We departed on our road trip to Arizona for the Wells Family Reunion on July 2nd. We drove through the night in order to make good time for our first stop to see Justin and Betony in their new home in Texas. They used to live near us until the military moved them last October. We hadn't seen each other since. They hadn't seen Juliana yet, either. Alex and Ryan were grown and so were Josh and Blake. I think this was the first time all four of our boys were able to romp around in the yard together. Plus, my dad and step-mom dropped by for a visit, so it was like a mini-family reunion.
We continued our trip a day later just long enough to almost make it out of Texas (it seemed this state could go on forever). We took the high road out in order to meet some of Andrea's family at the Grand Canyon. That is where we had our next highlight.
Andrea and her sister Shalene bravely scaled the mountain cliff and posed for pictures on the edge of insanity while I was slowly losing my breath and broke out in a cold sweat. Luckily I was on a more solid plane and didn't lose my footing while I was dizzy. We all lived to tell the tale of the Grand Canyon. Hopefully we can see more of it another time.
After the Grand Canyon, we finally arrived at the Marriott Canyon Villas Resort at Desert Ridge in Phoenix, Arizona for a week of relaxation and reunion. For a desert, this place had plenty of pools and the accomodations were top notch. We got to do some shopping at Desert Ridge, swimming in the many pools, playing games like Don't Forget the Lyrics or Rock Band, winning the guys' Wii golf tournament, sightseeing the Phoenix downtown, taking in the quietude of the Mesa Temple grounds, more swimming in the many pools (or floating in the lazy river, if you prefer), ladies getting a day at the spa, eating real Mexican food, and sharing a good time with our extended family who are extended out West.
Josh got to ride up to Idaho to stay with one of his cousins for 2 weeks. Shalene rode home with us to help with the kiddos. She has been our nanny for the summer and has been a super help to us. We got a new wooden fence installed and the landscape was spruced up just in time for Josh and Delilah to come home on July 26th.
So it was a long, lonely month if you missed us and a short, fun month if you were with us!
