Leeza meets her Great Grandma!!

My grandma turned 90 on October 16th and we all flew into Phoenix for the big celebration! I had not seen my Grandma since we left for Kazakhstan 2 years ago. She had never met Leeza. It was such a wonderful celebration. She looks AMAZING and her memory is still sharp as a tack. I am really praying that I got some of her genes. :) It was a wonderful celebration and my aunt did a great job coordinating it all. As little girls dressed up in fancy dresses do, Leeza "stole" the show...all the ladies in Royal Oaks retirement center were "oohing and ahhing" over the lil girl dressed up like a princess. However, I was MOST proud of Sean. He sat at a differnet table from us when we arrived Friday night and went to Olive Garden with everyone, and a different table at the birthday lunch the next day. Everyone that met him came and complimented us on how friendly, adult, and conversational he was with people he didn't know. I was really proud of him. Leeza has a ways to go in that department. :)








Since we flew all the way to Arizona, we decided we should stay a couple extra days and see the sights. We drove to Sedona on Sunday night and spent Monday at the Grand Canyon, then Tuesday out and about Sedona, then back to Phoenix for a visit with the Tennens, and their daughter Rylie, another Kaz cutie who was adopted from Astana.
Taking a 3 year old to Grand Canyon and Sedona was probably not the best idea I've ever had, but it was so breathtakingly beautiful and such a wonderful change of scenery for the Floridians it was still worth it, even though Sean and Joe say they will NEVER GO ON VACATION WITH LEEZA AGAIN UNTIL SHE'S 10!





Even though Leeza was kind of a PITA (Pain In the A$$), I did love having Sean away from his school, friends, xbox, and Leeza away from her princess movies, normal routine because they played so cute together. Sean is really a sweet boy..and really good with his sister. When she wanted carried and I was like "NO, YOU CAN WALK", her big brother would always carry her. She is a lucky lil girl. Of course, he also told her she was "challenged, had no friends, and is spiteful" when she acted like a diva, and wouldn't listen. She just loves to TAKE OFF, as in, open the hotel room door and go down the hall. Lordy, she keeps us on our toes. :)








As we've now been home for 4 days, I'm already forgetting what a pain Leeza was and just remembering what a special time we had as a family. :) I am sure this is why I don't remember Sean and all the antics he pulled at 3, but I do think he was much more chill than his wild and crazy sister. :)














Sedona was BEAUTIFUL! We took a pink jeep tour, and Leeza was actually really good, confined to car seat and just seemed to chill and take in the beautiful scenery! The lil town of Sedona is beautiful and quaint, but Leeza is not very adept at "looking ONLY with her eyes". :)






















The end of our trip was also a highlight--we got to visit with the Tennen family...the spunky Rylie, age 3 1/2 , born in Astana, and her mom Sara (pregnant with her brother or sister due May 1st) and her hubby Adam. The girls got a long immediately and they had a blast playing at the park, then we had a quick dinner. It was a perfect way to end our trip. :)