A Week in Phoenix

"The love of a family is life's greatest blessing." That's a quote I read that sits on my parents desktop when I first sat down to start this blog post several days ago in the midst of our Phoenix adventure. Have you ever just taken a moment to sit back and realize all you have to be thankful for? As I sat down, read that quote, and just thought for a moment, I took that moment to realize how blessed I am and came through it with a big smile and a happy heart. I am so blessed, and our recent adventures reminded me of all the joys I have to be thankful for. This is a long one; thought I should warn you now. Feel free to take a cookie or coffee break at any time.  

 To start things off, my brother (AKA Uncle Dude) married his beautiful bride, Michelle, on May 4th. It was a beautiful wedding with the sweetest vows, the cutest ring bearer, a super fun photo booth and some delicious cupcakes. I might be biased about the ring bearer, since I also think he's the cutest little boy on the face of the planet, but that's for you to decide. The kid strutted his stuff down the aisle, decided to "swim" in the flowers the flower girl tossed, never left the dance floor except to cool off with a Capri Sun, flirted with all the little girls and won the hearts of all in attendance. What can I say, my son is a stud.

  

My bestest best friend, Stephanie, flew in for the weekend from Texas for the wedding. I think everyone has at least one really good friend that you have known for quite some time, yet sadly don't see very often. So you know what I mean when I say that every time we see each other, we can just pick back up on life as if we saw each other yesterday. Despite only seeing each other every few years, she's still that one friend I look to for advice, prayer and just to tell the most recent funny story. If you don't have a friend like that, well you should.

    Anyways, she was accepted by all members of the family (immediate and extended) as "family," however, Lukas refused to say her name the majority of the weekend. He fondly referred to her as "that girl." Don't get me wrong, he loved her, but wasn't a fan of her name apparently. Stephanie's one request upon arrival to Arizona was to go on a hike. We almost blew off the mountain, Lukas found some turquoise and we somehow ended up off trail (I think I'm starting a trend here...) but eventually made it back to the car. Phew.  
Lukas was sure to point out every airplane along the hike and was sure to remind us often that we were, indeed, climbing a huge mountain and it was awesome.  

Family from across the country also flew in for the wedding. My cousin Melissa has 2 kids, Noah and Macy, who are around the ages of Lukas and Addilyn. They all had a blast together! The boys were constantly playing super-heroes, hide and seek, beat up grandpa ski-man, riding tricycles, playing at the park, flying kites and even hunting for scorpions with their black lights. Thank heavens they didn't find any. I feel like I might not have ever had a decent nights sleep at my parents house had they found some. Again, PHEW.

    There was no shortage of super heroes around the house!    
And to top things off, we celebrated my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. 60! You see, we don't have this much family together very often, so we had to celebrate all major events in the course of the next year pretty much all one time. And of course it meant another occasion to have more dessert. I'm down with that. My grandparents are a true example of a Godly marriage. I hope and pray that Jeff and I can reach 60+ years, be just as in love as they are and have an amazing legacy like they do to leave behind. My grandpa prays for every single family member every single morning by name, and has been doing so for the last 40 or so years. And my grandpa can still keep everyone laughing with his witty jokes and quite humerus personality. If you have had the pleasure of his company at any point in your life, you know just what I mean.   I know, aren't they the cutest?
Other Phoenix-adventures included: swimming, shopping, mani/pedis, amazing pork sandwiches, too many desserts (I'm not complaining), lots of laughs, my sister giving me a side mullet for the wedding (thank goodness we took it out and it looked fine leaving it down right before the wedding), a mini 1st birthday party cake smash with Addilyn and her BFF Harper to celebrate their May birthdays, and a trip to the zoo with a sweet friend and her adorable kids; oh and Lukas and I got to ride a camel. (Check that one off the bucket list!) Once we got home, the kids had a big surprise waiting for them that Daddy worked on while we were gone. But that will be another blog post, so look for it in the next few days! And now that we are home I think we will stay here and relax for at least a week. No matter how much fun a vacation is, it's always good to be home. Anyways, kuddos to you if you made it this far reading! Did you take a cookie or coffee break yet? You totally missed your chance if you didn't.  

 

 Who knew an almost one-year old would LOVE the zoo so much! Monkeys are now officially her favorite animal; she could have watched them all day. And here we thought she loved puppies...

 

My friend Amber, and her daughter Harper. Addilyn and Harper have May birthdays 2 weeks apart. Of course we had to get together to celebrate. And of course they had to have matching outfits. And yes, we've already planned to do this every year until they are at least 18.


See what I mean? SO blessed. Thank you, Jesus, for my family and all the blessings you have bestowed upon us. Ok, now it's your turn. Take a moment and remind yourself how blessed you are, too. And now go and have a beautiful day. OH! And don't forget to enjoy the little moments, like eating bubbles.

 

 

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