A Ridiculous Road Trip Part 6: All the Arizona Times

The Wedding: 

When my nephew announced his wedding date, I was immediately excited that I would be there, with my photo gear, and could offer to help with photography. When my kids started letting me know they would be coming to the wedding, I got even more excited! Then, when Eric noticed that he would be in San Jose, CA on business just a couple of days before the wedding, he arranged his travel to have a 2 day stop in Phoenix on the way home! Bam! So, in addition to the fun of seeing so many of my extended family at the celebrations, we had a significant portion of our own kids together. So fun. A huge highlight was seeing my nephew Josh, who is just back from his mission for our church. It was just so delightfully good to catch up with him a little bit.

The weather in Phoenix in October is often exquisite. Perfection comes to mind. In planning for the wedding, I was expecting to take gorgeous, backlit photos in beautiful desert locales. Not so much. We had a mostly rainy weekend, with the day of the wedding distinguished by persistent heavy downpours. We were able to get plenty of nice photos on the covered porch of the temple, and we attempted a few shots on the grounds with umbrellas, but it was just too much for the couple. They were feeling wet and bedraggled and we gave up after about 20 minutes. Fortunately, they are adorable, so we were still able to get some sweet moments captured. And they will always remember their crazy-wet wedding day.

The reception was indoors and wow, was it gorgeous. Really beautiful decorations and wonderful food. My sister did such a good job, and in the days preceding, it was really fun to all come together and help with the set-up.

We did not get any exciting group shots of my people while gathered together, but it's all there in my mind--so many good memories.

That moment when you wonder
 if the water might actually
make it inside of your rental house. 

I set my nephew loose with my phone and he got some fun pics that show the
decorations at the wedding. 

Thank goodness for the porch of the temple. 

And clear umbrellas. 

Mexico

This was another ingredient in the evolution of this roadtrip. Work in LA. An invitation to Mexico with my sister just a couple of weeks before that. Nephew's wedding. Etc. And so just after the wedding, we loaded up and went back to Puerto Penasco, aka Rocky Point. The lovely beaches, relaxed atmosphere of RV living, and the routines and systems my sister and her family have created all combined for a now-familiar feeling long weekend of sun, sand, laughter and time with kids. There were no events to write about, mostly just this feeling of being grateful to be there, grateful to hold my little niece and watch her run, grateful I was there to exult in the bucket of feisty crabs and marvel at the rise and fall of the tide.

Everyday Times

I love hanging out with my parents. We celebrated my dad's birthday on the 17th. Breakfast at First Watch, a restaurant I'd never heard of but just discovered there are multiple of in Maryland. Now I will go back and remember this fun meal. I watched kids and made dinners. I got to see concerts, which gives me a thrill, because it's exactly that everyday kind of support that I long to give my extended family--to be there for all the things. I loved seeing my niece perform.  My mom and sister and I went to see the original Twilight movie and had so much fun. I took my beloved walks in the desert. Arizona is like home, so there are not so much adventures there, as comfortable days of just being myself. I'm so grateful to feel like I know my distant family, rather than having to be re-introduced every time I see them.

Connecting with Friends

I got to see Jessica, a talented knitting designer I met at a designers dinner at an industry trade show. I've done photography for her and come to admire her cozy home life and courageous way of living her dreams. 

In addition, I met up with Jeff and Linda at the temple one day. That was dreamy, especially since we got to have fabulous Mexican food after lunch. I am so grateful for our friendship of many years and the very special place they have in my life. It really won't matter if we ever live on the same street again, we will always be neighbors at heart.

A Day with Beth and Dan

My last Saturday in AZ, I took another opportunity to be the family photographer. I'm not nearby to be useful to my beautiful nieces and nephews in many ways, but I can take photos. This niece has allowed me to take photos before to celebrate special times, and this was a real treat--she and her love just got engaged. We drove up to Flagstaff and had an absolutely delightful day taking photos to celebrate. We had perfect light in groves of aspen trees. We walked around her beloved Northern Arizona University campus. We chatted, had an amazing dinner, and headed back down south. It was such a good day.

And off to California...

Then it was time to get ready to head to California...one of the prime motivators of this entire trip. If you give a Kellie a trip to SoCal, she's going to want to stop in Arizona. And if you give a Kellie a stop in Arizona, she's going to want a trip to Utah, yada...yada...

As always, I didn't love leaving Arizona, but I was so grateful for the days I got to spend there.