Our TRiP to THuNDeRBiRD, AZ!

The drive was so beautiful that it didn't seem like 10 hours - maybe that's because Ryan did most of the driving:> More pictures of that at the end...but one crazy story - there were two cops that were totally slowing down traffic, and we wondered what they were up to. A few minutes later we saw them pull a truck over, and in the bed of the big truck was a tarp - no bungies, no back bar or anything on the truck, the tarp was just tucked under on the sides. While we passed, we saw PEOPLE jumping under the tarp! Busted.

So we checked into the 'Thunderbird Executive Inn' (such a nice hotel-bath and body works shampoo) right in time to give Ry a haircut and go to the opening reception for the weekend program. Doesn't Ryan look snazzy in his business casual attire?

We were able to talk to several Campus Ambassadors, who are basically students there to talk to us, answer questions, etc. We were surprised at how many students and prospective students there were from Utah. A few administrators came and gave inspiring presentations about the school. The night ended with an India Festival outside on campus - authentic food, and Indian dancing.

Day 2: Thunderbird had so much planned for the prospective students today. Ryan had seminars about his program, financial aide, recruiting season, international experiences, a professor even came to lead a mock class about a business case everyone read ahead of time, lunch with professors, alumni spoke. I went to some of the classes, but spent a lot of the day trying to find us housing: it's looking pretty expensive! There are some really trashy and really nice places - I haven't yet found a tweener place right inbetween or in the middle.

The day ended with an Asian festival - HUGE event that happens once a semester - with great ethnic food and entertainment, and TONS of students and members of the community. I was able to meet with several of the wives of current students which was great. We even went to one of their apartments to check it out later that night. The students were so willing to tell us about life on loans. We also discovered that there's a wives group that meets for swimming everyday at 3pm, and there's a thunderkids club who plan activities weekly.

Although we learned a few things that were a surprise to us about starting the program in January - with Ryan's internship, international experience he needs to go on, and the big fall recruiting season - We have decided that Ryan is going to become a t-bird! As you can see:

which means little Poppy will become a thunderKID!

Anyway - that's our trip in a nutsheLL! Hope everyone's HaPPy and doing weLL! We LoVe you and are thinking about you! Here are some extra pics from our drive home - beautiful!

PS - Bonnie Craigslist IS amazing! We've been collecting baby gear thanks to craigslist.

Here's the view from the bridge - it doesn't do it justice! It was STRAIGHT down!