Arizona weekend

The Willies left their mark in the Tulsa airport early last Saturday morning when we made a quick trip to Mesa, Arizona over the weekend. 

Sloane was very happy to have a direct flight. 

President and Sister Parry were Aaron's Mission Presidents during Aaron's mission to Guatemala. They keep in touch via social media and phone calls and have come to visit us, and we were grateful for an invitation to bring our family to visit them at their home in Mesa, Arizona.

The desert landscape is a stark contrast to the lush Ozark Forest we live in. The kids couldn't get over the limited color palate and lack of vegetation.  They did love playing on the Parry's turf lawn and gorgeous (and insect free) patio! 

. Susan got everyone up close to feel the saguaros. 

We drove down to the river bottoms of the Tonto National Forest and put our feet in the cool water. The big kids collected beautiful river rocks, found crawdads, and Sloane splashed and got soaked. 

On Sunday, we went to church in the Parrys' daughter, Cassie's, ward, to hear Cassie speak. Some of my kids were angry with me for having them go to unfamiliar primary classes with total strangers, but they lived to tell about it. Later Sunday afternoon we had a quick visit with Aaron's uncle Steve, and cousins Christie & Mike, Laura, and James, and their kids. We also took a drive over to the Mesa Temple.  

The longer we spent in the desert, the more I craved to return to our colorful, humid Arkansas. It's true you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". I'm usually found complaining about the extreme humidity in August, but in Arizona I felt as dry as a fish out of water. My skin and soul felt parched and every sip of water felt like a dried out sponge trying to wipe up a wet countertop. 

One of the perks of Arizona is legit Mexican food! We made a pit stop at Señor Taco on the way to the airport Monday morning and stuffed our faces with carne asada and green sauce. President (who the kids affectionately call El Guapo) coaxed Reese into eating a Serrano pepper, and Soren and Quincy tried ceviche.

I like to tease Aaron that not every wife would be up for packing 5 kids to Arizona for a spontaneous visit with a family she has only met a few times, and chasing kids around while her hubby catches up with a dear friend and mentor.  I would like to say our children were perfect angels as guests in someone's home, but the reality is a little different. Our favorite "kid moment" was when Corbin was asked to offer the blessing on the food and he prayed, "please bless us to not break anything in this really nice house." Haha Amen, Corbin! Amen. They came close a couple of times and my teeth stopped sweating once we were finally home in Ar.  Aaron was grateful to have hours and hours to reminisce about his mission days and time he served in the mission office Witt the Parrys. We was given of couple blessings, one being a testimony and list of long term goals that he wrote at the end of his mission. Aaron loves reading this paper time capsule to our family on Sunday night. The Spirit was felt strongly by everyone in the room and I was again reminded what a wonderful man I married. He is so good to create these opportunities for the Spirit to testify truth to our children, even if it is an ordeal involving missing school and cross country 6am flights.  He gets a prompting and doesn't quit until he's seen it come to fruition.  All in all, our Arizona weekend  was a great, exciting adventure and adventure is something I love about being married to my Aaron. He's always up for excitement so there's rarely a dull moment when you're a Willardson!