in the valley of the SUN

We are in Phoenix, we arrived yesterday evening. It's amazing how hot and dry a desert is. And in spite of it, or because of it, there are so many people that live here and consider it a 'hot' living location. But I wonder who first came here, looked around the empty, dry desert and thought, "I think this would be a great place to live"? hmmm. Anyway, we will call this place home in two years. It does have spectacular sunsets, my brother and a good friend, and F-16s.

Today we spent the day hanging out at Luke AFB, watching the planes, working out, and going to the library. We are about to go meet Andrew since he just got off work. And we will be hanging out this weekend at the Grand Canyon. How fun.

Goodbye LA, hello AZ

Yesterday was our last day here in Southern California. Peter had an early morning golfing with the cousins, which has become a tradition of theirs. (Mike won, in case you're wondering Johnny.) I made biscotti, just to try it out since I had a kitchen at my disposal. We cleaned out our car, Old Faithful, and re-packed it ready to hit the road again. And we had a dinner with all the extended Sailhamers of SoCal which was just awesome. We came home to Mom Sailhamer's famous guacamole and another episode of the military channel with the family. Just a warning to our Boston siblings, this may be what we are watching around Thanksgiving too instead of a black and white movie. Peter is hooked!

Today we are heading to Arizona to see my little brother, some friends, the Grand Canyon, and Luke Air Force Base (which will be where we'll be living in two years). The trip definitely seems like it is winding down to a close and we are excited to head back to Denver and "real" life. But before that we'll have the last hurrah in the desert oasis of Phoenix.

a tea party to remember

Last week Peter's Aunt Claudette invited his mom and I over for a tea party! I LOVE tea parties and this one will be such a fun memory for me of time in Southern California. Let me help you picture it all.

Aunt Claudette is a lovely and enthusiastic woman in her 70s with beautiful white hair. She has an ever-present smile on her face and is always laughing and loving the people around her. Every family needs an Aunt Claudette (and Uncle Billy too - but that's another story).
When we got to her home the table was set with flowers, lace and fine china. Orchestral music was playing in the background and we were dressed to fit the part. Perhaps something so fancy would make one feel nervous to have proper etiquette or be very graceful and charming. I did notice that I slowly ate my soup the proper way, dipping the spoon and scooping away from me. Even with all the formality, there was never a stiff nor uncomfortable moment; rather an ease permeated the air. We were having fun with playing tea party. We laughed and talked and told stories. Over the next three hours we lingered over a delicate pear tea, sweet scones, pumpkin soup, heart-shaped cucumber and chicken crescent sandwiches, and little petit fours.

apple pie day

Outside it is cold and drizzly and, like most people on these types of days, I just want to stay in and be warm and cozy. Today is an apple-pie-making day. Won't it be so nice to have the apple pie smell wafting through the house on this cold, fall day? Mom Sailhamer has been wanting to make one for the last week, but it just hasn't worked out. So this will be a great surprise to come home to. The pie dough that I made last night is ready and I just found a recipe that I want to try. oh what fun!

Peter's surfing start!

David had the weekend off of work so we hit the beach. The three of us "kids" drove down to the beach despite the day being in the 60s and rainy.  We got chai to drink and strolled along the pier watching the fisherman. That's where Peter started watching the surfers more than the fish. He'd wanted to go before, so still interested he checked on how much it would cost to rent a surf board - only $10, he was sold. All through the lunch that David treated us to his mind kept returning to surfing and what it would be like. By the time lunch was over and he rented the board he was both super excited and a little nervous. As the only surfer without a wet suit and the band strapped to his wrist instead of his ankle, one might have been able to tell that he was new at this. But Pete happily jumped into the waves and paddled out. At first the waves rocked him and David and I have footage of the wipe outs. But, natural athlete that he is combined with some tips from other bros, he started picking it up staying on the board. His time was interrupted by dolphins surfacing about 10feet from him. When I say surfacing, I mean completely jumping out of the water, doing flips and chasing each other. They stuck around for about a half an hour and it was so cool to watch from the shore. However, it was a little disconcerting for Peter since they were so close with nothing separating them in the water. His comfort was that the other surfers acted like it was normal only to find out that the had no clue since they were from Utah. I guess the locals don't usually surf on rainy days in the middle of the afternoon.

With the family

After leaving Yosemite we drove down to the LA area to spend some time with Peter's family (and mine too!). The temperature rose quickly after leaving the mountains, from the 50s to 94. The landscape changed dramatically from pine trees to shrubs and brown grasses on rolling hills and plains. We came across several old ghost towns, or semi-ghost towns, that had once been a thriving metropolis of gold diggers in the 1800s. A plaque and few of the buildings remained (among over grown trees) to give a hint of what had been. Visiting CA ghost towns might be a new pastime here, just like going to the beach. When we were all here last Christmas we went to visit the ghost town next to Jason and Betsy's land in Yermo.

We reached Fullerton and are enjoying spending time with the family. All of the kids pitched in to get Mom a new computer and David got a new monitor. So Peter is busy helping set it all up and just loving it. I went grocery shopping with Mom and helped cook. It's nice to be in a kitchen again. :-D

Yosemite

We spent a few days at Yosemite National Park. The plan was to camp, but the brochure that we were given when we entered said that you couldn't keep any food or toiletries in your car because of the bears. For a minute, we thought about disregarding that, until we read further that the black bears at Yosemite don't hibernate, but are active year-round and that if they break into your car to get food there could be a $5,000 fine. Yikes! These were not your average black bears. We pulled over to have a picnic dinner and deer walked up to us looking for food and wouldn't be scared off. That confirmed it, the wildlife in Yosemite were a little too used to people. All the campgrounds happened to be full, so we stayed in a tented cabin (much like a DTP tent for all you HoneyRockers). It was awesome. I've always wanted to sleep in one of those. And all of our food and toiletries were kept out side in a metal bear box.
We spent the next couple days hiking waterfalls and exploring the Yosemite Valley. We went to the museum and cemetery, the old school and a couple of the hotels and caught the sunset at the top of Glacier Point. "Well, of all things!" We left having done a lot, but wanting to do so much more. I'm so thankful for these persevered wilderness that we can go to and explore.