Phoenix, oh how we miss you!

I apologize in advance, there will be a lot of pictures! This last weekend we took a trip down to sunny Phoenix to visit my brother, Steve, and his family. A lot of preparation went into this trip, especially the drive down. Since Big Boy's diagnosis things aren't a simple as they used to be. Usually on a trip I'd pack a bunch of snacks and plan on eating at fast food places for meals. Now, I can't plan on finding a safe place to eat on the way, so I packed a whole lot more food for the road. For dinner the first night we stopped at Wendy's in St. George and got baked potatoes, chilli, mandarin oranges, and frosties. I was a little worried that Big Boy wouldn't eat any of it, but he and Cheeks downed the whole meal!
After dinner we drove to Las Vegas and checked in at Excalibur. The boys had been really excited to sleep at a castle the first night and they weren't disappointed when we pulled in. It was pretty late when we got there so we just went to our room and let the boys jump on the bed and generally destroy the place getting all their pent up energy out. Baby M was especially happy to be free of his car seat. I think the trip was hardest on him as he's facing backwards in the very back of the van!
We decided to do some exploring the next day and kill a little time so we wouldn't be arriving in Phoenix right at rush hour. The highlight of the day was Caesar's Palace where we visited FAO Schwartz and followed the boys around. Well, most of the boys, Cheeks had a hard time staying awake!

Then we went to the big aquarium and the boys were transfixed for a good half hour! Some people next to us were having more fun watching the boys than the fish!

Then we headed on our way to Phoenix and another 6 hours in the car. We were so glad to have bought the van with the DVD player! Mostly they were happy if we kept the treats coming.

We got to Phoenix after rush hour and made our way to Gilbert. Steve and Corinne live in a really nice neighborhood and their house is adorable! We took the tour, then put the kids down for bed. The cousins had a hard time staying away from each other at night. We'd hear them going into each other's rooms and laughing, it was sweet and annoying at the same time!

Our first day Corinne took us to a fun park and bird sanctuary while Steve was at work.

The kids had fun looking at the ducks, throwing rocks, and playing with sticks.

When we got back to their house there was a police car sitting out front. The officer said their house alarm had gone off while we were gone. The officer had gone through the house and nothing seemed to be missing so he locked it up and waited for the owner to arrive. It turned out that somehow we'd tripped the alarm when we left. Unfortunately we didn't have a key to the house as their car was in the shop along with all the keys. Luckily it was a nice day and the kids were happy to play in the backyard while we waited for Steve to get home from work an hour later.

They have a really nice backyard with a swingset, my boys were in heaven!

Even Baby M got in on the swingset fun!

After Steve got home we (well, mostly Steve & Corinne) made a yummy dinner of grilled steaks, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Then we rushed out the door to make it in time for our 7:30 showing of Monsters vs Aliens at the local drive in theater. We brought our own snacks and sat in the back of our vans with the kids all bundled in blankets and watched the show. It was so fun and the kids had a blast! Baby M slept through the whole show, so that was a bonus. And, the movie was funny, I've never seen Shafer laugh so much at a cartoon! I'm now on the search for drive ins in Utah, it was the perfect family outing!

Saturday we drove into Phoenix and visited the science museum. It was a lot of fun, we ended up spending 4 hours there! The kids really enjoyed the first room where there was a little fenced off area with blocks, cars, trucks, a little playhouse, and a play vegetable garden. I know, I was cringing too everytime I saw Baby M put another toy in his mouth, but what can you do?

After the museum we went to a zPizza a few blocks away where they serve gluten free pizza! I had read about it online before the trip and made sure we were able to go there during the trip. It was very tasty and fun to be able to eat out!

That night we put the kids down as early as we could and played some guitar hero! Shafer and I are recently obsessed with guitar hero and rock band, but have no game system of our own, so we play whenever we have the chance! I thought this picture was so funny because I was concentrating so hard. I had unlocked a new song and was doing a battle with some devil character on the game to the Devil Went Down to Georgia, it was HARD! (Don't judge me, I'm wearing pajamas!)

The next day was Sunday and we went to church with them at 8am!!!!! Can you believe how early their church is?!? We also forgot that it was fast Sunday since conference is this week...Ooops! They had a special meeting for all the adults, so they were taking the teachers out of Primary. Steve happens to be a nursery teacher, so Shafer and I sat in for his class while he and Corinne went to the meeting first hour. Big Boy had fun being back in nursery, but kept asking when he could go to his big class. During the next hour we left the boys in their respective classes (Corinne also happened to be the Sunbeam teacher so Big Boy was in her class) while we went to the adult meeting. After church Corinne said Big Boy was the only kid in class answering questions, and he was answering every one! What a good boy!

While dinner was cooking we took a drive over to the Mesa temple to walk around the grounds. It's such a beautiful temple, and so unique. My favorite were the citrus trees all over the grounds. There were grapefruit, orange, lemon, and others that I don't even know what they're called. Apparently you can take some, so Shafer and Steve gathered in a few. All I can say is that fresh grapefruit right off the tree are THE yummiest thing I've ever tasted! It literally melted on your tongue! I want a grapefruit tree in my backyard, although I'm sure it wouldn't last long in a Utah winter!

Cheeks being reverent, what a cutie! Baby M enjoying some fresh orange.

Big Boy enjoying some fresh peeps!

The fam in front of the temple.
That night we had the best shredded beef tacos EVER! Steve and Corinne have some mad cooking skills, that's all I have to say! Just thinking about that meal makes my mouth water!

The next day we said our goodbyes and headed North. We drove the Kanab route home and decided to do it all in one day. The boys did amazingly well, but we were all extremely glad to get home that night and get out of the car!

It was such a fun trip and we were sad to leave the fantastic weather and fabulous company! We thought we'd missed the last snowstorms of the season while we were there, but we've been hit over and over with more snow since we got back, BOO!

Thanks again Steve and Corinne for a wonderful weekend! You guys were great hosts and so nice to accomodate our wacky new diet!

Now we just need spring to reach us here in Utah!