Sick in Arizona

Sunday morning we went to Melissa and Logan's Ward because they were blessing their baby Addison. The testimony meeting afterwards had a lot of children bearing their testimonies and also a teenager telling a way too detailed story about an intoxicated person she helped. It made realize that every Ward has it's quirky people, we're not unique here in Michigan. Melissa also bore her testimony about how God will give you what you want (ie a baby girl) all you have to do is ask.  This is so untrue and honestly made me really upset. God is not a genie. And if He was I would have a baby right now. I really wanted to get up after her and clarify that God will NOT give you what you want but He will give you what you need in this life, He will be there for you when things are hard and all will be made right in the next life. But I'm not sure she would have appreciated that so I didn't.

Sunday afternoon Keshia, Logan, and Jezerea's families all came over to the Hatch house for dinner. We hardly saw Tara's family this trip which was disappointing for our kids. Tyler actually helped make the spaghetti for his mom since his mom had been at his grandparents house. We haven't seen his grandparents for years because apparently they are anti visiting with extended family. So weird. The boys also helped their Poppy make the garlic bread for dinner and it turned out SUPER salty because Poppy got a little too generous with the garlic salt. We all tried to scrape off the salt but it didn't help much. 

All of Sunday I was starting to feel achy and a little congested and just off. That night it hit hard. I was super achy and alternated between chills and sweats. I took some Tylenol and it helped but I was not feeling great Monday morning. We had planned our one and only outing with his parents and Keshia's family for Monday and I really didn't want to miss out so I had Tyler buy me some medicine. We were going to Out of Africa in Camp Verde and since it was all outdoors I wasn't worried about spreading my disease but I just needed to not feel so crappy. The medicine helped manage the symptoms and quite honestly I think the fresh air was good for me. By the end I was definitely exhausted and ready to just go home but it was a good time overall.

The first thing we did there was go on the Safari Tour. We all got to feed a giraffe a leaf during it and we were told we were lucky because every giraffe on site came up and ate- that usually doesn't happen. All of the kids enjoyed feeding the giraffes except for Lucy, she was terrified and Tyler had to basically do it for her. Seeing how giraffes mostly use their tongue, I was more grossed out than scared. There was also a fun zebra I documented who kept "smiling" because it wanted more cookies from the driver. It's funny that the driver said they don't train the animals to come to the bus but I am pretty sure giving them cookies everytime they come to the bus is what you would call "training" them...

After that tour it was lunchtime so we walked over to where the food was. We were told walking was better than talking the shuttle because we'd see more animals. Well all we saw was a rhino so I am not so sure it was worth it but whatever. When ordering lunch we got the last 2 pizza slices much to the disappointment of Keshia's kids, we're the worst. When we finished eating we went to watch the Tiger Splash Show. We got the lame, old tiger who was not in the mood for much of anything. They got him to pounce on a couple pairs of pants with balloons in them and he did one cool jump and that was it. The kids still seemed to think it was cool though so I guess it was still a win.

We did some walking after the show and saw a bunch of different animals. We had hoped to see a capybara but never did find out where it was hiding. We did see some lemurs, and Emus- one Emu that seemed to perk up everytime we spoke of pecking out someone's eye. We stopped in at the reptile house and got to learn about some of the snakes and the kids got to pet a really big snake- I can't remember what kind it was.

After the snakes we walked around seeing more animals. The animals were all pretty active and close to the fences so it was a really cool way to end our visit. We saw (and heard) lots of lions and tigers. One lion followed Tyler and that was slighlty creepy. We also saw some hyenas, wolves (there were workers in the cage basically snuggling with the wolves) and one bear who looked super unhappy to be awoken from his hibernation. I really think this last walk through with all the active animals was one of my favorite parts of the outing.

By this time we were all spent so we took the shuttle back to the gates, did a quick walk through of the gift shop and then drove the 2 hours back home.

Monday was also our anniversary so when we got back Tyler's parents told us to go out and they would feed the kids. We had talked about going to Benihana but since I wasn't feeling well, I didn't want to do a big long, fancy dinner. Instead we went and got some dinner at my favorite, Mi Amigo's and then called it a night.

