go fly a kite

Living in the desert can make outdoor play challenging. The hot sun without shade trees, slippery gravel yard instead of green grass, and lots of plants with needles do not add up to a kid-friendly environment. But living on a quite dead end street with lots of space to roam beats city apartment play scraped knees and all. We're on a learning curve....long pants, regardless of the temperature, provide a layer of protection from inevitable gravel-induced wipe outs. And of course there is always water play....but that's another post.

the floating gourmet

This post is dedicated to:
Julie for our joy of sharing recipes
and
Amy for our mutual need to photograph food

The photos pretty much tell the story.

Well, with the exception of the
Melting Chocolate Cake
of which photography cannot capture what the
taste buds experienced.

duck

pumpkin/squash bake

warm spinach artichoke dip

for aaron

Thought of you when I spotted this welder while boarding our boat...

sea see

There were a lot of mirrors used in the decor of the ship...
providing lots of opportunities for fun reflection photos.

This cute little guy was left on our bed one day by housekeeping staff.

on deck

Our initial look around the ship, Inspiration, on our 3 night cruse with Carnival. I was so excited when we arrive I almost cried.


Jay thought it was important to check out the lifeboats.

Our day at sea was windy, wet and cold. We never even thought about getting in the pool.

funny sign!

The running track, a good place to stretch your legs and get some air.

toe count

120 toes -100 toes + 20 toes = 40 toes

We have company coming and going.

Our missionary friends, the Cobbett family, who have been living in their RV in our driveway since January first, headed north to Oregon yesterday evening.


At the same time we welcomed the arrival of two new guests, this pair of the smallish sort. Our friends are were in need of a place for their two children, a 3 year old girl and her 18 month old brother, to stay while they work through a family crisis. The children will stay for a few day until things are settled and they can go home.


This past week we had an unannounced guest for dinner when Jay picked up a young man who was walking alongside the highway and four last minute overnight/breakfast guests.

Yesterday I got a phone call from out of state friends, reminding us that they plan to stay with us two weeks in April while they are making doctor visits. Good thing they called as I hadn't remembered to write their visit on the calendar.

All this to say; my flexibility and hospitality skills have been stretched and grown since moving to Arizona.

Sarah's Key: Book #4

This fun read, Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, comes recommended by my cousin Brenda via Facebook. It's historical fiction set in present day France. The main character is a journalist researching an article on the real life event that occurred in Paris on July 16, 1942; the great Velodrome d'Hiver roundup. The journalist's interest is peeked by the story of a Jewish young girl, Sarah, taken from her home along with her parents and place in a concentration camp. When the parents are moved to another camp young Sarah is left behind with along with hundreds of other newly orphaned children. Sarah and a friend escape the prison and are taken in by a sympathetic farmer couple. As the facts are uncovered the hidden story emerges revealing a link between the journalist and the young girl Sarah.

I really enjoyed Sarah's Key and, as often when I find myself in historical fiction, like the fact that my pleasure reading has the added benefit of giving me insight into important period of history. Now that I think about it, historical fiction, at least for me, has the same effect as a spoonful of sugar with a dose of medicine.