Families are Forever

On the 15th we woke up and got ready for family pictures and of course G was taking his sweet time showering when there were 5 other people who needed to use the same bathroom...annoying!  But here are some of the pictures of Mr H.'s side of the family.  His family includes older sister (CC), husband (RC), son (R), and daughter (N).  He has a younger sister (SB), husband (S), and son (M).  And we can't forget Mr H.'s mom, Grandma Ruth!

 

Once the pictures were taken we needed to get G right to school, but before that he needed to go back to his apartment to change and grab his school stuff.  Once at the school, G had missed 3 classes and Mr H. wanted to meet and talk with G's wrestling coach.  Unfortunately, he wasn't available, but he got his phone number and called him later on that day, and left a message.

My sister, her husband, Mr H., and I went to Mesa around 4ish.  This was a very exciting time.  Mr H. and I were going to the temple to be sealed and to become a forever family.  Now, let me pause for a second and explain in my own words what a sealing is.  When a couple gets married, in a church, justice of peace, or in a backyard, they are married "until death you do part."  My interpretation for this is that once a person dies, they are no longer together, they're "parted."  This would sadden me if I was not able to be with my family when I die.  In the LDS temple there are ordinances that are performed which are sacred...not secret, but sacred.  One of those ordinances is a sealing ceremony, where we are married for "all time and eternity."  This ordinance helps to ensure that once we die, we will be with our family (if you have more questions about this please ask and I ill do my best to answer them).

After the temple we went to this pizza place called Organ Stop.  It has wonderful pizza, but people don't go there for the pizza...it's the entertainment.  One person plays the organ and is responsible for all of the other instruments associated with the song he is playing, such as "who let the dog's out."  This place has been openedfor 40 years and they were having a sale of 1 appetizer, 2 pizzas, and 2 pitchers of drinks for $40.  We all had a great time and ate really yummy food and listened to great music. 

 My lovely sister, RR, and her hubby. 

 KK loved the music and loved watching the guy play the organ.

We stayed until close and it was worth it.  Afterwards, we met up with Mr H.'s friends who is a Southwest airlines pilot.  He was all over the continental USA that day and had just gotten off of work.  It was great meeting him and talking, but I was getting very tired.  KK had already fallen asleep in my arms.  We didn't get home until almost midnight...which was 3am Ohio time.  It was a long but great day!

Mmm...chocolate

Woke up on the 14th and THIS little fellow was in the kitchen light.  It was running around as CC was trying to make breakfast.  It kinda grossed her out and she ran upstairs to get her husband to deal with it.  This is how he dealt with it...in a ziplock container!

 

 

 The boys were so happy to see and hold the containers.  They were debating back and forth as to who was going to throw the lizard over the wall and I told them I was, R was ok with it, but KK, now he was upset!

Even holding him like a baby didn't help!  He was really upset about it.

 After the lizard was thrown over the wall, we got ready to go to a chocolate shoppe.  The older boys went shooting on SB's father in law's property.  So the girl's and the kids went to a place called Cerreta's.  Walking into the shoppe, you can just smell the melted chocolate.  It was amazing!

Once we were done tasting and buying chocolate we went back to CC's and packed up to go to SB's, Mr H.'s little sister's house.  Since the boys were out shooting, I had to pack everything up myself...which stunk, but figured that would happen. 

At SB's, her husband made an awesome speghetti dinner.  Before the meal was made Mr. H and I had to go pick up G so he could spend the night because we were taking family pictures in the morning.  Once we got back, we ate, talked, and had some fun until everyone went to bed!

From Z to A in AZ

August 13th it was 116 degrees in Phoenix and we went to the Zoo, yeah I don't think we thought it through enough. It felt like a toaster oven but frozen water bottles were packed for us to stay hydrated. And again, CC came to the rescue with her coupons and was able to knock off some of the price which was awesome. Once we got to the zoo we saw tons of anmals including elephants, birds, tortoise, monkeys, and much much more.

 

 

 

 

 We had to get a picture with KK next to a cactus.  Isn't he sooo cute!?

 

R and KK looking at the bird.  This bird was funny.  It had a dead fish that he was just playing with it, putting it in his mouth and flipping it in the air...letting it sink then retrieving it...it was funny until another bird came by and took it from him and ate it in one swallow, then it was hilarious! 

