Trip to Arizona

 

We had a great trip to Arizona right before Christmas! We got to go to Costa Vida twice, which was a must-do on our list. And we also got to spend a lot of time with the whole Martin family, which we haven’t done in 1.5 years, so it was a ton of fun! On Sunday we went to church with my parents and later that evening we got to see my brother and sister-in-law’s new house, eat lasagna, and play games:

Monday morning was when we went to Legoland (a different post) and later that evening we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant, then we all went to the Mesa temple lights. Here are the grandkids touching the temple:

And the pretty lights!

Tuesday all the bigger kids and adults went to see the new Star Wars movie (Rouge One). We also went with my parents and Mindi to pick out a real live Christmas tree, and the kids thought it was fun to grab all the little branches that had fallen off in the tree lot:

Ryan and I got to go on a quick date to Ikea while we were in AZ, so he could try out his Christmas present- a new desk chair! And of course we had to try the meatballs:

The kids put on a play while we were there, just like me and my cousins did for my grandparents!

Wednesday morning all the adult women went and got a pedicure!

The lotion guy was quite the artist, as was the nail painter:

Later that evening we had our big Christmas dinner. Here’s the little kids’ table:

We also had our traditional nativity, and Cora got to be Mary! That is something she has talked about doing all month long:

Hyrum was a sheep, because he can make good sheep sounds, he said:

Mary and Joseph coming into Bethlehem (though Joseph refused to hold Mary’s hand):

Zane was an angel, and here he is singing with the angels. He also wouldn’t leave the baby’s side for the rest of the nativity. He kept picking up and holding the baby, and rocking it. It kind of made me wonder if angels stayed at baby Jesus’ side.

Hyrum was a good sheep:

And Cora spent good time loving on the baby Jesus, too:

Then it was time for Santa Clause! Or, as Hyrum deemed him, “Grandpa Clause!”

Zane was tired and was having none of it, though he did willingly accept the present:

Cora with Grandpa Clause:

Hyrum with Grandpa Clause:

On Thursday morning we took my Grandpa Langford to breakfast then visited with him in his room for awhile. Cora willingly sat on my Grandpa’s lap, and it really seemed to mean a lot to him:

We went to the temple later that afternoon to do some sealings for our family names. I love being in the temple with my eternal family!

Here is what was Hyrum’s favorite part of the whole trip- a whole lot of Wii playing went on, with all the cousins taking turns and Mindi regulating the whole thing:

We also were able to take some family pictures, which we haven’t done in awhile:

All the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa:

The original 3 kids:

Aren’t they cute?

We really had a great trip and were glad we got to do so many fun things with our family!