To swim, or not to swim -- Four! -- Phoenix Temple -- Ferrari -- Easter Pageant

 Yesterday we took Douglas to an outdoor pool.

 He was so excited to be there............so he decided to sleep the entire time.

 We spent another great evening with Mike, Jen, Rob, and Aleesha.  This was my first experience with Topgolf.  I have always held the opinion that golf is for old men and should not be classified as a "sport," but I sure had fun trying to hit those balls as far as I could.

 Such fun people!

 Good form, Sam.

 Not bad for my first time, eh?

 Check out that.........bald spot!

 This morning we drove one hour to the Phoenix temple, where Sam was kind enough to watch Doogles while I did some initiatories.  Why did I think everything would be close in Phoenix?  I just assumed, "Hey, all of these things are in the same city, so they can't be too far away from each other."

 "I want to go inside, too!"

 After the temple we drove 30 minutes to pick up Caleb, and then another 45 minutes back to the Penske Racing Museum to meet Zack and Brooke for lunch.

 Caleb LOVED all the cool cars.

 Zack took some time to show us where he works on all those fancy machines.  I've never seen a cleaner shop.

We drove 45 minutes back to Caleb's house to drop him off, and then another 90+ minutes back to home base.  Yikes!  We drove over 4 1/2 hours today, all within the greater Phoenix boundaries.

Tonight we enjoyed a beautiful evening watching the easter pageant at the Mesa temple.

And Douglas is finally back to his normal self.  Hallelujah!  He was so cute tonight.

Thank you, Richard and Kelly, for letting us stay at your place and for being wonderful hosts.  

Agave Nectar

Did you know that tea made from the agave leaf can be used to treat constipation and excess gas?  That's what Wikipedia tells me.  The agave plant is also a prominent symbol throughout the Gilbert and Phoenix temples.

 Yesterday Sam and I stopped by the Gilbert temple to take a few daytime photos.

 Beautiful temple, no?

 Last night Aleesha and Rob made a scrumptious dinner and we enjoyed the evening with them and Mike and Jen.......and of course the three cute little dudes as well.

 Fun people!

 We attempted to get a shot of the three boys spending some quality time playing together.

 In the end we decided that a mother-son photo might be a wee bit easier.

 Last night I went back to get some night shots.

 And again this morning (at 4:45AM!) I went back to the temple, this time with Richard, to do an endowment session.

Good times!

Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth

In the last post I wrote that I thought Douglas was being ornery after having to sit in a car seat for a lengthy amount of time.  I was wrong.  He is teething.  Oh, is he teething.  These last two days have been.............interesting?

 Sunday evening we took Douglas to Urgent Care because his entire body was really hot.  We wanted to make sure there wasn't something serious happening inside the little man.  The doctor saw my BYU tie and (among other things) we chatted about BYU, missions, and the negative side of having a Facebook account (his ex-wife re-kindled an old relationship on Facebook, and left him).  He wrote two prescriptions for Douglas, but recommended that we not use them unless it is absolutely necessary.  He said it's good for children to get through some of these painful things without heavy medication, in order for them to build their immune systems.  That's my kind of doctor!  I think we over-medicate ourselves in this country.

 This is basically how Douglas has been feeling since we arrived in Arizona.

 We haven't actually used Richard and Kelly's nice pool, but the great weather and soothing little waterfall are wonderful for the little guy.

 Yesterday Larry and Mary took us to Kneaders for lunch.  Becker came with us, too.  It's fun to spend time with good friends, and being around other people is a great distraction for Douglas.

 Last night Richard and Kelly took us to a delicious sushi restaurant.  Mike and Jen (and their cute little Hudson) came with us.

 Obviously Douglas is loving the sushi. :)

Cousins!

Eat, drink, and be merry . . .

Today I read chapter 28 of 2 Nephi.  When I came to verse seven it reminded me of a shot glass we saw at a gas station on our way down to St. George yesterday:  "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we will be in Utah."  Funny.

We arrived in St. George in the afternoon, check into our hotel, and then we drove over to Susan (Easton Black) and George Durrant's place for dinner.  

 Aside from the delicious food, we enjoyed a lively conversation that included topics such as the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, psychology, Joseph Smith, and ESPN.  George calls me "Kelly."  He knows Dad much better than he knows me, so he just calls me "Kelly" whenever he sees me.

 Susan and I moved to the garage after dinner for our traditional ping pong tournament.

 I am far too humble to mention the victor and the vanquished in this blog post.

 I will simply say that the gods of ping pong were shining down upon me.

 "You can have your ping pong.  I'll eat rocks."

 I sure enjoy our ping pong get-togethers.

 This morning we drove over to the St. George temple for a few shots before heading to Bear Paw Cafe to meet a friend for breakfast.

We spent the rest of the day making our way down here to Phoenix.  Douglas did very well until the last hour of the drive.  I need to talk to families who take their kids on long road trips, because I need tips before we head out on another really long road trip this fall.  Noise-cancelling headphones?  DVDs?  Ambien? (for Douglas, not me)  Don't go on long road trips with children?  Honestly, he did really well.  Much better than we expected.  I just need more patience.  Sam is amazing.

I love the way he chews food these days.