Getting out of the -20 below weather and spending 12 great days in 55-62 degree weather was a Christmas present in itself to all of us. The sky's were clear and blue when we landed, nice and warm (at least to us three). Sara got to go for bike rides everyday, go for walks, meet the neighbors, check out various fruit trees and of course feed the local dog population with treats that her Papa picked up.
One of the first things Mom & Dad planned for us was taking us to see a children's play called the "Velveteen Rabbit" performed at the Childsplay Theatre in the Tempe Center for the Arts. It was FABULOUS. What a great way to start the trip. It was a beautifully performed play with a great set, filled with toys that would magically come to life. Sara was is pure amazement as she watch on.
We also enjoyed checking out various local stores and were able to pick up some nice clothes for Sara while we were there. Thanks Mum!!! That Children's Place store Rocks!
However, the thing that we enjoyed the most was spending time with our family and meeting all their new and old friends and extended family. Mom and Dad have a beautiful new home located in Gilbert, Arizona within a retirement community called Trilogy. Very nice, very clean and everyone that we met was just wonderful.
We enjoyed spending lots of time with the Rounds Family (Sarah, Larry, Steve & Tina). All of which Mom & Dad have known for about 30 years or so. We all visited back and forth between their homes (which are all in the same complex), spent Christmas dinner together and also had the chance to go out to the Olive Garden (Man, that place is good!). Sara loved this extended family of G.G. & Papa, as did we. Tina & Steve quickly became Sara's new best friends while we were down there. She loved playing with Tina and "hiding her dollars" from Steve. It was just too cute.
On December 23rd, just a couple days until the big day Sara had a very unexpected visitor from the North Pole. Yup, that's right...the Big Guy himself, SANTA CLAUS! Mom & Dad arranged to have Santa pay Sara a special visit. He flew in with his reindeer and we could hear bells ringing as he approached the door. Sara screamed, "It's Santa". "No, that can't be Santa", I said; "it's not Christmas". Sara ran to the door, opened it...and sure enough it was Santa...and then SHE RAN!!! It was too funny. After realizing what was going on, she then properly greeted Santa with a great big hug. Santa then began to talk to her and explain that he was here to make sure he had the right address (Then he magically pulled out the Letter Sara wrote him for Christmas). She was stunned! It was so cool! Of course Sara then explained to Santa (in a very serious voice) that her Unkie Dunkie (Duncan) who had worked on the North Slope made a visit to Santa's house and made sure that he knew where Sara was going to be for Christmas.
Santa quickly recovered and reminded Sara how old he is and that he needs to start writing these things down. By far...this was the best present for "me". I was beyond touched and very thankful that this visit with Santa was able to happen. I get choked up just thinking about it.
The visit ended with Santa talking to Sara about being a good girl and giving her two dolls to play with. Lots of hugs and kisses were given and then we waved goodbye to the jolly elf. Sara then wanted to go outside and look for reindeer tracks. Which Bill replied with; "Sara, there is no snow; it will be hard to find tracks". At that moment, a plane was flying overhead with a flashing red light. Sara knew in that moment that it was Santa and Rudolph flying overhead. Could it possibly get any better than that. I don't think so:) (I tried to attach the video we made, but it appears to be too large for this blog. I will try to attach it in another, so please stay tuned.)
The next day was made for Christmas cookie baking for Santa. Sarah Rounds gave Sara this beautiful plate made just for cookies for Santa. It will definitely be something that we use in the many years to come. Thank you Sarah.
Christmas morning was great. Sara was very patient for the most part. Our family rule for Christmas morning is coffee, tea and some sort of breakfast must be eaten before opening gifts. We all had our caffeinated drinks, at this time we allowed Sara to open just her stocking that Santa left her. We stuffed a banana in her and then began with the craziness of present opening.
Sara received some lovely gifts this year. A plush unicorn stuffed animal, several horse figurines, puzzles of various types, a Rudolph singing doll (Thanks Mum), a bundle of clothes and a karaoke machine.
Mom and Dad received several homemade gifts from us this year. Sara made both Papa & G.G. hand-painted coffee cups and also included a special egg for her G.G. since she collects them. Bill and I also had some t-shirts made for Mom & Dad. Mom says "Wine Diva" and Dad's is "Love Machine". We liked them and hoped they get some use out of them.
Christmas dinner was delicious as ever. I got to help Mom make her famous cabbage rolls and can hopefully someday duplicate them. We were joined for Christmas by the Rounds family (Sarah, Larry, Steve & Tina). It all turned out to be just one fabulous and very memorable day.
With just a couple days remaining for our stay; we were very grateful that G.G. took the three of us to the Phoenix Zoo. This place was gigantic! Our little zoo in Alaska takes approximately 30 minutes to walk through. Just the outer loop of the Phoenix Zoo was a 1 1/2 miles...and we did not even come close to seeing everything. But what we did see was amazing for all of us. We saw elephants, giraffes, camels, lions, cheetahs, monkeys of various types, zebras, rhinos, wart-hogs, flamingos, lizards, tortoises, ostriches and more. It was so much fun! Sara also got to go on her first camel ride! We ended the day with a visit to this beautiful carousel which Sara rode 3-4 times and then a quick peak through their gift shop for some souvenirs. Thanks Mum for taking us!
Well that is about it for our visit to Arizona. It will hopefully be one of many in the years to come. Sara adores her grandparents immensely and we hope to keep up the visits as best we can in the future. Although, I think we all agree we would simply "die" in the summer. We were very warm there and it was only 60. Hmmm.
As we made our way home back to the frigid North we call home; we reminded Sara of what Santa had told her. "That if she continued to be good, that there might be some surprises waiting for her in her Anchorage home".
Heather, our house sitter picked us up from the airport and drove us home. After giving the kitties some much needed loving I called Sara into the living room. To her amazement she discovered a very large horse beside the tree and a couple other gifts. She was so stunned she was speechless which is rare for Sara; not to mention she was exhausted from the long trip.
Since we have been home she has renamed her new pet several times and makes sure to brush and feed him daily, per Santa's instructions. It is just too cute.
So again to our family in Arizona and extended family too...Thank you SO MUCH for having us and making this one of the best Christmas's' ever. We love you all so much and look forward to visiting again sometime soon.
Enjoy the slide show, it is long, so give it a chance to download. If you want to view just the slide show without the Christmas flakes flying around, just click on "view all images" in the slide bar beneath the slide show (maximize the window and the pictures will be larger to view). Turn up the volume if you want to hear the music:)
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