bits of home

We miss living a half mile between both sets of parents/grandparents. We miss snow. We miss the mountains. It worked out perfectly that we got to have little bits of home for a few days.

 (*Actually from a few weeks ago, but just now getting around to posting.) 

My dad was in town just before Marnie's birthday, and he popped in for a visit. Marnie was excited to open presents and try on her new ballet gear, and Britt got engrossed in his new Lego set. 

 Thanks Granny and Grandpa! 

ballet with Grandpa

getting dizzy in the garage

A few days later, we drove to Payson to meet Justin's parents and brother for lunch. The timing of the  weather was perfect! There was a morning's worth of fresh snow, so we got to have a taste of winter before coming back to the desert. I'm just realizing that I didn't get a single picture of the kids with Grandma and Grandpa, but trust me, they were there and we came home with treats to prove it. :)

The clouds and fog were gorgeous. Pictures just can't come close to showing.

SNOW!

Feeding birds at a pond in Payson

The Year of the Snake

We celebrated Chinese New Year at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix this year. Marnie was pretty sure we were actually in China though. She spent 3 of her precious birthday dollars on a lovely bamboo umbrella, and still tells us it's her souvenir from the day we drove to China. The cultural center is beautiful! The koi pond was full of huge fish, tiny fish, and turtles. The architecture was gorgeous. The market had tons of strange and different foods that we were all fascinated with (and occasionally grossed out by). There were lots of performances to watch; traditional music, martial arts, dragon and lion dances, etc. It was a very fun (and free!) way for our whole family  to experience something different and learn more about another culture. 

The dragon and lion dance.

Dragon faces by the dragon boat.

Marnie was IN LOVE with the cute, dancing lion. I'm pretty sure it was the blinking eyes and wagging rump. :)
See the guy in the very middle of the shot? Any guesses what he did onstage?  

Finally brave enough to feed the lion a dollar! 

swiss cheese mountain

 A trip out for lunch turned into, "hey, we're not far from Papago Park...why have we never been to Hole-in-the-Rock?" I only wish I'd had my camera with us! Oh well. iPhone pictures, it is.

In the hole.

This little crack reminded us of a cocoon, so two little caterpillars climbed inside.

Goldfield

A few weekends back, we went to a ghost town called Goldfield. We enjoyed mountain views, sunshine, a taste of the old west, and a silly cowboy "gun fight." 

Marnie was nervous at first, because she wasn't quite sure why we would take them to a town full of ghosts, but she was excited once we explained what it was. She told me several times, "Mom, ghosts are not even real. Only mummies are, but they live in pyramids and can't bother us."

It was a fun trip, and resulted in us bringing home some adorable souvenirs. Of all the things they had in the gift shops, Britt and Marnie fell in love with the cutest little cactus and succulent at the desert plant shop. 

Wild West shootout!

Princesses on Ice

Marnie got an early birthday present from Grandma & Grandpa Brimhall this year. They came to the valley and took us all to see the new Disney on Ice show, which stars Rapunzel, Tiana, and Cinderella. We had a ball! There were tons of little princesses there. It was adorable. Justin and I got Marnie a gown to wear, and had to stop on the way for shoes. She adores those "high heels." :)

The quality of these next few pictures is embarrassing, but my phone can only do so much. :) This was during the Mama Odie song from The Princess and the Frog.

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider did some pretty impressive Cirque du Soleil style acrobatics during their show.

Beauty and the Beast
(And the curl that Beauty was obsessed with blowing out of her face.)