It's time I more formally introduce the members of the Samuelson clan:

Dallin's mom, Jordie, and his step-dad, Jim, run a flight school in Arizona. Jim is a pilot and check-airman for American Airlines, and Jordie is the ultimate animal lady. She has three huskies (two of whom were rescues saved from "death row") and three cats.   

Dallin's oldest sister (and only full sibling), Danielle Pace, is a nursing student who is married to Matt, a medical student. They have a toddler, Maverick, and are expecting a baby girl. 

The three Samuelson daughters are Brooke and Brianna (the twins) and Hanna. The twins are in college and Hanna in high school. They love K-pop, and Hanna could make a career for herself in interior design.

   

I've made it a birthday tradition to "go somewhere." When I was a kid, my birthday fell over fall break, so we were often out in the mountains on a camping trip somewhere.  Then for a couple of years there I was in Hawaii (17), Mexico (18), Hawaii (19) and Austria (20). Exploring Scottsdale was a bit anti-climactic for 21, and for 22 I had college classes to attend BUT I got my "ex-boyfriend" to take me out for ice cream--I even taunted him into a passionate kiss in the car in a hope to remind him how much he liked me. (I'll give you a hint to who it was: we tied the knot a few months after our brief reprieve). For 23 Dallin and I explored some beautiful autumn forests, and for 24 we spent a day down near Arches. For my 25th birthday this year we went back up to the mountains for a relaxing day trip.

 Dallin found out he had a whole week off a school, so with every ounce of spontaneity within us we took a trip to Arizona. Should we have looked at our calendars a little closer? Yeah.  Do I have a final in two days that I'm not ready for? Maybe. But it was fun to stay in the Urness guest house, go hot tubbing, shop around Pottery Barn and get stuck in Goodyear for a few hours with my mom and Soph. Dallin also got to run around the corral on horseback shooting license plates. His dad has gone to several rodeo events shooting from horseback and actually won first place! For the sake of the throwback, I watched a few episodes of H20 with junior-high-aged Gracie, and my parents and I laughed till we cried watching stupid YouTube videos. 

We had to drive the whole 9-10 hours back because apparently the cat would cost $400 to fly back.  What?! We also don't know any teenagers we can rally into cat sitting, so it was just easier to bring him with. Arlo has always been an only child, and with him being around multiple other cats for the first time we found out he is an alpha and a BULLY! He chased Swag out of his own house. And Arlo is a little guy! Napoleon Syndrome much? Or maybe just cocky teenager? He was also not a fan of the three huskies; the only animal he actually befriended was the little yorkiepoo.