Vacation to Snowflake - Part 1

Just two weeks after moving into our new house, we went on vacation to Snowflake, Arizona to visit my parents & sister Ashley. I'm staying in Snowflake with the kids for two weeks while Jared continues working. Then Jared will fly back for our reunions next week. While here, my sister-in-law Shirley sent her kids here to stay for a week while she stayed at her house in Chandler to get things done. Alexa enjoyed playing with Mariah (age 4) & Douglas (age 5). Dallin loved playing with Rachel (who turned 9 while she was here). And I enjoyed shopping & hanging out with Sarah & Megan (my nieces) during the week they were here. Some of the things I've done so far since I've been in Snowflake are:

• -Watched others play Bocce ball in the backyard


• -Lay in the grass


• -Put together the craft for the Chapple reunion (Choose the Right blocks). This involved cutting 60 boards and roudering all four edges of the top. My dad did most of the cutting of the wood. It was nice having him off work for most of the week!
  





• -Ashley french tipped my toe nails. I've never had this done before but I like the look! See Ashley's blog for pictures of this and more.


• -Did an endowment & initiatory session in the Snowflake Temple (thanks for watching my kids for me, Mom!)


• -Celebrated my Aunt Nancy's birthday by going to lunch with her, some of my other aunts, my mom, cousin Luann, and some of my mom's cousins. I love Mexican food so I enjoyed my chimichanga!



• -Played games late at night with my mom, Ashley, Sarah & Megan
  
• -Helped watch Shirley's kids. Alexa & Mariah enjoyed coloring with Grandma's big box of crayons.



• -Celebrated Rachel's 9th Birthday
  

• -Went to "Thursday Night at the Park" -- this is where a family or group performs in an outdoor amphitheatre and we sit on the grass and watch. I love sitting on the soft Arizona grass. The outdoor temperature was perfect! It was so much fun to listen to the music from the Reed family! There was even a three year old playing the drums!



• **Highlight so far** We watched the musical production of "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" Wow! So much talent! I could watch that over and over. In fact, I started to wonder if I was cheering too loud during the concert. It was just an absolute thrill to watch! My Aunt Laura was even one of the producers.



• -Since Snowflake is a pioneer town, they have a 24th of July Pioneer Days Parade. It was on the 19th. My Uncle Verl's house is the first of the parade. So we had great seats with all shade. Dallin LOVED running after all of the candy. He got more candy at the parade than he does at Halloween! He was sweet enough to share with Alexa since she was too timid to get her own candy. Lance actually sat still on my lap for the whole parade! This is noteworthy since he's usually a wiggle bug. I think the diesels that would honk their loud horns scared him enough to just sit and watch. It was a fun parade!




• -The girls (my Mom, Ashley, Sarah, Megan & I) went to the vendor booths following the parade while my Dad watched the rest of the 8 kids (thanks Dad!). We had fun trying on all of the jewelry. My favorite was the magnetic necklace that can wrap around to become a bracelet. Unfortunately the one I bought has already been lost (note to self: don't let kids play with something you don't want lost). I also bought some magnets that when thrown together make a buzzing sound. Its a fun toy for kids and adults!



• -Shirley picked up her five kids on Saturday and went back to Chandler. Then on Sunday Scott & Heather came with their five kids! They stayed until Monday afternoon. Dallin had so much fun playing with 10 of his cousins that have been here so far. Scott & Heather brought Dallin back with them to Maricopa for the rest of the week. This is his chance to get to know his cousins better. Thanks to Scott & Heather for letting him come!
  
• -Alexa has been lonely without anyone to play with here. But we sure love my parents new DVR so she can watch all of her favorite recorded cartoons whenever she wants to.


• -My parents, kids, Ashley & I watched the reality obstacle course show "Wipeout" on TV. If you've never seen it, look it up online. It's so funny that I cry from laughing when watching it. My kids like to watch it too (and it's hard to find a show that my kids can watch with me). So now you all know what to do this Tuesday night!


• -My sister Ashley & I (and Lance & Alexa) drove to Show Low to do clothes shopping and go to Wal-Mart. It's difficult doing any kind of shopping with kids, especially clothes shopping but we managed. Alexa finally stopped begging for things when I bought her a Dora necklace & bracelet. It was worth it since she was really good in Wal-Mart. Here in Arizona, there are monsoons during July. Well, Wednesday (the day we were in Show Low) was no exception. It lightning and thundered like crazy. Driving home in the dark was super scary (and the roads were really dark). With a prayer we made it home safely!


• -I helped my mom re-do the wall that has every one's engagement pictures on it. We had some vinyl lettering custom made, put all of the pictures in new frames, and painted the wall too!


• -Ashley & I watched "Dan in Real Life". It's a great movie! I really thought I would fall asleep watching it since I was so tired but it keep me captivated the whole way through.

Robot Dallin

Stay tuned for more segments of this vacation!