My visit to AZ

At the end of September, I got to travel to AZ to be with my oldest daughter Jordan as she celebrated her 35th birthday and to tend their children while they traveled to attend the BYU game in Michigan. The trip started out poorly since my Allegiant flight was delayed for nearly 11 hours while they brought in three airplanes until they finally found one that would work.  I was sure that we were going to crash into the Grand Canyon in route.  The original flight time was at 1:30 pm and we actually finally left at 12:30 am.  That was a LONG day sitting in the airport.  At least I had a good book and a sandwich.  To their credit they did bring in pizza in the evening and gave us each a $100 voucher.  Small consolation for a terrible, wasted day. Allegiant is great when it works, but absolutely terrible when it doesn't.  I felt really bad for the many families who were traveling with little children.

Moving on...poor Jordan came to pick me up to start off her birthday at about 2:00 am.  That is not the way either one of us wanted to start the day.  After sleeping in we woke up and she got to tear into her pile of presents from her family.  Her little children were so sweet as they presented their homemade gifts and cards.  Among other gifts, Jake gave Jordan a book that was a compilation of letters and notes people had written to her.  It will be a treasure for years to come and moved her to tears. They then had their traditional dance party to Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday song. So fun to watch them having such a good time.

We then moved on to the American Girls store to celebrate AG style with a pink luncheon party.  It was so fun for the girls and Jordan to take their AG dolls to the party and to enjoy a lovely lunch and birthday cake with some of their friends.  Jordan got one of the first AG dolls when it came on the market as a child, and many of the workers commented on what good condition her doll Samantha was in and that she was still in her original outfit!  Again, I was so happy I could share that fun time with them.

Later that evening, I took the children over to the church where a HUGE birthday party was underway for Jordan.  Jake had asked some of her good friends to organize a party, and boy did they ever come through with a lovely Mexican food meal, darling decorations, delicious desserts and fun music and lots of visiting.  The kids loved looking around and enjoying some treats before we headed home and let their parents visit with their friends.  It was such a tribute to Jordan and I am so grateful to the many friends who made this lovely birthday party possible (and to Jake who thought of the idea in the first place.)  My sweet daughter Jordan is a marvel and everyone knows it!  I love this daughter of mine and she makes me proud every day.  Her talents and abilities bless the lives of so many people.

After Jordan and Jake left to go out of town, the children and I got busy with fun projects.  We went to Hobby Lobby and we each bought a fun fall craft that we enjoyed doing together.  We watched "Back to the Future" and we made cookies.  We swam in the pool and went out to eat.  It was 106 to 108 degrees the time I was there.  Yikes!  I'm not use to that much heat in late September.
I taught Lauren's primary class and we enjoyed going to church.  We read stories and we had such a good time together.  While the girls were in school, I sewed Ada a new dress for Kindergarten. We cleaned the house and had it all ready when their parents returned.  I loved spending time with my grandchildren and these little ones are so sweet to me and are so good to help me out with chores, cooking, cleaning and going to bed when asked.  I couldn't ask for better grandchildren who are a credit to their parents who are raising them right.  They give me hugs and kisses and are just the sweetest little people.  Our four days together were wonderful!

I started a tradition of making a new outfit for
 the grands as they started Kindy.
Here is the dress I made for Ada.

I finished Tommy's one year old scrapbook
finally and got it delivered.
He is such a sweetie pie and it was fun to see
 his pictures as he grew throughout the year.

 John 1: 4 I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in truth.