Our trip to see THIS little guy... and his parents.

Okay, okay, I know I haven't blogged in forEVER, but I've been busy alright?!

So, the first week in February my aMAZING and super sweet mom gave me the best gift I could ever receive... A week of babysitting. Laaaaa! We had our normal Sunday tradition of dinner at my mom and dad's, but instead of piling the kids in the car afterwards, we got to leave them there. Charles and I went home, packed our bags and left early early the next morning for the airport.

As we were traveling, we realized that this was the first time he and I had ever flown on a plane alone together. It was so much fun! Our layover was in LAX and we waited there for about 2 hours. Right before we boarded we were told they had overbooked our flight and offered about $600 in Southwest credit if we would wait for the next flight 4 hours later. Uh... no hesitation there! OKAY! We quickly agreed, and were SO excited. Not only would our trip be reimbursed, but we would be able to take ANOTHER trip free! Unfortunately though, it didn't happen. They ended up not needing us to do it... bummer.

So we continued on to Tuscon. Kare, Curtis and Nathan picked us up and we stopped at In N Out for lunch.


I sat in back so I could just stare at my cute little 8 month old nephew, Nathan. You can see his little 2 bottom teeth.


And who says giving a baby a pacifier will prevent thumb sucking?


Here's Charles getting some baby time.


Sorry Kare, this was the only picture I had of the 2 of us. Lame.


The boys. I love how the armrest is the perfect little seat for Nathan.



The first night we were there, we went to this "Italian" restaurant. Now we know to get the Pizza...


Here CHarles and I got to witness a very common occurrence for the Merrill family...


...perfect strangers doting on the adorableness that is Nathan.



Charles only got to stay for 2 days but it was so nice to have him with me and with no responsibilities for 2 whole days. So what did we do in Sierra Vista for 6 days? We got up early and worked out everyday I was there. No joke. It was SO fun! Kare had lots of free gym passes for me so we did step aerobics, and Zumba. We HAD to... because the rest of the day we did nothing but watch movies, Arrested Development, the E! channel, and stuffed our faces with Rocky Road Ice Cream, Dairy Queen blizzards, Egg McMuffins, cookies, popcorn and doughnuts. It was heaven. And I got to hang out with one of Kare's freakin' awesome friends, Felicia. I wish I had a better picture, but while I was in Sierra Vista she learned that she is pregnant with TWINS!! How exciting!


Also while I was there I was completely intrigued by the many cute faces and expressions of Nathan, and how pictures just NEVER do him justice. So I took LOTS of pictures of him, determined to have ONE actually look as cute as he really is. Well, I tried my best, and though these pictures ARE cute... you still just have to see him in person. You'll be blown away.

















Another exciting thing that happened while I was there was watching Nathan learn to say Mama... kind of! =) I love this kid!

It was such a fun and relaxing vacation, and I can't thank my mom enough for watching my 3 little ones long enough for me to get away. The boys had SO much fun with their Grandma and Grandpa (and Alli a couple days!) They got chicken and fries a few times, they went to a kids-fun-expo-something or other and got their faces painted like Spider Man, they were spoiled and got new light sabers, Jaden got to stay up late and watch The Biggest Loser, (which he later filled me in on since I had missed it.) They watched lots of movies, played the Wii, and probably had lots of junk food. No wonder they were not very excited to see me when I got home. But that's okay. I know I never have to worry about them being unhappy when I am away. Thanks a million, Mom!