Scottsdale Cottonwoods

Nov. 22-24: Our suite of rooms at Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort

I know I'm a little obsessed with the hotels and resorts we stay at. It's just that I never stayed in a hotel during my childhood. When our family traveled, we either stayed at the homes of relatives or camped out in a tent. So the idea of a hotel room seemed rather exotic and even a little intimidating.

The living room of our suite

I was 18 the first time I stayed in a hotel room, for 4 days back in 1973. It was an amazing experience! That's when my best friend Peggi and I were stalking the Osmond Brothers. We followed them to Las Vegas and we stayed at Caesars palace. And, yes, we did eventually meet them and spent enough time with some of them to get to know them. But that's another story...

The "kitchen" (actually a small wet bar) in our suite

Back to the present: I originally planned to drive down to Mesa (a 3-hour drive) and back, all in one day, to attend Riley and Celesta's wedding and reception. That would have been a grueling trip, getting up by 4am and leaving at 5am to attend the 9am wedding; then leaving after the reception ended at 9pm and getting back home around 1am. Not my idea of a good time, but being divorce-lawyer-poor these days, I saw no other choice.

The bedroom with 2 double beds is in the next room.

Then my daughter Sarah offered to pay for the hotel. Since we were driving down together, she really didn't want to get up that early, so I took her up on it. (She also paid for half the gas.)

We went to our lucky website, priceline.com, and bid on a hotel. It took us several tries, but we got this nice suite--more like a small apartment--in Scottsdale for just $34 per night.

The bedroom had a very nice open ceiling.

So I took one bed, Chris and Sarah took the other, and Dylan got the couch. The beds were pretty comfy.

The bathroom and dressing area

This resort has been around for years. It covers an area of many acres. The staff uses golf carts to ferry their visitors around the grounds.

Since we stopped in Mesa first on Friday night to help a bit with decorating for the reception, it was well after dark when we arrived at the resort around 10:30. It had also been raining nonstop all day and all night, so we were drenched by the time we followed a series of trails to our suite. We should have asked for a cart ride!

The pool was right across the sidewalk from our suite.

The grounds were quite beautiful, though. In the daylight hours it was well worth the walk. Except when I slipped on the sidewalk as we were walking to the car on our way to the wedding Saturday morning.

 

I was in my purple dress and black heels when my shoe hydroplaned! There was no preventing it; I was going down! Luckily, I still have good balance and managed to fall in such a way that I only landed on my bum and the side of my left calf. Only my ego was bruised.

More scenes of the beautiful grounds near our suite

We did miss the first snowfall at home while we were away. It was pouring rain when we left home, and we dealt with heavy rain, hail, and and thick fog (driving through the clouds that settled on the mountain tops) all the way to the Valley.

 

While we were at the luncheon on Saturday afternoon, Dylan texted Jacob back at home and asked what the weather was like. Jacob texted back that it was snowing hard! I do love the first snow of the season, but this time we were missing it for the best of reasons.

 

We headed back toward home about 2:00 on Sunday afternoon, and once we were past Globe-Miami we began to see the snow-covered mountains ahead along the road home. We got home just a bit after 5pm.

Clouds cover the top of this mountain.



 

I did try to be frugal for this trip. Eating out while traveling gets a little spendy. Sarah and I each made a tray of deviled eggs, which took care of our Saturday and Sunday morning breakfasts.

 

It was awfully tempting to stop for dinner in Miami on Friday night to enjoy the world's best green chili burros and red chili burros at Burger House. I'm not exaggerating. They are THE BEST!

However, I was strong and I spent Thursday evening prepping cheese, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and mayonnaise so we could stop and make nice, cheap ham-and-turkey sandwiches during a brief stop in Globe.

 

With the wedding luncheon and the light evening dinner served at the reception taking care of Saturday's meals, the only other meal we had to worry about was lunch on Sunday. I confess that I splurged for that one and stopped at Carl's Jr. on our way out of town. I do so love their Super Star sandwich served as a low-carb lettuce wrap! (And since there is no Carl's Jr. in our mountain community... so far...)

 

That concludes the tale of our Riley-and-Celesta's-wedding weekend. We had a wonderful time and loved seeing so many family and friends!

Wedding Day Scenes

Here's another batch of photos from Riley and Celesta's wedding. There are always interesting things going on behind the scenes that are fun to share.



23 Nov 2013

 

That's me, Mary, with a chalkboard I decorated to commemorate important dates for the happy couple. The bride's mom (my sister Karla) borrowed the idea from another wedding. She handed me the chalkboard and a chalk marker, as well as a photo of the original chalkboard as my example, and then she told me to get to work on it! 

