You Made MY Day

You always here about those amazing stories that happen to people...they get into Disneyworld for FREE, they win the lottery, they get upgraded to a Penthouse suite at the hotel for no extra charge because their room was given to someone else - and then you think, "Why doesn't stuff like that ever happen to me?"  Well, it was finally our turn!!!  Before coming to Vegas, Becky started coordinating a surprise flight, for her and Brayden, to go on a grand canyon flight tour.  Our friend, KC Morgan, is the pilot - so he could get them an amazing deal (1/3 the cost) of the actual flight if they went on standby.   Well, the time came for the flight and it looked like there were enough seats for Laura and the kids to go too - so we said, OH YEAH...it was going to cost quite a bit (even with the discount), but this was a once in a lifetime experience!  Plus, Preston just mentioned the other day, "I have never been on an airplane.  I want to go on an airplane." So, this was a great opportunity for him to get his chance to fly in an airplane.  Well, when it came time to actually get checked in and board...they were one seat short.  Someone would have to stay behind.   Bummer.  So, Laura had to make a difficult decision...does she let all three kids go without her?  Do I wait for another flight?  Do I pay all that money?  Well, right at that moment...the ticket counter agent said, "You know...we have had a really BAD morning.  If we have had a bad morning, it sure is possible that you could have had a bad morning too....so we are going to make this a great day for you.  We are going to let your flight be FREE today.  WHAT??? WHAT??? Are you for real?  This was amazing...you sure did make my day!  We couldn't believe our luck!  At full price...we are talking like a $1,500 value here...no small pennies....  So, needless to say, Laura put all 3 kids on the flight.  Becky and Brayden agreed to take the children with them on the free ride -  Laura and Detric would stay behind and wait for their return.  As they all went out to the plane to board, Laura and Detric went outside to take pictures of them boarding.  When what to my wondering eyes should appear????  One of the fellow passengers, was talking to KC, shaking his head and heading back to the terminal....what was going on??  KC turned to Laura and Detric and waved us back inside.  He told Laura that one of the passengers backed out and said that he didn't want to go.  That NEVER happens..but, that means that a seat opened up for her!  Is this really happening??? What the luck!  The next thing we knew, we were all in the airplane, taking off and heading on a plane tour of the grand canyon, with our friend, KC Morgan as pilot!  Amazing... Thank you KC - you are a great pilot...and thank you Scenic Airlines for Making our DAY..  we will never forget the day!

Brayden bought snacks! At first Laura thought he was crazy, feeding kids a bunch of sugar and then confine them to a seat inside an airplane....hmm.... but in the rush of it all, we failed to eat lunch.  So...yummy lunch!  The flight was a little bumpy at times, and Laura sure was grateful for Brayden at that moment!  The water he bought during the snack time was the only thing that saved her from loosing her breakfast! So, THANK YOU BRAYDEN, you saved the day!

Aparri loves shoes...if she has a choice between a new toy and a pair of shoes (or a swimsuit) she will choose the shoes/ swimsuit every time.  She has so many favorites, that she can't decide which to wear...so if we leave the house too quickly and Laura doesn't check her feet... more likely than not...she will be wearing 2 separate shoes!  Oh....Aparri!

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The flight was and hour and a 1/2 long.  On the way back, most of the plane was asleep!

After we landed, KC let the kids hop up into the cockpit and take a quick look around!  Pretty cool stuff!

CANNON BALL....

Becky came down to Vegas for one last trip before we move, and brought a BOY!  We have been hearing all about him.... so now we got to meet him!  We were excited to have Becky and Brayden come and stay.  During their visit, we had a backyard fire and cookout and several pool parties complete with a cannon ball war...who could make the biggest cannon ball!  Well, some judges think that Clay won, others say Brayden won...so we shall call it a tie!  We even got some of the other pool dwellers to do some wild jumps with us!  It was a wild and crazy day at the pool bustin' our moves!

