I dont like snow

Let me start off by stating how painful it was to go from 80 degree, sunny weather in Arizona, to 20 degree snowy weather in Seattle. Not really all that fun.

Now let me explain the number one reason that I don't like snow. (unless it can be used for skiing.)

Sunday - Matt decides to buy a new car that he has had his eye on for a few years. Only thing is, the one he wants is in LA.
Monday 9am - Matt asks for ride to airport
2:30 - Drive down in snow flurries to Sea Tac
4:00 - Drop Matt off at Terminal
4:10 - Get stuck in traffic due to snow
4:30 - Informed by police there is a 6 car pile up on the on ramp I am headed.
4:45 - Cop tells me that the other on ramp in the other direction is now blocked by a semi.
5:00 - Police officer breaks the news that I should expect to be here for at least 4 hours.
5:15 - Panic sets in.
5:30 - Sam is done spending time in the car. Hungry. Wet diaper. Done.
6:00 - Calling parents, friends and crying in the car. Possibly cursing my husband.
7:00 - Watch driver next to me make yellow snow.
7:15 - Matt lands in LA. Calls me. Receives an earful of bad words.
8:00 - Hear on the radio that I5 and 99 (only ways home) are closed.
8:15 - Hold Sam and cry and try to figure out how to spend the night in the car with no food, diapers or water.
8:30 - Cops open up 518W. Opposite direction, but I get on it anyway.
9:00 - Find any open road going north.
9:05 - Cell phone dies.
9:15 - Stop at Walgreens for gas, food and diapers. Change Sammy.
9:30 - Manage to get from 518 to Columbia, Columbia to Rainier, Rainier to 90, 90 to 405, 405 to I5, I5 to hwy 2. LAKE STEVENS.
10:15 - Slide down 3rd street hill almost falling into the lake. May have peed my pants a little.
10:30 - Park at bottom of Rhadora Hts Hill.
10:35 - Walk home with no socks, flats and a very unhappy baby boy. Thankful to have his snow jacket, hat, blanket and stroller in the car.

10:45 - HOME. Pajamas, heat on, warm oatmeal and BED.

The next morning, snowed in and without even a thought of going out in it again, Sam and I spent the day checking out our first snow and eating as much of it as we could.


It didn't take long for our un-gloved fingers to freeze.
But they were quickly thawed with some yummy hot cocoa.

Hopefully, if it snows again this winter, we will be more prepared and I will get to show Sam the "fun" side of snow.

In the Desert

There was something funny about being in the desert with Sam, watching him play in the red dirt, running around killing ants and continually yelling "Watch out for the cactus! Ouchy!".
This is the place where I was born, and I still consider it a little bit of home. It was very surreal to have MY OWN son there. Who woulda thought?

He sure enjoyed himself.
 
Well, that concludes our trip to Arizona. I loved being able to fly down to see family, and hopefully it wont be too much longer before we get to do it again.

Amazing Jake's

Amazing Jake's is an all you can eat buffet / fun center. They have bumper cars, arcade games, bowling, roller coasters and miniature golf. It was a super fun way to end our family reunion in Arizona.

Ill let the pictures prove my point.

Mesa Cemetary

No Arizona visit is complete without visiting some of the people that I miss the most.

My grandmother. It was hard having a family get together without her.
My cousin Amy. Every time our family gets together we reminisce about all the funny things Amy did.
My Grandpa. I wish I could have known him. But my mom really misses him, so I took this picture for her for her Birthday (today!) Sam and Willy.

At the Fuller's

One of my absolute favorite places in Arizona is my Aunt Kathy's backyard. It is seriously one of the most beautiful places ever and I love to hang out there when I am in town.
Sam and I were excited to visit and I got to take family pictures for my cousin Steven and his family.
We had a blast. Sam was thrilled to have 3 big kids to wrestle with him. He couldn't get enough of them and luckily they thought he was pretty fun too.
We also had my Uncle John and his family come by and I got to take some pictures for them as well. (minus Chase who is serving his mission right now.)
My cousin Serena got married a year ago so I was able to finally meet her husband Brian.
Sam loved playing with all of the animal statues that my Grandmother (who lives next to Kathy) has decorating her yard. It was sweet to see Sam play with them since I can remember then from my childhood. The little deer in the picture is actually cracked from a time that my little brother sat on it when he was Sam's age.
 
As he should be, Sam was spoiled with attention, laughs, ice cream and cookies.

