Christmas in Arizona

Christmas this year was very different from other years. Since Brad and I recently moved to Arizona and my dad has a timeshare, it was decided that everyone would come to us to celebrate Christmas. I think everyone was hoping for much warmer weather here in Arizona, but for some reason the week that they were here it never got warmer than 64 degrees. Of course the week after they left it was in the 70's for two weeks straight!! Anyways, my family stayed in a condo just a few miles away and we had a great time visiting, playing card games, guitar hero, and other games and eating lots and lots of good food. After this Christmas I have definitely gained a whole new appreciation for everything that my mother, aunts, and grandma's have done year after year to make family time during the holidays a food-filled time. It is A LOT of work! Even though I had tons of help from my sisters and mom, I felt like I spent half of the time they were visiting in the kitchen! It was an eye opener and I will never slack off again when my mom is slaving in the kitchen for those of us that are visiting. Aside from that it was a really fun time and I just love my family to death! I cannot get enough of them and it hurts every time I have to say goodbye. I would do anything to live within a couple hours from them. We all have such a close bond and it just feels good to be with them. Even though any time is a good time with my family, I do sort of regret the fact that Brad and I did not know the Phoenix area better because it felt like we did not do enough interesting or really fun things while they were here. I know that they were not worried about that and we all still had a good time, but I think from now on I will stick with going to Kansas for Christmas. There is just no place like home (my old home) for the holidays!