That night was another bad night of aches, fevers and chills. I decided with me flying out Thursday I better not do anymore outings, I needed to rest up and stop diseasing people. Tyler was starting to feel congested too so he probably needed to rest as well but he still had work and he had a car to finish fixing, poor guy. So I spent Tuesday at home, doing some packing but mostly resting. My family was nice enough to entertain my children. My parents picked up the kids and took them out to lunch and then Mike picked them up after work and brought them to his house to play. We had been planning to go to the temple with Tyler's parents that night but I wasn't going to spread my disease there so we had to cancel. I was super bummed because this was going to be my opportunity to see the newly remodeled temple. Instead Tyler picked up dinner for us and his parents. We had an interesting conversation with them about how they rated as parents. His mom gave them a C and Tyler's dad was offeneded and felt they should at least get a B. There was also a lot of political talk.

Wednesday I did more packing and resting and Tyler did more working while still feeling under the weather. Once again my family rescued the children. My parents took them to Uptown Jungle in the morning and Rebecca picked up the boys in the afternoon to play at her house. The girls stayed home because Reese came over after school to play with them. I am glad they were able to get so much cousin time despite me being stuck at home. 

Wednesday evening Tyler's dad took us all out to ice cream at the Golden Spoon. I still was feeling miserable but the kids enjoyed their ice cream- they got way too big of sizes but that seems to be the Poppy way.

Also, this past week I had bought a pack of Pokemon puzzles with Ben and he had promised to help me with all of them. He kept his promise and actually ended up doing the last one mostly by himself. He told me that he actually likes puzzles, as long as their Pokemon ones ;)

Thursday morning it was time for me, Steven, Lucy and Penny to fly home. Penny woke up that morning with aches and a fever. She was in tears all morning and I was stressing out thinking of having to have her stand in lines for luggage and security like this. I gave her some Tyenol and Tyler gave her a blessing and the combination was perfect. She did so good at the airport (and thankfully the lines were short). She only had one complaint as we were boarding that her tummy hurt and then she was miraculously fine for the whole flight. Such a blessing. The flight for me was a bit nauseating- there was quite a bit of turbulance- but I didn't have any crazy coughing fits. 

My friend Melissa picked us up from the airport and her timing was impeccable and she was right outside our door for the luggage with a nice and toasty car. It was just what I needed as we re-entered this wicked cold climate. She filled me in on all her life drama since I left and so it was an entertaining ride. She ended up taking us back to her house because that was where my car was at and this was when Penny finally broke down and started crying again. She did not appreciate my cold car and I think the blessing had just "wore off" ;). She basically whined and cried until I put her to bed for the night.

Friday, Penny's fever had broke and she seemed to be doing much better, just congested. I spent Friday trying to clean and organize the messy house I had left behind and I also had to order and pick up groceries. I did all this in the comfort of my jammies. It is so nice to be back in my own space again. Now we just need Tyler and Ben back here too. Hopefully they will arrive Sunday night as planned and then it will be back to real life as usual.

New Years in Arizona

On Monday Tyler and I did a little bit of after Christmas shopping, there wasn't much left in the stores but I did get a few good things for Christmas next year (a few Christmas prizes and things for our Christmas countdown). That afternoon Tyler and the boys went shooting with his dad and the Bowman boys. My dad was going to go but he decided against it because it was cold outside and was during his nap time. Ben really enjoyed it but Steven says that he doesn't enjoy shooting. I think he is like me and just doesn't appreciate the loud noises. 

While they were shooting the girls and I met up with my mom and Mike's family at Signal Butte Park. It was pretty chilly outside so we didn't last super long but enough to get some good wiggles out. 

Afterwards we hung out at Mike's house for a long while. His wife is always good to us and feeds us. We are very spoiled.

On Tuesday we spent most of the day in Scottsdale. We met up with Mike's family at the McCormick Railroad Park. It was sprinkling when we first got there and started to sprinkle again when we left. Dumb weather was supposed to give us nothing but sunshine while we were here. I also would like to think that I'm tough because of Michigan and can totally handle the cold in Arizona but I'm not. It's still cold to me. I'm dreading going back home this week where the highs are in the 20's. Going to be a shock to the system.

