Our week

What a great day! Today...and yesterday...and the day before that. Actually all of our days since our arrival have been great! We have had a wonderful time with friends--reacquainting ourselves with our house and our town, and generally hanging out, playing and eating together.


It has been wonderful.


So. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this post is a dissertation.


Enjoy!


In no particular order, here is our week: (sorry about the underline, i can't figure out how ot get rid of it!

Everyday. Thirty minutes minimum. I love the music.

After-dinner ice cream with "the boys", Brett and Bryan

Minnie and her friend (above), Ray and the Dad below:

Twinkle, Lizzy and Brielle after Summer Celebration one day

Hanging out by the pool in prep for hanging out at our pool in phx, Emily:

The Dad happily taking in the views of his office--oh how he has missed this room!

Some funny comment made us all laugh, but some more than others:

Pool time with friends Anna and Laura--Minnie in the middle.

Ah! Finally, victory! a visit to our favorite sushi place--Ha Ku Ba..more commonly known by us as "Mr. Lee's"

I love the following pictures--look at all the green!! This was the first of MANY capture the flag games we've had at the house...all neighborhood kids with a few exceptions who happily commuted:)

This picture is nothing special except look at the green!!!

Mickey's buddy and neighbor, ray:

Emily with the whole gang!

Capture the Flag group picture....we are missing a few neighbors here, but this is the majority

Hunter, John and Chip...these boys are keeping good pace in the growth dept. I think they will pass John in a year or so....

Dinner with the War's. They will be visiting us in August and since the weather won't be too welcoming, i fully expect all our phx friends to be even more so.

Chip and his buddy Nate: (sorry about the underlining again!)

We Love our Swing Set!!! (creaks and all)

Rachael and Twinkle--how fun to update her on all the phx happenings since she knows many of you!

Emily and Minnie:

Not sure how to introduce this picture... these are scarves from my mom and these kids are , well, unique:)

Minnie surrounded by sisters--Rachel and Lauren--as she unpacks her room

Twinkle, Noelle and Kayla

Twinkle surrounded by sisters: Hannah and Alicia

Our first meal in Maryland! Thanks to the N's next door

Twinkle with some friends:

Emily and Minnie

We made it!

so we've arrived back in maryland....what a warm welcome we've received!


how sweet it has been to watch the kids reconnect with their friends...play in the yard....talk and hang out together....

And it has been surreal.

To come home to a house i haven't lived in for 10 months...yet there is everything like i left it (almost--the kitchen cabinets have been rearranged:)). It is all so familiar but--not really. Weird. Sorry i can't be more eloquent than that. :)

But even with the weirdness there is great joy in being together with friends. And overwhelming in a good way.

Pictures prob today or tomorrow.

And to our phoenix friends--we are looking forward to introducing you to our maryland friends. Hope you all get to meet in real life one day!

~The Mom

The Perfect Temperature

Well, today was quite a day!

This afternoon I went outside and checked on our thermometer to see what the temp was....

a beautiful 86 degrees!

Think how perfect 86 degrees is....think of all the great outdoor activities you can do in 86 degree weather....

Eighty six degrees!
In phoenix!
In June!!!




Too bad that was the water temperature in our pool.

Yup.

Our pool thermometer read 86 degrees this afternoon at 5PM.


wow.

The real temperature lingered somewhere around 110 today.

we are very grateful for our pool.

See many of you soon!

The Mom

Almost there....

Well it is hard to believe that we are headed east on Tuesday! Minnie was excited to go to sleep tonight because she knew when she woke she could say "tomorrow we leave!"

I understand the way she thinks:)

Nora's mom has been here this past week awaiting the arrival of her first grandchild. We are all hoping and praying the baby will arrive before we leave. But even if the baby doesn't, we sure have enjoyed Susan's company and our late night talks. As The Dad says, she is one of the most interesting 'conversationalist'...we love to talk with her!


We have a busy day tomorrow--the boys play in a regional golf tournament. Last week's tourney was exciting--chip won his age group and mickey broke 50 on 9 holes (shot a 48). They played mid day in the heat so i am just glad they didn't melt!

Tomorrow they play early in the AM so we have to leave here by 6am for a 7:30 tee time (they need to warm up, etc) and then when we get home we will finish packing (3/4 all done), give the house a good clean (so nora won't have to worry about it as she awaits the baby's arrival) and then it will be pizza a la Nora, early to bed and an early flight east on Tuesday.

We can't wait to visit with all of our friends back home. We are looking forward to seeing our house, our green grass, and mostly our friend's smiling faces:)


well...i have more packing to do.... so for now , goodnight...and when i post next i will be able to say 'tomorrow we leave!'

~The Mom

The search for the perfect pickle....

So a few weeks ago, the local Co-op I belong to offered a big box of pickling cucumbers for sale. I have been meaning to tell you all about this fan-tas-tic co op i belong to. I pay $30 for an overflowing laundry basket half full of fruits and half full of veggies. Often I need to grab one of their cardboard boxes to get everything as it just can't fit into my large laundry basket.

I LOVE IT! Much better deal than that organic co op i belonged to in Md. Oh. my. word. that was a rip off!

Anyway...... many of you know how my family feels about fruit and veggies ( we ate a bushel of peaches in just a few days last summer). I And I love pickles. But not the vlasic, deli dill or any store bought variety. No.