They likes to find this stone creatures all over the zoo and sit on them and wait for us to take a picture.



Just some trees I photographed.  The sun was shining so brightly!

 

These flamingo's feathers were all ruffled and it looks to funny!  There was one flamingo that was sitting on an egg.  She stood up and we could see the egg, it was really neat!

There was an area where we could be inside the habitate with the monkeys.  They were so tiny and cute. There was one who was laying on a branch in front of a mister and he was falling alseep and trying to get comfortable but he would start falling out of the branch.  It really was very cute!

This orangutan loved KK and R.  He was following them around and touching the glass to them.  For some reason I thought that the orangutan was sad.  His daughter and her mother were in another section of the zoo and I would have to wonder if maybe they should be together or if that was the reason behind his saddness?

After going through the zoo there was a little splash pad for the kids to play in.  Which was good because, did I mention that it was HOT that day!? 

 On the way back to CC's house KK fell right asleep, he was a tired boy.  I made sure that KK was well hydrated with snacks too, but I think I neglected myself because I started getting sick to my stomach...like I was going to throw up.  I was still sweating, even in the air conditioned car!  I was really sick.  Mr H. was very concerned and told me to drink water and eat something.  Did you know that cold water will hydrate you faster than warm water!?  Yeah, learned that on The Dr's. 

My sister, RR and her husband flew into PHX soon after we came back from the zoo.  I was still so sick that Mr H. told me to rest and he would pick them up.  I'm glad he did because once I saw RR and her husband I was feel much better.  I took a cool shower, I wished that it was colder but in AZ even the cold water comes out hot...it's weird!

KK missed his aunt and didn't want to share her with R.  It was a wonderful day!

Octopuses or Octopi?

On Saturday when we woke up earlier than everyone else.  Remember that Ohio is 3 hours ahead, so even though we woke up at 7:30am Arizona time, it was actually 10:30am Ohio time.  KK kept asking me why RC, his cousin, was such a sleepy head.  I laughed, because I know that KK and RC had been attached at the hips since we arrived.  I made cereal for breakfast for us. 

It was around lunch by the time the rest of the family woke up.  So we ate left-vers from dinner last night.  Grandma Ruth arrived and we helped to watch the kids while CC showered and got herself ready.  Once we were all ready we hopped into the cars and started driving to the Phoenix aquarium.

Phoenix is such a large city and it takes a while to get from one place to another and after traveling the day before and Mr H.'s mom is the kind of driver how is a lead foot and very heavy on the brakes, I was just wanted to be done driving.

 Do you see that sandstorm...or haboob, as Mr H. says!?

 The aquarium was inside a mall...it was so cool.  CC is just like me and tried to save money and she had some coupons for getting the children in for free and buy one get ones.  It costed Mr. H and I about $20 for him, me, KK, and G.  Yes, G was with us for the weekend.  I had mixed feelings about him being with us.  It was nice to see him and see how much taller and broader he has gotten, but at the same time I was afraid of him misbehaving.  But I sort of had to put it behind me and stay impartial and make the most of the trip.

At the aquarium there was a ton of things to look at, they even had a petting place where you could pet starfish and shrimp!  At first I didn't know if I should let KK touch any of it because he is allergic to Tuna and Cod fish, but the allergist said the stay away from all seafood because he can develop an allergy.  But he's been to the ocean and had a fine time...just as long as he is not eating it and I clean his hands off real good...right!? 

KK plunged his hand right into the water...RC was a little hesitant. 

 He LOVED chasing the shrimp...he would stick his finger out and chase them all over the pool.  It was so funny to watch him.  He could have stayed there all day!

There was this room full of fish that were swimming around in a circle and there was a section where you could stick your head through and see from the inside.

There was a little cubby where KK could look at the fish

 For some reason they wanted to put their arms in their shirts.  Do you see that huge fish on the left?

KK fell in love with this sea turtle.  He just sat there for a good 10 mins just watching it swim.

 KK was scared to even get close to those shark teeth so I had to drag him over to get a some-what decent picture of him

 This shark had scared KK too.  We walked through a tunnel that had 360 degrees of water around us.  It was pretty cool

 After we were done looking around the aquarium there was a playplace.  This is the newest nephew M.  He was born in November.

Before we left, KK saw a penny machine, where it smashes the coin and puts an image on it, and so we HAD to do that...it costed a whopping 51 cents and well worth it. 

