~Sight-seeing in AZ...before we got to see Grandpa and Grandma!~

(You can click on a lot of this pictures in this post and they'll get bigger! I'm traveling down the road while blogging, so please pardon any mistakes. =)
~We got to Dad and Mom D's house on Wednesday night, June 12th. So, here's some pics that happened on the Monday, Tuesday, and WednesDAY before we got to their house in Phoenix! Driving in New Mexico...heading to meet some dear friends..Seth and Melodie Yates. ~

~ Melodie attended GBS with us years ago.~

~They had a service that night, so we just had a few minutes to meet at a park and be together...the first time we'd seen each other in YEARS!  Melodie packed a very yummy picnic and we had a fun time being together!  They are missionaries there in New Mexico.  It was an encouraging time.  We prayed together, ate together, laughed together, cried together...while sharing our missionary stories with each other.~

~Then they rushed off to their service, and we...~

rushed off toward ARIZONA!!!  You should have heard the excitement in our van when we saw the AZ sign!!!
Phillip, Sarah, and Noah all were born in AZ, and Kimberly moved there when she was 18 months, so we all LOVE AZ! ~

~We spent the night in Flagstaff, AZ that night.  We have TONS of FUN memories from Flagstaff, for that is where we would go for a quick "vacation" when we lived in Phoenix.~

~The next morning on Tuesday, we ate at a local "Ma and Pa" type restaurant called, "The Place!"  We had eaten there years ago with my parents, and enjoyed doing it again.  We forgot that they have HUGE portions...and should have SHARED plates.  =) ~

~Look at MARY'S plate FULL of food....there was No WAY she could eat it all. Hash browns fill the complete right side of the plate, eggs in the middle, 2 pancakes, and 2 pieces of bacon.~

~'Scuze the blurry pic, didn't realize that this was the only pic we got at "The Place!"~

~And then we headed to the GRAND Canyon!  We really enjoyed the pretty scenery on the way!~

~There's few things more interesting to see than the Grand Canyon!~

~Our Sarah...becoming a young lady...whether we are ready for it or not!  =) ~

~Our Kimberly!~

~Kimberly and her violin at the Grand Canyon! ~

~During this deputation tour, God and a couple other people provided Kimberly a new...lots-nicer- than-she-had...violin!!  =)
I liked this picture that Kimberly took of her new violin....and the Canyon!~

~Us inside the old lodge there.~

~On Wednesday we headed down the mountain toward another one of our favorite places...beautitful red rocked Sedona, AZ.~

~It's hard to tell in this picture, but on the rock to your left is a stone formation that everyone calls "Lucy" and lying down below is a rock formation that looks like snoopy laying down. ("Snoopy's" big nose sticking up on the left and his feet sticking up on the right.) ~

~And we found "Cowgirl Sarah" and "Cowboy Noah"....and....

"Cowgirl Mary" and "cowboy Elijah" while in Sedona.  =) ~

~The girls and I in Sedona, wearing our matching Grand Canyon t-shirts.~

~Noah and Elijah in their cowboy hats. ~

~And it was a rather WARM day so we treated our kids to some ice cream.~

~In Down-town Sedona there was a statue of this couple on this wagon wheel and printed on the wagon wheel was this neat saying.
 "Marriage is a journey of Love...where two set out and arrive as one!"~

~Daddy and 2 of his sweet daughters. =) ~

~Then we snapped a few more beautiful pics

~We were singing and laughing and HAPPY as we went toward Grandpa and Grandma's house in Phoenix.  We should have been singing," Over the mountains and through the CACTUS to Grandmother's house we go!!"  =D ~

~Fun Pics Phillip took at the Sunset Rest Area on the way down. ~

~The mountain near Grandpa and Grandma's house!  We were ALMOST there!  =)  There was such HAPPINESS when we got there!  Such huggin' and lovin' like you've not seen in awhile.  =)  We had a WONDERFUL 18 days together!!!  Such FUN memories!  We LOVE our Grandpa and Grandma bunches!!!  and were so THANKFUL Jesus let us spend some days with them.  =)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Now, we're driving down the road, having just had a service and some WONDERFUL days with our DEAR Ponchatoula, LA people!
We hope to get to sleep in our own beds tomorrow night, before heading out on Sunday for another service. =)
Thank you for your prayers.