Trip to Flagstaff

Dustin had his NAU Physical Therapy program interview at the end of February on a Friday. We headed up to Flagstaff on Thursday evening after Dustin got off work and we stayed at a hotel there with his parents -- thanks Russ and Janie! The first night we all got pretty good sleep but the second night, I don't think anyone got any sleep between Russ's snoring and Hollis's crying. We were just happy to have a place to stay though and have a little mini family vacation. Makenna and Hollis both loved the pool. Makenna is always wanting to go swimming. I kept telling her on Thursday (the day we went up) that she could go swimming with grandma tonight if she was a good girl for me. Well, we got there and by the time we really got settled down it was time for Makenna to go to bed. She was so upset with me that she didn't get to go swimming that night with grandma. I told her she could go first thing in the morning when she woke up. Well, she didn't forget and she reminded me that she needed to go swimming as soon as she woke up before we even ate breakfast. We finally found our way to the swimming pool and Makenna knew just how to get there every time we went -- she has such a good sense of direction. Makenna is potty training so we had her in Pull-Ups. When the Pull-Ups get wet, they get even bigger than a diaper if you can believe that. Hollis really liked the pool as well. His favorite thing to do is to splash like crazy.

Dustin interviewed on Friday morning and what was suppose to be a 3 hour interview ended up being 4 hours -- Russ, Janie, the kids and I spent an hour in the car at NAU waiting for Dustin to come out. I had to go to the bathroom so I asked Janie if she wanted to go in to the school with me -- that was probably one of the worst things I could have done. All the people that were interviewing were in there and it looked so competitive. The worst part is every single guy had a suit on and I told Dustin not to where a suit because I thought it would be too over the top -- I was so sick about it and that was all I could think about. Of course Dustin still looked nice, but he didn't have to suit on. I can't tell you how sick that made me! Dustin finally came out of his interview and then we all went out to eat so he could tell us all about it. Dustin ended up having 2 half hour interviews and felt that both went well. We left to go home the next morning knowing that sometime the following week we would find out if Dustin got into NAU or not. Dustin's parents came back to Phoenix as well and came over Monday morning to have breakfast with us before they headed back home. While we were all eating breakfast, Dustin checked his email only to find out that HE GOT ACCEPTED! I can't tell you how happy I was -- I even tackled Janie to the ground. I was so giddy all day. It is just so crazy to have a plan and have it actually happen. Dustin will be starting a 3 year PT program in August so we will be moving up to Flagstaff sometime this summer. We have so much to do around here to get our house ready to rent out so I am not sure how much I will be blogging in the next couple of months. We are so excited to start a new chapter in our life but very sad to leave all the friends we have met here in Phoenix.

Bartlett with Jamon and Kristen

I think this has to be one of our favorite things to do with Jamon and Kristen -- we love to go camping or fishing with them! We decided to go up to Bartlett Lake on a Wednesday evening just to go fishing and roast hot dogs with the kids -- so much fun! Kristen brought fun buckets and shovels for Makenna and Keegan to play with in the sand, but most of our time was spent trying to keep them out of the water. I think their feet got wet in the first 2 minutes that we were there, but they didn't care even though it was still February -- crazy kids! Dustin and Jamon were good "Boy Scouts" and got us a firing going before they went to go fish. Kristen and I decided to tag along with them and the kids. I held Hollis the whole time in a carrier thing that he was REALLY TOO BIG for. Dustin attempted to show Makenna how to fish and then she found her own fishing pole -- a long stick. After the fishing we all went back to the campfire to take off Makenna and Keegan's shoes and socks that were soaked and tried to dry them by the fire and laid out a big blanket for them to sit on. We then ate some hot dogs and tried to keep kids out of the fire. I think most of the time was spent trying to keep kids out of the water, on a blanket, and out of the fire. Kristen and I remember going camping and fishing before we had kids and how it was so much easier, but anytime Dustin saw us getting frustrated he was quick to tell us "don't get frustrated with the kids because then we will use that as an excuse not to come back and look at how much fun we are having!" It really is true -- even though it is harder to do these things with the kids in make it more fun at the same time and gives us great memories.