Life Within the Cuckoo's Nest: Welcoming in 2017 With a Fiesta Bowl New Years!

The National Championship trophy!

We decided to make this New Years Eve a little different from our usual lights out by 9pm after we watch the ball drop in NYC. We decided to take a trip to Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl Football Playoff Game with Josh's Mom, Step-Dad, Brother Nick & his whole gang! Originally Tony's gang and our kids were all going to go too but when Tony dropped out we decided to leave our kids at home and make a romantic trip out of it!! Yay!

I dropped the kids off for a weekend at my Mom's house and then Josh and I headed off on our adventure as soon as he got off work! It was possibly one of the scariest drives of our lives when we hit an intense rain storm up in the steep passages of the mountains. It was a two lane highway and we couldn't see the lines on the road. Every car that drove by was possibly going to be the one that killed us. Luckily we survived though! Our navigation system also took us all over Phoenix before actually finding our Hilton Hotel so to say we were exhausted, frustrated, and irritated by the time we got in Friday night is an understatement. We stopped at Nick & Jenn's hotel door to say goodnight and then we passed out in our hotel bed, thankful to be alive! Janis and Steve flew in later that night.

Saturday was game day! Before the game we all went out for lunch at Rodizzio! This wasn't just any Rodizzio however...... it's the restaurant we are all part owners in! We were all so excited to finally see the fruits of our labors! I can't remember if I mentioned this previously so I will catch you up if not. When Art died, we all inherited a large amount of money from his life insurance. With that money we paid off our house and then invested the rest into a family restaurant with Josh's two brothers! It has been a whole year in the making and we are still yet to see the monetary fruits of our labors but it was so cool to stand in a restaurant and be able to say we are the owners! We got a private tour throughout the place and met all the important people running the show while we all live far away. It was amazing!! Our meal was completely free (of course) so we ordered it all from the expensive drinks to the amazing desert!

The gang in front of our restaurant!

Good food, good people, good times!

**NOTE: We all decided to invest in this particular Brazilian restaurant because it was one of Art's favorites. Every birthday was held there. In fact, on the last trip we took to Utah the week before he died, he handed us a wad of cash and told us to go out on a date to Rodizzio while he watched the kids! So it has sentimental value and it just felt right to invest his life insurance in that way. Also, Nick somehow knows someone high up in corporate to make it all possible! Nick and Tony own a much larger portion than we do, but that's because we decided to use half of our money to pay off our house. We felt that the financial security and freedom that comes from being completely debt free was more important than a large risky investment. Our family goal (since we were given permission by corporate to be the sole owners of the Arizona region) is to open a chain of these restaurants in the near future! We will see how that goes!***

Anyways, after eating we headed to the big game! Josh is a HUGE Ohio State fan (although he does like Clemson too) so we wore our Buckeye apparel. There was a really fun pre-game party that we enjoyed walking around and then we headed inside University of Phoenix stadium for the game! Sadly, the Buckeyes lost miserably and now won't be going to the National Championship, but the game itself was really fun! Plus, Josh and I got to take a picture standing next to the National Championship trophy which is a once in a lifetime opportunity so that was good enough for us! We spent the rest of the evening after the game at a fun Mexican restaurant by our hotel eating wayy too much chips and salsa and enjoying each others company. We had all sorts of stuff planned for ringing in the New Year but Nick and Jenn's family was super tired and had to get up early the next day so we said goodnight to everyone and did the countdown by ourselves in our hotel room. We never get a chance to be alone these days so this was just fine with us!

The Pre-Game Party!

Walking around the pre-game party!

It was so nice to be "us" again!

Such a cool stadium! Josh's first job when we were newly married was as a Financial Advisor for University of Phoenix :).

The famous Ohio State Band! They were incredible!

It really hurt to know that Art should have been with us at that game. We love Steve so much, but sometimes it just isn't the same. We love you Pops :(.

Game Time!

I have no idea who that random guy in the back is but he got to be the center of our picture! haha!

AMAZING SHOW!

The band spelling out OHIO! So cool!

The next day it was just us and Josh's parents because Nick's group left for home so we enjoyed it by sleeping in, going out to breakfast, hot tubbing in the rain, watching movies in our hotel room and taking a nap, and then later going out to dinner. It was the perfect Sunday!

SOOOO RELAXING!!!! And much needed!

We were so sad to go home the next day. We missed our kids but have missed freedom so much!! Luckily our drive home wasn't the white knuckler that our previous drive had been, so it was actually quite enjoyable! It was like old times, singing in the car, talking while holding hands, and laughing about the silly things. This trip was exactly what we needed!

LOVE THIS GUY!! And I LOVE the life we have together!

Even though she isn't showing it, Baby Girl was happy to have us home again haha! Oh silly baby!

And Austin was excited to ring in the new year AGAIN! Grandma Janis sent us home with all sorts of fun noise makers for the kiddos and they were a big hit!