Carson's Homecoming

Carson reported to our Arizona stake high council a week before his homecoming talk, and to our old Minnesota stake high council by Zoom a week after. Listening to all his reports and his talk, I loved hearing about his experiences and lessons learned, the people he served and loved, the unique areas of his mission, and the ways he grew through challenges.

It was special having my parents come to town for Carson's homecoming talk. (Colby and Paige left before we took pictures outside the church.)

Busy Busy

My parents came to town for Carson's mission homecoming talk. Leah packed and flew today to a conference in another state. She'll fly to Utah from there. Carson's packing for college. We've been running all over the city to update his clothes and shoes, buy him a computer, get him an Arizona driver's license, and so on. There have been dentist appointments. Pickleball every day and some racquetball too. We all went to the new Spiderman movie. Dan interviewed for two new positions at work and got an offer yesterday that he has to decide on. When life calms in September, I might come back here and update this blog. 

Monsooned

One night we stood on our driveway watching incredible colors of lightning constantly illuminate the dark sky. There was no lightning coming down; it stayed high in the sky and it was completely silent. It was so captivating. Then all of a sudden, the storm hit. Ferocious rain and wind slammed us. It's the most powerful monsoon we've experienced yet.

We ran indoors, then spent the next two hours running through the house sopping up water that came in windows and underneath both front doors. We continually checked all windows, doors, and ceilings. We kept checking the garages too, where water was pouring in between the panels, rushing down the inside of the garage doors, and pooling at the bottom. Hail pummeled the house and the cars parked outside. (The next morning we couldn't believe it didn't damage the cars. It sounded terrible when it was happening.) It was a crazy night! It was Carson's first monsoon, and it was an impressive one.

Outside, one side of our yard quickly filled with deep water. Dan became concerned and eventually headed out with Carson to scoop water out with buckets and push more water away from the house with a broom. 

The main roads to our neighborhood were blocked by police and closed down for the night after a swift-water rescue when someone tried to drive through a deep river of rushing water.

The next morning we saw the destructive aftermath all through the neighborhood. Trees were down everywhere. People were shoveling mudslides down every street. Trampolines were mangled in front yards. Washes were full of water. At least one path buckled after the water rushed under it. More than a week later, mudslides and trees are still covering some paths, and landscape crews are still cutting up the many downed trees.

WWII Documentary

Paige's workplace sponsored a night of watching a documentary, plus a Q&A session with the producer after. Paige sold merchandise in the lobby before and after the film. It was an interesting film about B-17 crews during WWII, with lots of original footage. It also showed several veterans being interviewed about their experiences.

This theater was abandoned for decades, fell into disrepair, had homeless people living in it, and was almost torn down but instead was restored to its original art deco theme. We've enjoyed going to events there over the past two years. Look at this cool ceiling:

Bike Church

There's a gazebo I've been wanting to find that's made of bike parts. This week we were doing errands and I realized we were close to it. It's called the "Bike Church" and I like everything about it. 

Caverns and Pizza

We still have lots more places to explore in Arizona. One day we visited some incredible caverns, but they didn't allow phones inside (we had to put them in lockers before we entered the cavern), so we have no pictures except these postcards. 

And then Paige recommended a niche pizza restaurant she's been to a few times. The pizzas sounded different (pistachios on pizza? potato slices? honey drizzled over pepperoni?) but were surprisingly delicious!

Monster Truck, Petite Girl

Watercolor Activity

Our Activity Day group (I'm still calling it by the old name) finally split. We had 18 girls at one activity before the split, ages 7-11 with very different abilities and maturity and personalities. It's nice to have the older group of girls for activities now.

For our last activity, we made a fruit dip and a vegetable dip so the girls could practice measuring ingredients. Then they cut up fruits and vegetables so they could practice cutting with knives. I would have never attempted that with a bigger group and the younger and more wild, I mean energetic, girls.

This time I printed out pictures of Christ onto watercolor paper and bought individual watercolor paints.

There were three versions of the same picture to choose. They're printed in a light gray so the black lines don't bleed, so they're hard to see here.

Everyone also got this picture to paint:

Some of our girls aren't so confident at crafting, so they like having an example to copy or look at for ideas. I printed examples from the Etsy shop I used.

I also printed more pictures to color with colored pencils or markers in case some girls didn't like painting or finished faster than others. They could also take them home to work on later if they wanted.

It was a fun night sitting around visiting while they painted. School already started up again in the middle of July, so they had things to say. We also got lots of their ideas for future activities.

Baby Rattlesnake at Night

Making Soap

Last fall I made soap with the Activity Day girls (it officially changed to "Valiant Activities" but I will always call it the old name). I had extra supplies, and Leah loved mixing colors and scents to make her own soaps today. The house smelled amazing!

Oasis

We took Carson to our favorite place in this city. Lots of turtles swam over to him. We waited until almost sunset, but it was still 106 degrees. We walked some trails for a while but wow, it was hot.