white waxflower

Last Friday we made the trek from San Diego to Scottsdale, which takes you on an absolutely breathtaking route right along side part of the wilderness of Mexico, to go stay with my brother and his wife, and their adorable son Connor.

The trip takes you through everything from green mountains to sand dunes, but my favorite part was the rocks.

My parents and my younger brothers and sister flew in to join us, and we had a great time celebrating an early Thanksgiving. My little nephew (who is getting a new sibling in June!) is getting sooooo big so quickly, and learning so many new tricks:)

Such as his "fish face", which he is demonstrating here for my brother John.

But the highlight of the trip was getting to be there while my parents raced in, and completed, an Ironman triathlon. For those of you not familiar, that means that in one day they swam 2.4 miles, then hopped on bikes and cycled 112 miles, then hopped off the bikes and ran 26.2 miles. That's them in the picture, running through the finish line holding hands:) I really can't tell you how amazing it was to be there with my husband, sister-in-law, and siblings, watching them run through the finish line, hearing the announcer say their names, hometown, and then shout "You ... are .... an ... IRONMAN!" I get chills just thinking about it! I am so unbelievably proud of them. They are total rockstars!