Sister Trip - December 2009

At the beginning of December, Henry got to come with me to my annual "Sister Trip" with my mom and five sisters.  This year it was in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Henry was such a good little traveler.  He loves airplanes, and he couldn't believe that we actually got to go on one:

We had a layover in Dallas for a few hours, so he had fun playing around at the airport.  Our connection to Phoenix didn't leave until after 10 p.m. - I think that's the latest he's ever stayed up.  Luckily he fell asleep pretty much as soon as we took off. 

Chillin' with Aunt Marian the next morning:

We were all excited to start right off with giving our "sister gifts".  Here we are in our new pajamas from Christine and my mom:

The rest of the gifts:

Henry and his cousin Orva (she's only a few weeks younger than he is).  This window was his favorite spot to hang out - he would stand there and yell about any cars or trucks that went by.

Stuck in the bumbo.  I think this was my favorite spot for him to hang out.  Why have I never gotten one of these for any of my five kids?  These things are awesome. 

My brother Alex had just gotten back from a mission to Thailand a few weeks before, so we invited him to come down to Arizona with us as an honorary member just for this year.  It was so fun seeing him again and hearing about his mission, and Henry was thrilled to have another guy around (he was missing his dad). 

All ready for church - my sister Eliza lives about 45 minutes away from Scottsdale, so we all went to her Sacrament meeting.

The four little cousins who were there.  Alexander, Orva, Henry, and Alice:

Sunday pictures at Eliza's house:

Mom and her girls, in age order:  (L-R) Mom, Laura, Rebekah, Eliza, Joanne, Marian, Christine

Just the girls.  Between us we have 20 kids (and Bekah and Christine are pregnant).  It was nice to have a little break with only the babies there:

With Alex:

All together:

After dinner we drove to the Mesa Temple to see all the Christmas lights.  Henry loved it!

More cousin fun:

Getting a haircut from Aunt Laura:

Enjoying one of the many spinach smoothies we made:

Eliza's husband Brent just bought a chiropractic practice, so on one of the days we all went over to check it out (and get massages from the massage therapist who works there).  Henry had fun playing with all the equipment:

Alex helped with childcare while we were getting our massages:

The seasoned traveler, on his way home:

I love my mom and sisters, and we have such a good time when we're together.  I always wish we lived closer together so we could hang out all the time.