Phoenix, AZ (Part 1)

For Christmas, Dorsie and Terry gave us a trip to Arizona along with tickets to watch Boise State play in the Vizio Fiesta Bowl. To say Pat was excited was an understatement. Kash, Pat’s brother, recently moved to Gilbert, and weren’t able to come home for Christmas, so we were excited to visit!

We left the 27th due to weather conditions, we had an early flight the next morning. We flew out of SLC so it was a 3 1/2 hour drive. Thanks to new working car DVD player we received for Christmas, the drive went great. Ledger fell asleep, and woke up car sick which led him to throwing up everything he had eaten on the way down…. Awesome :)

The hotel only had one pack n play, so we put Cruiz in it on the other side of a wall so he couldn’t see that Cannon was sleeping in bed with me. All the kids did pretty great. We had an early flight, which made for an early morning. We were quite the sight lugging three kids, all of our luggage, and car seats, I felt grateful we had Dorsie and Terry there to help.

Did you know there are only four oxygen masks in a row on an airplane? We didn’t. So with Ledger, Pat, and myself in a seat, and the twins on our laps, they made Pat move right before take off. I’ll admit I had a slight moment of panic, but for the most part, the boys did great, it was only an 2 1/2 hour flight. Ledger sat happily next to the window excited to be on his first airplane ride.

Let’s talk about Arizona! Seriously, I told Pat to look for a job there! The weather is amazing, (I know, it’s hot during summer months…) but it was amazing to show up to Kash and Cara’s and throw the kids in the back yard to play! They spent a lot of time there over the next eight days. (Yes, eight days!) And I spent a lot of time just soaking up the sun. Grandma stole the show with “Game on!” She played dodge ball the kids and they begged her every second she was there to play. Ledger talked for days about how much fun he had with Grandma.

    

One of the first days there Cara and I attempted to walk with all six kids to the park just a couple of blocks away. What usually takes Cara ten minutes, took us literally a half hour. It was pure chaos due to Ledger not knowing how to ride a bike and being determined to ride one. (He has a stryder one without pedals) We only attempted it one time, and we left pretty quickly after Cruiz came running over with a horrible bloody nose. It was quite the walk back home, Ledger determined to figure out how to ride the bike, Roxie pushing him, Cruiz crying in the stroller, you get the point. :)

In SE Idaho, we don’t have a lot of things to do. One of my favorite things about AZ was there was so much to do with kids! We visited the Science Museum. Ledger hasn’t stopped talking about the bones in our body and earthquakes since.

 

New Years Eve was the day of the big game! I was incredibly excited to attend my first college Football game! Pat’s been to many, but I’ve always stayed home with the kids. We hired two babysitters, and took off for the day since it was an afternoon game. (It was such a fun break!) We had great seats, I was surprised how many Boise fans made their way to AZ, and Boise played a great game – it was close, but ended up with the win! But the highlight of the entire day was watching Pat and his Dad. Oh my goodness! I had to agree with Cara, just watching Pat and his dad was worth going for. By the end of the game, Pat had made friends with everyone around us, and the drunk guy in front of us loved to turn around and talk to Pat about each play. Haha

  
Pat had a permanent smile the entire time.
 

The first time Boise State scored, it honestly startled me the way Pat started screaming and complete strangers turned around and screamed in my face hoping for a high five… then I burst out laughing. I know Pat lost his voice, and I’m sure Dorsie did too. It was fun to watch Pat have such fun time. Cara recorded the second time Boise State scored, I absolutely love Dorsie’s fist pump when he thinks nobody is watching. 

Thank you Dorsie and Terry for taking us to the game, it was so much fun!