Arizona trip, part 6

Tuesday morning we went to Walnut Canyon -- where there were some interesting Native American cliff dwellings. 

They're hard to see, but if you look close enough...

...you can kinda see them.

We all set off on the hike.

Some parts were steep and right along the cliff edge. Those kinds of heights make Austin pretty nervous. Combine that with his protective instinct for little kids (he can't even watch kids on their parents' shoulders sometimes)...

...and it was a recipe for lots of nerves. Austin ended up heading back with Brooklyn because she was cranky, he was too nervous, and he was cramping up due to the stress and the heat (and being way too out of shape!). Laura was nice to head back too. :)

We stopped in the shade anywhere we could. It was hot!

But we were able to see some birds and squirrels and heard some really loud bugs. Cicadas? 

Wednesday was the day we had to head home to Washington. Brooklyn tried on Grandma's missionary nametag. Future awesome missionary like her mama?

Braden surprised the little kids by getting them cute shirts. He got Brooklyn an Elmo ABCs shirt, which she loved. We are going to miss him a lot -- Brooklyn will be almost four when he gets back from New Zealand! We know that he is going to be an awesome missionary and can't wait to hear about the great experiences he will have.

We loved spending so much time with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. It is hard to believe they have been out on their mission president calling for two years now -- only one year left. Hopefully we will get to go see them at least one more time before their three years are up -- then it's their turn to come see us! :D

We had an amazing time being with family. There are lots of things we love about where we live and what we're doing right now, but being with everyone made us realize just how much we were spoiled when we were living in Utah closer to everyone. Even Jenna and Ty were there for the first year or so we were married.

Being with family always helps to put things in perspective and it's great to enjoy the simple things like a board game on Sunday evening or sitting down to a meal together. We are blessed to have amazing family on both sides and are grateful we've been able to visit fairly often. It was great to have a week of great memories and we look forward to many more.