Cute idea, huh? I think it turned out pretty well!

 

My daughter Sarah loves these family gatherings so she can get her baby fix! She's like the "Baby Whisperer." All fussy babies get handed to Sarah, and she has them sound asleep within 10 minutes. Here she is on the temple grounds with Bryce and Brianna's little guy, Carson.

 

After the wedding and the photo shoot on the temple grounds, we headed to the church for a family luncheon. I sat across from these guys, three of my favorite men: my nephews Josh and Julien (Karla's sons) and my son Dylan.

 

I asked Riley if he bribed or threatened Nabisco to get them to mass produce Oreo cookies in their wedding colors, pink and black. He said, "Neither. They just did it because I'm me!"

The kitchen help: my nieces Genevieve, Elyssa, and Brianna, with my nephew Jeremy (all of them are Karla's children).

Elyssa's husband Ross helps out, too. Ross, you make that apron look good!

 

My son-in-law Chris helped out all day by entertaining the many children running about, while the rest of us decorated and prepared food. He was like the pied piper, keeping them busy and happy. Here, he distracted a fussy Max (son of my niece Genevieve and her husband Scott) with a video game on his phone.

I caught my niece Mariah enoying a romantic dance with her boyfriend, Troy. That is, until I destroyed the moment by taking their picture!

This was a great moment. We thought the kids were just playing up on the stage while we worked. Then Scott and Genevieve's oldest, Brooke (top right), stepped out from behind the curtain and confidently announced that they would be presenting a performance of "Jingle Bells."

 

Suddenly the curtains opened and these seven cuties danced around the stage in cleverly choreographed action before arranging themselves on these steps and singing "Jingle Bells." As they finished the song, they shouted in unison, "Congratulations, Celesta and Riley!" It was both adorable and impressive!

 

I am a big fan of wedding cakes. When I was young, most wedding cakes looked very similar, but nowadays there are so many styles to choose from. I always look forward to seeing what type of cake each couple chooses. This one is gorgeous, and I especially loved their unusual cake top.

If you're not into wedding reception decor, you may as well stop here, because that's what the rest of these photos are all about. I enjoy the little details that make each reception uniquely individual to each couple. The picture above shows the table that greeted guests as they arrived to celebrate with Riley and Celesta.

Rather than a guest book, the bride and groom had a photo book for guests to sign. The first 3 pictures (on the left) were actually taken during a weekend visit they made to our home here in the White Mountains last winter. I love it!

The gifts were placed here in this little grouping of chairs. The large photo of the Mesa Temple was a gift from Celesta's brother Jeremy and his wife Cami. Cami told me Jeremy made the frame himself, and she found the photo on Pinterest and downloaded it for free, had it blown up, and then Mod Podged it. It turned out so great!

These final three pictures show the tables where a light dinner was served to the guests. It started with vegetable slices and dips, then cheese ball and crackers, and then two types of pasta salads...

...followed by chicken salad sandwiches on crescent rolls; next came apple slices and caramel dip...

...and finally mints and mixed nuts just before the punch and lemon water. It was a beautiful wedding and reception and a wonderful day. And it reminded me how happy I am that I only had one daughter to plan a wedding for! (Karla has seven daughters! Only three more to marry off now, though!)

Riley and Celesta

23 Nov 2013: Newlyweds Riley and Celesta Wakefield

emerge from the Mesa Arizona Temple

Our family enjoyed a weekend trip to the Valley to celebrate yesterday's wedding of my niece Celesta and her beloved Riley. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the very happy couple.

Celesta's mom (my sister Karla) takes care of some readjustments

before the official photographer gets started.

Celesta enjoys some tomfoolery with the groomsmen on the temple grounds.

After 2 days of constant rain, those grounds were very soggy!

The bridesmaids are dazzled by Celesta's wedding ring bling.

The bridesmaids gaze adoringly upon the studly groom, Riley!

Our family has its photogenic moment with the bride and groom:

Dylan, Aunt Mary (me!), Riley, Celesta, Sarah, and Chris.

Jacob wasn't able to join us due to his heavy double-work schedule.

These shots were taken just before the reception started.

The bride and groom with Celesta's entire family:

Brian (dad), Mariah, Jeremy, Brianna, Julien, Addison,

Riley, Celesta, Gabrielle, Joshua, Karla (mom), Genevieve, and Elyssa.

Celesta with all 6 of her sisters:

Mariah, Brianna, Addison, Celesta, Gabby, Genevieve, and Elyssa.

Celesta with all 3 of her brothers:

Julien, Josh, Celesta, and Jeremy.

The bride and groom escape amid a sea of bubbles and well-wishes.

