I have been a very poor blogger lately. It's for a couple of reasons. 1. Things have been pretty mellow around here (thank heavens!!!!- and by mellow I mean, no major catastrophes; standards for mellow are extremely low when you have 4 small kids). 2. I can't seem to find time to blog (and let's be honest, when the kids are down, I would way rather read than blog). However, last night was an experience I wouldn't miss blogging about for the world. Here goes...
Our family loves living in Arizona. The weather is wonderful, we love our neighborhood, we have a great ward, good schools, etc. We are happy here. My biggest complaint about Arizona is that I don't have any family that lives here (aside from my Aunt Sylvia who is simply amazing and a couple of cousins). Luckily, I get to see my family pretty often considering they live on the other side of the country. Some days though, I miss them alot!!! Tyler had her first vocal recital coming up and it really made me wish my parents were here to be a part of it. The night before, in the middle of the night, I was thinking about all this and sent my parents an email voicing my love for them and how much I missed them. Although it's a really personal email, it's part of the story so I will post it.
Its times like these (and always) that I hate that we don't get to live by you. My Tyler has her voice recital tomorrow night. I wish so much you guys could be there. She has invited her uncle Sam, Aunt Sylvia and cousin Annie to come and unfortunately, none of them can come. We are going to see if maybe her friend Tatum or Ammon's grandma can come. If not, it will be ok. I tell you this not to have you guys do anything (you don't need to fly out here or call Aunt Sylvia) but just so you know that we miss you guys and love you and know if you guys lived here, you would make sure to come. Adam's kids are lucky little babies that they get to have that relationship with you! I'm glad you guys get to have them close. I hope you had fun with them tonight- I'm sure you did. We love you guys so much. Thanks for your love and support!!!!
Boo
That arrived at about 3:00 am my parents time. I went to bed and awoke the next morning to my dad saying he wished he could be there too and asking if I would record it so they could see it. That night, as I sat in the recital hall waiting for the recital to begin, in walked my dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, as soon as I saw him, tears filled my eyes. I was overwhelmed with what a selfless, kind gesture he had made. Tyler saw him, and jumped out of her seat and ran across the aisle to him. Tyler's teacher was up at the front welcoming everyone and announced that we had a special guest with us who had come all the way from Atlanta (where he had been in meetings that day). It was a moment that I will remember as long as I live! I am amazing by my dad- always. He is the kindest, most generous, loving, thoughtful man ever! I guess when he got my email at 5 in the morning, he told my mom, as he was on his way out the door to the airport to head to Atlanta, that he wanted to try and come to the recital. My mom went to work on figuring out flights and between the two of them, they made it work. In the meantime, my dad told Ammon what he was doing and Ammon went to work on our end, making sure my dad knew where to go and made Tyler's teacher aware of it so she could move Tyler a little later in the program so he wouldn't miss it. It still chokes me up to think about it. I am so blessed to have my dad. During the recital, I called my babysitter who was at home with my other kids, and asked her to keep my kids awake as we had a big surprise for them. At the conclusion of the recital, we headed home to surprise the other kids. To say they were ecstatic might be an understatement. It was so much fun for me to watch their faces as they realized who was in our home. We made a quick stop at Nielsen's, obviously, and then took my dad to his airport hotel where he had to be up at 4 am to catch a flight home. We saw him for a total of 3 hours. He flew across the entire country to spend 3 hours with us. Some might argue, the length and cost of the flight make it not worth the 3 hours. I disagree. This moment meant the world to us.
Here are a few pictures from the experience:
Once all that fun-family-vacation-fun was complete, we checked into our 5th lodging (well, technically 5th and 6th because it was 2 rooms but then we had to be moved because the rooms weren't adjoining so really 7th and 8th rooms- but who's counting?). I have to be honest, it was a little awkward walking into the hotel with black garbage bags as suitcases. But no worries, after Target, all of our pride was already gone. We got all kids bathed and in bed (after a lot of work trying to find bedding for the crib the hotel brought up for Scarlett) when Tyler comes into our room crying because her ear is killing her. Ammon make a trip to Walgreens to get some Tylenol and ear drops and we fixed her up and sent her back to bed. Ahhhh, piece and quiet. Oh wait, nope- Ryder then came in our room with something in his mouth. When I asked him what he had, he opened his mouth to show me. Throw up. Sweet! It was at that point that we decided, we had had it. No Scottsdale resort. This vacation had to be over. ASAP!!!! Once all the kids were asleep, Ammon and I folded the mountain of clothes and then called it a day too. 
