Arizona-Memorial Day

We had the best memorial weekend in Arizona this year. Thank you Brian, Julie and family for being such great hosts. We had such fun time being with family in warmer weather (although it was cold for Arizona...70's and 80's, but better than rainy and 50's at home). We got there Friday evening and went to dinner together. Saturday we woke up and went to the zoo. It is the coolest zoo. It has an open viewing area of monkey's so you are able to be within inches of them. You can't see well in this picture, but when Amber saw this monkey she said "Hey Mom, that monkey is scratching his privates!" It made us all laugh.



The zoo also has a 2 year old orangutang. She was being so cute and playful. It was fun to watch them.





The kids had fun playing on the tractor equipment and petting the goats. You're actually able to go brush them and pet them. How cool is that?







This is Sari, Issac and Ben, Brian and Julie's cute kids. They were so fun to be with and get to know more. They are such good kids, and were so helpful with Amber and Parker.






These are all the cousins just before leaving the zoo. We had a great time. The weather was perfect. There was so much to see! We loved the ant eaters (who knew they were so huge!), the bear, chimps, monkeys, the green river (literally it was bright green), the petting zoo, and the turtles.



My mom's parents are buried in Arizona, so on Sunday we took the drive to the cemetery. In the past, it's been about 125 degrees (no joke) so this was a much more pleasant trip. This cemetery is amazing. It's only for war veterans. It's acres and acres of headstones with flags, all for vets. It really is quite the site. It's amazing to see how many people in Arizona alone fought for our country. Every grave site had a flag, so there were literally thousands and thousands of flags, all perfectly aligned.






How cool is this Corvette? I don't remember the year, but my Aunt and Uncle just bought it. We went to visit them Sunday night at their new house. Their house is so beautiful! I should have taken pictures of it. It's a traditional hacienda, with a courtyard in the center of the home, adjoining all the rooms. It is seriously amazing. So anyway, shortly after we arrived my aunt pulled up in this. I was speechless. I would love this car! I didn't take it for a test drive, but should have. I may have never come back.




Brian and Julie have the best yard. It's huge first of all, and has a sidewalk all around the perimeter. It's perfect for riding bikes, scooters, Rollerblades, etc. They have a trampoline (the highlight for Amber, I think even more so than the pool), and a swimming pool. We had such a fun time. Brian and Julie kept asking what we'd like to do while we were there. We were happy as could be at their house just hanging out in the beautiful yard, and playing with all their fun toys. I can't say enough how much fun we had. It's nice to be one on one with family. When we get together for Christmas/holidays it's in sane!!! (Just look at a small sample from Amber's birthday party, that's only half!). We wouldn't have it any other way of course, but it's fun to be one on one and spend quality time together. We were so sad to leave. We were spoiled.