Arizona in November

I'm going to backtrack for a bit, seeing as we're past due for posting...

In November, Steve & I joined his parents in Arizona for a cousin's wedding.  Bob & Jean have friends that made the smart move to purchase a home outside Phoenix when the economy turned & housing prices were crazy low (like, $60,000 low).  They use it as a vacation home & someday will either retire to the house or sell it when housing prices turn around.  They were kind enough to allow the four of us to stay there during the wedding weekend.  We had a great time exploring Arizona & the wedding was lots of fun...

A few pics of our day trip to Sedona:

 It wouldn't be a Steve/Christina vacation without a stop at a brewery!

 A visit to Red Rock Crossing, where we were entertained with the numerous cairns.  (This place draws a lot of hippies...many people meditating...due to its nature as supposedly one of the vortexes)

 Christina being one with the cairn...

 Steve being one with a (very tall) cairn...

Rocks on a stick!

 The gorgeous and awe-inspiring red rocks.

 An extremely large locust skin shed.  Or something like that.  All I know is it was big.

 Chapel of the Holy Cross, unique architecture & pretty cool placement in the red rocks.

 Montezuma Castle National Monument.  Fascinating.  Amazing.  I loved this!

 The beautiful sunset driving back from Sedona to Phoenix.  (I even managed to catch this in a moving vehicle!)

Back in Phoenix before the wedding...

 A visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens was in order, especially with the Chilies & Chocolate Festival taking place the same weekend we were in town!  We were able to sample some amazing salsas, chocolates, honeys, and a variety of treats.  We wrapped things up by checking out the butterfly gardens - all Monarch butterflies.

And last, but not least, we prettied ourselves up for the wedding.  It was a great weekend!