Rick and Janell's News: Arizona Weekend

Rick and I were able to fly to Phoenix for a fun weekend. Our nephew's daughter, Kelsey, received her mission call to Samoa back in February, and we thought it would be great to be able to attend the meeting that she would speak at before she left for the MTC. We purchased tickets way back then, and finally the weekend had arrived.

We arrived Thursday morning and went right over to our condo that was lined up through Gail Winterrose. We stayed in the Scottsdale Villa Mirage and enjoyed our time there. We stayed in the same condo resort a few years ago and loved the location so we were glad to get back.

This was a beautiful weekend to be in Arizona. The weather has been mild, in the 70's and 80's throughout our stay. Since we have arrived I have loved the flora. The plant life and smell of the desert is reminiscent of my childhood. There definitely is beauty in the desert.

Here are some shots of the flora.......

The Sonoran desert is the only place in the world to find the saguaro cactus.

I just love them!

After arriving and getting unpacked and settled, we grabbed a little lunch and headed off on our first adventure. We drove over to Gilbert to get a session in. This is our third temple on our quest for ten new temples this year. I was able to get here last year on our girls trip but Rick had not been here so we will count it as a temple we BOTH have visited:)

This temple is magnificent with a floor plan that is very similar to the Payson temple.

I loved all of the agave plant references in the architecture as well as in the decor.

Very beautiful!

That afternoon we got back to the room and hopped in the pool for a few minutes before heading out to old town Scottsdale for dinner.

...a shot of our room.

We drove into Old Town for some Mexican food and man, was it delish!

Tacos, salsa, chips and guac were a good meal to start our trip.

That evening we went separate directions.

Rick in the family room watching the National Geographic Channel and me in the bedroom watching the Food Channel. HAHA! We really did! And actually had a good time. HAHA!

The next morning we drove the two hours down to Tuscon. It was a pretty drive, much like the Vegas to Mesquite drive. Desert and mountains. We enjoyed getting to the Tuscon Temple. I loved the blue dome roof. So different than other temples. We had some family names for baptisms and confirmations so that was what we did. The workers were so kind and helpful to us. We were able to get right in. Rick was proxy for four men and I for four women. After the confirmations we were invited to get dressed in white and go into the celestial room. In the modern day temples (meaning not pioneer ones), my eyes are always first drawn to the light in this particular room. This room was no different. My eyes were drawn to the gorgeous chandelier hanging directly in the middle of the room. To me the beautiful lights in the temple are a symbol of the light of the Savior.

We were able to sit together on a sofa and share our feelings of the temple.

Tuscon is our fourth new temple for the year.

We left the temple and headed to downtown Tuscon. I wanted to see the area. Well, the "old town" in Tuscon is not quite like the "old town" in Scottsdale. It was more like 'run down' than 'old town' but I still loved driving past the vintage buildings and then on the next street up seeing the old homes of the area. We drove over to a marketplace that had a few places to eat. We chose Seis restaurant for some nachos and tacos. Rick ordered the tres leeches, as well!

Mexican food two days in a row had Rick daydreaming about going back to Mexico:)

Before leaving downtown Tuscon we drove back to the "run down district" and stopped at Holy Donuts. It's called Holy Donuts and their donuts are made fresh everyday. The reason it's called Holy is because any of the donuts that don't get purchased that day go to the homeless that very night.

We got a couple of donuts for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed our treat!

Next we drove twenty minutes to the Southwest to go to the Mission San Xavier del Bac.

It is a beautiful Catholic church that was built in 1797.

After visiting the mission we drove the two hours back to Scottsdale. We stopped at a Whole Foods market to grab a few things to munch on for dinner and treats:)

The next day we were excited to get down to Scottsdale's Old Town. I had read that they had a Farmer's Market going on and we love those! We enjoyed testing and buying the food and goods that were being sold. We are suckers when it comes to farmer's markets. We spend so much money at these things! I mean $10 for a bag of shortbread cookies, $6 for a loaf of bread, $7 for some baklava. We really shouldn't spend so much on these types of things. but we do!

Seriously, we love these things.

After the market we went back to the condo and spent some time at the pool.

We enjoyed the sunshine!

That night we had a nice dinner at The Herb Box on 5th avenue. It was the perfect setting with patio seating and a beautiful evening.

Rick got the Thai ribs and mac 'n cheese and I had chicken and potatoes:)

Us with 5th avenue behind us all lit up.

Sunday came and we got to drive out to Queen Creek to listen to Kelsey Gordon speak in Sacrament.

She is leaving for the MTC next week for the Samoa Apia Mission.

She gave a great talk about having faith in the Savior. It was really great.

She will make a wonderful missionary:)

After church we met at Robert and Mary's home for a dinner with family. Brian and Christy and their kids were there. They provided a nice meal for us and we spent a couple of hours just visiting and laughing with the fam.

After leaving their home we drove past Scottsdale to get to the Phoenix Temple. Oh, how I wish this temple were open. A few days prior to leaving on this trip I discovered that it was closed for cleaning so we were not able to attend:( But we WERE able to see it and that will have to be good enough. It sure was beautiful, and while we were there the sun started to set, and we got some beautiful pictures!

Even though we did not get to go inside we are still counting the Phoenix Temple as one of our ten visited temples of the year.

It is the fifth.

Monday was our day to check out of the condo. We went on a walk, played some life size chess (I won:), and spent a bit of last minute time at the pool. Actually Rick was on the phone getting work figured out so he didn't get a chance to get in the pool but I enjoyed the jacuzzi and reading by the side of the pool.

We went back to Old Town for our last bit of Mexican food. Rick's shirt was appropriate. "I Hate Tacos." -said no one ever! HAHA!