Number Thirty Seven

Thirty-seven years ago today Kris and I were married in the Mesa Temple. Who knew how quickly the time would fly by? Lots has changed, but much feels the same and the rapid passage of years always catches us by surprise. They have been great years filled with many blessings. Greatest of these is a wonderful family that loves each other, often in personal and searching ways; they are clearly unafraid to "break it down."

Here's to many more interesting and happy years.

Happy anniversary to us!

OXO

D.

Arizona Spring 2009

On Monday 18 May, Kris, Winnie, and I set off for Mesa, Arizona to visit Grandmother Boynton. The trip down was beautiful. We encountered rain at Flagstaff and the majority of the time we spent in Mesa was overcast, intermittently rainy, and miraculously cool. The bougainvillea is in bloom all over the Valley of the Sun and is spectacular. We spent time visiting, eating (of course), and shopping. On May 21 we took Grandmother with us to Peoria for Finn's 5th-birthday party (see post below).

Beautiful storm over the San Fransisco Peaks
near Flagstaff, on the way down

Verde Groves: Grandmother's home

The happy greeting

Maren, Finn, and Harry came to Mesa on Tuesday the 19th

We all had supper at Tia Rosa's

The gang at Tia Rosa's Taqueria

On Wednesday the 20th, Trevor came for supper

On Thursday the 21st we had our own Memorial-Day
commemoration at the Mesa Cemetery

That evening we met Maren, Gavin, and the boys at
Westgate for Finn's birthday activity
(see next post)

Winnie and I went walking every morning
and took special notice of the local flora including
the beautiful bougainvillea

Grandmother's home at Verde Groves

The greenway across from her house

Friday we joined the Beck sisters for their
traditional hamburger lunch

Kris, Carol, Raye, and Bonnie at In-N-Out

Shopping at the new San Tan Village in Gilbert

We picked up fixings for supper at this spectacular
new Mexican supermarket in Mesa

Chip and Sandy joined us for Tacos al Carbon

It's always fun to be with grandmother in Mesa.

There are three more posts from Arizona that follow.

OXO

D.

Finn's Fifth Birthday

Thursday 21 May was Finn's fifth birthday. We took Grandmother with us from Mesa to Glendale and Peoria on the northwest side of the valley to meet the Youngs for the big event. We met at Westgate, the fun development next to the Cardinals' stadium of Super-Bowl fame, and watched the celebrants assemble some cool cars at Ridemakerz, the build-a-bear equivalent for boys (and men). They LOVED it! We met back at the house in Peoria for presents, cake, and ice cream. A couple of little girls joined the party at that point. It was a great fun.

Finn picks his car body

Maren and Harry hard at work

Finn using power tools

Harry, Izak, Finn, and Israel with finished cars

Finn's new bike

The kek

Finn blows out all five

Happy birthday Finn!

OXO

P.P.

Memorial Day Weekend in Peoria

On Saturday 23 May, we did laundry and cleaned up at grandmother's and then headed to Peoria to spend a few days with Maren and Gavin and the boys. We visited, read, cooked, ate, watched a movie, played Wii, visited the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, took some nice drives, and watched the boys play in the splash pool at Westgate. On Tuesday, Maren made a DELICIOUS Brazilian dinner and invited some Brazilian mission RMs from their ward and Charlie, Gavin's Brazilian friend from work. I'm sorry I didn't get any photos. All in all we had a great time.

Grammy takes aim with a Wii Nerf gun

Finn is always excited to have us play

Saturday evening supper at the Tokyo Lobby

Harry grabs a California roll

Chop sticks for kids with rubber bands (see below) help

A beautiful spread of sushi (mostly rolls, really)

Grammy reading the boys a story before bed

A Sunday drive to see the Phoenix Temple site
near Maren and Gavin's house

Memorial Day at the Desert Botanical
Gardens in Phoenix

Fauna amongst the flora

An added bonus: Dale Chihuly exhibit
(see the next post)

Yosemite Sam redux

The group under a ramada

A tall saguaro in bloom

Artichokes three for a dollar

A tapestry of lavender

Memorial Day evening at Westgate

Harry getting into it

Finn checking carefully for geysers

Westgate is a fun and lively place

On Wednesday we headed home - Winnie is always sure
we are going to leave her and wants in her bed long
before we are actually ready to leave

Goodbye to the Youngs

Thanks to Maren et al. for such a nice visit.

OXO

D.

P.S. The Chihuli exhibit follows in the last post of this Arizona series.

The Nature of Glass at the Desert Botanical Garden

On Memorial Day we visited the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix where Dale Chihuli's The Nature of Glass is on display. I have always been a fan, having seen a documentary on him and his work several years ago. I have seen his work in Abravanel Hall in SLC, on the ceiling of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, and hanging under the dome of the V&A in London, but this was the largest group I have seen. This exhibit made a great visit to the Botanical Garden even more exciting and special. The photos are best enlarged. Here are a few pieces without captions:


















That's all for now.

OXO

D.