Still still HOT

We are going on our third summer in Mesa AZ.

I'm still not sure what to say about it. It's just so... so... hot! There is no other word to describe it. I was watching the 10 o'clock news the other night (that's 10pm, not am) and the outdoor temp stated at the bottom of the picture screen was 111 degrees. I still don't know how to describe my feelings for this. (This just does not seem possible to me.)

I really try to keep in mind that it could be -10 below. That would be... cold. And I feel like I can handle cold for I lived in the cold most of my life. But... 111 at 10pm and 85 at 5am... I'm just not sold yet!

Picture this... you know that BLAST of heat you get when you open the oven door when making cookies... THAT'S IT! That's the HOT I'm talking about.

Growing up I would have NEVER, NEVER worn a skirt during the week. It was always, always jeans, jean shorts, etc. The ONLY TIME, only time I ever wore a skirt was on Sunday. And then, one always wore pantyhose with it. When I went on my mission to Argentina, the only real worry I had was wearing a skirt 24/7. That terrified me! Never, never had I ever worn a skirt that much...

BUT NOW... in these temps... I would NEVER NEVER NEVER be caught in anything BUT a skirt! Here's to skirt-makers everywhere... THANK YOU!

My FIL tells me, just 6 more weeks... can I make it? I will try...

One Man's Junk...

is another boy's treasure!

Our next door neighbor cleaned out her garage... need I say more! :}

Bay Area Fun

During the years from 2000 to 2004 our family lived in the Bay Area, namely San Jose. We had four young sons (newborn, 1 1/2, 3 1/2 and 5) at the time and I guess, bottom line, I didn't take them to see many sites. (We did know of all the parks in the San Jose area though.) And oh, is there so much to see in the Bay Area! (But, it just wasn't the time in our life.)

Glenn continues to work for the San Jose company out of our home in Mesa. He visits the office every-other-month and for the past three years I have convinced him to take ALL OF US with him during his summer month trip! (Last year we went for 2 weeks! Now, that was a relief from the heat all right.)

This year we were only able to squeeze in 1 week, but it's better than no weeks at all!

Glenn and I took the boys and Emma to San Francisco one day. We traveled down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in America. Emma Lee had fun holding her hands in the air, pretending she was on a roller-coaster ride. We also went up & down Hyde Street which has one of the steepest grades in the city. Zach was a little worried; and Zach doesn't get too worried - ever! FUN!

We highly recommend the Hornblower Cruise. We did this once before when we only had three sons. (I remember getting sick for I was pregnant with Christopher.) This time I wasn't pregnant :) and had a more enjoyable time. We had a very informational guide who had grown up in the city. We enjoyed learning about Alcatraz Island. It was also fun learning about (and seeing) the Bay Bridge and of course the majestic Golden Gate Bridge!

The cruise had a wonderful lunch buffet. The boys ate well and when we couldn't find Christopher, well, he was at the fruit tray keeping himself all filled up! (Take a look at those cheeks!)

A day later I took the kids back to the Moscone Center in downtown SF. This convention center hosted the yearly Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest. Our neighbors in Mesa had tickets to this event which let us in free for the day. Here's a picture of the World's LARGEST BASEBALL!



The boys enjoyed the batting cages,



fielding balls, playing unlimited game cube, playing t-ball for the little ones, driving crazy cars,





and we all sang and recorded "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"


It was wonderful to feel the cool breeze for 7 days, but best of all to see old friends. Here's a picture of 1/2 the Peake Boys (our old neighbors that lived across the street in Campbell) and Zachary working on a cornhusk project at the Discovery Museum.



The most fun for us - THE BEACH! Whether we are with cousins or friends, the beach is the place to be!

Plum Dumplings

We were in the Bay Area this past week visiting friends and one of my old neighbors delighted me with a bag full of plums!

She has wonderful fruit trees in her backyard (apricot, apple, plum) and I sure do miss trading grapes and oranges for her plums!

So, I snuck them home. (Don't tell Zach, for he could have ate the whole bag.) I made Mom Stara's Wonderful Plum Dumplings! (We seemed to eat a lot of these in the winter months growing up in Nebraska!)

It was definitely a treat for me, but it just didn't taste quite as good as Mom's - probably since I made them in the dead of summer, temps nearing 110! (Not the same as a cold, blustery January day in NE!)

Guess I'm going to need some more plums Mary! :) Thanks!

Double Dessert

When we moved to Mesa a few years ago, we started a tradition. Everyone who lives in Arizona needs this tradition! When the temps go above 110 degrees, it's a double-dessert day! :)

We've been enjoying lots of double-desserts for the past 3 weeks now.

Sweet Innocence...

My mother once said that there would be days like this... I never believed her until today...

It all started with a trip to the Mesa Public Library. Innocent enough. What should have been a sweet trip through education alley turned out to be just the opposite... a bitter journey through terrible two tantrums! Okay, so it did make me laugh.

We enter the library... choose our books... check out our books and all is going very well. (I only have four children with me for Nick is at gymnastics.) Then I decide that we should grab some books-on-tape for our trip to San Jose this weekend. Ben and Zach agree.

We re-enter the library (BIG MISTAKE) and Emma decides that she doesn't want the books that are in her bag. She begins winging them out onto the floor shouting, "I don't want these books!" I calmly say, "Okay." Then she struts around with the bag and finally tosses that to the ground too. I again say, "That's okay." I immediately reach down to pick up the bag and put the books back in when she starts shouting, "I want my bag. Don't touch my bag!" I calmly ignore her and continue as quickly as possible to get the books in the bag and GET OUT OF THE LIBRARY. I could feel that something was coming...

The spitting began. At first little droplets; soon raspberries and spews of spit; finally full on lugies! She KNOWS that spitting is not done in our home. Well, she knows that spitting "gets Mom's goat!" :)

BUT... I really was calm and she wasn't getting through to me. So, what is the next level after spitting? For a sweet innocent little girl of two-years old, wearing a sundress with turquoise undies... you guessed it! Right there, in the public library she begins shouting, "I'm going to take my dress off." I was still calm and when I heard her squeamish voice I just started laughing my head off - thinking to myself "this really isn't happening." "She won't do it."

Still thinking, "What would my calm husband do in a situation like this?" I was being so calm up to this point and I was very proud of myself. But then I just lost it and couldn't stop laughing. I had tears flowing and then I heard Zach say, "Mom, Mom, you need to come stop Emma quick!"

Of course I did get to her but was laughing so hard that I just couldn't get the dress back on as quickly as I thought I could. It did go on - backwards. I picked her up and she began shouting, "Put me down!"

So, we spent the rest of our lovely library experience with sweet little innocent Emma in my arms, pulling hair, scratching, hitting and spitting all the way to the car. What an adventure. If twos are terrible, what are threes?...