Arizona Vacation

We went on a family vacation down to Tempe, Arizona. 

Saturday, April 12 - Friday, April 18 

 We picked up a rental car the night before and finished packing. We decided to get a rental car because we didn't think either of our cars would make it.

Saturday

We took off at 7am. Made our first stop in Provo because Abbie needed to potty, and we ate breakfast. We stopped again in Beaver for a quick break and for Luke to eat. We ate lunch in St. George at the park.  
 

Abbie and Lucas both did amazingly well in the car.

A quick bathroom break. Good thing only a couple people needed to actually use the bathroom :)

We finally rolled into Tempe, AZ around 9pm. It was a long drive/ day. 

Sunday

Everyone else went to a ward in Gilbert that Janessa really wanted to go to. She was able to see and talk to a lot of members from her mission.  We decided to go to a ward closer and not so early.

A nice afternoon swim

I thought this tree was cool because the bark was green

For dinner we went to Firehouse Subs. These kids sure are cute!

Then we went to visit my cousin and her family. While we were waiting for the crew, we played out on the grass.

Getting ready for bed. Abbie told a very accurate account of Rapunzel. It was super cute.

Monday

In the morning we headed over to meet Janessa's mission president at the Mission office/home.

We then went to this cute taco place. It was very yummy.

We spent the whole afternoon at the Phoenix Zoo. It was really big and a lot better than the Hogle Zoo.

Tuesday

We went to the Gilbert Temple in shifts because of the kids.

First all of us that are endowed went and did Sealings. It was a really beautiful temple.

And then my parents took the younger girls to go do baptisms.

The first night we put Lucas' crib out by our bed. That was pretty miserable. As soon as we moved him to the bathroom, he slept a lot better and so did we.

That night we went to Mesa Temple Easter pageant. It was really good. A great depiction of Christ's life and other things.

 

Abbie was so funny. She lined up all her princesses to sleep by her.

Wednesday

Our hotel had a really good continental breakfast. Lukey loved it just as must as everyone else.

Just chillin. Abbie loved watching Disney channel.

A little market in Guadalupe

Then we went to the Arizona state capital Museum. It was pretty cool.

For lunch we went to another local taco shop. Delicious!

In the evening we went to the Arizona Mills Mall. It was really big. They had a cool little Easter egg hunt for the kids.

Thursday

We packed up and left Arizona in the morning.

We decided to travel home a different way so that we could stop at the Grand Canyon. We ate lunch at a yummy pizza place right outside the entrance to the Grand Canyon.

Walking up to a lookout point to see the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon was pretty cool. Now we can check that off our bucket list.

We stayed there for about 2 hours and then continued our trip towards home. We had a hotel reservation for that night in Page, AZ. Unfortunately we ran into a road closure, so we ended up going a different way and stayed the night in Kanab, UT.

Friday

We got up early and headed home.

 

We loved our rental car. It was more roomy and had a satelite radio.

We got home in the early afternoon. After a quick rest, we unpacked, cleaned the car and returned it to the rental shop. As we were driving home, our car was making funny noises and then started losing power. We eventually got it to the shop and had the alternator replaced. It was kind of a funny way to end our vacation. 

But even still, we had a great vacation! The kids were awesome and the the drive wasn't too bad. I can't wait for our next little adventure.