Vaction (not long enough)

So, the week of  July 4th, our awesome nieces from Arizona were going to come up and we were going to have a family reunion (it had been 2-5 years since we'd seen the girls and their families). Well, finances came into play and the reunion wasn't possible :( Our niece Chelsi said she wanted to move to Utah so Eric and I talked and decided that we would take a short vacation and drive to Mesa, AZ to pick her up and bring her here where she would live with my SIL Amy.

So, on Sunday July 2, I went to church (I had to teach) and then when I got home after church, we gathered up the last of what we needed and loaded up the van and headed on our way. We drove to mesquite where we stayed the night. We got up the next morning around like 7 am, got some breakfast and headed to Arizona. As we were driving to Arizona, there was some pretty cool aircraft flying over us. Eric said like WWII fighter planes or something like that. I did get pictures:

 

They were flying around the Hoover Dam area. 

Anyway, We got to our niece Lisa's house and visited for a few hours. Stephanie, her children and her husband were there along with Lisa and her children and of course Chelsi was there. David was in another state doing Army stuff, then a little while later, Peggy Ann and her husband came over to visit. The kids played and enjoyed every second they were there. Lisa made us lunch (pizza) it was yummy! Around 4 pm, we gathered up Chelsi's stuff and said our goodbye's and it was an emotional goodbye for us all, esp. Chelsi. 

We left Arizona and drove back to Vegas to watch the fireworks but we did stop at the Hoover Dam to take some pictures and so the boys could see the Hoover Dam. Here are the pictures taken there:

Eric, Chelsi, Kaylie, Austin, Mathew and Jaxon at the Hoover Dam (I am taking the picture). I apologize that they are dark, I don't have a photo editing program to lighten them.

Chelsi and I at the Hoover Dam

Once we got to Vegas, it was firework city, they were going off every which way you looked. Everyone goes to the parking garage roof and there the fireworks are, going off right in front of you in all directions, it was pretty cool, the boys were scared they don't like loud noises so we left shortly after. We stayed at this beautiful place and we only had to pay $40 cause we had a nice credit from Expedia for some travel mix up we had earlier in the year. This place was like a timeshare condo, 2 bedrooms, front room, balcony, laundry room, 2 bathrooms 1 in each bedroom, a full kitchen, living room, dining area, and a pool down below. It was way pretty and way comfy. We got up Tuesday morning and headed for home. It was the fastest trip we've ever taken. We wish we could have stayed longer but we couldn't.

When we got into Utah, we took Chelsi to Amy's (Amy is my sister in law "SIL" and Chelsi's Aunt) and then we drove home. Chelsi lived with Amy for a few weeks til she decided to move in with us. She moved in the end of July and we've had a blast with her, she has been a big help with me not being in my depressed phase (which I hated, hated being depressed), she has also helped with the kids and cooking and cleaning and etc.. We love her lots and the boys do too!