Arizona Memories

wispy clouds, deep blue skies, and creamcicle sunsets

a quiet house at 7am and turning all the blinds to let the sun in
bubble baths with grandma and new rubber duckies
little feet dangling in the air, waiting for breath and lavender oil drops before bed
the coziest lightening mcqueen blanket spread over liam's cot
so many cereals to choose from
braiding megan's hair
grandpas blue shirt. grandma in her gorgeous shawl.
long showers. long naps.
brand new swings and swirly slides.  playing chase until i can hardly breath
sidewalk chalk every afternoon. every color under the sun. cold concrete on my feet
so many clementines and frozen blueberries
the whole family piled on grandma and grandpa's bed, listening and learning
bowls of chocolate ice-cream and cupcake wars on food network when the babes are in bed
playing go fish with liam and grandpa
rindercella and her three sugly isters.  the brand gall and slass glipper.
all of the siblings doing eight minute abs and buns in the living room.  laughing so hard.
chad walking around making fun of all of us ... who were seriously feeling' the burn
watching gwyn fall in love with grandma and grandpa
and liam picking up right where he left off.
little videos from my prandsome hince to watch with the babes before bedtime.
loving and missing sean so much it hurt.
little babes climbing on grandma and grandpa's big bed every night for goodnight kisses
sneaking out for a movie date with dad. jupiter rising. 
laughing the whole way home because it wasn't all that horrible ... besides the eyeliner and the ears
grandma's dining room filled with family. biscuits and gravy. barbecue. cake and ice-cream
smooshed between my grandma and grandpa for their nightly episode of blue bloods
grandpa getting a library card just so we could bring home stacks of picture books
baby mason's cheeks.
gwyn kissing sean's picture in my locket every thirty seconds.
spending time with mom
livy sitting so still while brittany curled her hair
trying to go for a run with ash and being barked at by 700 dogs.
evening family walks. gwyn on my hip. grandpa with his walking stick.
lost sweater wearing chihuahua adventures with mom.
megan teaching liam what does the fox say
water slides and waterfalls. warming up little blue lips in the hot tub after hours in the pool.
blood oranges at the farmers market
megan in nana's white dress.
grandma's cheek feeling like silk on mine whenever we hugged.
sharing a room with liam and gwyn.  little fingers stroking my face at 7 o'clock.
noisy wispers, mom! it's time to wake up!
brand new two piece summertime pajamas
puzzles, paper airplanes, bouncing on air mattresses, endless doodles and water colors.
little ice cream cones, a carriage ride, and a new copper ring at tombstone.
liam's explicit disdain for bisbee
my grandma's laugh and grandpa's stories
a trip to the ER with my brave boy
grandpa and mom staying in the waiting room with gwyn for hours.
almost being blown away while walking to the car.  dad and me trying our best to get a picture.
chipotle
so many giraffes at the tucson zoo. making the last little train ride of the day.
baby booger bubbles. burning fevers. piles of tissues. morning cartoons.
picnics in the hills and smooth white rocks in my pockets
soaking up little cousins loving on one another
grandpa always having the answers to my endless questions.
being in the temple with my mom and dad and chad. there are no words.
trying desperately to find a way to extend our trip.

the lake

we spent three sun soaked days in missouri, meeting family we never knew we had, swimming and splashing, eating and talking, and plotting ways to sabotage everyone from leaving so we could just live together on the lake forever.  

the lake of the ozarks was made by impounding the osage river with a dam on both sides, creating a snake like reservoir surrounded with thick green trees, dotted with countless lake homes and docks tethered with lake toys.  it was gorgeous.  there was no bank or beach to play on, which made having littles in tow pretty tricky, but being able to dip my legs in the water from the dock, and see river for miles in every direction was pretty heavenly.

cheryl and mike opened up their gorgeous lake home so that all of us could mingle and play.  they were so gracious and generous and made us feel like an instant part of their family.  i never want to forget seeing liam in the lake, brimmed hat, belly on a floaty, legs crossed in the air, fishing pole dipping in the water.  that little man cake was in heaven.  gwyn moderately tolerated being stuffed in a blue life jacket, but was happiest with her hair blowing in the wind during our boat rides.  sean and i even sneaked away for a few moments to take a wave runner along the lake and get thoroughly freaked out by the humongous fish jumping out of the water in our wake.  

we played on the water all morning and met for games and snacks in the clubhouse when it got too hot.  there were games, tables laden with food, and a view of the lake from every direction.  every time i caught a glimpse of liam he had a brand new chocolate chip cookie in his hand, and was happily weaving his way through family in search of grandpa.  he was happiest in the water with dad.  gwyn either wanted to be nursing, in my arms, or roaming without restraint, and nothing in between :)  

the babes rarely slept, smelled of sun lotion, and fell head over heels for grandpa.  operation "fall madly in love with grandma" will be in full swing during our next visit.  it was incredible to see my grandma with her two sisters, to finally meet marge, and celebrate family, but my favorite was waking up every morning with my family, knowing i'd see my grandma and grandpa down at breakfast, and that we had nothing to do that day but be together.

^ this restaurant had a parking lot and a boat dock, so half of our group road to lunch in boats while others drove, and then switched on the way home. ^

^ laurel, marge, grandma, and grandpa on the boat on the way home from lunch ^

^ this little man cake sat on sean's lap for 45 minutes just lining up pegs! ^

^ a smudge of the view from the clubhouse ^

^ sisters.  it was so fun to see them together and how much their family has grown. ^

^ the little fishy in his happy place ^