My Arizona trip

My Dad and I
Grandpa Z. Arizona Cactus!

My Friend Alisa
Mesa High School
My Friend Isabelle
Crystal, Faith, Shaun, Tamara, Me, Julie
Tamara, Me, and Juli =)

The end of May brought snow here in many parts of the state, so I was a bit nervous that when I went down to Arizona the first week in April that I would, well... croak! My worries were unfounded though. It was a lovely 65-80 degrees most of the time. Still a little warm when you're used to 40 degrees, but I can deal with that. =)

I grew up in Mesa, Arizona and moved up here to Washington in December of 1999. Brady and I marred in June of 2000. He and I went down to Arizona for Christmas in 2001, and I hadn't been back since. I was fortunate enough to have most of my family move up here after me... I guess they just couldn't live without me! (ha ha ha...)

Still though, I've missed my friends, and I have some members of my family that remain in Arizona. Mostly though, I've missed my Dad, and my last living Grandparent, Grandpa Z. I told my dad that I would come down if he would pay for the plane ticket. I think that he was quite surprised that I would abandon my husband and kids to spend time with him, and promptly agreed to buy me a ticket! Yay!

I flew down to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on April 8th. My dad picked me up from the Airport. I hadn't even seen him, or even a picture of him in 7 years. He looked... old--sorry dad! (He's had a rough decade or so). The first day felt awkward and unnatural. I was staying in Glendale with my Dad and Grandpa in a house where I could hear the buzz of the refrigerator. It was THAT quiet. I don't even remember the last time I could hear the buzz of the refrigerator!

On the second day, Dad drove me to Mesa and dropped me off at my friend Alisa's house. We went out to Lunch at Chick-Fil-A. (Why I didn't think about going to Fazoli's, I don't know- It was a favorite in High School!) After lunch with Alisa and her cute little girls, She dropped me off at Mesa High where I was so highly disappointed because none of my old Seminary teachers work there anymore, and my one teacher that I wanted to see from High School was out of town! Don't worry, I e-mailed him a harassing letter! =) The rest of the day I spent visiting family and my dear friend Isabel , and then I met some friends at the Olive Garden for dinner: Tamara and her husband Shaun, Crystal (and her teeny- tiny baby), Julie, and Faith. We had great time!

Days 3 and 4 were much better with Dad. We had a really nice visit. He took me out to dinner where he treated me to Fillet Mignon (mmmmmmm). After that we made Mom's special Lemon Cake together. (MMMMM, again). Then came the Checkers Give-Away, and Chinese Checkers dual. Of course, just like old times, he had to bet me 50 bucks that I couldn't beat him, but unlike 'old times,' I did win a few! =)

I also was able to spend some time with Grandpa Z. and get to know him better. It was difficult to communicate because his hearing is really bad now. I had to talk really loud and make sure that he could see my lips. He was a Fighter Pilot in WWII (which explains the hearing loss )and had some pretty amazing stories to tell me. I was sad to say goodbye to him, realizing that it was probably the last time I'd see him. He is Ninety years old.

Dad took me to the Airport on Thursday evening. It was a very emotional goodbye for me, but it was nice to come back home to my cute little family. Hopefully it won't be another 7 years before I go back again!