It was sooooo wonderful to have Dave with us! He just completes us as a family in every good and special way. We went to the park area to play basketball, football, and to join me in my walk! So lovely!
Friday was packed with family time. After the day at the park, Ginger and her family arrived. We were super excited to see new baby Calvin and her other 3 darling children. We loved and loved on chunky-cheeked, little Calvin! The kids were excited to participate in the Hatch Family Annual Polar Plunge into the pool. Alyssa was the first to jump! It was hilarious! Sadie was second into the pool. Jenny and her family hopped over later in the day for our big fondue night. I have to admit: my cheese fondue is incredible! Everyone just loved it and raved about how good it was. We ate until we were too full and then played some games, shot pool, and ended the day with a foot rub from Alyssa (well, only Grandma got one but fun to think about!)
The morning after Christmas, the kids and I got up early in St. George to head to Arizona. We made fabulous time and arrived in the early afternoon in Maricopa. Mom and dad were excited to have us there. Brandon and his family arrived about 45 minutes after we did. We hung out in the warm, played "Old Mexico" and card games, and ate mom's delicious food!
The next day, I awoke early to head to the pond area for my morning exercise. It is my favorite thing to do by far; walk for an hour around the pond with the palm trees, turtles, ducks, and kids playing in the background. All of the kids arrived shortly after I did with grandpa and grandma's bikes, basketball, and football. We played for several hours. We went on a little drive to see if bowling was an option but learned we would have to wait over an hour so it lost its luster. So we took pictures by the Christmas tree before returning back to grandpa and grandma's house. We were counting the hours for Dave's flight to arrive from Utah. Dad and I drove to Sky Harbor to pick him up. It was great to have our family together again!
