Little Lords and Ladies

This past week has been one adventure after another! Mom and Shannon's family are here visiting from Indiana and we have been to see more of Arizona and it's tourist attractions than we have in the 10 months that we have lived here! Last Friday was Malachi's 6th birthday and we went to Erica's for cake and ice cream. Malachi helped Erica make his cake from scratch (he loves to cook) and it was very yummy!
Saturday we went to the Arizona Renaissance Festival. That was so fun! Ren festivals are my favorite places to go and this one was awesome!
While we were at the festival, Jabyn's honor was besmirched and Frankie came to her defense. When Frankie was brought before the king, who heard of Frankie's deed, the king decided to knight him. (Actually, they made all the kids knights and ladies of the court, but Frankie took it so seriously!) Then, the king and queen asked Frankie to come get me and bring me to meet with them. The king and queen had been very touched by Frankie and the king told Frankie that they knew that he had already overcome huge obstacles in his life and that he believed that Frankie was going to go on to do great things in life. It was very touching. The king and queen were very nice and amazingly kind people.
There were many things to see and do, but my very favorite thing was the music, especially the group called the Tartanics. They were amazing, and soooo much fun! I really missed Jed at the fair. He would have loved it and I am looking forward to sharing it with him in the future. I can't wait to see his face as he experiences it. A love of medieval times and Celtic music is one thing that we have always shared.
Sunday we drove up into the Tonto National Forest. I must say that my first impressions of the mountains here were so mistaken. They are more than just the piles of dirt that I first thought they looked like. They are majestic and filled with beauty when you drive up into them. Arizona is truly an amazing place to live.
While in the mountains the kids got to wade in a river, and then we went to a mountain lake with a beach. It was such a gorgeous day and, though the water was icy cold, the kids laughed and played in the water for quite a while. I enjoyed relaxing on the beach with Erica's baby.
This week started out with a couple of quiet days at home (which we needed to recuperate from the weekend), and then Thursday started a second busy weekend. We (Mom, Frankie, and I) spent the morning visiting the temple grounds in Mesa. It was beautiful! We went into the Mesa Temple Visitors Center and walked through the Reflections of Christ display. It was so touching and the spirit was so strong.
We went to the Deseret book store, which I could get lost in for weeks and be happy, and then we spent the afternoon relaxing with Erica, Shannon, and all the kids, by the pool in Erica's community. It was wonderful.
Friday, Jim and Bryan joined us all and we went to visit Rawhide, which is an old western town. The kids really enjoyed it too. They had a little petting zoo, with the cutest baby goats! Most of the kids got to ride burro's but Frankie was just a tad to big, so he got to ride a camel with Aunt Erica! Then we all went on a train ride together. We saw a gunslinger show and a couple of theatrical productions of old west tales, which the boys loved because they were full of fights and gunfire, and people falling off of buildings. Maggie wasn't so crazy about the gunfire. LOL
All and all, it has been an awesome time, but I am going to need a vacation after this vacation!