the cousins are here!

On thursday night, my sister, Unice, husband Stephen and their boys David and
Louis arrived in
Phoenix from D.C. They were followed by the arrival of brother, Mike and his wife Samantha and children, Grant and Brooke. The house was full of voices and toys. Leo was very excited to meet more of his family.

On Saturday night we had a belated 70th birthday dinner for my dad (aka Grandpa Abe) He was delighted to have 5 of his 8 grandchildren surrounding him. Its been a happy and exciting visit as I truly experience what it is to be a mother and a sister, daughter, aunt and wife. For the party, Maximo grilled steak and salmon ala parilla style. We got these fabulous cupcakes from Sweet Thang bakery. (see photo above) We were all over tired especially the "D.C. cousins" who were jet lagged and without a much needed nap.

We reconvened the next morning for a fabulous brunch at "Sanctuary Hotel." This is a breathtaking setting surrounded by mountain views and lush green landscape. An interesting note, Sanctuary Hotel was built in the 1920's as a sort of athletic club for Hollywood stars coming out to Phoenix for a bit of "r and r." We then paid a visit to the Scottsdale train park. A park complete with a train all can ride around the park.
At the end of the day, everyone started to drift off, exhausted from all the activity.

On Monday, we drove up to Sedona. We took a tour of the Sedona scenery while riding in the "pink jeep" tours. My niece Brooke and nephew Grant were looking like Joe Cool with their shades on. We ate lunch at L'Auberge de Sedona which is in Oak Creek Canyon.