What a blessing it was to fly away from the cold, snowy, icy, miserable January weather in Boise and head to Arizona for a week of fun!
We flew right over the grand canyon.
It was so pretty all covered in snow.
We flew right over the grand canyon.
It was so pretty all covered in snow.
We landed in Phoenix, got our rental car and drove to Whitney's apartment, where we picked her up and went to dinner at Dad's new favorite, Raising Cane's. We then went to Trader Joe's where we stocked up on groceries, then drove up to Sedona and got checked into our condo.
Whitney came with us, which was super fun to have her with us for the weekend.
On Saturday, we checked off an item on my bucket list - visit the grand canyon.
It was a cold but beautiful day.
The white snow set off the beautiful colors of the grand canyon.
Whitney hadn't been to the grand canyon yet either, so we checked it off her 30 before 30 list.
Look at all that snow!
I guess it is pretty unusual to get to see the grand canyon covered in snow, so we were pretty lucky, but it made for some treacherous, icy walk ways.
So many beautiful vistas. I had a hard time picking pics to put on the blog.
I love this panorama I took with Whitney on both ends.
We had such a fun day exploring the grand canyon. It is such a beautiful place.
So glad I finally got to visit.
We found Whitney an adventure hat at the gift shop.
On Sunday, we went to the Sedona ward.
It was such a friendly ward and what a fabulous Sacrament meeting.
The Phoenix temple president and his wife spoke and they are friends of Whitney's since she served in the temple with them and is good friends with their daughter.
The Sunday school teacher also did a great job.
How would you like that view outside your church building?
It was such a friendly ward and what a fabulous Sacrament meeting.
The Phoenix temple president and his wife spoke and they are friends of Whitney's since she served in the temple with them and is good friends with their daughter.
The Sunday school teacher also did a great job.
How would you like that view outside your church building?
We had lunch and then went for a drive around Sedona.
We drove into a new subdivision with a beautiful golf course and view.
I sure love these two!
Whitney headed back to Phoenix later that afternoon.
Tom and I had so much fun discovering Sedona.
We chose a different hike each morning.
We loved all the beautiful red rock formations.
Of course we had to have a few picnics.
This cute picnic table was right outside our condo along the banks of the creek.
This church is built right into the rock.
There was a fun antique/chachki down the road from our condo.
I was tempted to buy this sign, since I grew up on Idaho Street
We watched the sunset up on the hill by the airport
The church in the rock at night.
Cool huh?
Another day, another hike
While Tom went golfing one afternoon, I went shopping.
There was a fun quilt shop and I loved this quilt panel.
Why didn't I buy it?
Those red rocks with the afternoon sun shining on them, breathtaking!
This is a sink hole we found on one of our hikes.
Pretty impressive.
We drove to an old ghost town, Cottonwood and checked out the hippie shop with this cool van out front.
Tom found a few of his high school friends inside.
Everywhere you look in Sedona is beautiful!
Tom had such a fun time golfing.
The golf course was awesome.
On Thursday we took a hike to coffee pot rock.
I think this was my favorite hike.
Can you see the coffee pot on the far right?
We hiked right up to the coffee pot
and found this shark rock
On the way back to the car, we happened upon a havalina.
He totally freaked me out and I quickly backed away.
They are all over in the Arizona dessert.
Later on the hike we saw 2 more!
That afternoon Tom took me golfing at a little par 3 course.
I'm not a very good golfer but what isn't there to like about being outside on a beautiful day with beautiful scenery and spending time with your favorite person?
We went back to that fun chachki store one last time and Tom really wanted to buy this dinosaur but couldn't fit it in our suitcase.
Friday morning we checked out of our condo and drove back to Phoenix.
Whitney planned a big birthday bash to celebrate her 30th birthday. Sara, Sarah P, and Missy all flew in to help celebrate.
Sara flew in early Friday morning, so we all met up at Whitney's apartment.
Tom went golfing so the girl's went to lunch at Culinary Dropouts in Tempe.
YUM!
Whitney has always been a great salesman.
She had quite a business selling rocks as a child.
I love this girl!
Whitney got us two hotel rooms/suites at the Residence Inn in Tempe.
Everyone arrived that afternoon and we all went out to dinner at Postino.
The bruschetta was delicious.
We also had to try a donut from The Fractured Prune
Whitney has fabulous friends.
Her friend Keira, made this delicious birthday cake, which she delivered late on Friday night.
It had two types of homemade ice cream and a nutella ganache topping.
It was so delicious!
Her friend Kubo on the right, arranged the two hotel rooms for us at a very discounted rate.
He works for Marriott corporate.
He works for Marriott corporate.
Saturday morning we warmed up , Go Whitney, and went on a fun hike.
Stacy and Emily joined us and it was so fun seeing them!
Stacy and Emily joined us and it was so fun seeing them!
Afterwards, we all went to brunch at Snooze.
Such yummy food!
For our afternoon activity, Whitney wanted to go shooting.
Yep, you read that right.
So we headed to the shooting range.
It was pretty frightening to these city girls, but Whitney and Sara are dead eye shots!
Whitney
Missy
Sarah P
I don't exactly look like I know what I'm doing.
This picture makes me laugh.
The lady thought Sara and Missy needed to hold those machine guns ?
That afternoon we relaxed by the pool and soaked up that wonderful Arizona sun.
That night for dinner we went to Hopdoddy burger and met up with Keira and Sarah P and her mom and sister.
Whitney's favorite is a good hamburger and Hopdoddy did not disappoint.
The view from the rooftop of our hotel.
Tom, Missy and Sarah P flew out early on Sunday morning.
Sara, Whitney and I had a leisurely morning and got checked out of the hotel and then drove to Whitney's apartment.
We had to stop by the Phoenix temple on the way to see the beautiful flowers.
Whitney loves this temple!
We went to Whitney's ward sacrament meeting, then had lunch and took Sara to the airport, then we went to Kubo's house for a Superbowl party.
Kubo and Keira know how to throw a party!
Kubo's sister, Erin and her boyfriend joined us for the party!
My flight left at 9:30 pm so Whitney dropped me off at the airport and I made it back to Boise late on Sunday.
It was a much needed, restful, family filled weekend full of sun and fun!
I can't wait until next time!
3 comments:
What a wonderful get-away to Sedona, then a birthday celebration with Whitney! That was good planning to roll all of that into one trip! Lots of Whitney's loved ones rallied for and with her and that is so cool! Missy sure had fun being a part of it and getting to celebrate with Whitney, and Stacy and Emily even got to get in on the fun. With all of our back and forth trips to Phoenix, we haven't yet made it to Sedona, but it is on our bucket list. Looks so beautiful.
Looks like a wonderful getaway! You two are adventurous!
Word to self: WAY too many selfies. I refuse to pose anymore. Enough said. But other than that, I approve of this blog post and I had a really great time in Arizona. Just wish they would have invited me to go shooting with the girls . . . Instead, I had to do my own manly things out in the desert where the wild things roam. Maybe I will do a blog post on that someday.
Post a Comment