4th of July in Arizona

BEWARE- marathon post!
Liam has this new thing for planes ("anes" in Liamese). You can imagine his fascination at the airports.
We stayed with my grandfather & Alba while in Mesa. All four of us shared a bed. Ironically the smallest members of the family took up the most room in the bed. We got to watch the parade in front of our old house. It was fun...but I have to admit- just not the same. My mom, Max & my old young woman's leader Sister Gleeve. So good to see her! In hindsight, I wish I would've put away my camera & chatted more. More of my sleeping babies. Nelson Resevior & our rental car- probably the sportiest thing you'll find us in for awhile. You know you're done for when you begin to comment on how good looking different minivans are. The dome. This is where all our high school sporting events took place. For me that meant burning lungs & double the laps for the events I ran in track. Shannon took us here. It was a neat little museum & beautiful landscape. Little known fact, I worked for the Apache-Sitgraves forest service for three summers while in college. I worked with my sister & cousin for two of those summers. We worked primarily up near Big Lake. Last year there was a forest fire that wiped out much of my forest. It was unbelievable & sad to see with my own eyes. ...and this is the visitor center that I worked at. We (my cousin, sister & I) always got a kick out of people thinking we were "real" forest rangers. (I was just some random girl studying home economics at BYU, my cousin a city girl from downtown Kansas City & my sister a recent high school graduate). Little kids would look at us in awe & men would ask us for fishing advice. If only they knew who they were asking. But I do look at my time there as a gift from the Lord. The job opened up for the first time when I just happened to be needing work for the summer. Then later when I no longer needed the summer work, the forest service budget dried up & this job was eliminated. I'll forever remember the good times with my sister, cousin & others of the forest service, the summer rain storms, & my cheesy night programs (they were on bears & plants if you were wondering). Near the trailhead for Mt. Baldy. See any resemblance? I personally don't see it, but the majority of people seeing Max say they see my dad. My dad took us on the ice cave hike in Lakeside. Liam LOVED this cave! Major tantrum getting him to leave it. Driving down to Mesa again through the Salt River Canyon. I'm not sure what Liam was dreaming about...or Max, for that matter, but he somehow ended up asleep with his thumb in Max's mouth. Liam also won the award of best bed head. Max's first time swimming. We went with my cousin Brooke & her family. We actually tricked them into hanging out with us the majority of the day. Fun times. Wish we lived closer. My grandfather & Alba. They just got married in May. I just adore Alba. I used to work with her & just always loved her. It's fun to get to know her even better now. She loves the Lord & it radiates in her countenance. She's taking good care of my grandfather and took good care of us while we stayed with them. I'm still craving the crepes she made us!