Our trip to Arizona

Once in a while Chrsitian has to travel for work.  There is a manufacturing facility in Tempe, Arizona that makes some of their lotions.  He had to go there to make sure the final stages of a project was working correctly.  (interesting fact about indoor tanning:  The season starts November 1st - all new products roll out then, etc.)  He asked me if I wanted to go - and it coincided with our Fall Break from school.  (although I had to take Monday off)  So I asked GREAT friends to watch each of the boys and off we went!

We had a GREAT time!  We got there Thursday - and we were a little early to check into the hotel.... so we stopped by the shipping facility.  I got to meet some great people that, despite their busyness, were very kind to me.  The weather was fabulous!  (70 degrees the high that day!)  While I waited for Christian I read a book and soaked in the sun. 

That night we went to a restaurant called "Rustler's Roost".  It is on a mesa near Phoenix.  I have never been to Arizona and I found the landscape fascinating.  Anyway - the restaurant was very rustic and fun.  They had a slide from the floor that you come in to the floor you eat - of course I went down the slide instead of the stairs! 

It was pretty fun!  They have rattlesnake as an appetizer.  I HAD to try that.  (Christian had already eaten it a previous trip)  This is how it is served:

Tastes like the breading, pretty much.  It was chewy - texture kind of like Calamari.  :-)  For dessert they have complimentary cotton candy!  How fun is that?

The seriously sad thing is these are the only pictures we took the ENTIRE trip!  (I have GOT to get better about this!... which is part of the purpose of the blog! Grrrrrr....)  But we had a fabulous time!  We met up with friends who moved to Arizona (Cindy Willardson, the Marbles - went to church with them! - the Lanes)  It was a great time to see all our friends and catch up.  Such amazing people! 

The highlight of the trip was attending the Mesa temple.  Beautiful!  Such peace and comfort is found in the temple of the Lord.  One day I may post about the many blessings I receive when I attend the temple.  I did take one picture of the entrance:

It doen't do it justice.  It is modeled after Solomon's temple.  Next door some Native American festival was taking place.  It was loud when we were outside due to the drums and singing.  :-) 

Loved the cactus and landscape.  The trees were so interesting.  Luckily I did not see any native wildlife.  (rattlesnakes, scorpians)

The manager of the manufacturing facility gave me a tour.  Wow!  I have never thought about how much goes into the manufacturing of lotions.  Simple things - like the water base.  It has to be filtered and microbe free or it might develop bacteria.  It was eye opening.  I really enjoyed learning about it.  It was really obvious how much he (the manager) loved his job - because he was so enthusiastic about sharing the processes.  I love to watch people teach me about something they love.  It is fun to learn.

Our Halloween

This year we were just getting back from Arizona on Halloween day. The boys had each stayed with a different friend. We were happy to be together. We ordered our favorite pizza (Wise Guys - yum!), turned out the lights, and watched a couple of episodes of "Malcolm in the Middle".

Before that we played our own game show (kind of like "Let's make a deal") where we gave then the things we brought them. We brought them three Thor commemorative cups from 7-11, three hats from In-n-Out burger, three puke bags, a tie (Christian forgot his - so he bought a new one to wear to church while we were gone), three "dirt" shirts, and a package of a** kicking habenero microwave popcorn. Christian was the host and I was the announcer/model. We put three things in a box and the they would choose one of the boxes. Then they had the opportunity to keep it, or trade. Stirling went first. He got the Thor cup on the first try.  I would then explain the item - "This Thor cup is from 7-11, originally filled with Dr. Pepper that has been consumed, but it has been washed and you may fill it with whatever you would like!"  He was quick to trade it for another box. He got the hat. Then it was Liam's turn. I took the boxes to change them. I put a puke bag in each box. (Liam has gotten sick in the car a lot!) It was funny as he traded a puke bag for a puke bag! Then Payne went and got a shirt - but after a little "help" from us traded it and got the popcorn. After the game we did give each of them one of each. The popcorn Payne kept - and Liam got the tie because he only had 5. It was fun though. They had a good time playing it. It was a lovely Halloween.

Here is a picture of them in the hats - with the popcorn, puke bag and Thor cup.  I will have to post another pic of the tees one day!  (yes, Stirling has his eyes crossed!  It is honestly IMPOSSIBLE to get a good picture of all three boys!)