Mom's Visit to Arizona

Hello from Sarah and Mom in Arizona! (Rob also, but he is asleep.) We have had a wonderful weekend! Mom came out Friday afternoon and we surprised her with Sprinkles cupcakes at the airport! We had cupcakes and guac for lunch...obviously well-balanced :) We shopped at all the lil markets that Rob and I usually go to and picked up chicken sausages to grill out Friday night. On Saturday we woke up early to sight-see across Arizona! We stopped by Montezuma's Castle, which was the remains of an old Native American village, then headed up to the Grand Canyon. It was really foggy along the way, but cleared up well enough for us to see a good bit of the canyon. Here are a few pictures (you can tell, it was much colder there!)



Next, we stopped at another lookout point and showed Mom the road that we would take into Sedona...check out how it curves through the mountain!

In Sedona we drove through the touristy center of town, checked out the airport and ended the day at the lil park where Rob and I got engaged last year. The rock he proposed to me on was covered by rushing water this time, but we discovered the actual area all the websites talked about. He was too nervous and excited last year to continue to the end of the path I guess!

We got back into Chandler later than we originally expected, but still made our favorite--home made pizza and breadsticks! We didn't eat until almost 9:00 pm (11:00 EST!) and crashed pretty much right after. On Sunday we slept in and relaxed all day. We had bought Cookiedoodle flavored coffee (don't ask, just understand the deliciousness) and had wonderful coffee, read the paper and eventually cooked our healthy version of an Egg McMuffin at home. We spent the afternoon touring around Chandler and Gilbert...we stopped by Rolly Pollies, Rob's helicopter school, the mall for Cardinals Super Bowl gear to send home, our favorite local park and Rob's old apartment. Mom sat out at the pool with a book and Rob and I researched commercials online to use on Thursday to introduce a unit on persuasion. It's not too late for anyone to chime in with their favorite humorous commercial! (Unfortunately, no beer commercials. Those are the funniest though.) Honestly, any thoughts would be appreciated...I can always add more to the lil video I created :)

Mom and I cooked dinner last night while Rob napped before work. We made a delicious chicken pasta in a garlic/olive oil sauce...and served it in my Fiesta serving bowl! It was beautiful. I am ridiculously disappointed now that we are lacking pictures of the meal. Please visit to see and enjoy it in person.

Today, I taught my very first lesson to the kids at school. We discussed dreams and analyzed a Langston Hughes poem. I left to go out to lunch with Mom, and then she came back to school with me to observe fifth bell! I was glad everything went well. Interesting side-note: there was a small gang fight at school today. I was oblivious to it all...a good way to be. I am sure there will exaggerated stories to laugh at tomorrow though!

Shortly here, we are going to wake up Rob (he worked last night) and head over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. (We'll also stop by the helicopter school again because it was closed yesterday and the helicopters were in the hangar.) He heads to work again tonight and Mom heads to the airport as well in the morning to make the trip back to the single-digit Cleveland weather. I think she has really enjoyed a lot of the sunshine. It's been a great trip/long weekend. Next week Bubs comes to visit and then a few weeks later, it's Dad's turn! It is great to see people, share the sunshine and makes the time fly by because we always have something to look forward to! We hope all is well with you and Mom will be seeing many of you very shortly. Love, Sarah, Mom and Rob