's Faves:

Color: Blue

TV Show: Wipe Out

Sport: Soccer & Basketball

Animal: Golden Retriever

Holiday: my birthday

Song: Your Biggest Fan

Celebrity: Kobe Bryant

Subject: Math

Car: Ferrari

Restaurant: BJ's

Food: pizza

Dessert: Pazookies

Candy: Crunch Bar

Temple: San Diego

Thing to do: Play soccer & Legos

Movie: The Spy Next Door

Place to go: Utah

Place I want to visit:  Hawaii

Book: Where The Red Fern Grows

Scripture Story: King Noah & Abinadi 

Thing Mom does with you:  cuddles before bed

Thing Dad does with you:  plays catch

When I grow up I want to be... a famous basketball or soccer player