Trip to Arizona

T is originally from Eagar, Arizona - and I have NEVER once been to his hometown! So we planned the long-awaited trip and took off on a road trip. It is quite the job to pack for 4 for twelve days - along with 8 dogs and camping equipment! But we did it and after a long 12 hour truck ride, we made it! T (of course), planned the trip around a bear hunt...

Here are some of the highlights and interesting facts from our trip:

Anna and Owen LOVED the fireplace at Grandma's house. Owen and I hauled wood from the woodpile to the house, and Owen made sure there was a fire every night.

A beautiful scene up near Alpine, Arizona.

The Girlies!

Our little acrobat

Isn't he good?

Owen walked all the way across without falling off!

And Anna has to do everything that Bubba does...

Owen loved to throw BIG rocks into the water!

Aren't they cute?

Anna LOVES to throw rocks into "wawa"

This is Owen's first experience shooting a BIG gun.

He did pretty good! I thought he might cry cause of the sound, but nope!

Taking a walk

The two amigos

A shot of most the dogs

Just hangin out at camp!

Such pretty country!

T packed the hide off the mountain... crazy, huh?

T with Belle & Charlie

T & his Dad

T, Craig, and the Guy who shot the Bear

Owen's gritty little Belle dog

This tree is HUGE. The bear is HUGE. Can't really tell from this pic.

A monkey's bed made out of play dough... who ever thought?

-The funniest thing ever to a novice bear hunter like me: seeing the loser to an arm wrestle have to dress up in a gorilla suit, walk on all fours like a bear thru 32 dogs in camp... then have one dog unchained to chase the "bear" to the truck! Hilarious! I laughed so hard I cried. T let loose 8 more dogs once he got to the truck, and they were trying to jump up on him on the truck! Funny stuff there!

The Gorilla named "Owen"

The scariest gorilla ever named "Anna"

Not sure who this gorilla is....

Grandma Nelson - 85 years I believe and still going strong-ish!

We love her and was sure glad to spend a little time with her!

Love those beautiful blue eyes!

Just being us!

-The kids did amazingly well in the truck for the 10-12 hours it took to get there (and back)! I was so proud of them. I think it was harder for T and I than it was on them. I have no patience and get all wiggly by the 2nd hour.

-We saw elk hanging around in the forest like we see deer here in Utah. It was so cool!!

-Eagar is a small town and there is not a lot to do, and it is 45 minutes away from an Instacare, a WalMart, and a Diet Mt. Dew in the fountain. Funny what you take for granted living in a "city!"

-Owen learned how to swing on the monkey bars and was doing great... and then slipped, landed funny, and couldn't use his right arm most of the remaining vacation. We waited for a couple of days, made the trip to Show Low to the Insta Care to get an Xray, and found out he was just fine. But he sure had his mommy worried!

-The kids got back to the basics: no TV, no video games, and not as many toys as they are used to. And you know what? They loved it! We played with play dough, we colored, we swung, we played cards, we played Jumpin Monkeys... and we played Jumpin Monkeys some more! It's kind of nice to have a change in the daily routine - (1) to make you realize what we take for granted daily and (2) to not rely on electronics and "things" to occupy your time.

-We ate more ice cream than a "big outfit" (as T would say). G&G keep the freezer well stocked with ice cream... and don't forget the cones. Owen & Anna got spoiled with mint chocolate chip and/or cookie dough cones sometimes more than once a day!

-T put a roof on the old "little house" while we were there. I didn't get pictures, but it was a much needed task that needed to be done before winter - and I know his mom was very grateful for the time and effort.

-T and his buddies caught 3 bears... 2 were killed to fill tags and the other one was small. There were 32 dogs in their camp so they could run 5 or 6 each day and give the other dogs time to rest.

-Owen made his first big deal and sold his hound dog Belle. For $93.00! There was a couple of guys in T's camp that saw how Belle works around a bear and wanted to buy her. So when Owen got to camp, he marched over to tell the guys that Belle was NOT for sale. Well, money talks - and he came back with a huge smile on his face and a fist full of money. He was so excited that he sold Belle because he got a whole $93.00!! He could now buy ALL of the Bionicles, and he even thought he could buy a new dog and then sell it for MORE money! It was hilarious. He had it all planned out in the first 3 minutes. T and I were so surprised at our wheelin-dealin little guy! It took a few minutes to talk Owen into giving the money back and getting Belle back... we had to promise him to sell Charlie (another dog) this winter and he could have part of the money to buy a Wii.

-Got to go to lunch with Ginger... T's cousin whom I have only met once. We have been following each other's blogs, so I felt like I knew her so well! It was fun to hang out!

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Meier for letting us stay with you! And thanks to Staci for being such a great auntie! We love you guys!