Tucson!

On Friday afternoon, Emma and I traveled with Ben's family to Tucson for a quick overnight trip. Ben actually stayed home to study, since finals are starting on Monday. Emma's birthday was also on Friday (Happy Birthday to Emma!). She is now a cute 2 year old! She sure keeps me busy and I love her dearly... it's fun to see her reach another birthday. Anyway, Emma shares a birthday with her Uncle Peter (Ben's brother). He turned the big 24! One year older and wiser too. I would say that his best birthday present was his new fiance. They became officially engaged on Friday evening. Congratulations to Lacey and Peter! They are a very cute couple and will soon be married in the Mesa Temple on April 28th! How exciting! While we were in Tucson, we kept quite busy even though it was a short visit. On Friday evening we ate dinner at Pinnacle Peak Restaurant. It's a steakhouse that's also part of a Wild West themed town. It was a fun evening. Adam and Emma both got play guns from the "General Store" after dinner and had a great time running around shooting at things. They're both so funny and they really love to play together. We spent the night at a nearby Hilton and the next morning we spent hiking through Sabino Canyon. It was a great morning and we got a lot of much appreciated exercise among beautiful surroundings. We walked much of the time, and also rode a tram to get up the canyon a little further. The weather was windy, but very comfortable. After hiking and then eating lunch we traveled back to the Phoenix area and met up with Ben at the Chandler Mall to go to Build-A-Bear for Emma's birthday. Emma and Adam both picked out cute bears and an outfit to dress them in. Adam's bear became "Bat Bear" in a fun Batman outfit; Emma's bear is dressed as a princess... she's quite cute. So, it was a busy couple of days; it was fun to spend time with the family... I'll be extra glad when Ben's finals are over and he can be able to spend more time with us. He's so busy right now, but I'm so glad he's such a hard worker! On Friday, he'll finish up with his finals and then will have a whole week of Spring Break! Hooray!