Yep, you read that correctly. We went to the extreme heat of the desert in July! 116 degrees nearly every single day we were in Palm Springs. Wow, it was hot! We had so much fun just hanging out as a family. We ate a lot of food, played a lot of games, and laughed a lot.
Saturday, we drove to Kingman, Arizona and I made everyone stop at the Petrified National Park right off the freeway near Holbrook. I am hoping to hit up as many national parks as I can in my lifetime. There are 63 (so far) and I haven't been to very many. I also started collecting magnets for the refrigerator from each national park. Once we got to Kingman, we went out to eat to celebrate Stephen's birthday with my side of the family.
Sunday, we woke up and went to church at my old ward in Kingman. It was fun to see a few faces I recognized but a lot has changed in 20 years. After church we drove the three and a half hours to Palm Springs. We rented a HUGE mansion in the desert. It had nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms! The out door pool was incredible. The kids had fun swimming and the adults had fun relaxing in the pool. We played table tennis and Michael is still the reigning champion. We played some card games and I actually won a card game! Jared and Faith were the only people who didn't come. It was sad to not have them there to spend time with during the week. I look forward to our vacations each year.
Thursday night I gathered everyone for family photos. I know it is a lot of work to get photos done but it is worth it to me. I love seeing the finished product. I also love seeing how much people have changed over the years.
