For Katie's 30th birthday, Jeff offered to fly Aiden and I out to help celebrate. We jumped at the offer! We haven't visited them in Arizona and haven't seen them since they got engaged back in June.

I was a little nervous considering I was flying across the country solo with a toddler. Check out all of this stuff I had to lug in by myself!

Trying to wear her out before we get locked on a plane for four hours.

BINGO. Want to know how to keep a toddler occupied? Trap yourself in the lavatory... with a lot of sanitizing wipes. We killed a lot of time playing with the sink and toilet paper rolls. Of course, we cleaned up after ourselves and made sure we weren't holding up a line or anything.

I also packed a backpack full of snacks and new toys from the Dollar Store (sure, throw them down the aisle - they will not be missed!). Finally, we made it to Arizona! It was a long and exhausting four hours, but overall she did great. 

Uncle Jefe picked us up and after a quick stop at Jack in the Box (obviously), we headed to their house. Jeff is kind of (read: a total) neat freak and the maids were just finishing up when we arrived. It took Aiden all of two minutes to flip the dog's water bowl upside down and leave a trail of bananas. I laughed as Jeff followed her around with a rag. 

Jeff and Katie leave this door open a lot, but it only took Aiden a couple hours to walk right through it thinking it was a window. Poor thing fell flat on her face! But being the trooper she is, it didn't slow her down.

Katie and Jeff live just outside of Scottsdale in Cave Creek. It was so beautiful and so different from what we're used to.

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and planned to go see the Baker fam on Thursday morning. I was so excited it worked out for us to see Grandma and Grandpa Baker, along with Liz, Tom, Monica, Joe and Carter. I hadn't met Carter before and Aiden was so excited to play with her cousin!

Afterward, Adam thanked me for making the time to visit with his family. My first reaction was "what?" I honestly forgot it was his family we were hanging out with! We love the Bakers and are so glad we were able to get together.

Aunt Liz was so fun!

Cheeeeese!

Loved getting to spend some time with Monica! She's pregnant with baby #2 and is due March 12. My vote is girl! (They're finding out at Christmas.)

They gave each other a hug! So cute.

After a fun morning with the Bakers, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some essentials. It was Aiden's first time riding in one of these and she loved it. It was hilarious.

Beep, beep!

Friday was Katie's actual birthday and we headed across the street to celebrate with neighbors.

Aiden and Jeff quickly became besties on the trip. It was so fun to watch them together.

Monica and Carter were able to join us for the celebration! Jeff and Katie have such a fun group of friends - we had a blast.

Playing games... with props, of course.

Saturday morning, we headed to the park where Jeff schooled everyone on the rock climbing wall.

Then we headed to see the Discount Tire hangar and chill out in the planes Jeff flies. 

Captain Aiden!

After a fun afternoon at the hangar and exploring Scottsdale, we headed to Harold's in Cave Creek.

Fun zip around the neighborhood in the rhino before we headed out on Sunday.

Aiden didn't want to leave! We had such a great time and can't wait to see them again for Thanksgiving. We were bummed Adam couldn't join us, but he's out of vacation days for the year. Boooo.

An Arizona Christmas

Adam and I were lucky enough to join the family on a trip to Phoenix, Arizona for a Baker family reunion over Christmas. I had never been to Arizona, and hadn't had the chance to really get to know the Baker side of the family, so I was especially excited for the trip.

After a long delay in Atlanta, we finally arrived in Phoenix at around 12:30am local time (2:30am Atlanta time). We obviously went straight to the hotel and passed out, since we had to be up and at the house at 8am the next morning for skydiving!

Friday, December 23
Today was skydiving day! Out of the 23 family members that were in town, 18 of us jumped (Thank you, Grandpa Baker!). Adam and I were part of the first of five groups to jump so it was a balmy 3 degrees when we jumped out of the plane. Seriously, so cold. I didn't think my hands were ever going to thaw out once I landed.

This was my third jump and Adam's first! Here we are defrosting after our jump.

All of the cousins jumped, and so did Grandpa Baker and his three kids (Liz, Susan and Dave). Here they are before Grandpa's jump.

And here's a picture of the original Baker sibs after they landed. They all got to go on the same trip, so that was fun!

It was a long day, especially after our super delayed flight, but it gave me time to get to know all of the other cousins which was awesome. Adam, who generally can't fall asleep anywhere but in a bed, fell asleep at the airport and the skydiving place (which was Skydive Phoenix, if you're interested).

Saturday, Christmas Eve
Merry Christmas Eve! We started the day with family pictures at The Baker's. I don't have a family shot to share, but here's one of me and Adam. Sorry your face is in the sun, Adam.

I also caught this picture of Adam and his cousin's daughter, Willow. She is too adorable, but is very wary of strangers so it took awhile for her to warm up to us. This picture really makes my heart melt! Adam is so adorable with little kids.

We spent the rest of the day at Dave's cousin's house - Mary Beth, and then went to a wonderful Christmas Eve Service at Grandma and Grandpa's church. Another great day of family fun!

Saturday, Christmas Day!
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas! We had another wonderful day with the Baker family, but it wouldn't be us if we didn't kick start the day with a little incident, would it? On our way to the house we were stopping at CVS for some chips and salsa (guilty) and some Benadryl (my skin does not do well with climate changes). So really, you could put all the blame on me for this one. Anyway, we were driving through the CVS parking lot, and all of a sudden Meagan screams. About .02 seconds later, we nailed a random, diamond median in the middle of the parking lot - and I'm pretty sure we caught some serious air. The poor car limps over to a parking spot, and we all get out to assess the damage. Turns out we popped two tires in the process of our unplanned joy ride...whoopsie! Adam and Nathan changed the tire in like 10 minutes - seriously so fast - and then we hobbled over to the Baker's house. I could go into more detail on what a hassle that incident caused, but I won't bore you with the details. Oh, and the CVS was closed.

We spent the day playing Dirty Santa and hanging out by the pool (jealous?), and then ate a delish Christmas dinner courtesy of the Leonards! I was also able to swing by Jack in the Box for a couple amazing post-dinner tacos.

However, it was never lost in the day what today, Christmas, is all about. We are so very thankful for all of the amazing blessings He has given us in our short lives, and constantly make a point to not take Him or any of His blessings for granted.

Our first Christmas as Bakers!

Monday, December 26
On our last day in Phoenix, the boys and girls split up to do what they do best: golf and shop. So the ladies headed to Old Town Scottsdale for the day. We ate Mexican food for lunch (all of my Arizona goals have now been accomplished!), and then walked and shopped for the rest of the afternoon. And of course we had to stop for ice cream and milkshakes!

We had such an amazing time in Arizona, and Adam and I are both so happy we got to spend some quality time with the extended Baker family! Thank you again, Grandpa and Grandma, for bringing us all together for the holidays!

Happy New Year!