Mesa with Mimi

A couple weeks ago Ellie and I got on an airplane and did our, what seems like millionth, flight from Boston to Phoenix.  We are getting quite good at maneuvering the airport and security just the two of us lol.  She was such a good girl, like always, and we made it to Arizona safe and sound. 

I had to take my end of rotation exams, so my mom came out to take care of Ellie for me.  Ellie hadn't seen her Mimi since September (besides seeing her pretty much everyday on skype) and she was very excited indeed.  Jaxy came too and boy was Ellie in heaven. She still is...so much attention, so little time.  She is so the princess :) 

Mimi took the kids to the children's museum in Phoenix, which is one of our all time favorite spots to play with the kiddos, I highly recommend it.  Apparently Ellie couldn't get enough of that place. It makes me sad that I missed the adventure but I love that she had a blast.

Have I mentioned recently that she is getting too big, too fast and that I am shocked at how smart the little one has gotten.  I just finished my pediatrics rotation and am well aware of the verbal milestones of a fifteen month old. And they only are supposed to be saying a handful of words. My child is saying everything from peek a boo to shoe.  In just the past week she has been picking up on so many new words and is surprising me everyday. Recently she has been saying "oww-yyy" to everything she doesn't want.  If she doesn't want a shirt on..."oww-yyy", if she doesn't want her socks on..."oww-yyy", if she doesn't want to be in her car seat..."oww-yy". It is getting quite manipulative.  Her dad is going to be shocked at how her vocabulary has grown in the week and a half we have been apart.

While Mommy and Ellie have been busy play play playing in the beautiful California sunshine, Leon has been finishing up his finals. He will be coming to join us for the Christmas festivities in California tomorrow. Woo-hoo! In fact he is now officially done with his first semester at Harvard Law and I am honestly so proud at how hard he has worked. He is such a smarty and is still able to balance church, family and BYU sports all on his plate lol.

We are so excited to get to spend time with our families and be on the west coast! I can't tell you how many things are different from coast to coast.  Leon and I used to think we could live in New York for a couple of years and then come back to the west coast, but now we are prepared to do whatever it takes to get back here as soon as possible. Maybe it's just missing our wonderful families, or the palm trees, or the organized roads, or the space (I finally feel like I can breathe again after four months of suffocation in Boston), or maybe even just the ability to have a superficial conversation with someone who isn't ridiculously brilliant lol (Trust me there is not much of this in Cambridge Massachusetts).

Anyways Happy Holidays we love and miss you all!! 

PS have I proclaimed my love for Mitt Romney lately? And my abhorrence for the Newt? What is happening to the republican party? I am disgusted and appalled at what is happening in the polls...you people are almost moving me to write another poem...