One Crazy Week, Part One...

Because I'm not as talented as some I know who can, while driving, talk on the phone, compose an email and eat a sandwich, I have several adventures that have taken place this week that I have yet to mention. The first being the whirlwind trip to Arizona.

On Wednesday I flew to Arizona by way of California. My sister and her family live in Ft. Huachuca, AZ. I must admit that it's not the most beautiful place I've ever been. However, monsoon season has brought a little more green to this desert city.

They picked me up from the airport in Tucson and we drove the hour to her house. That evening we attended Enrichment. Jamie was recently called to be the Enrichment leader and this was her first assignment. She did such a great job. Brigham and Audrey sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and they were amazing (I'd still say that even if I wasn't their aunt). After we cleaned up, we headed home, had scriptures and prayers (Audrey is thankful for pink and blue bunnies) and went to bed.

We got up early the next morning, hoping to leave by 8 am to drive back to Utah. Fortunately, we were ready to go and out the door by 7am.

The kids were pretty good. Brigham kept himself entertained with movies, books and coloring. It drove him crazy when it was Audrey's turn to pick a movie as she would only watch about 3 minutes of it and he'd be stuck watching "Strawberry Shortcake" or something equally masculine.

Isaac yells when he wants something. It's not a quiet yell either. Brigham figured out that if you told him to fold his arms he would do it and be quiet for a few minutes. We spent much of the trip telling Isaac to fold his arms.

Audrey kept us entertained most of the trip with her great stories, funny conversations, and original song compositions. Jamie started writing down all the funny things she was saying. She's only 3 but thinks she's at least 15. She also managed to have to use the bathroom after we'd past the last exit for 30 miles. Let's just say we had to stop by the side of the road several times.

The drive should have taken us around 13 hours. We used the GPS system that we got my dad for Father's Day. (Honestly, I still prefer the ancient way of going to the internet to find directions, or better yet using a map.) When we got to Flagstaff, I was instructed to turn towards Los Angeles and head west. This smart GPS system had calculated the shortest distance from Ft Huachuca, AZ to Mapleton, UT was through none other than Las Vegas, NV!

The trip ended up taking 17 hours. We did get to see the Hoover Dam, which I had never seen before, experience 120 degree weather, which again was something new for me and had a moment of panic when the air conditioning stopped working in the car. However, all was well, we made it home safely and we're all looking forward to fun family times with almost everyone in town this month.