That's what friends are for

Our last week has been wonderful in so many ways. First, we had some friends in town for Thanksgiving and it was a total blast. The day after they left, we had some friends from our university days (I can say that now that we've been gone for two years, right?) come and stay with us. We haven't seen them since we were in Europe (they met us in Paris) and it was SO great to reconnect. They live in France now, so obviously we rarely get to see them!

When we were at BYU, we would always go camping with Laina and Faozi, and when they visited us this time, it was no exception. It was our first nocturnal foray into the real desert, and it was totally fun.

Little J LOVED throwing himself at the air mattress.

Faozi got some great hummer shots.

Good thing they rented an SUV! We went on some pretty rough roads.

Little J in action. The nice thing about the desert is that you can always see Little J running around because there's hardly any plants that he can hide behind.

I seriously love this. 

Apparently this little guy was running around our campsite. Which was awesome. I missed it because I accidentally fell asleep while I was putting Little J down. Mom problems.

It wasn't too cold, but the fire didn't have an effect until about 9pm. So far this whole Arizona weather thing has been the bee's knee's!

Little J as viewed from inside the tent. He woke up with the sun and immediately wanted to go outside and play with his shovel.

Our temporary domiciles.

He loved playing in the tents while we were trying to put them away. See all that dirt inside the tent? Yep, that was him too.

He LOVES his Auntie Laina. Like totally and completely adores her. She'll make a great mom herself.

This may be my new favorite picture of myself. Out in the desert, carrying a baby on my back, with wild hair. Also, I'm realizing that I have terrible posture.

Isn't that grasshopper AWESOME? And he was a full three inches long. What a beast.

Faozi cut open a saguaro and got a massive spine in his thumb. But it was cool to see the guts of a cactus.

Ahhhhh. Just look at that sky.

Anybody know what kind of poop this is? It looks too big for a deer, and too small for a cow, obviously. Big horned sheep maybe? Elk?

We had a lot of fun goofing around in the desert. In fact, our Subie is still covered in dust.

We met up with another family that we knew at BYU who live in Chandler. It was a little Wymount reunion, and it was great to see everyone. Also, check out poor Little J's bright pink cheeks and blank stare. He's getting four teeth (his two cuspids and the molars right behind them) and he has been so sad these days. But being outside a lot this weekend completely cheered him up.

So, dear readers, PLEASE come visit us. We love visitors and we love going on adventures with them.