Thursday:
Finished packing and cleaning up the house to leave. We left for Sedona a little before 1. We got to our hotel--the Radisson--and got situated in our rooms. We had to get two rooms this time, so that was a bummer. It worked out well though--Hattie was in one room by herself so she slept great (it was connected, of course). The rest of us 5 shared 2 beds. It was just like home when some of the girls come in during the night. Soon after we got there we dropped the girls off at the kids' club babysitting. Every Jones thing we have been to has had amazing kids' clubs. This time it was a bit chaotic and the people were just not as fun. All the moms were not thrilled about this. By the Saturday night event--it was rearranged so it wasn't so chaotic, so that was good. Brian and I went to the welcome meeting where everyone introduces themselves. Each FA stood up and briefly introduced him or herself, then the spouse had to stand and say something. We got a few ideas (like a book, TV or movie that best describes your spouse, something no one knows about him, etc). I just said that a movie that best describes him--based on the rate we seem to be at now--is Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. At that meeting, Brian got a pin or tie tack for being with the company for 5 years. It's hard to believe it's been that long! After that meeting, we rescued the kids, then went to the family dinner--cowboys and Indians theme. There were bandannas, squirt guns, face pain, stuff for a head piece, etc. We ate Mexican food, then decorated Eliza. After dinner Brian took Hattie, Ellie and Libby back to the room to put Hattie down. Eliza and I went back and she played a couple of the games--red rover and just general running around on the golf course. That night there was also a cake contest. Each family was supposed to bring a cake to enter--it could be homemade or from a store. I didn't find out about this contest until Monday, so the girls and I raced to think of what to do and then to make it. Of course, I picked something really involved and something I hadn't made before. I opted for some cupcake bite things I saw online. We decorated them and they ended up looking like trees. We put Edward Jones in sugar letters on top of some and made it look like a forest. We didn't win, but it was "fun" to try. A popcorn cake won--it looked like a popcorn bucket and had real popcorn coming out of the top. After the judging, the cakes were the dessert. I saw lots of people with our cupcake bites and someone asked for the recipe that next morning. Personally I think they are too much work!
Friday:
Brian got up early and went mountain biking with a few other guys. Then he had meetings in the morning, so we had to find something to do to pass the time. We had breakfast, then went back to the room for a bit while I put Hattie down for a nap. We watched TV and played in the room until she woke up. We still had about 2 1/2 hours before Brian would be done, so we got in the car and we went looking for a place to get some water shoes. We found a Beall's outlet where I found some croc-like shoes for Hattie and Walgreens where I found water shoes for the afternoon. We also drove to Chapel Rock and looked at that for a minute. On the way we saw a ridiculously huge house that seemed so out of place. It was palatial!!! Through one of the windows we could see a huge rock waterfall on the inside. I would love to see inside!
While we waited for Brian, Eliza and Libby had fun with the little reading lights attached to the headboards. They used them as microphones and did a mini concert (as pictured) and we played doctor and shined in in each other mouths, ears, etc... They loved that!
After Brian was done with his meetings, we went to Beaver Creek. There was swimming in a little creek and Eliza and Libby did a rope swing and jumped off a rock. It's early training for Havasupai! One of the wholesalers supplied sandwiches, chips, cookies and sodas.
The water was pretty cold and I was in and out with Ellie and Hattie. Hattie had fun splashing in the shallow part. We left there and I took Eliza and Libby swimming at the hotel pool. That night the dinner was Italian food. After dinner the kids got to make masks and they did fun activities while the parents had their own activities next door.
The kids did hot potato, the donut eating game, eating tons of suckers, etc...The adults played BINGO (when Eliza found that out, she came over and played). There was also a fundraiser for the West Valley Child Crisis Center. There were several auction items and raffles. We bought raffle tickets and bid on a couple items. The only thing we won was a candle in the raffle! But it went to a great cause. It was a late night by the time we got back to the room and got everyone sleeping.