The first thing we did at the park was get tickets and then the girls rode on the carousel. It was sort of lame since it didn't have any music playing.

Then we all went for a ride on the train. Thanks to the rain, the seats were a bit wet so Tyler was nice enough to wipe them off with his coat sleeve. They still had their Christmas lights out so even though they weren't on, we could still see them. The best was the cactuses with creepy faces on the back- probably repurposed Halloween Decorations. 

After the train ride the kids played Lava Monster with Uncle Mike and Tyler. It was fun to watch them get thrown into a prison without doors, that prison definitely needed some better funding. Although at one point a toddler sat down right in front of the empty door frame and he made a pretty good "door". While the kids played, Grams sat on a bench, huddled underneath all the kids' discarded jackets, trying to keep warm.

Before we left the park we checked out the model train. I had never seen that building with the model train before and thought maybe it had been built after we moved to Michigan. But actually it came a few years before we moved so I must have just been out of the loop. I think the best part of the model train was the Wizard of Oz city built out of Lego's.

Our next stop was lunch at Wendy's. Our huge order with Mike's family, my family and Grams totally broke Wendy's. It took them a long time to get our orders out and the customers that came after us probably weren't super happy about their long wait. The cashier was really nice though and complimented our beautiful families. 

Our last stop was the Sugar Bowl. Tyler and I had gone there on dates once upon a time so it was fun to reminisce. However, it took a bit for our huge group to get seated. In the meanwhile we had to wait outside and we pretty much took up the whole sidewalk. I think Scottsdale is not meant for large groups. They ended up sitting us in a back part by an arcade so our kids could wistfully stare at the games we weren't going to pay for them to play. But they all got an obscene amount of yummy ice cream in the end so I think they were happy.

Tuesday night Reese spent the night. Wednesday I had plans to do a fun morning with the kids and her but then tragedy struck. Lucy woke us up crying that her earring front had broken off. She went to hand me "it" and in my tired state I dropped it and then I couldn't find it. Looking at her ear we definitely couldn't see the front part of it and her ear was a swollen mess so we assumed what she said was true. Tyler tried to pull the back out but had no success. It was stuck good. We were going to take her to a doctor but he decided it would be just as painful so with some lidocaine. neosporine and pliers he got to work. Lucy actually did really good at staying still but oh did she shriek and cry. And when he finally got it out we discovered that the earring top had not actually fallen off. He had pulled the whole earring backwards through her ear. Poor Lucy. This whole earring experience has been so traumatizing but we have certainly learned a lot.

After we finally got the earring out and Lucy had watched some "America's Funniest Home Videos" to help calm down and she had taken some advil to help with the pain, we could now have some fun. We went to Gilbert Regional Park. We brought Lucy's bike so she was finally able to ride it, and Tyler brought his drone so he could get some more practice with it. I rode my bike with Lucy for a bit, while the kids played at this massive park and then when we were done riding bikes, Tyler went off with the boys to play with the drone. As I sat and people watched I realized how old I am getting. I am not the young mom I used to be. Also Ben coming over complaining he was bored helped cement that. I really don't have a whole family of kids who like the park anymore. Although his real complaint was the park was just too crowded which I totally get.

Wednesday afternoon while Tyler went out to dinner with my brother and dad, I hung out at Rebecca's house. Once again she was nice and fed us all and she even had a fun craft for the kids to do. They all made shrinky dink necklaces/bracelets/etc. They also lined up all their Beanie Boo's for a picture because they all just love them so much.

When Tyler came back from dinner, we left the kids so they could have another sleepover at Mike's house and then I had a meet up with my friend Karen. I totally misremembered the time and got their a half an hour early but there was a Barnes and Noble next to where we were meeting up so I hung out there for a bit. Then I headed over to Creme and Chocolats. Their dessert was super yummy- raspberry ice cream with white chocolate sauce in a waffle cone- and it was really nice to catch up with Karen. She caught me up on things happening in our old ward, we talked about her husband being the new bishop and we just talked about all the things. It was a good chat and nice to feel like someone in Arizona still cares about me. I also managed to drip ice cream all across the floor when I went to get a bowl for my cone which was embarassing but I am basically a child in my eating habits soo...

