Spring Break Part Two

Mack and I celebrated his last week of Spring Break with a trip to Mesa, Arizona to visit my family, shop, and relax. Here were the highlights:
My Grandma and Grandpa moved down to Mesa almost two years ago. So sad when they moved, so it was great to be able to spend some time with them. G&G were soo nice and took Mack all day Friday while I was away at my convention. They spoiled him with a movie, swimming and a HUGE sucker. He had so much fun with them. Grandma and I also spent Sunday afternoon looking at old photographs from when she was little and talking about all the fun memories we have shared over the years. Mack even got treated to a haircut by my Grandpa! Such a special time. Grandma--I love you so much:) Thanks for EVERYTHING!!!!

One of the original purposes of the trip was to go to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Mesa. I have gone to this convention the last few years, and just love it. It is one of my favorite ways to recharge my creative batteries. I took a handful of super fun classes, and shopped at the amazing vendor fair they sponsor every year. Got tons of cute Bazzill paper for super cheap, and stocked up on a bunch of Heidi Swapp stuff (my favorite!). I drug my aunt to the Scrapbooks Etc. as well in Mesa. A must if you are ever down that way.

My aunt and I also hit one of the best malls ever in Scottsdale. It had a smattering of stores that are completely out of reach (Carolina Herrera, Tod's, Louis Vuitton) but are sooo fun to walk through along with some personal favorites (a three story Banana, two story abercrombie kids and a huge Gap). We hit a bunch and then relaxed at the Kona Grill afterwards. We then drove around Scottsdale for a while and took in all the sights.

Another fun highlight was going to church with my Grandma and seeing my cousin who is on his mission in Mesa. I haven't seen him in almost two years, and spied him when we went into Sacrament Meeting. He came to talk to us for just a second--he is just so cute. I am excited for him to come home. We also were able to hear a great speaker that had just come home from his mission in Montreal. He spoke a bit of French, and entertained us with a few stories of life in Montreal. I sort of have come to the realization that with the dollar exchanging so horribly, I probably won't be able to go to anywhere cool and foreign for a very, very long time, so it was fun to live vicariously through his stories. He also did this very cool object lesson with a Rubix Cube. He talked about how little pieces of the priesthood became confounded, and had the bishop mix up the Rubix Cube for about three minutes while he talked. He then talked about how the priesthood was restored, and put the cube back together while talking. Holy cow--impressive. It was the best(and most entertaining) talk I have heard in a very long time.

My last best memory was just all the fun time I got to spend with Mack. It was so nice to just hang out with him and talk. We played our DS's, went to bed early, and chattered away about his little life. Loved it:) Can't wait for next year.