We Wanna See ALL of Arizona

We decided to fly to Arizona to see our newborn nephew Graham "Gramster" Peter Robertson. No Christmas stress in March, and we get the bonus of seeing both sides of the family: little Graham Cracker's parents are my sister Emily, who married Dave's cousin James.

First stop: Phoenix, to see Dave's grandparents (Grandpa was sick):

and pick their oranges.

Quick stop to see my aunt & uncle & a cousin,

then we drove down to Tucson, AZ to see the new baby.

Jessica was not as good a traveler as when she was 4 months old. She loved the airport shuttle bus, but couldn't keep still on the plane, and slept only an hour the whole day. On the drive to Tucson, she decided she would angry scream (not cry) most of the way there. The last hour I hopped in the back seat with her and pulled out every entertainment method I knew to stop the shrieking. After realizing purchasing 2 seats with Continental doesn't mean they will be next to each other (thank heaven for people who will swap), & that Dad doesn't pack what Mom wants for traveling, subsequent debates included "OK, you get to do it next time." and "I love you. I love vacation. But I hate travelling."

Anyways, Jessica was thrilled to play with cousins Henry & Wesley & so many toys, and slept great once she had a pack & play. We all took a hike through Sabine canyon with our families, plus James' brother Jay & his girlfriend Jessica (who braved the Robertson insanity for a weekend.)

Besides being windy, it was a great day to hike. I love saguaro cactus, and Jessica didn't burn.

After, famous Sonoran hot dogs at el Guero Canero: bacon-wrapped, spicy bean-smothered deliciousness. Sadly, it was without my brother Chris, who recommended the joint in the first place, but was 2 hours too late. We got him a double.

Saturday night James' sister Emily & her husband & kids drove down from Utah on their way to Florida. (Yay, we now have family in the state!) We celebrated James' birthday, ate delicious food, and we all slept in the same house. (Good people; too bad we couldn't make ourselves stay up later! We blame Eastern time.) The fifth family was Robertson cousin Sharon & her family, who live in town and joined us for the baby blessing. 

James did a wonderful job, and I got to transcribe. Em went up to the pulpit with the other testifiers and spoke strongly about her love of God and her family. Ahhhh.

My sis & I both deal with infertility. She has several years of waiting before and between her kids. So we are very glad for her.

Sunday afternoon, we drove to Yuma (near the California & Mexico borders) to see Dave's sister & her family, & Dave's brother & wife who were picking up their kids after a company trip to Vegas.

We went from Tucson's "everyone has a lawn of rocks" to Yuma's "everyone has citrus trees in their backyard." Yuma is the lettuce capitol of the U.S., apparently all thanks to the Colorado River. 

The wind thwarted our trip to the camel farm, but we still enjoy lots of talking, Gumbo, fruit, trampoline time, music, and laughs from Danny & Karen's description of the most expensive place to vacation. Jessica loved the dog, new toys, and 7 little cousins.

Melanie took me letterboxing, a hobby she introduced me to. We found 2 new stamps hidden in the old railway/mission part of Yuma. I'm up to 15 finds now, and I can't wait to get to Utah in April & find some more.

We drove back to the Phoenix airport after only a week of vacation, and happily, Jessica was not so crazy on the way home. We love you AZ fam; thanks for the good times.

Orlando Vacation Part 4: Kenny and Megan in Jupiter, FL

After playing at the theme parks and Jessica's baby blessing and temple sealing, all the family left except my brother Kenny and his wife Megan. They loved board games too, so we played several. Megan won "The Totally Insane Card Game" which s like Uno, but with 40 weird action cards.

We went to the free small Busch Gardens wildlife rehab center right across the street from our house. Apparently Jessica thought the black bears were funny.

We also walked through the new turtle rehab center in Juno Beach.

I drug everyone out to hunt for letterboxes. Dave's sister Melanie made us a kit for Christmas, and I wanted to try it. I looked online, and found out some waterproof boxes had been hidden by letterboxing hobbyists in nearby Riverbend Park. We walked the trails through old settler grounds and abandoned orange orchards. We dug through the overgrowth to find the 2 boxes, and stamped a windblown girl and a Batman in my notebook as proof of the deed.

Our third attempt was unsuccessful, starting with a really hard rain. But Kenny & Megan were as determined as I was, so we got soaked jogging around a pond in a park. We followed the clues to the correct spot, but it wasn't there. The letterbox planter had stuck a magnetic box inside a drainpipe on the top. It was obvious from the water pouring out, that it had been washed away a long time ago. Oh well, we thought it was fun. Dave stayed dry by volunteering to follow us with the car.

We also took Kenny & Megan snorkeling in our favorite lagoon off the Jupiter inlet.

I love this pic of Jessica "reading" our fish identification book. (We eventually gave away all of our snorkeling  gear when we moved from Florida a year later in September of 2011. I loved snorkeling and I will miss that part of Jupiter.)