When I came back from meeting Karen, Tyler's Aunt Jacque was at his parents house so we stayed up late chatting with her about politics and life. We had thought she was going to be staying all the next day but it turns out she was leaving that next morning. We felt bad because we would have totally shifted plans with my family and me with my friend if we had known she was leaving early. Then we could've spent that whole evening with her but alas. In the morning Tyler picked the kids up early from Mike's house so at lesat they could see her before she headed out.

Thursday after lunch we went with my parents and my brother to go see "Ghostbusters:Afterlife." Tyler stayed behind to clean his dad's guns. After the movie we dropped by a nearby "Barnes and Noble" because I had seen a good deal on Lego Mario sets and Ben wanted to get one. This was located at the San Tan Mall and it was so crazy busy that just parking was an ordeal. I let a "damn it" slip out at one point and Lucy was quick to point out that I had just said a bad word. Awesome.

Thursday evening we went to Mike's house for a little party. Lots of yummy appetizers (including a great salsa) and we played some games. We even got Poppy to do a "Just Dance" song, it was pretty great. We also had to get a picture of all of us in our jean jackets- we're all so hip, just like Poppy! 

Friday morning I attempted to do a little bit of school with the kids while Tyler went shooting again- this time he went with my family. Our kids are officially supposed to start school next week but with some plans we already have and traveling home, I know they're not going to get much done so I wanted a head start. Then that evening his family came over to celebrate New Years Eve. It was rainy but they still managed to light the fireworks and one of the fireworks exploded at the end like we were all being shot at. Our kids thought it was great, their younger cousins not so much. The kids also played the "quarters" game. That was probably the most fun part. In the end Navi won but Ben got pretty close to winning.

Sautrday morning they had a surprise birthday party for Jezerea. Her husband had the breakfast food catered and the pineapple pancakes with vanilla sauce were real delicious. The party ended in sadness for my girls though because one of the littles had gotten in their room and destroyed their LEGO sets. Me being a great mom, put them back together (look at me becoming a lego expert). The annoying thing is that they still have to be transported home so they'll probably need to be rebuilt yet another time. The rest of our Saturday consisted of Tyler working on his car (trying to fix a couple more things before he heads out next week) and me being fairly lazy while the kids complained of boredom. Just your typical Saturday.

Christmas in Arizona

Friday was Christmas Eve and it was super rainy. That morning I ran to Kohl's with my mom because the Christmas sweater I had bought for my jammies hadn't arrived. We were doing a Super Mario theme and I got lucky and found a shirt that fit the bill there and thankfully for cheap. Then I made some of my bean salsa for Christmas day, we loaded up all our things, picked up the kids from Mike's house and headed to Tyler's parent's house where we will be staying for the remainder of the trip.

I had an unusually lazy Christmas Eve. It was nice not to be cooking all day but also weird. Our only contribution to Christmas Eve dinner was green beans and Tyler was making them. Around 3:30 the Hatch families started arriving. Everyone came but Tara (they wanted to do their own thing, sort of offensive since we were in town all the way from Michigan) and obviously Mariah's family didn't come because they are out in Missouri. The food was all really good, the kids ran around like wild people and I felt my usual awkwardness. I still don't feel like I fit in with all of them but possibly that's partially me being a quiet introvert.  

Later people started heading off but Keshia's family stayed and we did another round of decorating cookies. This time so that Santa could have some cookies. It was funny to watch Knox purposely dump about a half a container of sprinkles onto his cookie.

Then we opened up jammies (matching pants and Super Mario shirts) and the kids got to open up the presents that they had gotten for each other. We decided to do this on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day so that they could properly be grateful. I would say it worked, they all gave each other hugs as a thank you. Lucy and Penny had gotten a Beanie Boo for Ben and a Minecraft Lego Set for Steven. Ben and Steven got Roblox figures for Penny and Doll accessories for Lucy.

