Holiday Vacation: Part #3 (EAGAR)

Phil (Linc's dad) took Kylee & I to Show Low on Wednesday night (Nov. 30th) to meet Lincoln's sister Wendy & her kids. We drove back to Eagar that night and stayed at their house. Kylee loved spending time with her cousins... 

Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely adore each of my nieces & nephews? I am so thankful for them. Each of those kids makes me feel so special and loved! I know I always say it, but being an aunt is one of my all-time favorite roles in life...

During our time in Eagar:

-Kylee played with a Mr. Potato Head for the first time, and immediately asked where its bum was. :)

-I had a few really great talks with Wendy. That girl is one-of-a-kind.

-I kind of fell in love with essential oils.

-We had a game night! It had been a long time since I'd played games.

-I got to see the bookstore that Wendy & Carl bought back in February. Most people probably don't know how much I absolutely ADORE bookstores. I love the look of bookstores, the feel of bookstores, the smell of bookstores...I love everything about them. While cataloging some books for Wendy, I was practically giddy. Just helping her with a few things in her bookstore kind of fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams. Seriously. :)

Wendy & I also met our cousin Britnee for lunch one day. The food was delicious & it was so nice spending time together...

 Kylee & I were supposed to go back to Mesa on Friday, but we got snowed in! Wendy ended up taking us to Show Low where we went to our cousin Brooklyn's baby shower. Then we drove back to Snowflake, and Phil drove us to Payson to meet my dad, who took us the rest of the way to Mesa. Kind of crazy. I didn't get any good pictures of all of the snow falling on us on the drive down, but I did take one of the trees just to prove that we saw some snow. Seeing snow really made it feel like Christmas time!

Holiday Vacation: Part #2 (SNOWFLAKE)

Linc's parents flew back from Hawaii a week after we arrived in the U.S. so Kylee & I caught a ride back to Snowflake with them. We stopped at the family cabin in Pine for a few minutes on the way up. Kylee insisted on wearing this dress-up skirt over her pants while we were there...

Grandma let Kylee empty one of her cupboards & play with everything inside. Kylee was loving it!

Kylee LOVES pretending to cook for us. And once again, she dressed herself...

On Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, Linc's parents worked until late afternoon, so Kylee & I just hung out on our own. We both weren't feeling well, so it was kind of nice to just relax. We did venture outside a few times, where Kylee had fun swinging...

 Kylee really enjoyed hanging out with Grandma & Grandpa every night after they got home from work. Here she is getting ready to brush Grandpa's hair...

I love the one pigtail, panties over the diaper & pink cowboy boots...

We had so much fun spending time with Matt & Danielle and their kids. Kylee sure does love Claire...

And just to prove that I was there...

Kylee drawing on Uncle Matt's cast...

The kids eating waffles for dinner...

Making chocolate chip cookies...one of our favorite things to make when we come to AZ to visit!

(Chocolate chips are so expensive in Mexico)

My cute little helpers...

Kylee & I were also able to go to lunch with my friend Angela & her girls while we were in Snowflake. It was so fun to catch up & spend time with her! 

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!

Farewell to the Whitaker Family

Well, my friend Montse is also moving away from Mexico before I get back! She is my next-door neighbor and I will really miss her! It was so nice to have her living right next to us when we first moved in...when I didn't know any Spanish & had no idea how to live in another country. She introduced me to multiple authentic Mexican foods, taught me to sew, and spoke Spanish for me when I needed it. She is a very kind person with a strong testimony of family & of the gospel. I'm thankful to have met you Montse! I'll miss you!!!

I only have a few pictures with Montse. She's the one standing next to me in the black shirt in this first pic. 

Kylee will miss playing with Ian & Eric too!

Our friends Zach & Amber also moved away this semester. I don't have any pictures with them, but it was fun to get to know them! Kylee loved their little boy Tate, and after attending his 1st birthday party, called him "Birthday Cake" when she saw him. I want to make sure to document the friendships we made while living in Mexico. I don't know how we would survive there without good friends!

Farewell to Heather

Well, the end of this semester made me sad, because I had multiple friends move back to the U.S. for good. :( One of these friends was Heather...the first friend I made in Mexico, who turned to me 5 minutes after we met & declared me her new best friend. She has definitely become that. She moved to Thatcher last week with her girls. I really can't explain how bummed I am that I will be in Mexico for the next few years without this girl by my side!

We tried brain tacos together...

We feared for our lives on the safari ride at the Guadalajara Zoo...

We hung out with each other at many Wives Club activities...

And enjoyed each other's company during our Girls Nights...

We had late-night crepe runs...

We celebrated holidays...

And birthdays too...

Heather brought me flowers when Duke died and taught me that running isn't as torturous as it seems. She sympathized with me when I talked about how hard I think having one child can be & never reminded me that she has four. She took care of my knees when I fell & tore them up. :) She fed my family & I many times, provided me with treats when I had cravings, & made me feel like I am a great person even when I'm acting like a terrible one. Friends like Heather are hard to come by, that's for sure.

I'll miss laughing until our stomachs hurt, driving like maniacs, playing Hide & Seek in the Dark with our hubbies, acting like we know how to speak Spanish when we really don't, getting lost in Mexico, and all of the other things that kept us busy over this year.

We will, of course, miss the girls as well. Dylan & Kylee definitely have a love/hate relationship, but I'm sure they will miss the loving parts of their friendship... :)

We will miss Riley's smiling face, how good she is with Kylee & her sense of humor...

We'll miss London's witty remarks & how fun she is to tease. She made this picture for Lincoln the other day that had us laughing so hard...

(Inside joke. :) )

The weekend before Kylee & I left Mexico for AZ, we spent some time with the Haskin family. Heather & I took the girls to the park...

Kylee ended up sitting on the ground throwing a fit half the time. You know...the usual.

I convinced Heather to roll down the hills at the park with me. After all, what else are you supposed to do with one of your best friends who is moving out of the country? :)

I'll spare you from my "action" shot & just show you my laughing-my-head-off-after-rolling-down-the-hill shot...

We're glad that Josh will be around for awhile, but will miss the rest of the Haskin family! We love you guys! Thank you for being such great friends!!!