letters to Beth {arizona easter 2k14}

{how'd your family easter pic turn out? my boys were super happy about ours.}

{we love to look at this picture and laugh. chase's face and brennan looking down. bahahahaha!}

...

dear beth,

last week we hopped in the car and drove to arizona for spring break.

how many countries would you drive through if you left germany and drove 12 hours straight?

i think you've told me you can be anywhere in europe in 3 hours or something amazing like that.

well, let me tell you,

i always forget what a beautiful drive it is to go through southern utah and northern arizona.

we went right around the grand canyon, and the red rock against the blue sky is just always so breathtaking.

sean and i vowed to take our children to the grand canyon one of these times.

how is it that when you live so close to amazing things it can take YEARS to go see them?

while we were in arizona i learned:

fake grass is the cool cool thing to do to your yard and there are lots of different ways to do it.

also you pay by square foot, but it pays for itself because you don't have to water it:)

having a pool is the most important thing.

people "trick out" their pools with slides, grottoes, fences, splash pads, water fountains, etc.

and they are the most amazing looking pools you have ever seen in your life.

mature palm trees either cost $5,000 or $15,000.

everyone has different amounts they say they cost.

also they take a long time to grow and you have to train them.

and the short fat ones attract scorpions.

but they are the cutest looking.

some neighborhoods have scorpions.

some don't.

my sister in law told me hers didn't, which i was VERY relieved for.

and even though i believed her,

sometimes i still felt scared to put my hands between the couch cushions 

and walk in the backyard without shoes on.

true story.

i'm such a wuss and also i watched too much oprah as a young child.

but trust me, once you've heard your niece tell you about the time she got stung by a scorpion,

it's enough to make a person decide right then and there to never want to meet one.

splash pads and parks are extra fancy with some of the coolest toys you've ever seen.

we are talking zip lines, some with seats, some with just ropes.

scooter and bike roads around the parks.

like people have weddings at the parks because they are so awesome.

we are talking outdoor adventures to the max.

when it's cloudy in april there it's like the most perfect temperature you have ever felt.

and then when the sun comes out it spikes up to 100* and you're feet are scorching on the pavement and all your brain is telling you over and over again is "water, water, water, water."

there are mormons everywhere, but still tons of diversity.

it's like the perfect mix. i loved it!

the gilbert temple looks so perfect and beautiful that it looks fake in pictures.

i swear to you.

amazing.

i went on a ride along with my brother in law in his patrol car.

we took someone to jail,

chased down flier passer-outer people,

where i learned the difference between soliciting and advertising.

there's a difference.

who knew?

also, i got a tour of the mean streets of gilbert.

2 hours of crime fighters USA.

it was so much fun.

brennan loved to see the lights and sirens,

chase HATED the sirens.

he's never been a fan of loud noises though.

sean got in the back of the patrol car.

did you know there's no cushions back there?

just hard plastic with long looking seat belts.

also, once you're in, you can't get out.

sean locked himself in on accident.

then natalie teased him about all of the germs and disgusting things that go on back there.

we burned his clothes after.

ok, not really, but you get the idea.

police officers are so awesome.

everyone should do a ride along once in their life.

also, police officers always have the best stories to tell.

for example, another police officer in natalie's ward told a story over the pulpit on easter sunday at church and the entire congregation was crying because it was so touching.

see, police officers are amazing.

and they are always someone's brother, son, husband, father.

how was your easter?

we corralled all of the cousins in one wing of natalie's house and made them wait with their eyes closed while we took pictures of them, 

{note: chase eating reese's pb cup egg at about 7:09am--so proud.} 

then let them loose while they opened all of their loot,

ate reese's peanut butter cups and cinnamon rolls for breakfast,

and then we made it to 8am church 5 minutes early in puffy dresses, ties, hats, and suit coats.

{chase was too busy playing cars for taking pictures. i love this picture so much because of it.}

...

whoever heard of 8am church anyway?

arizona people have.

chase cried the entire morning,

all through church,

and i ended up watching pbs kids on my phone in the hall outside of the primary room,

which made him really happy.

even though max called me mean mommy in the middle of sacrament,

brennan yelled in my face with a bright red angry color,

and chased whined the entire time,

i'm still happy to report that i love this life with littles.

there's no better saturday night live skit you can play in your head during all of the chaos than what i just described to you.

i must admit,

i was NOT laughing when i was threatening brennan with losing all of his easter toys and basket if he didn't "sit down RIGHT now and be reverant!"

after which point he did that red faced yelling thing at me,

and then proceeded to crawl under the pew and kick it.

not my finest hour, i must say.

this picture of chase sums up what church did to us that day.

now, when i took this picture i WAS actually laughing because i couldn't help it when i was describing the entire thing back to sean while we were waiting for everyone to walk out from church.

and that's when i realized that i could have done a better job in sacrament meeting on easter sunday.

ya win some, ya lose some.

...

{brennan's cactus picture complete with flowers}

{sean locking himself in the back of the police car--note the big rifle.}

 {brennan's dream job. he's still talking about when he got to do this.}

...

after easter dinner made by natalie's gourmet cook neighbor across the street,

we went on an easter egg hunt where chase started off with the baby stroller as his basket.

in the most perfect weather imaginable.

oh what fun it is to grow up with your cousins!

{the men explaining the rules--they were the official egg hiders and executers--

and also that chase was going to get a 1 minute lead on everyone else.}

{the moment chase realized what an easter egg hunt was all about. he made out like a bandit with 11 eggs. the most out of everyone. blame the 1 minute lead if you must.}

{afterwards they all played at the park and the slide did this to max's hair. 

or the static electricity. whichever. i thought this was the coolest thing.}

and then we drove home.

 {the end.}