Saturday:
Brian did more mountain biking. This time a group of them hired a guide who went with them. He said that was fun. His bike ended up breaking down, so luckily the guide was able to fix it enough for them to get back. Brian had morning meetings again and I had the spouse meeting. I took the girls to the kids club again (chaos ensuing) but luckily I knew it would only be for about an hour. The spouse meeting was really good. Brian actually was in there helping out. Each FA made up an award for his or her spouse, so they gave those out along with a letter each FA had written to his or her spouse. The regional leader also gave each person a cute tealight lantern thing from Crate and Barrel. My award from Brian was the "Textiest Spouse" award...he thought he was so funny to combine "sexy" and "texting" ha! He gave it to me since he thinks I send him a lot of text messages during the day. I probably do, but it's quicker than calling every time! He also said he thought about giving me the "When Do I Get a New Car" award! Ha ha! His letter was really sweet and I enjoyed getting that too. I picked the girls up and we killed some time waiting for Brian to finish his meetings. Then we grabbed lunch at McDonalds and went back to the hotel for more swimming. First it was just Libby and Ellie. Eliza wasn't being very kind so she had to stay back. After a while of missing out, she got to join us for a little bit. That night was the fancy dinner and awards banquet. We dropped the kids off one more time. Ellie and Hattie cried (again) but ended up doing well. Eliza and Libby got to stay together. They had dinner, played games and watched a movie.
Our dinner was a masquerade theme, so each person got to pick out a mask and have their picture taken. I thought mine had a cat-woman look. Funny.
The dinner was nice--they did some fun and funny awards. Brian and several other who mountain biked while they were up there got a "Slim Jim" award...they got either a Slim Jim or a Snickers...Brian opted for the slim jim. They also did the serious awards--Brian got a production award, so we got to go up and get that and get our picture taken. Before dinner they had the kids parade through in their masks that they made the night before. Eliza did it but Libby stayed back and didn't want to!
We weren't surprised Libby didn't do it. It was another late night after we picked the girls up. Ellie was sleeping when we got there and Hattie was close. Sleep came fast that night.
Sunday:
This morning we woke up and packed up. We went to the hotel restaurant and had breakfast before leaving. We took our time coming home..we drove on Schnebly Hill Road up to Mund's Park to Brian's parents' cabin.
It was 11 miles of dirt, rough road. It was amazing that Hattie slept the whole time!
This was my first time seeing their cabin. I just haven't had the chance to go...everytime Brian would go with the girls I had some young women thing to be at. So it was nice to see it. It is nice and will be fun to stay at sometime. We stayed there a little bit and let the girls play before we drove home. The ride home was less than desirable...Eliza and Libby were both hornery! I was glad to be home! Tonight I had a fireside, so I went to that. Our Bishop's son-in-law (and Bishop's daugther) do triathalons, so they spoke about that and how it relates to the gospel and to life. He also showed parts of a cool documentary about triathalons and the stories behind some of the athletes. It was so inpsirational! I don't ever want to do one unless it was a little mini one but still I think I would have trouble with the swimming part! My favorite quote from the video was "If you quit, no one will care, but you'll always know." That is so applicable to so many things. What a great motto for life!
I got our mail from being gone and inside were letters from the school and it had Eliza and Libby's teacher assignments. Eliza was excited to read a letter from her teacher about all the fun things she is going to do next year. And Libby was more than excited that she got Eliza's teacher from last year (we are thrilled, too!!). Libby seriously read her letter from her teacher at least 5 times tonight. She had me read it to my mom on the phone, too. She can't wait. It was cute to see her get so excited. While I was reading it to my mom, Libby would clap here and there. Tonight while I put Libby to bed, I said, "OK--in the morning when you wake up, what are we going to do?" "Get up, make your bed, do your daily 5..." and Libby piped in and said, "...And go to kindergaren?!?"
OK--we'll, I guess it's back to the grind for a couple weeks at least until New York!
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