My Baby Brother

Aside from the R&R in Sedona, we really took the trip to Arizona to visit family! My grandparents live there part time, in the winter months, and my one and only little brother, Zac, also lives there. The cool thing is, they live 10 minutes from each other in the same city.... Mesa! Spring break for the kids was late this year, and unfortunately my grandparents had already trekked back to Iowa for the summer. It was a big bummer not to get to spend time with them, but we did go by and see their place! Paige and Cole climbed in their Grapefruit tree and picked 5 grapefruit as souvenirs! LOL. When I told my Grandpa this, he did not believe me. He swore up and down that he had picked all the fruit and only admitted that he missed some once he saw the pictures!

We checked in at the Marriot in Mesa and spent the afternoon swimming...something that we had done every day since arriving in Arizona! Back home we left 2 feet of snow, so we had to enjoy it while we could! We waited anxiously for Zac and his fiance Coutney to get off work so I could finally reunite with him! If you've followed my blog, you know the pain and angst I have gone through to get to this very moment. I had butterflies in my stomach for the first time since my wedding day, but I was so excited, I sat on edge waiting for the phone to ring.

When he called he was waiting for me in the lobby of the hotel. I wished then that I was 4 again so it would be acceptable to run down the hall and push the button on the elevator 100 times like Cole did... but I held my composure.

Seeing him was like a dream. If you can imagine a scene from a movie where everything goes in slow motion - it was like that. When I embraced him in a hug I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know if he would hug me back, or be uncomfortable with it...but he wasn't. He hugged me back, tightly, and held on for a long time. It brought tears to my eyes.

He hugged Paige, then Cole, and then shook Robert's hand. I couldn't take my eyes off him. I couldn't believe he was here beside me and he was all grown up. The last time I saw him he was 9. I was 14.

He was accompanied by his fiance, Courtney. She is very sweet, and we hit it off right away. It is hard to be sure since I haven't "known" Zac all that long, but they seem to be very happy and I am happy for them.

They took us to a nice Mexican restaurant in town for dinner and we sat and talked for a few hours before vacating our table and going back to our hotel. We then sat around at the pool and sunk our legs into the hot tub catching each other up on our lives and sharing stories. It was more than I had hoped for in our first meeting and was so relieved that it went well. You just never know how it could have gone, but I feel a deep connection to Zac, and he seems to feel it too. When he went home that night we left it that we would see each other again the next evening.

Our second meeting was even better than the first. We met at his house, so I got to see where he lives. Then we headed to Tempe where we walked around and did some shopping near the ASU campus. After that we went to Joe's BBQ for dinner. Joe's is practically a destination in it's small town of Gilbert. Even Jen and Kev have eaten there! Joe's is where Courtney works while she is in school to be an Elementary teacher. The food was really good, but the company was better. We sat outside and the kids were able to run and play and be loud, and I got to sit and marvel at my brother. I am so proud of the man he has become and really enjoyed just sitting and talking with him. We compared features and agree we have the same nose, we are the same height and might have the same ears... that one is still up for debate. I can't go back and rewind time, and I can't spend the rest of my life being angry at our dad for keeping us apart... so I just soaked it all in and have that to hang on to until the next time I get to see him. If you're reading this Zac, I love you and miss you!