Phoenix!!

We got the privilege of going to Phoenix over the long Presidents' Day weekend! We were excited to see Andrew and Sarah's home for the first time, and we were thrilled to celebrate Kim's mom's 60th birthday!! Every milestone birthday seems like an extra-special gift from God for a breast-cancer survivor! We love you, Mom!

 

 The first morning in Phoenix, we woke up to a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, FRESH grapefruit, and FRESH-squeezed orange juice! Yum!!

We all got a turn helping to juice the oranges that Matt and Ian picked from the orange trees in Andrew and Sarah's yard.

Not surprisingly, Ian was a huge fan of the orange juice ...

 ... as were the rest of us!

 As usual during family time, we spent lots of time just talking, staying in our PJs 'til lunch time, and playing together. Ian thought that getting lifted up by Uncle Jason was so fun,

 he wanted to give Uncle Jason a turn, too! :)

 While it was too cold to actually swim in Andrew and Sarah's backyard pool, it was certainly warm enough to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful view.

 Ian thought that sitting on the diving board was especially fun,

 as was investigating what was in the pool filter.

 Ian was very thankful that Aunt Sarah had borrowed a couple of train sets and some toys from a friend! He had plenty of fun things to play with while in Phoenix.

 Aunt Sarah gave us an experience with In 'n' Out Burger, a burger chain in the Southwestern US. They only have about six things on their menu! The burgers have a special sauce, and all of the cups and French fries bags have Bible verses on them! What a fun place!

 While we girls (and Ian!) took an afternoon nap, Jason and Matt (not surprisingly!) came up with a little mini-golf competition. We woke up in time to see Jason retrieving a golf ball from under the TV stand.

What a treat to take a nap on the back porch, huh?!? :)

 We all went to pick Uncle Andrew up from work at his physical therapy clinic. During the tour, we took advantage of all of the "toys" we saw!

 Ian thought it was GREAT that Uncle Andrew has so many balls at his job!

 All of the guys took turns on this fun "speed skating trainer" (not its official name but that's sure what it looked like) ... :)

 Dr. Andrew even helped to give Ian a turn.

 We could play a lot of games on this "toy," asking Ian to jump between various colors on the mat.

 Of course, Ian had many "story times" with aunts, uncles, and grandparents!

While the guys were out golfing on Saturday morning, the girls and Ian went to a train park in Scottsdale. This was undoubtedly (and not surprisingly) one of Ian's top highlights of the trip. He kept running excitedly from place to place, shrieking with delight. We got to see a full-size locomotive,

 and walk on a track.

 Then, we took a train ride of our own around the park.

 After riding the carousel with Aunt Amy, Ian immediately asked to go again!

 Thankfully, Aunt Sarah was willing to take him!

And then Momma took him one last time.

Ian enjoyed seeing the model trains, too, and tried his best to keep up with the trains as they moved along the track.

At the front of the model train building was an Ian-sized train car!

 After lunch, we girls went out to help Sarah do some baby-supply registering at Buy Buy Baby. We took a break in the comfy gliders ...

 ... before registering some more.

 After dinner that night, Grammy's plane arrived! Ian wanted to play trains with her immediately!

 Kim was Chef Andrew's assistant in making some birthday chocolate souffles for Grammy.

 Ian helped to sample the batter ...

 ... and then give Uncle Jason a chocolate-y kiss.

 What a yummy treat!

 Happy birthday, Mom!

On Sunday morning, we got to attend Andrew & Sarah's church and take a tour of Sarah's classroom and school. What a beautiful facility! Grammy treated us all to fish tacos at Rubios for lunch.

 Back at home, we took naps and played games. Ian was a huge fan of the PaperBoy Super Nintendo game Andrew, Amy, and Kim had loved as kids.

 On Sunday night, we girls got to see Wicked!

 The costumes, scenery, and music were all stunning. We laughed a lot and were amazed at the talent. What a fun evening! By the time we girls got home, Papa's plane had landed, so we enjoyed more chocolate souffles and some games together.

 On Monday morning, we picked more fruit from Andrew and Sarah's trees -- including tangelos,

 oranges,

 and grapefruit!

 What a haul, huh?

 Aunt Amy and Ian enjoyed building blocks outside while everyone else was getting ready for the day.

 Andrew and Sarah treated us all to admission to the Musical Instruments Museum. We could "journey" around the world, seeing various instruments while listening on headphones to what the instruments sound like and watching on a TV screen to how the instruments are played. Very interesting!

 Ian's favorite place was the "Musical Experience Room" where everything was hands on!!

 We adults liked it, too!

the siblings ...

the pregnant sisters and sisters-in-law (about 27 weeks, 21 weeks with twins, and 13 weeks along)

 

the dads-to-be

 

Thanks for the great time, Andrew and Sarah! You did a lot of preparation to make our trip so relaxing and enjoyable. We enjoyed every moment! Thanks for being a great reason to celebrate, Mom!