Family means Everything!

I am sitting here in the guest room at Bill's brother's house.  We have been here since Thursday and we are having such a wonderful visit with his family.  Such a fun, warm-hearted family.  I'm actually ashamed that we have not been here to visit sooner, it's been 3 years since our last trip to Arizona.   We need to come visit more often -- Family is much too important!    We have been having a pretty mellow visit, not a lot of plans, just visiting.  Our previous visits (two of them) have been touring the Grand Canyon & Sedona  or involved with Wedding Plans when Bill's sister got married 3 years ago.  This time, it's just chillax time.  Something that we don't get to do very often.

We got in late Thursday- it was close to 9pm by the time we got to the house, such a long travel day.  We left our house at 1030am, had a 1pm flight that was delayed until 145pm- then it took over an hour to get the bags and rental car which put is in the heart of rush hour traffic in Phoenix,.  We finally got to Walmart around 7pm to do our nephew gift shopping and pick up a few grocery items which put us at Bill's family house around 830pm-9pm.  Luckily, the nephews don't have school on Fridays, so one was up, the other got up momentarily to say hello and we did get to visit some before crashing for the night.    Friday I overslept my alarm, but still managed to wake up early enough to still get to the gym in Prescott to take two classes.  I took a Body Pump class and then Body Flow.  Both classes were excellent and it was fun to take classes instead of teaching them.  Body Flow was AWESOME!!  I have loved teaching Yoga in the past, but have not loved taking Yoga from other instructors because classes can be so different one from the next.  Well Body Flow was so close to the yoga formats that I've taught, I felt like I was home again.  It was such an amazing class and I loved it!!   Two great instructors who team taught both classes (husband & wife)- they were super welcoming and I felt like I was at home.  Several regular gym members welcomed me and introduced themselves to me as I was definitely a "new face" to them.  The benefits of a small town!

I ran some errands on my way back to the in-laws house and then hung out with the family- mostly the nephews who were busy playing with their remote control combat trucks that Bill & I had bought for them- they loved their gifts!  It's fun to see them playing with them day after day!   Had a nice day, I felt super proud that I had gone to the gym, got my groove on and didn't feel guilty about enjoying the food and drink for the night!    Today the family was waking up fairly early for us (830am)- but that's sleeping in for most of Bill's family, so we got up, relaxed and eventually made it out to a local winery for wine tasting.  We are spoiled in California with the wine options, it was fun to get out and experience something - but our wines are superior!   The family made a great dinner: - roasted chickens,  baked potatoes, salad, homemade dinner rolls and then my sisters-in-law (Debbie & Sheila) surprised us with a cake- it was a "Happy Anniversary" cake with Mom & Day in big print..but then Cami & Fritz on one corner and Bill & Pam on the other corner- to celebrate all three of our anniversaries, even though ours was months ago.   I was very touched by this, it was very thoughtful to have included us in this, since we are not around when our anniversary takes place.  We ended the night after everyone dispersed back to their homes (all on the same property) in the hot tub.  Bill's brother Fritz & his wife Cami and the two of us sat out there, enjoying the hot tub and great conversation, while enjoying the beautiful night sky!  We saw at least 4 shooting stars and the amount of stars in general that we could see was unlike anything I've ever experienced.  They really do live in the boondocks where you don't have street lights and the night sky just illuminates the area!  Plus you are about 6000 feet closer to the stars than what we are used do with living at sea level.   It was simply spectacular!   So relaxing and enjoyable.

I am happy to say that when I weighed in before leaving on Thursday, the scale said 165- this meant 29 pounds lost to date and I was thrilled!!  I can confidently say I'm in the 160's and can feel good that the number will only go down- in other words, I won't be in the 170's again...EVER!    I am managing my weekly points pretty well.  I'm not getting a ton of activity this weekend, but didn't expect to.  Maybe tomorrow, Bill & I can go for a walk, we'll see.

All in all, this has been a great weekend and I am so happy that we get this time to spend with Bill's family.  I am spoiled that we live so close to my family and can see them as often as we wish.  Tonight we took a ton of family portraits- all the siblings, then siblings with spouses, then all girls, then all boy, then all in-laws....you get the idea, but it was fun and we were all cracking up so much that I doubt we have any photos where everyone is all smiling perfectly at the camera at the same time...too much laughter.  But it was a lot of fun!  I will upload some in a few days when we get back home!   One more day before we make the trek back home.  I fear the work that will be waiting for me when I get back.  It's going to be a busy one!