**This is a long one and mostly for journal-ing purposes! You've been warned. I still need to do Halloween and some other random fun stuff! So much happens but it is so hard to remember to write it all down and do a good job of it, too!
We just go back from the Grand Canyon State. I was going to keep a blog of each day but when we didn't have the internet for the first 4 days, my desire to do so kind of dwindled. Besides, somehow when you are on vacation time just slips away much too fast.
We had another fantastic Archibald vacation. It is one of those things that can really only happen with the Archibald's. Alyssa, Erik, and I flew to Albuquerque, NM last Saturday and met up with Jim, Margaret, Maria, and James Lawrence Archibald II. We drove from Albuquerque to Holbrook, AZ where we stayed the night. We went star gazing to view the Leonid Meteor shower and saw some amazing starts. In the morning we played on the playground and there was a shoe flipping contest from the swings. I'm pretty sure Jim won.
From Holbrook we went to Joseph City, AZ and went to church. There are 3 wards in the city of 1,300. I'm sure it is hard to keep secrets and everyone must be LDS. It was a nice little church. After church, off we went to the Grand Canyon...with a pit stop at Meteor Crater.
And finally the Grand Canyon. That is 400 miles of driving, just in case you were wondering how far it is. It's not a little hop, skip, and a jump from NM. We invested some serious time. But let me tell you, we were traveling in style! We had an RV. And riding in it was like riding in an earthquake. Alyssa really enjoyed it! She got constant entertainment from Aunt Maria and Grandma. Never a dull moment, really.
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| This is a play by play of Alyssa getting a piece of Grandma's gum. She was so proud! And mischievous! |
We arrived in the dark at the Grand Canyon, but I had heard the sunrise was amazing and that was the thing to see. So I got up Monday morning and ran to the rim. I got lost somehow and ran twice as far as I needed to, but I made it! Taylor and Krystalee met up with us at the Grand Canyon. Minus Doug, the family was complete.
That day we went hiking on the South Kaibab trail. Alyssa and Grandma walked the rim trail. We reunited for pizza at "We cook PIZZA and PASTA" and saw the IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon. The best part of that movie had to be the fight between the caterpillar and the centipede. The sound effects were incredible. See it if you can!
The great thing about being on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in the winter is that no matter what time of day you take pictures the sun is always in your eyes when the Grand Canyon is behind you! So bright!
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| We thought the danger sign was fitting. Don't worry, Mom. She was never too close to the edge unattended. |
Tuesday morning was the morning for wild animals. In the middle of the night I heard a coyote howling at the moon and after we were awake Alyssa and I about walked straight into two big elk with big horns! It was one of those moments your heart pounds a little harder because it is exciting and scary all at the same time.
On Tuesday Erik and I walked with Alyssa along the rim, we took some pictures with the family, and then left for Mormon Lake. It turns out that Mormon Lake is not even a lake anymore, but when it is full, it is the largest natural lake in AZ at 12 sq mi. Erik and I were driving by ourselves without a GPS and we weren't following anybody. All we had was a large undetailed map of AZ. We missed the first turn for Mormon Lake near Flagstaff, but determined from the map that we could go down 17 and cut over on a road that apparently existed. Well, that road did not exist in quite the direct manner we expected and we ended up driving 12 mi on unpaved road! It was wild! I was so worried we would reach a sign that would tell us to turn around at mile 11. Thankfully we did not!
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| Alyssa has a fruit roll up stuck to her left hand. She would occasionally lick it for a nice treat! |
Mormon Lake Lodge was fun! We went ATVing. Even Alyssa went -- strapped in her car seat. (It was a 6 person ATV equipped with seat belts.) I went running. It was cold and brisk and I stepped on some ice and cracked it, which I LOVE to do...even if I do fall in a little bit and get my shoe wet! We also saw some buffalo mulling around in their...
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| The best thing we found on our ATV trip was this pond of sorts. The best part of the trip was SPLASH DOWN! (Going through 4 puddles in a row entirely too fast. JL has the video footage to prove it.) |
After Mormon Lodge we headed down to Phoenix! We saw Grandma Johnson and all of the Johnson cousins and aunts and uncles! We are grateful Grandma let us stay with her and we are especially grateful Alyssa had her own room. (Sleeping with her in the RV was a little crowded and resulted in 2 AM parties where all in the RV were invited to attend.)
We celebrated Grandma's birthday with some fun stories about her, chicken broccoli casserole, and cake and ice cream! She told me Erik has always been a quiet boy and she is so glad she came to our wedding! Hahaha. I love Grandma and her stories!
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| Alyssa had 2!! Thanksgiving outfits! A morning dress and an afternoon shirt! |
We had a nice Thanksgiving. We ate delicious breakfast burritos at Aunt Lynette's, which I think must be a Thanksgiving tradition and had a grand meal at the Bales. We played musical chairs (which I still have a bruise from) and the pop the balloon game. Alyssa and I painted our toenails purple together! She's a little girl now!
Friday was particularly wonderful. Aunt Martha and Aunt Maria watched Alyssa while the rest of us dropped off the RV (ughhh cough cough) and went to the temple. I saw Jenica, my freshman roommate and her cute family and then we did sealings.
Inside the temple us women folk were waiting for the men folk when we heart a sickening thud and turned around just in time to see a stiff looking form of an old man fall to the floor. I thought he'd died right there! His ankles were so white. I quickly reminded Margaret that she is a nurse and she ran over to help him! This elderly man tripped over his cane (thank goodness it wasn't a heart attack) and scalped himself on the corner of the wall! (We didn't tell him that of course. Margaret said she could see his skull!) His wife had dropped him off at the temple and gone shopping. (Curse Black Friday). Maybe he should have gone shopping! After the paramedics came we resumed our purpose in attending the temple and went to do sealings!
It felt so good to be there and to do that work. We started the work for many of these people last Christmas when we did baptisms for them in Dallas. It is wonderful to see their work progress from start to finish and I am sure many were happy to finally be done! It was a blessing to be there with all of the Archibald's! I am grateful we are all temple worthy and have a desire to do that work. I love being in the temple and miss living so close to one! But it's ok. I was reminded of the great excitement I feel as I add people to our family and submit their names for temple work! Doing family history is awesome!
Later that day we went to Organ Stop Pizza where this man plays a Wulitzer organ that does all sorts of fun things! I liked his Disney medley, Star Wars, and the train noises he made coming up from his pit. It was fun and Alyssa LOVED it! She kept dancing and clapping her hands. We had a great time.
Our Thanksgiving vacation was finished off with the lights at the Mesa Temple. They have A LOT of lights there! The new LED ones are particularly hard to look at! It was fun though! Definitely different that cold Utah Christmas lights! I am grateful we could go.
We had a fantastic time on this trip! It was a trip you can only experience with the Archibalds...plans changing every few hours, crazy navigation problems, shakey RVs, fun games, and loads of fun!
