Arizona!

Please pardon my lack of posting lately! I was quite under the weather in early April. God graciously healed me just in time for Edmund and me to fly to Arizona to spend some time here:


My longtime friend, Jessica, and her daughter M. (three weeks younger than Edmund) joined us there, as well as Jessica's older sister. This trip was courtesy of said sister as a birthday gift to Jessica. It wasn't my birthday but I sure felt like it was! We stayed in a beautiful rental home, decorated in a luxurious "Old European" style.


Not exactly kid-friendly, but with a few strategic rearrangements we managed. Edmund and M. are so close in age and they were often interested in getting into the same things, but we could definitely see differences in their personalities already. So fun!


One of my favorite experiences of the trip was making homemade lemonade from lemons we picked ourselves, right off the tree! That was such a novel experience for a Midwesterner. :) Not to mention the result was delicious.

I really enjoyed having a "feminine" vacation -- a.k.a. a lot of relaxing, resting, a little shopping, enjoying the good company and good food, etc. My husband was chiding me for not getting out and seeing the scenery but I told him we could do that next time when he's with me. ;) Edmund saw so many new things and we did some fun activities for the toddlers, like going to the park and a children's museum.


Flying is not my favorite thing to do and I was nervous about traveling by myself, with a toddler, but God gave me so many traveling mercies, not to mention the wonderful opportunity in the first place. Thank you, Lord!