that arizona sun

this weekend steven took me to Arizona to meet his family.

to say i had a good time would be an understatement.

my second graders would know to use words like excellent, spectacular, and magnificent to describe it, but i still feel like those aren't quite good enough!

so here's how it went.

friday

i woke up at 3.40 am so i could shower and be ready to leave at 4.15 am.  yeah.  thanks, steven.

i don't think i've ever been more tired in my life.

but it was totally worth it.

so worth it, in fact, that i would do it again!

steven's parents picked us up from the airport and took us to Paradise Bakery for breakfast.  yum!

after stopping home, we hiked up the mountain so we could see all of phoenix.

we picked up his sisters from school then made paninis.  steven and i taught the fam how to play rummikub.  dangerous.  i think it is safe to say this kendrick family favorite is now a hopper family favorite, too.

we played at the park.  the girls were swinging.  the boys were playing basketball.

then lauren and i went to a suns game.

oooooh yeah. steven was just a wee bit jealous.  he's kind of (a lot) obsessed with the suns.

thanks lauren!

saturday

michael, steven, and i went to ihop for breakfast. yum!  michael is probably the funniest boy, i'm sorry, man i know.

lauren, steven and i went shopppppppping! lauren and i are in love with the same things.  i think steven may have been regretting his decision to go shopping with us. i'm sorry, steven. 

andrea, steven, and i went to gap and got andi some super cute flats.  2 pair!  then we got free jamba juice from lauren.  

{yes, that means all we did for saturday, so far, was eat and shop.  so what?}

later that evening we picked up some dinner and ate it at grandma hopper's casa.  steven and i went on a little double date with his parents.  we went back go grandma hopper's to pick up andi and michael.  but before we left we chatted and looked at some pictures.  and then michael decided to take a picture of all of us.  it was the most entertaining and hilarious 5 minutes of my life.  thank you michael.  you sacrificed your head for that.

don't we look so happy to be together in this picture? 

sunday

always my favorite day of the week.

we had a fabulous french toast breakfast. {french toast + nutella = love}

we went to church.  the speakers were incredible.

i got to go to young women's {that's the 12-18 year old girls} with lauren and her mom.  first time back in 6 years.  now that's old.

after church we made a delicious dinner.  his family and some friends came over.  we ate, played rummikub, and chatted.

steven and i went for a nice little drive around phoenix.

then we had a nice conversation with his parents.

life is looking great.

monday

i was not looking forward to this day.  the weekend was too good.

first, steven and i made a quick trip to the mall for something.

then we took some pictures.

and theeeen {teacher voice}, we said our goodbyes and went to the airport.

aaaaand we got paradise bakery while we waited.

and then we took some pictures on the plane.

and steven knew one of the guys on the plane, so naturally he did what any plane steward you know would do.  he gave us a huge bag of peanuts.  and he said goodbye to us over the intercom when we were leaving. who needs business class?

to sum it up: the weekend was greater than i thought it could be.  i loved every minute it of it.  from scandalous plays to crazy rock band shows to grandmas sitting on heads to early early plane flights. 

 hopper family: i love you.