Holiday Vacation: Part #1 (MESA)

We are still in the U.S. and will be here for awhile longer. Lincoln will be joining us in 9 days. Kylee & I are very excited to see him! We're supposed to be headed back to Mexico the first week of January, but I had another throat infection this week & Kylee has another double ear infection...so it's not Mexico that is making us sick. We both need to get into an ENT here before we go back. I'm guessing that Kylee will have to get tubes in her ears. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I'm hoping a tonsillectomy isn't the answer. I've heard that they are miserable for adults. Anyway, I am hoping & praying that we will get all of that figured out before Lincoln has to go back to school!

Now on to the first part of our trip: 

Two weeks ago, Kylee & I got on a plane & headed to AZ. Our flight left early in the morning, which meant that we had to wake up at 3am. We had a ward party the night before, then went out for tacos with the Herrera's, so Kylee didn't get to bed until really late. The worst part was that I never fell asleep, so I ended up pulling an all-nighter. And I don't do well when I don't sleep. Ask Linc. Then I got to wake Kylee up at 3am...

 (Now you can see a pic of my Spanish microwave too! :) )

We headed over to our friend Vanessa's house to pick up her & her daughter Lola. Lincoln even let Bear drive part of the way...

 I was so excited that we were able to be on the same flight as Vanessa & Lola! It made handling Kylee's tantrums easier & it was nice to have someone to chat with on the way there! Plus, Kylee thought it was fun that her friend "Ola" was with us. 

We stayed at my parents' house in Mesa for the first week of our trip. Melissa, Brad & Nixen are living with my parents right now, so that meant that we were able to spend a lot of time with them as well. Melissa & I took the kids to the park twice at the beginning of the week. Kylee loved this toy!

I hung out with my friend Jana & her kids one of the first days we were there. Then on Wednesday night we went to Bass Pro with my family. We hung out on the "toys"...

Brad modeled for us...

And Grandma & Grandpa spoiled the kids...

We also went on a carousel ride...

Kylee got her free picture with Santa. I'll have to scan it into this post when I get the chance. She didn't cry this year which was a plus! She was really excited about the little candy cane that Santa gave her too!

The next day was Thanksgiving, and we were able to go to two family dinners. The first was with my mom's side of the family, at Uncle Scott & Aunt Carol's house. I wish I'd taken more pictures. I snapped a few on our way there...

And took this one of Kylee hanging out by the doggie door during dinner...

The food was great & the company was too! I loved seeing my aunts & uncles & cousins. I also loved listening to the new stories that Aunt Tricia had for me. That woman makes me laugh so hard!

Then it was off to my parents' house again to prepare the food for our next dinner. We then drove to Uncle Kevin & Aunt Robin's house in Queen Creek to eat with my dad's side of the family...

We sat at a beautifully decorated table & ate a seriously delicious meal...
(Kylee & I are way down at the end)

Then we watched the homing pigeons fly around & hung out in the cold, rainy weather!

Kylee sported her pink cowgirl boots. She looked adorable.

I went to the park with Erica & her kids on Friday. I don't even remember what we did over the weekend. I know that it involved a few trips to Target. And watching Modern Family with my parents. And trying to figure out how to get rid of my sore throat. Then it was time for part #2 of our trip...Snowflake!