Happiness

Declan & his cousin Kate We have family in town and are taking them to all the hot spots around here- Joe's BBQ and grill, Winco. the Temple and Bahama Bucks!  These icy sensations single handedly saved me when I had migraines. I would never get a brain freeze- no matter how fast I ate (isn't that weird? I knew I was returning to normalcy when I started getting them. A brain freeze never felt so good). They cut my pain level down from 8 to 5 and I loved them for it! Mango and Peach all the way! The kids loved it and the birthday cake flavor was a hit as usual! There are locations in Draper, Utah and Texas besides Arizona if you want to hit one! -The Bahama Mama Rama is a large shave ice with ice cream on the bottom.

Lately I’ve been trying to remind myself to be like a broken vessel. Humble, imperfect, accepting of who I am. In California I had people who knew me and loved me and accepted me for who I am. Here I kinda have to introduce myself all over again. It’s hard work. It’s tough to put yourself out there. But it’s doable. I’ve done it before. I can do it again. With God’s help. God has helped me make so many new transitions. Move after move. He can help me make this transition too. And make it better than I ever thought possible.

Arizona is HOT! I thought it would be- I mean, we lived here for 3 years 4 years ago. I was NOT prepared for this kind of heat. The kind of heat that hits 101 at 9 am in the morning. The other day I went to go grocery shopping at 10 am and went right back inside because it was way too hot. Way too hot!! Right now it is 108 and I am happy that it is not 115! We don't go outside unless it is to go to a store or do drop offs at school. The other day I walked around the school track at 6 am. That was nice! Lately I have been so tired, I have been falling asleep at 9:30 pm and waking up at 4 am. Then I am so tired from waking up at 4, that I fall asleep at 9. It's a vicious cycle. But it's a cool cycle. Literally cooler. It doesn't help that the above ground pool that our home came with broke. I look at the empty hole in the ground with just dirt in it's place and mourn it's loss. Josh is LOVING his job and now I feel like I need a job to LOVE too. I l...

  Our burst pool    The pool from our downstairs living room. On Saturday morning, our above/below ground pool burst. It was not too much of a surprise since we had seen a bulge on the side a week earlier. We had shown our owner (we are renting) and she didn't seem too worried. The last four nights we had major rain storms at night and that should have been a warning! Josh, Elizabeth and Declan were home at the time. I had taken the 3 boys to Deseret Book to buy scriptures for Seminary. We were so glad no one was swimming at the time since they usually would have been. Josh heard a big whoosing sound and saw water whoosing down the stairs. He went outside and put plastic wrap on the outside of the door to prevent it from coming in. Elizabeth got towels and began soaking everything up. It worked pretty good and the water reached only about 6 x 10 ft of the floor inside. It rushed around both side of the house and into the street and into our garage...

We've had a hard time finding a rental home in Arizona this time around. The market is extremely hot- literally!- and rentals go as fast as they get put on the market. I just applied for a home today- here's hoping we get it! Our future is based on our thoughts.If we think positive thoughts, we will have a positive future. If we think negative thoughts, we will have a negative one. Despite having a hard time getting into a home, we are excited and thrilled about working for ASU and for living in Arizona!

In the middle of February, I was able to go with Jonah on his field trip to the AZ State Capitol Building. Ethan's class was going too- on a different day- but I went with whoever gave me their permission slip sooner.   Jonah and his good friend Bridger- he's old enough not to want to sit by Mom on the bus!   Inside the first Governor's office- pretty neat!   Inside the old state Legislature room- there were no women representatives and most were Republicans!  This is Jonah- saying "Mom, don't take a picture of me!"   Arizona's State Capitol     My Crew!   Jonah's 4th Grade Class- w/ Mrs. Bretzke! 

 All the kids, strapped in and ready for an adventure. Josh's boss owns a cabin in Pine- a community (not even a town) two hours Northeast of Gilbert. He had told Josh he could use it anytime and we had talked about going for awhile. Finally, I penciled it into our calendar and we were able to go! I was excited to get away from the 115 degree heat that hits July (so many people go on vacation here in July because of it) and to go camping, but be in a cabin.  It was gorgeous up there! We got up there Thursday night and spent Friday Morning exploring the small community. There was a thrift shop and a museum built in the very first LDS Church in the area (there was even an LDS church in the community. Not Wal-mart, but a church!). The people were friendly, the weather was downright beautiful. Even the thunderstorm that blew through that afternoon was lovely and refreshing! The kids took out the umbrellas and had a great time enjoying the rain! Josh's boss has two kids so th...

