The Big One!

This post may end up being long, so if you want to start with the shorter one below, I will understand. Ok, so the week of May 17th-23rd was a week of much anticipation and stress for me and my family. My husband had arranged his work schedule like this: Mon-12hrs, Tues-12hrs, Wed-off, Thurs-7hrs, Fri-11hrs. The reason for this is as follows, my sisters high school graduation was on Thursday so he needed time off for that, and Wednesday was a big meeting that we as a family had to attend in the family town of origin, Central, AZ.

Here is the Central, AZ story: as I understand it, if you are a Whitmer living in Arizona, you are somehow related because they all originated from this little town called Central. Central is located in the Gila Valley between Pima and Thatcher. They helped settle the town approximately 130 years ago. My husband's grandfather had many acres of farm land that he divided between his 2 living sons. When my husband's father died, the land given to him naturally went under the name of my mother-in-law. There was 6 acres of the original homestead that had been barren for many years. We had discovered the location of the Temple to be built in the Gila Valley and found out it was about 1/2 mile down the road from said property. The idea came about that maybe now was the time to develop the land. So, my husband and I in assistance to my mother-in-law took some trips down to Central (at least a 2hr drive both ways) to assess the condition of the land, gather some needed information and speak with the neighbors. After these trips we came to the conclusion that what she wanted to do with it called for a possible rezoning of the property. So, we rushed to get the application in on April 1st because it was a 3 month process to get approval or not for the rezoning. The Planning and Zoning Committee meeting was the 20th of this month at 9am. We drove down, my mother-in-law made her statements against the petition that had been signed by the neighbors and we basically had no chance. They turned us down quick. Anyways, after some grumblings on the way home and for a couple of days afterward, I think we are okay now. But it was quite an ordeal just to be told, you didn't have a snowballs chance in...well you get the idea. It was frustrating. Now, the reason I hadn't posted about this while it was happening was because there was so much happening with it and so quickly and the idea kept evolving it would have been pointless. The idea even changed a lot from what we spoke to the neighbors about in March and the meeting in May. It was a very stressful but knowledge gaining experience. Not one I would like to do again any time soon.

Enough of that...my sister graduated high school...YEAH! My Grandmother and Uncle came down from California for the big event. It was nice to see them and visit. This was the first time they had seen my son in person...I know it's horrible. I haven't gotten to California since my daughter was a year old and now she will be 3. But we will be going as soon as my husband graduates in October, this trip isn't getting postponed any longer. Anyways, my sister looked beautiful and she was so happy. It was nice to be in the University of Phoenix stadium instead of the Peoria Sports Complex where I graduated. However, it rained on her after party which was supposed to be a pool party. Oh well, she got some great gifts! So Best of Luck, Sis in your future endeavors! I know you will be a great success in whatever you decide to do.

And now we come to Memorial Day...it was a nice quiet day. We did go over to my husband's Aunt's house to have a little barbecue and swim. It was my son's first time swimming, so we got some pictures of that. My daughter had a blast with all the cousins and threw a colossal fit before going to bed...it didn't matter that it was over the kind of pajamas she was wearing to bed, it was all the excitement and a very tired girl. Seriously, I sat with her for a half hour until she almost screamed herself to sleep before I could finish dressing her to put her to bed. Then, as I sang her some songs, she crashed! That is my girl, super stubborn and gives it her all!

Now, I am at the end, finally! It has been a crazy month and I am glad it is almost over. I hope next month will be a little calmer because I definitely need a break before my kids birthdays in July and August. They are 2 yrs and 2 weeks apart, so we'll see how this goes. Wish me luck!