Ah, summer in Arizona. GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! Thank heavens for flight benefits, friends and family in cooler places, and a husband that wants nothing but for me to be happy.

It was time to board a plane to Utah.Sophia would be joining in the fun. It was out first trip alone. It was suppose to be to Hawaii but funds were a bit short so a visit to her auntie was in order. Big sista Lois was off for the week and it had been awhile since we had some good laughs. There was also a suitcase full of my ancestors pictures that I had left with Angie Pacheco, the family's genealogist, a year ago. Mom had been nudging me from the other side to bring them home where they belong. Due to the lack of sleeping space at Lois', we stayed with Angie and Tony in their downstairs guest room. She shared family stories and pictures, I helped her make some sense of the New Family Search site. During the day we spent time with Lois and Andrew. We took advantage of my AZ science center membership and for free, went to the Gateway Discover Center and the Planetarium, finished the day with a yummy meal at California Pizza restaurant, pizza good, Thai spring rolls, not. Go figure. We had fun making bracelets, watching DVDs, going for walks and laughing. We had a hankerin' for some Thai food, so I asked for a suggestion from an expert, Liz Crowe, awesome wife of my high school English teacher, Chris, now teaching at BYU. The pumpkin curry she recommended was fantastic! Lois' birthday was on the 3rd, we celebrated her birthday by going to see Transformers and feasted at Tucano's Brazillian Grill. Then off to the Whipples!

Julia and Howdy Whipple moved from our desert landscaped neighborhood to a home with a beautiful green, mountainous view. In order to maximize the holiday weekend, we headed to Jill's, Julia's sister's house. There she had a huge spread of fantastic salads, dips and delicious burgers and dogs. With satisfied tummies and the urge to just sit, we took a short walk to the local golf course, staked out our spot and spread the blankets, and readied ourselves for the fireworks. A band entertained the crowd til darkness came, we sang the national anthem, counted down from 10 and watched the multicolored sparks fill the sky. Fantastic how the visual show synced with the audio. We headed back to Jill's to put on our own sidewalk fireworks show. The kids had a blast lightin' them up and watching them spew their rainbow of color. The grown up kids had fun watching them.

We were not done. A good friend of Julia's invited us for our opening day meal of delectable scones, basiled scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. With filled tummies we headed to the center of town for the parade. It was so great watching the town folk share their pride of their schools, businesses and families. We rested up for the finale, Layton's firework show, done big and loud. So glad we split from the ole' Brits.

Sleeping with the windows open, magpies for morning alarms, green-covered mountains and cool, cool days. Thank goodness for flight benefits and wonderful friends and family.