Lots of This and That

I found more sun hats for the next extremely hot and sunny Arizona months. This week it reached 104 degrees on the same day my Minnesota friend called and told me she was putting on a jacket to walk outside in 54-degree weather.

One day I took Leah to the zoo while Paige worked.

When Paige wasn't working, we went downtown to explore and also visited some botanical gardens.

People can't spell my name. Ever. I usually give them an easy fake name, but I forgot this time.

At our Minnesota church building, you could always find syrup, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream in the fridge. I decided to see what an Arizona church fridge would have in it, and then I laughed when the only thing in there is a gigantic bottle of hot sauce.

Last winter Colby hid plastic babies all around our house. I found over 40 of them and thought that was all. For our trip, I grabbed an empty CD case out of a box I haven't gone through yet. I opened the CD case in Utah, ready to transfer some CDs to it for my drive back to Arizona, and there was a baby. Hahaha. Now I feel like I need to go search for more babies.

I do have new friends my own age here, but some of my best new friends are in the age range of 70-80. They have a scripture study group every Tuesday, and they invited me months ago. It's always a highlight of my week. I've brought Leah a few times since she's been home, and this week we tagged along to the temple with some of them, and then we went out to eat. They were so considerate and looked up menus and gave me options of restaurants they thought I could eat at. I love these great people and the rest of our group, and I especially love that they've fully welcomed and included me and now Leah. And how fun is it that my friend who just turned 80 years old is the one who said, "Wait! Before we leave, let's take a selfie!"

On a night walk, Dan, Leah, and I saw a giant frog. It jumped like a rabbit and was loud as it hopped across rocks, spooking us. Leah also saw her first scorpion on a sidewalk at night by the pickleball courts. I fully expected to see them all the time and be stung often when we moved here, and I've only seen one dead one so far.

I took Leah to a museum, where she found a little bit of Minnesota among the cowboy art. (That's Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.)

Maybe we should bling Carson's punching bag currently sitting unused in our garage, and call it art.

I picked up gluten- and dairy-free baked goods at a special bakery this week, trying my best to eat right for my GERD belly which is currently huge and painful again as I type. Sigh. I'm tired of this.

Paige is still working one job and also doing an internship two days each week. 

Dan plays soccer with friends on Wednesday nights, pickleball with friends on Saturday mornings, and has game nights with other men. Colby's camping this weekend with friends, but he usually comes over once a week for dinner, or else we sometimes meet him to eat at a restaurant or do something fun. Mostly I think he works and climbs rocks. Carson's doing well enough in his new area and learning a new language and culture he never expected. He's been serving for almost 9 months.

My church calling is Activity Day leader, and last week there was a Pinewood Derby for the boys and girls. I was in charge of decorations (no pictures of the rest of the gym, but Dan and Leah helped me hang more pendants and banners on a wall and set up all the chairs). I was also in charge of treats and told to expect 100 people, so Leah and I made 180 stoplight cookies and 180 Oreo truffle balls, and filled a large bowl with pretzels, and there weren't many treats left at the end of the night.

Gluten-free treats because there are several families in this ward who can't eat gluten.