Arizona March 2011

(This post was started back in March)
This Arizona trip has been a world of fun! I was telling Duane today that since I (and the kiddos) have been here for so long (about 5 weeks now), it feels like we actually live out here again and I can't imagine going back to Albany now. It's almost like Albany is just a dream and that Arizona is reality. Arizona will always be home.
Waiting for Duane to come out here as well was difficult, especially toward the end (since it was a full month before he joined us), but as hard as it was for me, I'm sure it was 10 times harder for Duane. He was all alone at home. I couldn't imagine being in his shoes. Work at the hospital, come home to eat some dinner, work on the attic, maybe study from his anesthesia book, and go to sleep alone. His strength and patience is nearly exhausting. Thank you, Honey, for keeping me happy and I am determined to recommit myself to not taking advantage of your kindness to me.

(Finishing post now, in October)

It's crazy to think that by the time we get back to AZ (in less than a month, WAHOO!!!) it will have been 8 whole months since we were there last!!! I never would have thought we could last this long away from home. It has been hard. I think the hardest part is hearing Kalvin talk about Arizona and all his cousins. He will still point out to me things about AZ that he remembers. Some things seem so simple, but they stuck out to him. There is a clock at Grandma/pa Ellsworth's house that is above their stairs. At the top of every hour it plays a special tune. It also has a little black button that you can push to hear it any other time you wish as well. Kalvin liked to push the button to hear the music and just a few days ago he was telling me about that clock. It was crazy because to me, it was something small that he did while there 7+months ago, but to him all these little memories are much more.

Things Kalvin is excited for about our trip back to AZ:

1. Seeing all his friends (cousins, granparents, aunts, uncles, etc)

2. Playing baseball with Stratton

3. Playing in Brighton and Adaira's backyard

4. Riding the ATV's (at both grandparents)

Things Tristen is excited for about the AZ trip:

1. The airplane ride. He LOVES all things that fly in the sky, though our last trip to AZ was funny as Tristen was petrified of landing (I may have laughed at him a lot while he tried to climb above me to somehow escape the approaching ground)!

 Our sweet boys loving the cool morning on Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth's swing in the backyard.

 Good times being pulled by the lawn mower.

 Tristen obviously loved the ride.

 Only boys would think of something as crazy as...

riding down the steep dirt hill in the back of Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth's backyard. 

 

 

  Duane is giving more rides behind the mower.

 Duane found it funny to start driving while Kalvin was standing on the back board, to watch him fall over.

  Still haven't decided which of these two pictures I like more. The motion of Kalvin and Duane moving, or Kalvin's confident pose while surfing behind the mower...

  Climbing the grapefruit tree outside Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth's house.

A little irrigation. 

 Don't remember what this picture was from, just that Tristen is a cutie pie.

 Playing in Grandma and Grandpa Mickelson's house. I could hardly believe how hard it was to keep my feet from dropping Kalvin. I look like I'm laughing or something in this picture, but really I'm yelling for someone to stop us so I wouldn't drop Kalvin on his head.

 

Hope the weather is nice for Thanksgiving visit!