Arizona

Well, Maryland is over now and I'm off to continue my pursuit of that flighty temptress, Adventure! My nephew Isaac was born just a few months ago so I made a pit stop in Arizona to hang out with my favorite people in the whole world. My family.

I admit that traveling 5 hours on a plane with a 2 year old isn't the most fun I've had but he did pretty good. As long as we have nice neighbors and Winnie the Pooh he is fairly happy. Once we got to Arizona the first thing I noticed, of course, was the lack of humidity! Glorious, dry western air. There is nothing better even though I'm a little worried about my gills closing up because of under use.

Our first night there we went to visit my brother at work and all of the girls got sushi (except for me). After dinner we all took turns passing baby Isaac around and oooooing over his fat little cheeks. I always forget how small babies start out. I'm used to Ethan.

There is nothing I love more than a good sleepover and so I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the patter of little feet that were suppose to be in bed running up and down the halls and the giggling of 4 year old voices. Dress up and talking late into the night...by the adults and children.

The next day was blessing day and so there was a rush of food preparation and house cleaning. I admit I mostly "supervised" and watched my favorite show: Good Eats. Alton Brown, being supreme in all things cooking, I decided if I watched his show for several hours I could lend my new found knowledge to those doing all of the work. Unfortunately by the time I gleaned all I could from the mad food scientist the work was all done. Oops!

After Isaac was blessed we had a mini birthday party for Ethan who just turned two. He blew out the candles on his cake and we sang loudly for him. I don't think he quite realized what was going on but everyone seemed to be paying him special attention so I didn't hear any complaints from him. Once the kids were in bed the Killer Bunnies commenced. One of my all time favorite games (outdone only by Harry Potter Clue) in a morbid and twisted sort of way. We stayed up until about midnight slaughtering each others bunnies with kitchen whisks, lawn darts and hedge clippers. (We also took a short break to dress me up as a potato head.)

On Sunday we went to church and got packed up to go home. We set out on Monday at about 6:30am and were okay until about the Hoover Dam. Rose has decided that she does NOT like to be in the car...I tried to drown out the crying with my trusty iPod and only had to listen to the sorrow in between songs. She eventually fell asleep and slept all the way until St. George. We stopped there to see Amanda's in-laws and let the kids run loose for a bit. We only stayed for an hour and then the journey continued with Rose crying and laughing in 30 second intervals. It took a total of 15 hours in the car to get home and I was more than happy to be home. Home to the mountains and Utah in the fall. My favorite time of year in this valley.

Now to get back into the real world. Find a job. Find a place to live. Finish training for my marathon. It was wonderful to have a break from the world. Such an amazing opportunity for me to take a step out of myself and evaluate what it is I want from life and where I need to go in order to get it. Drama is always less serious when you are removed from the thick of things. I have a clear direction now and when I have a path it makes getting back into regular life sweeter. On to the next adventure!