Arizona, Thanksgiving, and Marc's New Hair!

I know I have been slacking lately, but I have a very good reason! Marc and I were not planning on going home for Thanksgiving, then one day I decided that there was no reason that we couldn't, other than plane tickets were expensive and so was gas, but we wanted to be with our families. So we planned on spending about $3.00 a gallon on gas, and the day we filled up it was $1.97, we also found gas cheaper along the way! We were so happy to cut our budget way down, and spend some much needed time in 70+ degree weather! So, we packed up the car and made the 14 hour drive to our favorite place...Arizona!

We left the Thursday before Thanksgiving and stopped in Provo, Utah for the night. We made arrangements before leaving to stop and visit with one of Marcs favorite mission companions. We went out to dinner at a really yummy Chinese restaurant, and visited with them for a while. Luckily for me, they didn't speak in Russian too much, so I could join in on the conversation too! We woke up early that next morning, ate breakfast in our hotel, and started driving for the next 10 hours! We really didn't have to stop too much on the way, we had leftovers from the night before that we were able to keep refrigerated over night and keep in the cooler on the drive. Unfortunately, Marc decided that he wanted one of the REALLY hot peppers that was in the orange chicken, not a good idea! I spent the next 10 minutes or so giving him drinks and chocolate trying to cool his mouth off so he can focus on the drive. We stopped in Kanab, Utah and got an ice cream cone at McDonalds. Marc decided that he needed a rest, so I took over the driving for the next 6 hours! We were so tired when we finally got to Marc parent's house. We sat in the hot tub for a while, then went to bed.

Saturday we went shopping with Marc's parents and filled up on samples at Sam's Club. They were sampling all their holiday treats and appetizers, it was a great lunch! We then drove out to my parents house to spend some time with them. We went to on of our families favorite restaurants. It is this great little Ecuadorian place my family found after I left for school. They make the best tamales, my favorite is the Ecuadorian tamale, it is wrapped in a banana leaf instead of a corn husk, it is basically heaven to my mouth! Marc and I also shared a delicious Carne Asada salad YUM! Then we went back to my parents and played Wii sports with my brother and sister. Then Marc's family called, they were all going out to dinner at a burger place by his brother Bens house. We were still full from both lunches, but somehow we managed to eat again! It was fun to be with his whole family! His oldest brother has a baby who is almost 5 months old, we had fun playing with him, he was such a happy baby!

Sunday we went to Marc's parents ward. We also stopped by his grandparents house, they live in Arizona in the winters and had just gotten into town. His grandpa told us some pretty fun family stories that we hadn't heard before. Then we went to my parents house for a little Thanksgiving dinner with my family, they went to Safford for Thanksgiving so we celebrated with them early. It worked out perfect too, my brother forgot he had to create a device to drop an egg in for his Physics class. Marc loved his Physics class, so we set the two of them to work! The teacher had given them a list of supplies they could use. They spent a while putting together the egg device, and I must say they did a great job! The teacher first dropped the eggs from 3 meters high...it survived! Only a few students moved on after that, next the teacher dropped the eggs from the top of the stadium bleachers...again, it survived. Finally he dropped the very thick Physics book on it, unfortunately it didn't live through that, but only 2 students did. Marc was pretty proud of himself for his mad Physics skills.
Here are the boys hard at work:


Monday, I went with Danielle and Whitney, my sisters in law and mother in law to see Twilight! My family was lucky enough to see it a few days before it came out, so I was glad to have people to go with! It was great! Such a fun movie! I am not ashamed to say I LOVE Twilight! Marc stayed with his Ben and their baby while we went to the movie, he had fun playing with the baby, and his brother! We spent some time playing and talking with them after. Then back to my parents for some really yummy tortilla soup, gotta love moms home cookin'! We sat around the table talking and playing games for a long time after dinner.

Tuesday we woke up early and headed to Marc's grandparents, they live just a few minutes from my parents, they had asked us to help them clean their house. It was pretty dusty after being locked up for half the year! We chatted with them then headed back to my parents to clean up ourselves. Marc then went to lunch with his brother and a friend from work, while I took my mom and sister to lunch for their belated birthdays. We went to this fun shopping center on Happy Valley and I-17! If you are in AZ you should go! It is newer and pretty empty, but there are tons of fun places to eat, and tons of fun shops! We found this cute little gelato place and of course we couldn't pass it up! Then it was back home to spend time with the family!

Wednesday, we took my brother out of school, my sister had the week off, and went to see Bolt. It was really cute! We had fun with them at the movies and staying with them, but we had more plans! Marc's brother Ryan and his wife Whitney had planned a murder mystery dinner for the family! Marc was the groom of the deceased bride "Taffy Puller", she had been found before the reception started! I was the half sister of the bride and a former grateful dead groupie! We had fun dressing up and piecing together all the clues! Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of everyone all dressed up! After everyone left Marc and I and his little brother Stefan made Carmel Apple Cheesecake for Thanksgiving dessert!

Thursday when we woke up it was really wet outside, it rained all day Wednesday, so we weren't surprised. It was really pretty, so we took the camera outside and took a ton of desert pictures, Marc has become quite the photographer! We then got ready for everyone to come over! Marc let me watch the Macy's parade and hangout for a little while. We then got put on mashed potato duty! When the rest of the family came over, the boys all hooked up their xboxes each other and played while everyone else sat around and talked. Marc took some cute picutres for Ben and Danielle to send out for Christmas, we had fun making the baby laugh in them! Danielle made a yummy apple dip for us to snack on while we waited, it was super addicting and super delicious! We then enjoyed a huge feast and all gained about 20 pounds! We then sat around and talked until our food settled. Marc's aunt came over later for dessert, and our cheesecake was a hit! We filled up on cheesecake, lemon cream pie, pumkin pie, and chocolate covered creme puffs! Then we all went outside and the boys all played pickle. I played a little at the end, but the grass was cold and muddy! Then Marc, Ben, Danielle, and I all went into the hot tub while it rained on us! It turned out to be a fun relaxing day!
Here are some of the cool shots Marc took:





Friday we met my family and my grandma in Mesa for lunch. After that we went to my Aunt's house for a family dessert day since we were all apart for Thanksgiving. My mom made a delicious pumpkin pie, and my Aunt made a yummy berry pie! We had fun spending time with everyone, and Marc had fun playing Super Smash Brothers on Gamecube with all my boy cousins, they are all younger than me, but he loved it! We then said goodbye to them and went to back to Marc's parents. They took us to a yummy sushi place for dinner! Then we went to Ryan and Whitney's house to visit one last time before their baby comes...any day now!:) We then packed our car with a few more wedding presents. We visited with the family, polished off our cheesecake, and got some rest.

We spent all day Saturday and part of Sunday driving back. It was so nice to be back, and there was not any snow!!!! But, it's coming...

Sunday night Marc decided he needed a hair cut. We have clippers, but I have never cut his hair! I cut my bangs and that it about it! So he gave me a quick lesson, and I think I did a pretty good job!
Before:

After:


Thanks for reading this really long post and catching up with our crazy lives!