Good Times in Sunny Arizona

For the Thanksgiving holiday, we took a trip to Arizona to spend some time with Nathan's sister Mara and her husband Ben. The weather and company could not have been more perfect. We played games, went mini golfing, saw some sights, went to the Christmas lights at the temple, and ate some very good turkey. On our way to Mara's house, we stopped to see Nathan's friend Ilario and his wife Deloris. They were so good to us! Not only did we get to enjoy seeing them, but Ilario's 80-year-old mother made us authentic Italian pizza. And let me tell you, she made A LOT of pizza. It was sooo yummy. They also gave the girls some very fun, sweet gifts. Although our visit was short, we had a great time! We walked with Ilario to the outlet mall where they have to biggest decorated tree in Arizona. Here the girls are in front of it. Thank you guys! You were so kind to us!

The day after Thanksgiving, we met Ben at his parent's house for some horse riding. We were bit leery to mount the horse because while Ben was bridling it, she decided to get a little wild and then lay down. However, she was very kind to us and let the girls ride her bucking free for a while. It was fun. Here are some of us waiting to ride the horse.


Libbie riding a horse. Yee Haaw!

Mia taking her turn.

Aunt Rachel riding the horse with Mallory.

Ben's parents have an orange grove. We were all excited the oranges were coming on, and we were able to pick some oranges to take home. Yummy.

Libbie and Mia with Strider, Ben's parent's dog, and their new best buddy.

As we pulled into town, Libbie was super excited by the cacti everywhere. Her request was that while we were there, could she please have her picture taken by a cactus? Wish granted.

Another one of our activities was at a park near Mara's and Ben's house. They had free fishing for kids and a lot of ducks to watch. Mallory convinced Aunt Mara to try to catch one of the ducks. I sure do wish I would have taken some action shots of this. Sadly that never happened nor did the catching of a duck. Ha ha.

Uncle Ben was a real trooper in helping the girls try fishing for the first time. They had a blast.