Then we drove around with Poppy and Grams to a nearby neighborhood to look at lights. A lot of the lights seemed to have gotten knocked out by all the rain and we even saw a cactus that had fallen on someone's driveway, just barely missing their car. After that the kids watched a weird Netflix  movie called "A Boy Called Christmas" and then Poppy told them the story of Christmas before they were all sent to bed. 

Later we went and got the boys because they were supposed to help Tyler build Lucy's bike but mostly they just watched "A Christmas Story." When I had them go throwvout the box for the bike, Ben got real emotional when they couldn't find the recycling bin. It was at this time that I decided that they were overly tired and sent them off to bed. I had forgotten my glasses at my mom's house and with my eyes feeling super dry, I went to bed just a little while later. I'm too blind without contacts or glasses to be of any use.

Christmas morning they all did a good job of not waking us up and staying in their rooms. Around 7am I put in my contacts and we released the children to go see their gifts. I think they all seemed happy with what they got. I just hate how fast it all is opened and done. I think I get sad about that before the present unwrapping even begins.

Penny got a scarpbook kit, pictures to put in it, a giant Friends Carnival Lego Set, a Beanie Boo, a doll bed, a Wings of Fire Book and a Gollum stuffie (this was a joke gift because she HATES Gollum- she shouted "Are you kidding me!" when she opened it up).

Ben got 2 Mario Lego Sets, a Wings of Fire Book, a Penguin Beanie Boo, a Zelda Book, and a Zelda Shield. I was hoping he'd be really excited by the shield but apparently it won't be any fun until we go home and he has his sword too. The biggest bummer for Ben though was that one of his Mario Lego sets was missing lots of pieces. We were sure that he threw away a bag but after searching through all the garbage he couldn't find one. I think he got an incomplete set but I am not sure how we're going to get the missing pieces, it looks like we have to go through Lego. He was really upset for awhile but then he started building his other set and since it wasn't missing pieces, that improved his attitude.

Lucy got a new bike (with flat tires so she hasn't been able to ride it yet), a Lego Friends Carnival set, a scrapbook kit, pictures to put in it, A Wings of Fire Book, a Beanie Boo and book about Beanie Boo's.

Steven got 3 Nintendo Switch games, a Lego Architecture Set, a Wings of Fire Book, a Guinea Pig Book and a SD Card for his Nintendo Switch. He finally has games to play on the Nintendo Switch he bought for himself!

Tyler got a fancy drone, 2 Harry Potter Lego Sets, a 2nd Amendment Beanie, a "That's What She Said" button, a Marble Climber and some reference books for Lord of the Rings.

Apparently I forgot to take a picture of me with all my presents but I got some really nifty weights for lifting, socks, some cute small serving bowls, a pack of Golden Books, nail polish and a Lego Bonsai Tree. I had wanted Lego Flowers but Tyler had been unable to find them in store so he got the tree instead. It about killed me trying to make it because I am not a Lego builder but with some help, I got it done. I am quite proud of myself.

The kids also all got a remote control car and Doodle Board to share and their Hatch Grandparents bought them a youth kayak with a paddle and a membership to Henry Ford Museum. I would say they all made out well. They spent the morning building Lego's and playing with their toys. Logan's family came around lunchtime so they had some cousin time for a bit and then we all went over to my parent's house.

At my parent's house they got more presents! Beanie Boo's, slippers socks, candles, shirts, a Nintendo Switch Game, a movie giftcard, a Bass Pro Shop giftcard and an Olive Garden giftcard. Tyler and I also got a really cool Study Guide Old Testament that will be great for teaching seminary. 

After present opening I made my sweet potatoe casserole. Everyone was hungry so it made me aware of how long it takes to make it. Matilda kept getting in her high chair begging to be fed already. When I finished it, it was finally time to eat. The food was good as was the company. My mom, Mecca and I worked on a puzzle after eating and the men and kids all went to the park to fly Tyler's Drone. We all lingered for awhile after they got back from the park and then it was back to Tyler's parents house to recover from all the holiday fun.

Sunday morning we had early church with Tyler's parents and I got my traditional Christmas picture of all the kids in their fancy Christmas clothes.