They are heading to a 4-day honeymoon in Sedona, Arizona.

 

It was a beautiful wedding and a fun reception. I'm so glad we got to be there to celebrate with Riley and Celesta and spend time with family and friends. We had an amazing time!

Belated Birthdays

I've been a horrible blogger in 2013! I have totally neglected the birthdays of my children, and so I will now rectify my oversights, beginning with the most recent first:

26 Oct 2013: Sarah after her concert on the night before her birthday

 

SARAH: Oct 27th

 

The night before Sarah's 24th birthday she had a performance with White Mountain Symphony Orchestra. Her brother Jacob decided to surprise her by decorating her car with ballons and birthday wishes, so he sneaked out right after the concert while Dylan, Chris, Chris's parents, and I stalled her inside as long as we could.

 

26 Oct 2013: Sarah gets a surprise after the concert

Sarah was so pleased with Jacob's surprise. I love that my children like to do nice things for each other. I have often been the recipient of their surprises, as well. I am so blessed!

26 Oct 2013: Sarah takes a bow at the end of the concert.

She is just left of the music stand in the center.

For her actual birthday the next day, we had a family dinner with her favorite foods, including Navopache Chicken Salad (with chicken, cabbage, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, olive oil, red wine vinegar...) Then she opened her presents before we sang happy birthday and enjoyed the German chocolate birthday cake Jacob prepared for her.

27 Oct 2013: Sarah and her birthday cake

1 July 2013: Dylan holds his birthday card from his sister

DYLAN: July 1st

Dylan invited his friend Mary to join us for a small family party on his 16th birthday. First, he enjoyed one of his favorite meals: spaghetti and meatballs with a large side of garlic bread.

1 July 2013: Dylan and his friend Mary as he opens his gifts

After dinner Dylan opened his presents. There weren't many of us there: just Dylan, Mary, Sarah, Chris, and Mom (me) since Jacob was still in California. But we were enthusiastically cheering Dylan on as he checked out his gifts!

1 July 2013: Dylan with his birthday ice cream cake

We then enjoyed the birthday cake Dylan had requested: an Oreo ice cream cake. With more ice cream on the side. Go figure.

 

We concluded the evening with a rousing game of Farkle, which I almost won, until Mary kicked our butts in the final round with a HUGE roll of the dice!

1 July 2013: Chris, Dylan, and Mary enjoy cake and ice cream

JACOB: June 26th

Sorry, I got nothin'. No pictures, no story. Since Jacob was living in California at this time, we didn't get to celebrate his 22nd birthday with him. Again. We've missed his last 3 birthdays, since he was serving his mission in 2011 and 2012. But we sent him his gifts and cards and wished him a happy birthday from afar.

20 Mar 2013: Sarah, Chris, and Chris's niece Keri celebrate his day

CHRIS: March 28th

For my son-in-law Chris's 35th birthday, we were all invited to his mom Brenda's home for dinner and a party. They celebrated a week early because Brenda was going to be out of town on Chris's actual birthday. We enjoyed grilled burgers and a variety of delicious salads before Chris opened his gifts. We ended a pleasant evening with homemade birthday cake and ice cream.  

20 Mar 2013: Chris made out like a bandit!

There you have it: a year's worth of birthdays in one blog post! I think they were happy birthdays all around!

Love This Business

This is my favorite place to take my car for routine maintenance and repairs. Auto issues can be intimidating for a single mom with minimal money and no comprehension of what's under the hood. But when I come here, I know I'll be treated right. Not only are their prices fair, but they often go the extra mile and charge me nothing for it.

 

Once I got an entire oil change, including the oil at their cost, and they told me it was on the house. Just a couple of weeks ago one of my headlights died. I bought a new bulb and took it to my dad, who couldn't get to the bad bulb to replace it, so we drove over to Sunrise Tire. Within 10 minutes we were in and out, and we left with both headlights burning brightly. "No charge," I was told.

19 Nov 2013: My car gets a checkup

Yesterday I took my car in and asked them to check all the fluids, the filters, the tires, the brakes, and the funny hesitation in the motor that had just started that morning. With all those potential things to fix, they could have made some decent money off my ignorance.

 

The mechanic took my car right in and got straight to work. He reported that everything looked fine. All I needed was an oil change and new oil filter. He also recommended rotating my tires because the front tires were wearing faster than the back. I'd probably want a new air filter and fuel filter next time I come in for an oil change, he added.

 

So I got the oil change and my tires were rotated. They also topped off my washer fluid and blew the brake dust off my rear brakes for no extra cost. My car ran noticeably smoother as I drove away, all for less than $50. Yep, love this business!