I love the New York, Carnegie deli, Stage deli pickles. The kind that are still bright green--not yellow-- and definately crispy-not soft and bendable. No thank you.

SO i thought--hey! school is out..... this would be a fun project. I did some online research and found it is really easy. Way easier than peaches. So I ordered the cukes and got ready.

Canning day came and I could almost taste the crisp carnegie deli pickles....yeah!

Until i processed the jars.

Even with the short cooking time the pickles turned...... yellow. no no no....yes yes yes. they turned yellow and a bit soft. They are still yummy...for a regular pickle. But they don't hold a candle to the fresh NY style pickle.

Here they are before i processed them...nice and bright green...




SO it was back to the drawing board--or internet, in my case. I came across another recipe for refrigerator pickles...and they look right in the picture--a lovely green.

I made them today. Yeah!

They have to sit in the refrigerator in the solution for a week before they are ready. We leave in 5 days. Not-so-'yeah!'.

Chuck and travis and nora will have to try them for me while i am away. I'll keep you posted.... I know you all can't wait to hear the results.

yeah, right.

;)

Introducing the J's

The J's are the next family we want to introduce to you.....

The J's are--Kenny, Karen, Savannah (14 years old) and Shiloh (12 years old)--plus their two little dogs: Dutch Chocolate and Jet Black (Jet is actually a big dog, but he is still a puppy).

The J's were apart of our New Year's Party that wouldn't quit. Also, we've called them at 8:15 at night for a spontaneous trip out for ice cream. The girls have had fun making movies on the mac and we all enjoy some rousing conversation about all things important and unimportant:). Clear mascara anyone?

They may look familiar to many of you--they visited CLC last summer while they were making a movie (yes, a movie) at Patrick Henry College. Kenny and Karen have a real passion for drama and the arts --they met while in LA working on TV shows. Kenny hopes to have a drama class at the church here next fall. Twinkle is thrilled.


Here are some pictures:

Okay, so Twinkle had to use some special effects on this picture...what do you all think? :)

Shiloh and a little buddy

Introducing the E's

Here is a family who was extremely PIVOTAL in our Phoenamenal Experience.  You see, the Dad met Mr. E about 5 years ago... short story: work together, growing friendship, business opportunity, sister church affiliation, da BOOM.. we're in Phoenix.

They have the distinction of actually being in our neighborhood.. so we share actual 'community' as well as philosophical community.  BTW, they have been a part of the church here forever..over 23 plus years!

In the family, there is: Mr. E, Mrs. E, Ryan (22), Jennifer (20) , Chris (18) and Matthew (9).. they also have a dog Tory.

Twinkle: "we just love hanging out with them because they are so laid back; so thoughtful and easy-going; Tory is a stitch"

Mickey: "exciting, inviting, delighting and kiting, and miting.. uhhhh"

the Mom: "they're just the sort of people you wanna hang out with... whether you are at a fancy charity event, or hanging out at their (unfurnished) house sitting on folding chairs.  Patty always expresses herself with faith."

the Dad: "i really enjoy hanging out with my boys and Matthew because it looks like i have 3 sons... i love the view from their front porch.. we especially like going over there to drop by and enjoy the valley view, even when they're not home...they also got along great with the big boys from back east: Brett and Bryan.. i believe Ryan calls them his BFFN..... (Best Friends For Now)."

Mrs. E and the Mom. 

Twinkle and Jen. 

Drew, who are you texting??? :) 

When the boys (Brett and Bryan) were here, we hung out a lot with the E's (Ryan is in the black shirt). 

Uncle Young Visits

Well what do you know?

Yesterday, Uncle Young (from Colorado) flew into Tucson.. no way!

we went out to sushi and got lots of delicious stuff; took pictures; talked about real estate and housing; then.

we came back and had coffee and ice cream and hung out at the pool..

then Uncle Young went back home..

Eating dinner at the local SUSHI place... the fish is MUCH fresher now that Halmoni went over a few months ago and gave them the 'what for' in Korean.. explaining that our tongues can tell the difference between fish that is 24, 36 and 48 hours old...

needless to say, our fish is now 24 hours old or less. :-)

Nora... Nora... Nora.. oh how she wanted some sushi.. but in an early act of motherly affection, she abstained and ate california rolls instead.. .

Introducing the Zigs

Mrs. Zig and Chase.

Hands up! :)

Mr. Zig and the Dad.

Dalton (10--taller one on the left), Garrett (8--taller one on the right), Chase (4--red shirt), and Cade (6--very bottom). Missing from the picture: 2-year-old Jet who is in the top picture...

and of course, Tina (the mom in the family)...just imagine the Phoenamenal Mom having a sister about 2 yrs younger.. well, that would be Tina.

The Zigs have been SO much fun to hang out with, jump on the trampoline with, tell spooky stories with, and basically have a good time with!

They live in a town called Queen Creek (which is just north of the Mexico border, well, it feels like that when we drive down there).. why do we drive so far for our friends? 3 reasons:

1) because they have a house that is BOY HEAVEN - sort of a Boys Town developed by Ritz Carlton...

2) because you can still experience community 16 miles away from each other!

3) because they're worth it..

Although the Dad has not been addressed by a particular young man in the Zig family, we forsee a wonderful friendship between him and Minnie. Hee Hee Hee.