The Johnson Five: Thanksgiving in Arizona

This year we attempted again to have Thanksgiving with Kelly's brother and his family in Arizona. We tried to last year and unfortunately right after we arrived there we got news that Kelly's Grandmother passed away, and we all had to return back to Utah. So knowing that all our family was in good health this year we headed down.

We left on Saturday morning at 5:30 am, and eventually arrived around 5 pm or so. It was a long drive, but the boys were fantastic. Thanks to the DVD system and a couple long naps.

Landon & Carter

We met Marty, Emily and Brynn at a sports grill in Mesa where we left Kelly and Marty to enjoy the Utah vs. BYU game. GO UTES!! (Lucky for us they won!!) Emily and I took the kids and headed to their home in Queen Creek. Landon and Carter were really excited to see and play with Brynn again. When Kelly and Marty got home Kelly hurried inside and hung his Utah blanket up inside. Marty is a HUGE BYU fan and so it was really funny to see him react and go tear it down. The funny thing is that we didn't see that blanket again until we were leaving on Sunday morning.

We played for the next couple of days and took it easy. On Sunday I think that all the exhaustion from the week finally caught up to me, because I slept for almost 5 hours that afternoon. Kelly was so nice and didn't let the kids bother me at all. I never take naps, so I really must have needed it.

Emily and I did some scrapbooking and a little craft project. We make Turkeys out of styrofoam balls, buttons, feathers and silk flowers. They turned out so cute and we had a lot of fun making them.

Me & Emily

Greg flew in on Tuesday and we all went to the airport to get him. Marty, Emily, Brynn & I rocked out on the way to the soundtrack from High School Musical. Kelly didn't want to participate in that, and I can't for the life of me understand why. ;0) Afterward we went to dinner in Mesa at a Mexican restaurant. I can't remember the name of it, but the food was great!

Greg, Kelly & Landon

Carter, Me & Brynn

Marty & Emily

The next day we all hung out and started preparing some of the food for Thanksgiving dinner. We went to the park and let the kids play and enjoyed our time relaxing.

Carter & Marty

Me & Brynn

Landon & Marty

Me & my Kelly

Emily & Me

On Thanksgiving day Emily and I did most of the cooking, while the boys entertained the kids and helped out when needed. Surprisingly it was not very stressful and the food turned out great.

Marty carving the Turkey

Kelly making the mashed potatoes

Emily's Cranberry Wreath

Emily's Sweet Potatoes

The Turkey

The Green Salad

Marty's home made rolls and honey butter

The kids table

The adults table

Landon, Carter & Brynn patiently waiting

Kelly & Landon after dinner. See how tired they are.

Brynn, Greg & Carter snuggled up on the couch

Did I happen to mention that it RAINED while we were there? Yes. It did. A couple times in fact. When it rains the water just sits on top of the ground, because it's pretty much just clay. So after dinner the kids went into the backyard and played. Carter thought it was hilarious to run through all the water and in doing so tripped and face planted more than once. He was drenched. Landon ran through the water, but didn't get nearly as wet as Carter did.

Landon, Brynn & Carter in the back yard

Landon

Carter & Brynn

Carter soaking wet

Landon trying to dry off with his beloved blanket

Landon, Carter and Brynn were all freezing, so we threw them into the tub. All three of them! Rub a dub dub, three kids in a tub!

Landon, Brynn & Carter

Kelly, Carter, Landon, Me, Emily & Brynn

Kelly, Marty and Greg also played A LOT of Play Station 2 and Tecmo Superbowl on the Nintendo. I have no idea how late they stayed up every night, but I do know that it was late. Emily and I eventually hid the Nintendo.

Greg and the Nintendo

Kelly and Marty and the PS2

Friday Emily and I went and did some Black Friday shopping. We each got some really good deals and had a great time. Neil also flew in on Friday to spend the weekend with all of us. That night Kelly, Marty, Greg & Neil all went to a Phoenix Suns game. When they got to the game they realized that the game tickets weren't in the envelope. They fell out in the house and so Emily, the kids and I all loaded into the van and met them in Mesa with the tickets.

The Christmas lights on the Mesa Temple were turned on that night as well, so we decided that seems as how we were in town, we'd drive by and take a quick look. The lights from what we could see were beautiful. We decided not to stop and just head home. I didn't have my stroller with me and there were huge crowds. I didn't want to worry about loosing the boys. There were also protesters there, and from hearing about past protests, it made me a little nervous. Had Kelly been there, I don't think I would have worried.

Saturday was our last day in Arizona. We just hung out and played games. I did all of our laundry and tried to get packed up again. We played at the park and Kelly and Marty created a
"Merman" out of Greg. Neil didn't like that so much, but it was hilarious!

Merman Greg & Brynn

Kelly and the evidence. Look at those hands!

Merman Greg with great ab's thanks to Marty

Marty, Greg & Kelly

Greg as a short sand man

Neil sleeping through it all

Emily when she first met the Merman

We left on Sunday early in the morning again. This time Greg and Neil rode home with us. That was nice to have them along for the ride home. We played a game in the car where someone thinks of a person and tells you their initials, and you have to ask questions to figure out who it is. It's really fun and you end up learning some interesting things about people.

When we were getting close to Flagstaff, Kelly asked if anyone would want to go to the Grand Canyon while we were so close. After debating a bit, we decided to go. We took the detour and went to the South Rim. I had never been to the Grand Canyon, and was amazed at the size of it. Especially because what I was looking at wasn't even all of it. Having the boys there without railings, made me super nervous, but they love it too. Mostly because they could run around and weren't trapped in the car.

Kelly, Landon, Me & Carter