He even got to chase around Penny the dog.

What a fun time we had. I am so thankful for the family that I have, and I am reminded of that every time I get to spend time with them. Hopefully, we will get down to see them more.

The Phoenix Zoo

If you don't already know, I love the zoo. So of course I had to visit it while Sam and I were in Arizona with family.

Loni and Jaxson decided to join us and we all had a really great time.
The weather was perfect. 80 degrees with a nice breeze. It couldn't have been better. My only disappointment was that the stingray exhibit was closed :(
We did however, get to feed the Giraffes. Sam was in heaven. He was extremely excited when we approached them, but as we got closer and closer, he held on to me tighter and tighter. I don't blame him though, they were right in our faces.
We were lucky enough to get the entire encounter on video, but I'm not sure how to edit it so I need to work on that before I post it.
Of course we had to let the boys pick out some Zoo souvenirs.
I bet you can guess what Sam picked out :)

 


By the time we had seen our fair share of animal life, the boys were exhausted. What a fun way to get some energy out.
Thanks for joining us Loni and Jaxson! We'll have to explore some more zoo's together soon!

Arizona, Bailey style.

One thing before I get into all the fun we had in Arizona- DON'T TRY TO FLY STAND-BY ON VETERANS DAY. Although the flights are only $30, being in an airport for almost 16 hours is absolutely no fun. Especially being there with a 19 month old.

Luckily, Sea Tac had a play area, and Sam was able to sleep really well in his stroller.

Saturday afternoon we headed into Chandler for my Grandpa's surprise party. Sam and I were a little late, so we just walked up to Papa while he was eating and stood next to him until he realized who we were. He was so thrilled to see us. It was so fun.

Family flew in from Utah, Pennsylvania, California, Seattle and Florida just for Grandpa. It was so much fun to see everyone and catch up. I love my family.



 (please excuse the random order. I am too lazy to organize these.)
Aunt Monica and Uncle Randy.
Celeste, Freddy and Sam.
Britt, Grandpa, Me and Nikki.

Sam loved meeting and playing with all his new cousins.
Maddie and Delaney. I got to sleep on Delaney's "Hannah Montana" bed while we stayed with her family.
Dustin, Britt, Monica and Glen checking out Grandpa's book.
Chad and Stephanie. They let me stay in their house, eat their food and drive their car. My family really is better than yours. :)
Maddie loved Danny's funny faces.
Grandpa reminiscing with some friends visiting from California.
Danny and Maddie
The family sent in pictures from Grandpa's life to create this awesome book. He loved it.


Loni is mature.
Sam and cake.
Jaxson and cake. They didn't get along too well. When Jax dropped his first plate, the heartbreak was totally picture worthy. 
Mike, Dana, Speedy and Dylan. They might be laughing at Jaxson.
Dylan.
Maddie and LoniGrandpa had 80 candles to blow out so all the great-grandchildren pitched in. Sam LOVED his cousin Lexi. And the feelings were pretty mutual. They were together all night long.

Sam and I had a great time. I realize that its not every family that gets together to dance to the "Casper Slide" and throw surprise parties that include a bonfire level of candles. But I feel really lucky that I belong to one crazy, fun and extremely spontaneous group.

After the festivities Sam and I were able to visit Grandpa at his house. He lives in a beautiful area called "The Islands" and it is a tropical paradise in the middle of the desert. He has a little boat and beautiful property and it felt like we were in the Caribbean.

Sam loves him. Its so great to see them play together.

We also got to see more of the family for a pizza lunch at a park near my Aunts house.
Sam was again attached to Lexi's hip. These two were so funny together.


That night we all got together again at Chad and Stephanie's house for Karaoke. See, I told you were are one crazy bunch!
Monica, Randy and Dena.
Danny singing "Vanilla Ice."
Brady.
Stephanie. God gave her a lovely, caring, sweet and friendly personality, beauty and style but forgot to give her singing talent. She rocked out anyway! Got to love her!
Sam tried coke. And oops, he loved it. Good thing we were up partying the night away anyway.
Monica serenading Randy and Dena.
Nikki, Maddie and Brit. We have pretty genes in the Bailey family.
If I were to title this picture, it would be blank. "__________"Just a blank, silent stare.
Chad, the Karaoke Master.
I cant tell you how much fun we had with the Bailey family.  More to come from the Tennant side of my family, the zoo and Amazing Jakes!