"umpa" and "nana's" house

:) for the past five days we've been in arizona. it was a last minute trip we needed to make. my parents needed help with quite a few things but mostly geneology work...plus we wanted to surprise my dad for his birthday. thankfully, i didn't have to make the trip alone with two small children. my wonderful husband drove us down to arizona and then drove back up the next day to get to work. but isaiah, makayah and i stayed behind. monday and tuesday we were engulfed in family history. i am in the process of completing several volumes of family history books for my mom's side and my dad's side. they were quite overwhelmed and not sure where to begin. in 2006, we submitted 56 names. just this past week we submitted 78 names. my dad had been asking me to get him more names to do and so i surprised him with a new stack of names for his birthday. whew! now the work begins. on tuesday we drove out to canyon de chelly to meet up with his long lost relatives. "grandma irene" took us down into the canyon to meet up with her daughters who all helped us fill out our blank family history sheets. the canyon was gorgeous and the kids had so much fun playing in the streams. we did so much driving i can't even remember everything that went on. at the end of the day, we drove to cottonwood so my grandma brown could meet makayah for the first time. i remember going to my grandma brown's house quite often as a child. my brothers and i would run around in the hills, get the sheep to suck on our fingers, feed the rabbits, wrestle with the rams, and ride the horses. being there brought back so many memories. the sad part is, all the corrals are empty now. isaiah asked why they were gone and unfortunately the only answer i had was, "grandma brown is too old to have animals now." "BUT WHY?" because, because, because. i did get to take him up the small hill we used to play house on...for some reason, it seemed so much bigger back then. i never imagined i would be taking my son walking on that same trail. and as for makayah, she kept trying to run off into the distance chasing the tabby cat. during this trip to arizona i took quite a few pictures and i had to laugh at makayah. her dishelveled hair, messy face, and bare feet reminded me of someone. i always wondered why my mom let me run around looking like a tumbleweed all the time. and now i know...she tried. I tried. i fix makayah's hair, dress her up, put her socks and shoes on...and still, she manages to undo all my efforts and comes out looking like a tumbleweed by noon. anyway, the trip has been very productive. we've had a great time being with family...especially the kids. isaiah clings to "umpa" wanting to mimick all the things "umpa" does, like hauling wood or playing baseball. makayah won't let nanna out of her sight and demands all her attention. but as much fun as we've had...we miss our daddy. WE'RE COMING HOME DADDY! p.s. my sister renee found a trapped chipmunk in the laundry room. the kids thought he was a riot! especially isaiah...after watching alivin and the chimpunks. i'll upload more pics and videos as soon as i get home.