Christmas

Alisha says:

Part 1: Phoenix - We decided to head back to the sunshine for Christmas break. When booking flights a while ago I choose the least expensive non stop flight which ended up being a 6:00 am flight so by the time you plan in driving time, parking/shuttle ride, checking bags we ended up with a 3:20 am wake up call. The first thing we did in Phoenix was attend Allie's dance recital. It was pretty adorable watching them spin around. We followed that up with a nice hike with Tom in the Superstitions.

Part 2: Tucson - The next day we headed to Tucson where we had planned to spend a couple of days riding bikes. I was really disappointed when it rained on and off the whole first day we were there. We salvaged the day by visiting a few friends and taking a walk in Sabino Canyon. Luckily the rain cleared out and for the next three days we were able to ride a lot of my favorite old training roads. I was feeling the three consecutive days of three hour rides by the end but I loved every minute of it! I also decided to join some friends for a nine mile run on our last morning there. Dave's entire family joined us in Tucson and we visited the zoo and attended the Tucson Institute of Jazz concert to watch Daniel play the trumpet.

Part 3: Puerto Penasco, Mexico - We then traveled to Rocky Point Mexico where we were treated to a fancy top story condo at the Sonoran Sun resort. It was big enough to sleep all 12 of us and included a huge balcony complete with a hot tube! We had a wonderful time doing lots of activities. The beach was beautiful and filled with lots of fun shells to look at, we also enjoyed running along the beach in the mornings when the tide was out. Swimming in the heated pool and lounging in the jacuzzi with all of the little kids was great. Dave's favorite activity was renting atv's and driving them in the sand dunes. The first day we rented a four seater and drove around with Christine and Parker and then the next day we went back and rented an atv for Dave and I and Christine rented a four seater for her family. Dave even got a massage on the beach!

Part 4: Phoenix - It was back to Phoenix on Christmas Eve. We woke up on Christmas morning and went over to Christine's to watch her kids open their gifts. Anne and Venice cooked up a delicious meal that we enjoyed in the afternoon before being dropped off in the late afternoon at the airport for our return flight home. We did have a layover in Vegas where our next flight was slightly delayed. Dave was hungry so we got some airport food. We shared the exact same dish which didn't bother me but came back to haunt Dave as I woke up to him using the barf bag on the next flight, ugg. Luckily he was fine once he got it out of his system. Other than that last part we had a wonderful trip!

From 80 Degrees to Snow

Alisha says: We were greeted when we landed back in Seattle with lots of rain and the next day we woke up to a little bit of snow. Not to be deterred we layered up and went walking around some of the parks that we haven't checked out yet. We walked around Marymoor Park and Bridle Trails State Park.

Dave and I have been teaching primary basically since we moved up here. I love our little class of 5-7 year olds. They each have their own little personalities and are so cute. As part of the lesson they built a pretty good church out of blocks, Dave was impressed so we took a class photo of it.