It's been a long time!

We returned from a trip to Arizona last Tuesday evening. We saw my dad and Nicci, Summer, David, Connor, Holden and Tarik...it was wonderful. We saw lots of beautiful scenery, it was great to get away...SO relaxing. I tried to blog (three times) and something happened that kept losing my post. I got frustrated, then halloween weekend came upon us and we had Justin's last football game, Kendall had a soccer tournament; I worked a couple of days, ran errands/grocery shopped, did lots of vacation laundry, cleaned house, developed pictures, worked a couple more days.....and here we are more than a week later. With "DIRT" as my last post (my mother-in-law has reminded me more than once :-) ) it was time to give an update.

May I just say first and foremost- our time in Arizona was amazing. The kids relished in their time spent with granny and pappy. We relaxed. We were fed amazing food. We traveled to Lake Powell and spent a day on the lake in a speed boat; (An incredible way to see the lake). I did almost die during my day on the lake. That'll come in a later post with pictures. I must say, and you'll hear it again, my dad saved my life that day. Whew!!

We spent two wonderful days with my sister, Summer, and family. Keith played golf with David (and, if I remember correctly, I think he might've beat him). Justin and Kendall loved reconnecting with cousins Connor and Holden and we were all anxious to meet our newest family member, Tarik; who came home in late August from Ethiopia. I fell instantly in love and will never forget my snuggles with her, laughing and playing with her, the way she smelled, her adorable grunts, her enthusiastic way of eating a banana, her beautiful eyes or great smile.

Our journey wound down with a drive back to Phoenix; a stay at the Hilton Squaw Peak with it's wonderful pool complex and finally a straight through flight home to NC (love Southwest Airlines). We can't wait for our next trip west. There is so much to see in Arizona- I think our next 10 trips are filled with "must sees" on our wish list. We hope to entertain granny and pappy as well as Summer and David and family here in the east soon!