Arizona

I was in Arizona for just shy of a month. I stayed with two amazing families and friends(thank you so much Oldham & Quast) whom we have missed dearly since moving and shoved in as much play time as possible. Stayed at moms in between all the painting and flooring installation that I/we did. With the camera making me crazy trying to take pictures with its prolonged death I didn't take that many pictures while gone but here is some of what I took. You might want to just skim down to the pictures now but since we printing up the blog at the end of each year I need to journal my trip **warning** it started out long and bad. We picked up Cameron at lunch time from school and hit the road(he was missing the last 2 days of school) What usually takes 30 min to get from our house to the other side of Hoover Damn took an hour and a half(and a potty stop). After Kingman AZ there is nothing but desert life until Phoenix well other then a cute little town called Wickenberg. My luck had it that about 60 miles before this cute little town the check engine light starts blinking(mind you nothing around 4 kids and 100+ degree temps outside I decide to make my way into town and am getting close when I realize that it is almost 5 o'clock the start of a holiday weekend(Memorial Day) I start saying my prayers that something will still be open when I get there(its still a full 2 hours or more to Tucson 45 min or less to the outskirts of Phoenix). I pull into town just after 5 and there is a shop right across the way with only one bay door half way open. I was in luck to find there was someone still at work(especially since when I stopped at the stoplight I almost stalled out in the intersection. He so kindly hooked up the computer that told me I had a misfire in the engine. I explained to him that I was on my way to Tucson is it safe to drive the car....nope better leave it and nobody will get to it until Tuesday morning. Now I am panicking how am I going to get my family to Tucson(cant call mom she isn't even in the country yet(she was landing in a couple of hours) and besides her car doesn't hold us all legally, what cab will hold us all legally and who knows what they charge fro the middle of nowhere, even to call someone in Tucson what will I do with my already cranky kids for the next two hours for them to get here. So we scrambled to get a rental car that would fit me legally. A very nice lady came in after hours to the local car dealership to rent us a car(the last one we would fit in). So about 45 min later I am back on the road. Well there are about 3 or 4 different ways into Phoenix but one of them is a more direct shot to the interstate and driving in an unfamiliar car and dealing with screaming kids and its now dusk I miss the turn off for that route and went the most round about way through Phoenix. I finally pulled into Tucson around 9pm, a drive that should take about 6-7 hours took me over 9. Instead of being able to get right to work the next day shopping for paint etc the stuff mom needs to get the house ready to get her stuff out of storage she and i take off backup to Wiceknberg to return the rental so I don't have that added expense on top of the car repair and was able to get all my stuff out of the van that didn't fit in the rental. Another 6 hours spent in a car day wasted. Sunday well rest day and church. Monday we were able to hit Lowes and Home Depot and get started on what mom wanted. Tuesday find out that it was going to be bad(van) they needed to take the head off the engine(not mechanically inclined at all so I have no idea what I am saying just trying to repeat what I was told) was intially told i would be looking just under $2000 in repair...ughh...seriously we were finally getting on our feet again after unemployment for three months moving out of state and then moving again in the last eight months. I finally called my Aunt and Uncle in Oklahoma needing someone to understand what was wrong then explain it to me simply and advise me as to if it was worth repairing. After they talked with the shop they thought it might need a new engine that was going to be 10 hours of labor at like $79 an hour then $1200 for the used engine. So I panic thinking I am going to be stranded in AZ with no car so we waste a day or two going to the bank talking about financing scouting out craigslist and auto trader, driving to the other side of town to a used car dealer who goes to the auctions and was recommended as honest. But we really didn't want a payment and what we could afford was older and more miles then what I had already so I called the shop back and gave them the go ahead to pull off the head and said my prayers. We got to work painting, picking out flooring and switching out lighting in and out of the house. Mom was setting up estamites to have the exterior painted the vents vacuumed and I cant remember what all else. A week and a half later I wasted a whole other day driving back up to Wickenberg to get my van back...the good news just under $900. Now part of the plan was that Jennica one of my bestest and oldest friends was getting married in Utah and mom was going to drive up with me and the kids to go but I wasn't going to get the van back in time to make the 12 hour drive...so I booked a flight leaving first thing in the morning on the 9 so I would make it in time for the dinner and reception that night. Meanwhile Mom and Dad were going to take over the cell phones Jeremy and I had since he has one through work and I can add one for super cheap and it was one less expense for mom to move back. Jeremy had mailed me my "new"(used) phone. I had spent the whole drive up to Wickenberg entering in all of my contacts charged it all night and woke up at the butt crack of dawn to make my flight and the phone wouldn't even turn on...I even tried one of those super charging stations at the airport. Didnt work so after picking up my rental car my first job was finding a T-mobil store well after I stopped by Temple square because I love it there and to look for a wedding gift. Get to one and find out the phone was old enough hat they didn't have any batteries that would fit it anymore so I had to buy a brand new phone at cost(because I didn't wan to mess with the corporate plan....ugghhh more money just flying out the door. Well now I am stuck in Utah with no contact numbers. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and since I was at a mall I did a little shopping and bought myself a super cute dress a really long one, one that I have dreamed of for oh so long but haven't bought(nursing is so hard in a dress) I then decided to to make sure I can find where they are holding the reception drive around the area and scout out hotels too (at this point I was just flying from the seat of my pants) I stopped by a 7-Eleven for a little bit of a caffeine pick me up when there too getting some coke was Jennica's mom Wendy. Who said come on and help us get set up. So off I went I helped set up and got to spend time with Jennica and Wendy saved me from throwing more $$$ out the door and insisted that I stay the night at their house. So glad that Heavenly Father watched over me and how I crossed paths with Wendy it was awesome staying with the Castle' s they had a full house but I got to spend time with Jennica. Dinner and reception AWESOME and delicious, very beautiful. The next morning we had brunch at the house and a push-up contest amongst the brothers. Then headed to the Oquirrh Temple. Very windy but it turned out beautiful. Hung around afterward because I had nothing better to do I had booked a 7 o'clock fight so that I would have enough time to get to the airport, but it allowed me to visit with Jennica more and her parents. I got back to AZ and just worked off my little hinny and fit in a procedure(endometrial ablation that I was in desperate need of and will hopefully be able to put off a hysterectomy now). Was able to go to book club oh how I miss my book club ladies Thanks for changing the date for me!!!!!! Wasnt able to finish all that needed to be done but got the better part of it all finished. Wish I would have thought to take before and after pictures of it all. We painted two bedrooms, painted and did the flooring in two bathrooms, flooring in kitchen and laundry room, new light fixtures in entryway-den-hallway-and all the outside 5. My kids loved being around their friends agian but were missing Henderson and I had an "aha" moment of my own watching my friends in sacrament the last Sunday there I realized (this is silly I know) they have moved on and now I need to go back "home(Henderson)" and do the same. So as much fun as the month of June was we were ready to meet July.