Thanksgiving in Arizona

We were all supposed to go to St. George for Thanksgiving this year, but with the increase in COVID numbers and updated recommendations in Utah, everyone decided it was better to postpone that for another time. Instead my mom and dad decided they wanted to go to Arizona to visit Chelsea and Jeff and see their new house. I decided to go too so I could see all of them. 

Mom and dad got there a couple of days before, but I didn’t get there until Thanksgiving night. 

 

 

California—->Arizona

For most of 2020 I didn’t really know when I would be able to see my family again. I was lucky enough to see some of my family at the end of the summer. With the flexibility of working from home/being at home much more often, it was very do able for me to go to California and help Chelsea and Jeff move to Arizona. I had plenty of time off since I didn’t take many days off throughout the year so I was able to take a few days off and work from their new house the other times. 

The SLC airport had a big remodel since the last time I flew. The new airport is really nice and very modern and cool. All of the airlines besides Delta are pretty far away. It was a pretty good long walk to get to my gate. I wasn’t sure how to feel about flying with COVID still going on, but it was totally fine. There weren’t a lot of people on the flight, and everyone wore masks. It felt pretty safe. 

 

I got to California and got to work. They had so much done already. They had the UHaul half packed up, and the main things left to do were some of the furniture and last minute things. We packed and cleaned and made really good progress on getting things ready to leave. We worked hard (even the kids), and it was good to get things done. 

They had a lot of great support from friends watching the kids and bringing meals and snacks. Friends brought dinner and even breakfast for the days leading up to them leaving. It was nice not to have to worry about food. It was nice to see so much support for them and their family. 

 

Once everything was all packed up and wrapped up, the kids got a little silly. It was nice to have some laughs in the middle of all of the work. 

 

Jeff left around 4am to drive the truck so we made sure to have every single thing out of the house besides the air mattresses we borrowed and the clothes we wore for the drive. We got last minute pictures of the kids and family in the house and the moving truck. Besides all of the memories I have of visiting them in California I don’t have any ties to them being there. I am actually very excited for them to be in Arizona, but it was still emotional seeing it all packed up and empty. 

Chelsea’s car was completely packed. There was stuff in every little space. We got on the road and made pretty good time other than being stopped by traffic in the LA area. We made a few stops for food and we were all ready to get out of the car by the time we finally got there. Jeff and a few guys had the truck all the way unloaded by the time we got there. 

  

The kids were really very helpful and so good with everything. The new house is really great, but there were a few areas that didn’t seem to be cleaned as well as we would have liked. I got Kenzie to help clean some of the higher cupboards that I couldn’t reach. We got things unpacked and settled pretty quickly. 

 

Between COVID and the move, I didn’t really make plans to see many friends. I found out Katie lives in the neighborhood next to their new house so it was easy to see her and Lisa. We met for dessert and talked for hours. It was so fun. The main person I planned to see was Kate. I didn’t tell her I was coming or even in town at all and it was so fun to surprise her. We had the best visit. To keep everyone safe, we were’t close enough to take a picture together. 

Their house has a propane fire pit and the kids were excited to make s’mores. The weather was just chilly enough that sitting around the fire was nice. It was a fun way to end the trip. It was a really good trip, and I was so happy to be able to be there. 

Christmas Vacay 2019

I spent the Christmas holiday with Chelsea and her family. I found a great deal on a plane ticket, but the days and times weren’t necessarily ideal. With leaving town again at the first of the year I wanted a few days at home in between. That didn’t happen, but it all worked out. I got extra time with their family which is always fun. 

We went to see the lights at the Oakland temple which is something I have never done. It was so beautiful. 

After the lights we got ice cream for dessert. Parking was insane but we finally found a spot. We had a full table of adults and a full table of kids with 3 families of people. 

We made gingerbread houses. The kids all made their own and they did a pretty good job being creative and getting along with each other. 

We drive around and saw lights a few times. 

Christmas break was so nice. It was relaxing and fun. 

long weekend in Arizona

I don’t make it very often, but I love to go to Arizona whenever I can. After Kate’s cancer diagnosis I knew I wanted to go down and visit her. I was considering running a race down there so this was a good year to do that. 

I went down with plans to do the race, see a few friends if possible, and most importantly spend time with Kate. Her initial treatments were over and she wasn’t sure what she would be up for doing. I had the best trip doing a few things around town and soaking up all the quality time with Kate. 

We ate some yummy food starting with Mexican food at La Fonda. 

I got to have lunch with Lisa. It’s always a fun time to catch up. 

Kate’s friends have an Italian restaurant. The food was amazing. It was all very fresh and so good. 



We met Kate’s friend Jay in Scottsdale and then had lunch at Fate. 

Oranges from the tree in Kate’s backyard. 

I love it here! 

At the finish line of the half marathon 

Post race breakfast

We went to the flea market and it was so great. 

My trip was the best. It was a good break from the craziness of life and so great visiting Kate and Ken. 

unblogged bloggable-#bearlakedladies

I don't know how it happened, but somehow this post never got published. In fact, I have quite a few posts from last year I will be catching up on over the next few weeks. One of my goals for 2019 (more on those in another post) is to get and stay caught up on this blog.

Back in August I went to Bear Lake with girls from book club. We have the best time together, but we hadn't spent a lot of time outside of book club together. Some of the girls live in the same neighborhood so they spend a lot of time together. Some of us know each other from other things, and some of us only know each other through book club. This weekend was so much fun and made us wish we could spend lots and lots of time together always.

We left after work on Thursday to drive up. Utah was basically all on fire this summer, and Bear Lake was no exception. This fire seemed so close and big (probably because it was so close), but luckily it was quickly contained. We spent the first night watching the fire and chatting about the weekend.

Some of us (me) like a lot of makeup. Some of us like a little makeup, and some of us don't care so much about makeup. I like to wear makeup especially when I know there will be a lot of pictures. Pretty soon we were all in the bathroom doing our makeup and trying to convince everyone to put on lipsense.

Bonnie made our lunches every day to take to the beach.

The air pump didn't work very well so we ended up blowing up several rafts and floats. It was worth it when we were out on the lake for a few hours floating around.

We rented a water trampoline and found out it is pretty hard for several adults to stand up at the same time. It was ridiculously fun, and we laughed a lot.

Playing crack the egg and other funny games

I'm not exactly sure what happened here except I know we convinced a kid to get on our tramp and take some pictures for us. Somehow the phone survived.

Even at 7 months pregnant, Dylan was not about to miss out on the fun.

Kendra left and Aubrey came (with baby Rosie)

We tried really hard to get the perfect jumping picture.

But we just couldn't quite all get it together.

Aubrey and Aubrey (and baby Rosie)

Bear Lake is beautiful! We had so much fun and can't wait to go back again.