Trip to Safford

On May 1st our family headed out of the hot valley to the much cooler Gila Valley to visit the new temple and go through it during the open house. Brent had never been to eastern Arizona so it was quite a scenic drive. We stopped in Globe at the Jack in the Box for some lunch. To Brent's surprise he recognized the manager of the restaurant. She was someone he hadn't seen for 15 years or so. I am always amazed at how he knows someone everywhere we go! The Gila Valley Temple is absolutely beautiful. Brent, Grant and I had minimal waiting time to get into the open house even though that Saturday was extremely busy with van-loads and bus-loads of people visiting the temple that day. As we were passing through the lobby of the temple, Brent recognized and said hi to someone else he knew from a long time ago. What are the odds of that????

Outside the temple we posed for a few shots in our very casual clothes. Julie said that you didn't have to wear "Sunday" clothes and since we were traveling and doing other things during the day we didn't. At least we weren't the only ones not in "Sunday" attire.

Grant loved being inside the temple. He had lots of questions. Later in the evening he was able to go back for a second tour with Julie, Jordan, Grandma and Gramps. Lucky!

Ahhhhh....its been almost 2 years that we've been married and we still look good together :)

So after we went on our tour and were heading back to the stake center for cookies, I heard someone call my name. When I turned around, I saw Sister Hensen and her family of 5 right behind me. I used to be in Surprise Ward with them. It was great to see her and her family and it made me feel better that Brent wasn't the only one who was able to run into people he used to associate with.

Once I got inside the stake center, I ran into the rest of the Surprise Ward young men, young women and their leaders. What a treat!!! I used to teach math to some of these kids. One of the 10 year old's there use to be in my Sunbeam class. It was a wonderful reunion! What are the odds that my Surprise Family would be in Gila Valley at the same time I was. This place was 200 miles from where we lived. It was so much fun catching up with all of them!!!

Once we left the temple we went to Joe and Kami's house to meet Ember. She is adorable. She is such a good baby. Loved being able to take care of her while we were there. Her brothers adore her. It was a blast to hang out with Justin. He is so funny. He claims that diaper changing is only for girls and didn't know how to address the fact that his dad had changed Ember's diaper last. All of the boys were anxious to wrestle and climb all over you. Good times!

Of course Mom (Grandma) had to hog Ember once she arrived at the house. I guess that's okay since this is her newest grand-daughter.

We stayed overnight in the luxurious Days Inn motel. Grant thought the Continental Breakfast was the coolest thing he ever had. All I need to do have at my house is lots of English muffins, dry pastries, generic donuts, and jam in little pouches and Grant will think I was the coolest person ever. On Sunday we attended Joe's ward to witness Ember's blessing. She was a perfect little angle; absolutely adorable.

It was an amazing weekend and we can hardly wait to come back for another visit.