A little late

SO, I haven't been on here in a while ... oops. I'll start off by saying that AZ was AMAZING!!!! I loved every minute, except when we were packing to leave.

My sister met us at the airport and then took us to her apartment, where we were greeted by Hurley, her dog. It was so nice to see my sister, I missed her so much! Yes, I cried. We had a bite to eat and crashed for the night.

The next day we went all around her town. We went to her school and walked around campus for a bit, saw her old apartment, and just took the change of scenery in. The skies are blue, palm trees and cacti everywhere, and mountains line the horizon....it was beautiful!! We had lunch at Saddle Ranch Chop House, which had a mechanical bull for guests to ride. My dad and I got sweet potato casserole - a tiny skillet filled with mashed sweet potatoes, candied pecans, and topped with roasted mini marshmallows!!! At the end of our meal the waiter brought out this huge silver martini glass looking container and it was piled high with cotton candy, and he said it was on the house!! BONUS!! After that we went to Scottsdale through the "tourist" area and looked at all the shops, as well as some pics with some statues:

Then after a great first day we went to the top of South Mountain to watch the sunset, and ended with sushi!

The following day we got ready and headed out to Sedona, the Red Rock Country. Wow. That place was breathtaking! We hiked some trails, took tons of pictures, and were amazed by the red rocks.

We stayed at a gorgeous hotel. After all the walking around and eating at the Red Planet Diner we went for a dip in the hot tub. There were 2 guys relaxing and wouldn't ya know, they were from MI. Sleeping that night was a chore. You see my dad snores REALLY loud. There we were 2 am and my dad is the only one sleeping, the rest of us trying to figure out ways to drown out the sound. The next day we were tired. We made a few pit stops to get a few souvenirs and then headed back to Phoenix to get ready for Jackie's Asian Convocation. It was a pleasant ceremony, complete with all of them receiving pins and becoming honorary junior deputies. :) We hit up the ASU store and Pat and I got Sun Devil t-shirts, and I bought ASU pins for my dad and sister.

Then we went to Organ Stop Pizza - my dad's new favorite restaurant :) They have tasty pizza and basically put on a concert while you dine. It is a Wurlitzer Theatrical Pipe Organ that comes up from the ground. It's really amazing! Oddly enough, my dad knew one of the organists; he is from MI. There were so many instruments that this one organ controlled - pianos, drums, symbols, accordions, horns, etc. And the guy playing was awesome. He didn't even have music in front of him, he was just taking requests and playing from memory - super impressive!

In no time, graduation day was upon us. Which was very bittersweet... I was beyond excited and proud of my sister, but it also meant it was the last day of our trip. BOO! The ceremony was really nice. My sister was the second person to receive her degree ... um yeah, we had to sit through all the other names. Luckily, we had our phones, so we were having text conversations and sending funny pics. After the last name was called and the last speaker spoke, we headed outside to find our girl and give her some congratulatory yellow roses, followed by picture taking!

Then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for celebratory drinks and appetizers, while Patrick announced her as "Master graduate coming through" to anyone who would listen. Jackie was mortified and Pat was pleased!

We decided to have a sunset dinner at Rustler's Roost. After we saw Horny the bull, the mascot out front in his bull pin, we walked in and thought about riding the slide to the lower level. Since my sister and I were in dresses, we opted out on the slide. We had a delicious dinner, and the view was perfect - the city with all the lights starting to come on and the sun setting across the mountains! I had the prime rib and it was yumm-oh!! Dinner was followed by complimentary cotton candy - I love AZ simply b/c they give out cotton candy at the end of meals!! Awesome!! And then we made our way back to Jackie's apartment, where we finally saw a gecko! It was on the ceiling above her doorway. It was sort of white/light pink...I think it was trying to blend in with the wall.

As we were watching TV, Pat suggested we pack our bags so we wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning before our flight...smart man! However, this made me realize that we were going to be leaving in less than 12 hours to go home. I cried. Which then made my dad tear up. I couldn't help it...we had a glorious few days with my sister and now it was almost over. Hurley could tell something was going on...he was glued to my side. When I started to cry he curled himself up by me and let me hold him. He's my favorite nephew. What no one knows is I cried myself to sleep, not looking forward to the next mornings events.

Jackie made us protein pancakes and a huge bag of trail mix and we headed to the airport. More tears. She said she would come home for a visit sometime in July so there was no need to cry. Um, does she know who we are?! We are La Maire's, there will be crying! So we said our goodbyes and went through security. We landed in Chicago and grabbed a bite to eat. Then made our way to our next flight to head back to the mitten. Then our luggage was lost. But it was at our door the next day! I left a book on the plane, oops. I still haven't tracked it down yet, but I still have hope! Jackie was the best hostess ever!! She really made our vacation amazing and one I will never forget!! Love you sis!!!!