  Elizabeth  Ethan   Jonah   Asher (love that grin!)   All 4 (Elizabeth and the "triplets") A friend of ours was able to take our pictures a few weeks ago. We waited until the weather was cooler (in November) and headed to a wonderful wildlife preserve near our house- the Riparian Preserve. She did an amazing job and these are a few of the pics she took. I love the lighting on these!

 Looking Down from Pass Mountain  Last weekend, we went camping at Usery Mountain. I've been wanting to go camping for a while now and we waited until it was a little cooler. The weather was in the 90's and it got cool at night so it was a good time to go! We drove a good 20 min. east and found our site. After camping in Maryland for 4 years, camping in the Desert was a little bit different! It was just dessert, full of cacti and bugs, with some dirt smoothed down and rocks put up as barriers between camp sites. As we were setting up for dinner, I found a scorpion in a brown bag of food. Luckily I did not get stung! We couldn't tell if it climbed in from the desert floor or if we brought it from home with us. Ugh! Later that evening, on a walk, we saw a big tarantula (pic on my big camera). I had never seen one in the wild and it was pretty freaky! We had dinner, smores, a story around the campfire and had lots of fun! In the morning, we headed out for what turned ...

 One onference Sunday we went to Tempe Town Lakes (close to Josh's work, a highly rated place according to the word on the street and yelp as well). It was our 2nd time there. They have a fun splash playground that's open in the summer. It's so hot and dry in Arizona that any body of water attracts a lot of attention. Including ours. We loved it! Lots of families biking and skating along the water's edge. Lovely!  The Skyline of Phoenix. Sometimes I think it's smaller than it really is!  Asher, a Chocolatey face and his ASU Sun Devils shirt. Ok. Maybe not lots of families. Thank you, Tempe Town lakes, we love you!

As I type the kids are huddled in a mass of orange and pink floating pool noodles. Arms and legs, entwined, feet and hands splashing white splays of water. Shrieks of glee and squeals of HELP! escape once in a while. I know they are playing, but those shrieks of "help" cause me to be a bit nervous. You see, I am a new pool owner. We are renting, so actually I am a new pool renter. I am new to this whole pool business. Before we moved our Church Relief Society had a meeting on Safety and the police officers sternly spoke of how to watch children in the pool. I was nervous. And I still am just a little. I sit on the back porch, on our unfinished pine picnic table and read or go online and watch. Sometimes I join them in their splashes and games. Sometimes I retreat to the cooled air behind a somewhat closed sliding door and watch from there. It's these summer and schools days blended together than make me wonder. Doesn't school mean wearing corduroy and new jeans and fe...

flowers in the Desert A walk to get the mail. A picnic at the Park Side of the road. Have I mentioned that I love Gilbert, Arizona? Let's see if I say that a month from now when it is 110 degrees! This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.

Freestone Park, Gilbert, Arizona Last night, over a dinner of french toast topped with strawberries and powdered sugar (Josh was gone, so dinner was simple), Asher turned to me and asked "Mom, are we celebrating Dr. Seuss' Birthday tomorrow?" "Sure!" I responded. "Oh, good!" he said "We'll have the cake right after dinner!" I guess I'm making a cake today. Which is okay with me since Josh's car is in the shop and he took mine today. Already I've vacuumed the whole house, made said cake (it's yet to be decorated in more strawberries and cream), walked Sadie, read the newspaper, dusted and did two loads of laundry. On the schedule for later today is matching socks, unloading the dishwasher and walking to pick the kids up from school. Good thing it's date night tonight! In N Out and a show at the local observatory. Did you know that Arizona has such clear skies it is home to 14 different observatories? This will be our fi...

Such BIG Grapefruits? A lady in our ward owns an orchard and she came and visited and brought us a huge bag of citrus- grapefruit, oranges, tangelos and lemons. I had to give some away, it was so much! The grapefruits were divine! Plus, she said we could go picking there anytime! Really??? such a drawing? I love how Asher is the only one who has a name is this picture. Such a handsome man working??? Such yummy peanut butter chocolate cupcakes? I made them for a ward social and they turned out delicious! You can find the recipe here . This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.