Arizona and a Happy New Year!

My parents bought this magical house on the lake in Arizona in Avondale. I have been to Arizona maybe twice  in my life on the way to California and then once in the Grand Canyon, but I felt like I still had never really been there. I do follow 71 Toes blog and she lives in Arizona and you cannot help but think it is just amazing because her blog is so great. So, we were all excited to go visit. Especially Rosie since it was her first time on an airplane.

The girls have had the absolute best time kayaking and paddling all around the lake all day and night long. We were at the zoo yesterday and the older girls kept asking if we could go back to my parents house so they could go out on the lake It really is magical.

We got to celebrate New Years here in the desert and only Brian, my Dad, Emmy and I made it to midnight. I only made it because I took a pretty solid nap. We had a great view on their deck of aerial fireworks being lit off all around town.

Brian had to fly back to Utah New Years day and the girls and I stayed until Sunday because fortunately we can blow off life and responsibilities, but unfortunately Brian can't! Poor guy!

We went to the Wildlife/Safari/Aquarium yesterday and we saw so many animals that we had never seen before. An albino alligator, an albino turtle, red kangaroos (I don't remember seeing these ever and boy did they freak me out because there was only a rope between them and all of us). Some of the monkeys weren't in cages, but were on little islands with palm trees since that seemed to contain them since they can't swim. We loved watching the baby tiger try to attack us through the window over and over. He really wanted to bite our arms. Whenever someone new would come through the door it would get all excited and pounce towards them. We also liked that the snakes were trying to attack us through the window and kept hissing and jabbing their heads towards us. Pretty much whenever we would have been in danger we loved it! Sadie really liked watching the huge crocodile and then another time when I came around the corning of the aquarium Bree was face to face with an alligator. It took my breath away for a second!

We came back to my parents house for a lunch break and a "lake refresh" and then went back to the aquarium at night. It was so dark at the zoo and then when we went into each building at the aquarium we would be greeted with super creepy fish swimming around and the light dancing on the floor and walls. It would have made a great date because it was spooky and romantic all at the same time.

New Years & More

We celebrated New Years with the Stewart side and they were party animals! We watched movies, took naps, and did a lot of playing.

The kids watched The Incredibles (or so that is what I remember...this was too long ago for a pregnant mind to remember

This was probably right after a little nap and really close to midnight. Emmy went to sleep around 9 and Sadie stayed up until 11pm which was amazing for her. Emmy is usually our night owl and Sadie is our early riser.

Just some pictures from Grandma’s Christmas concert I forgot to post.