Letting Loose at the Pool

Pool?  Did you say Pool?  The magic words!  The kids love the Pool, so when we got to the hotel and said POOL...they were thrilled to be out of the car and splashing in the water again!  Oh..BEWARE.. there is a shark in the pool!! (Preston loves to swim around and pretend he is a shark by putting his hand straight up like the dorsal fin of a shark and swim around!  He also puts a swim torpedo into his mouth and swims around ... it is his "breathing tube" ...like a scuba diver!  That boy has an imagination...)

Zipping across Williams, AZ

Our fantastic realtor, Daryl Loewen, recommended that we stay in this quaint town of Williams, AZ on our way back to Vegas.  It is just down the road from the grand canyon.  So, we did just that!  It was a neat little town, with fun shops, cafes, street shows, etc.  As we walked to the restaurant for dinner, the kids saw a zipline that went the length a few blocks of the town right over us.  We all stood and watched it for a few minutes.  The kids voiced that they thought it would be fun!  Well, after dinner, it was dark, but the kids wanted a closer look of the zip line.  So we went over to take a look.  Well, it was reasonably priced (and Laura got to ride free...Mom's ride free..how about that!)   So we asked the kids if they REALLY wanted to ride it, if we bought the tickets, they were going.. no backing out.  The boys ho hummed about it, not sure, but Aparri was a full on YES, and very adamant about it. " I want to go... I want to go...I want to go. " (Laura thought for sure, she would be in tears by the time it was over)...but after seeing Aparri's enthusiasm, the boys agreed to go too.  So off we went to ride the zipline!  Aparri and Laura went first.   The zip up to the highest point was fun, and Aparri was lovin' every minute.  When they got to the highest point, the ride held them there.  Laura started to get uneasy, not feeling very secure, and just wanted to get down...when she turned to see how Aparri was holding up - expecting to see a scared little girl.. However, to Laura's shock, Aparri was smiling ear to ear, head cocked back yelling, THIS IS AWESOME!!! THIS IS AWESOME!!  Laura couldn't believe what she was seeing, her little 3 year old girl was doing better than she was!  As they sped back down the line, Aparri continued to love it to the end and wanted to go again!  The boys also enjoyed the ride, but didn't express the same zeal and bravery that our little woman displayed!  Go Aparri, show up those boys!

The Grandest "Hole"

Since none of us have ever physically been to the Grand Canyon (Clay has flown over it) we felt it would be a bloomin' shame to be this close to it and not go.  So we took another little gander off the beaten path to look at yet another hole!  And WOW..what a hole!  Nothing could have prepared us for the size and magnitude of the view.  Everyone said it was big, but wow....it is really beyond words.  It is honestly something you just have to experience for yourself.  Preston's first comment was, "Is that real?"  It didn't look real.  It looked like someone had just painted on a large board before us...it was hard to internalize the grandeur of the whole thing.  Was it worth the extra drive?  Absolutely.  Was it impressive, undoubtedly!  And we just saw a small smidgin' of the whole thing!   Clay and Laura could have stayed all day and gawked at the awesomeness ... however, the kids were done well before they were.  We had to compromise - we made them stay longer than they wanted to, but not as long as we could have!  As we were walking back to the car, the kids' interest peaked when they saw a live elk.  Those boys' hands instantly became guns...and they pretended to hunt it down.  Heaven help us!  Hopefully there weren't any wild animal lovers around us that we offended! 

**Laura has a theory... a fun theory, but a theory.  She says that when God created the earth, he scooped out the grand canyon and plopped it Nevada and created Valley of Fire!  That is why there are little droplets of red rock along the area, it dropped off as he was carrying it across the state to Red Rock and Valley of Fire!   Fun thoughts! **

*** I think we have a budding photographer!  Preston wanted to take some pictures...so he took the upclose pictures of his brother, Detric.  And they turned out pretty cute, clear, perfection!  Good job Preston!  It is interesting to see things in the eyes of a child.  I am impressed by some of the pictures the kids take!