dunning clan in az

We were excited to have my family here the week of New Year's.  My brothers and their families arrived on Monday evening, the 30th, and my sister flew in late Tuesday night (actually very early on Wednesday, the 1st).   Rob and I planned all sorts of outdoor activities (hoping to wear the kids out).  On Tuesday morning (the 31st), we went hiking up San Tan Mountain.  It was very sunny and not ideal for photos, but I got a few with my phone.  Don't we look cute in our festive 'Arizona' shirts? 

 

Katherine, Mark, Tams, Rob, Todd, Tracey

Most of our group (Mark was taking the photo) at the top of the mountain:

 The cute cousins:

Tyra, Rylan, Taylor, Adler, Burke, Eliza
Cami, Brock, Hewitt, Liv, and Tosh

 

A rare moment when these two weren't 'giving me the business'

Post hike:

Tuesday afternoon we began our ping pong tournament (we had two official brackets, and it was double elimination):

Taylor vs Tracey

 

Tuesday afternoon, the gang played a game of "mission" at our neighborhood park (the adults were sore the next couple of days), and there were lots of scraped up legs from hiding in bushes...

 

Our cousin Bob joined us that night for pulled pork sandwiches and frog eye salad.  It was fun to visit with him and hear some interesting stories.  We then played various games into the New Year, and Todd and Mark drove to the airport to get Mindy.

 

On Wednesday, we went to a nearby school where some played tennis, others walked the track, and others played at the playground.  That afternoon we went to a different park (the "dump" park) and played Frisbee golf.  Bob returned for dinner that evening (to get a chance to visit with Mindy) and we had Dutch oven bread and cowboy (chicken) stew.  We stayed up late again playing games and visiting that night.

 

We took it pretty easy on Thursday morning.  We completed our ping pong tournament, and Mindy was kind enough to give my boys haircuts.  We played a big group game of "Big Booty" and then headed to the Gilbert Temple site.  We took a couple of photos before heading to a nearby movie theatre:



 

We split up to see two different movies; the two Dunning couples went to see "Saving Mr. Banks" while Mindy, me, Rob, and all the kids went to see "Frozen."    We all met up at Organ Stop Pizza for dinner.  Besides being very disappointed that I didn't hear my request of "Copacabana," it was a great night. 


We played more games that evening (I never knew teenage boys could laugh so much), and then everyone headed home on Friday morning.  It was a really nice week, and it was great to be together.  I really missed Mindy's family and McKaylynn (Mark's oldest)... not to mention our folks.

Thanks for coming down, everyone!  Until next time.   XOXO