Once we got back out to the car, the car was covered in dust, from the haboob.  It getting pretty late and we were hungry so we stopped by McDonald's because I was craving a Hot n' Spicy because they do not sell them here in Ohio.  So we ate the food while we drove to where Mr H. used the race BMX, but no one was at the race track.  Which was a disappointment for Mr H. because he wan't to introduce me to his BMX "family".  Maybe next time!? 

It was really late by the time we got home and we were tuckered but we stayed up and tried to watch a comedy with CC and RC but Mr H. fell asleep and I decided that it was time to go to bed especially since we needed to wake up eary for church in the morning.

And so it begins...

Our family has been planning a family vacation since the beginning of this year.  We used our tax return money to buy 3 round trip tickets to Phoenix, AZ.  When we planned our trip we didn't know what Mr H.'s summer school schedule would be, so we planned for later in the summer.  After buying the tickets, we realized that KK started school during the middle of our vacation...he would miss 3 days of school.  It bummed me out a bit because, well, it just did!  Then about a month before our vacation our flights were cancelled.  Since our AZ family were already planning for us to be there from August 10 through August 18 we just booked the flights again for the same time. 

One thing that we wanted to do in AZ was to get sealed.  Mesa temple is so beautiful.  Mr H. and I visited the temple and did ordinances for the dead when I went out there 3 years ago.  So Mesa is just a special temple for us.  But before we can be sealed, I need a cancellation of my 1st sealing to X.  We tried to cancel it 2.5 years ago, before Mr H. and I were married but that fell through.  We tried to cancel again and thought we were on the right track until 2 weeks ago.  The Stake President told us that the papers weren't even sent yet!  Wait what!?  We gave them the paperwork 2 and a half months ago!  Anyway, after many tears and frustrated talks with family, friends, and church leadership I just figured it wasn't going to happen, but the Stake President tried pulling some strings and made some phone calls and we just waited.

I was getting nervous the closer the vacation got.  I get nervous and anxious about things that are big.  Taking vacations, starting a different schedule, spending a lot of money, etc.  So I was super nervous about the trip...what if they thought I was fat?...the time zone change...not packing enough...packing too much...forgetting something...losing KK at the airport.  Needless to say, I had about a million different things running through my head. 

The night before our vacation, amid the chaos of packing and taking the animals to my parents house we got a call from the Stake President, everything went through for the temple and we could go to his house and pick up the living ordinances.  WE COULD GET SEALED!  There is a letter that is sent from the first presidency showing that it was approved and since we would not get that letter, the first presidency called the temple and told them that we were approved and a letter was faxed to the temple.  I don't really know how that made me feel...it's been such a sensitive subject for me that I was just grateful for it to be done.  Before I fell asleep I wanted to look at the living ordinances that we picked up from the Stake President to make sure that everything was correct and it's a good thing I did because I saw that the stake president forgot to sign the papers!  EEEK!  We are leaving tomorrow, I would have to call him right at 8am.

While Mr H. was at work for a couple of hours, I called the stake president and let him know that the papers weren't signed.  He was very surprised that he forgot and repeatedly thanked me for checking them.  He came over to my house and signed them before we left.  As I was packing up I realized that I forgot that my mom had KK's health insurance cards from when she picked up his prescription.  So we needed to go to her work to pick those up before we could leave for the airport.

We were on our way to the airport after stopping by mom's work.  I was getting really nervous because of the flight and trip.  No reason really to be nervous, I just was. 

Our first layover was in Detriot. That's a HUGE airport! There was a water fountain that KK just loved and couldn't get enough of. He just wanted to touch the cool water. It was really neat...until he started making a mess!

I slept most of the time on the second flight.  KK was good Mr H. said.  They both played on the ipad, which was a great investment.  Mr H. was also able to track the flight and use his aeronautical GPS.  He was excited about that. 

In Arizona the heat was evident.  When waiting for Mr H.'s younger sister, SB, to pick us up I could feel the sweat dripping down my face and back.  It was kinda gross.  Once picked up, we were taken to Mr H.'s older sister's, CC, home.  This is where we would stay for a couple of nights, in their spare bedroom.  Dinner was great.  CC's husband, RC grilled chicken, ribs, and steak, corn on the cob was served along with salad.  It was great to see everyone, but after dinner I was so tired that I went right to sleep.