A So Cal Girl in the Desert

This weekend we had our very first visitor! My brother-in-law, Gregory, came for to see us. It was a great time, but now we're depressed. I think we were doing better emotionally before he came, and now that we've had a taste of family, it's hard to get back to things being just us. Greg flew in on Friday night and left Sunday afternoon. We wish he could have stayed longer. We have a couple of other visitors lined up in the coming weeks, so we'll have to keep our chins up and look forward to that.

After picking Greg up at the airport on Friday night, we went to Richardson's in Phoenix for a late dinner. It's one of our favorite places that we found the first time we visited Phoenix. We asked the concierge at the hotel we were staying at for a recommendation for nothing fancy...just great traditional southwest food. Richardson's is THE BEST. Just about everything there is spicy, and everything is delicious. We got a great table, had some cocktails, and really enjoyed ourselves.

On Saturday morning we took Greg down to Maricopa. He mentioned how far it was as we were driving south through the Indian reservation, but once we got into town, he said, "Now I can see why you guys moved away from the city." We first went to my husband (coach) and stepson's first soccer game of the season. It was great that Uncle Greg could be there for that. The kids did really well in 100º heat. One smart mom brought cool wet rags for the kids to wipe their faces with after the game. I was hot and sweaty just standing there watching, so the kids athletic enthusiasm was something to see. One kid almost overheated, but we got him some Gatorade just in time.

Then we headed over to show Greg the model of our home and the actual house, itself. It was great to finally show someone after all this time. He seemed to really like it, and said he was looking forward to more visits after the house is done. We also found that some more of the plumbing is in. You know how we always tiptoe around the house to take pictures and how we're not even supposed to walk around the construction site? Well, Uncle Greg just walks right inside the house. So typical of him. That's one of the things I love about him, though. Never afraid to do anything, and you know, if we did get in trouble, Greg would have talked his way thorough it and probably would have ended up with hard hats for all of us and a guided tour of every home on the block. That's just how he is. Of course, my stepson was right behind him, telling Uncle Greg he was breaking the rules as he slid his body between two pieces of framing. Then my husband and i joined in the fun, and Uncle Greg took a picture of our family in our future family room. We didn't get caught, so I'll say it was worth the risk. After the tour of the house we went over to the golf club for lunch. The rest of our day back in Chandler was spent swimming and mini golfing.

On Sunday we just hung out together and walked around Chandler Fashion Square for a bit. The day went way too fast, and before we knew it we were dropping Greg off at the airport and saying "see ya later." Then we all got really depressed. It was such a nice visit, and we didn't ever want it to end. Even the dog was moping around. Come back, Uncle Greg! We miss you!