Last evening we went to a Mexican restaurant. Loren had a green chili burrito was looked and smelled amazing. I had a sampler plate which was pretty good, one of the dishes was loaded with jalapenos. Loren could smell them across the table, I wasn't able to finish that 'sample'. John tried some mini chicken enchiladas, I had some on my sampler plate and they were really good. Cynthia tried a taco with a salad which she said was good, but she only was able to eat half. Jesse is the only one who had a good ole American hamburger and french fries which was shared with John. Of course they all ate the chips, and I was amazed that they tried the salsa, even the spicy one.
Loren ordered sopapillas (sopaipillas) which were sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and you could pour honey on/in them. Everyone tried them with varying degrees of approval. Loren said that his mom used to make them at home, I went searching for a recipe and we're going to attempt them at home. Whenever we do, I'll try to remember to post a picture of my attempts.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Yummy Sopapillas
Monday, June 11, 2007
Driving to Mt. Lemmon
We visited First Southern Baptist Church on Wednesday night and then again on Sunday. One of the first people I met there has the same name as a good friend in Mississippi.
The children really love their classes, I had been a bit nervous how they would react, but they seem to love all the new things we are doing. Even John keeps talking about his class and wants to go back. I know that I loved the class Loren and I visited, it felt like home. There were about 20 others in class, most are stay at home moms with young children and the one mom with school age children is a home schooler. Yeah home schooling. One of the Dads noticed my Black "Breastfeeding The Gold Standard" bag and said his wife had one in blue, yeah breastfeeding. One of the mom's had a cape she used to breastfeed her 5 month old in the class. I had Rebecca in my sling and wouldn't you know my child who rarely spits up drenched me!
Sunday afternoon we decided to take a drive up the mountain. Loren had wanted to go on Saturday, but the children were quite fussy after the morning exploring Saguaro National Park and the Indian Mission. Loren, Cynthia and Jesse stopped and did a little hike while I stayed in the van with the other two who were sleeping. At the next stop we pulled into a parking place and heard a weird noise. Loren had pulled too far forward and had gone over the cement curb so he put the van in reverse and we heard this horrible noise. He stops, gets out and this look of horror comes over his face. He comes back to tell me the bumper of our van is pulled off. Oh NO. I'm trying hard not to over react, there is nothing I can do to fix this problem. I get out of the van to see and the bottom of the bumper is caught on a 4 inch high piece of re bar that is sticking out of the cement. I want to scream, but I don't. Loren pulls the van forward and I try to get the bumper up and over the piece of re bar, finally we are loose. Loren takes a couple of pictures and we are able to put it back in place, sort of. Cynthia picks up all the fasteners that have pulled loose. We have a little snack and juice while we wait for the van to cool down so we can head back down the mountain. We're not comfortable going any higher on this trip.
We got an estimate today and it is 850.00 to repair the bumper, great, just great. I'm having to put the Pastor's sermon to use early in the week. Thank God in All Circumstances, It's not easy.
Here's a picture of the sort of 'fixed' bumper. 
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Saguaro National Park
The Saguaro National Forest was amazing, I'm downloading pictures as I type and will try to get them posted tomorrow. Cynthia and Loren hiked up onto the Javelina rocks, Jesse started up but said it was too scary. He said all the sticks looked like snacks so he came back down. I stayed in the van with John, who was sleeping, Rebecca who's nursing and Jesse. We had the van doors open and the breeze felt nice. The thermometer on the van started climbing, then a wasp decided to investigate the interior, oh boy. Some of you may know that I hate wasps, actually I am so scared of them and have been since high school when they got in my hair and kept stinging. Anyway, this one lands on my leg!! I am nursing Rebecca and I just freeze, I'm trying hard not to hyperventilate. I'm also trying to keep Jesse calm in the backseat who is yelling for Loren. I don't know how much time passes, maybe between 5 and 10 minutes, I just know that the temperature in the van went from below 104 F to above 107 F. Finally the winged beast tires of my leg and flies out of the van. I immediately close the doors, reach forward turn the ignition on and put the windows up. It's too hot now for me anyway, need a bit of AC. Loren and Cynthia arrive back in a few minutes. Cynthia definitely has Loren's love for hiking and adventures outdoors.
Adventure finding a park
Friday morning we decided to get out of the house and find a nearby park. The Tucson Parks and Recreation website listed 2 that were close, One was 0.5 blocks and looked to be 8 blocks straight up from our house, the other was listed as 0.6 miles away and was a few blocks further and off the main street from us.
We gathered snacks, water, juice, applied sunscreen and decided to 'walk' (am I crazy? yes for sure). It was interesting seeing cactus up close and the cute adobe homes. The kids were counting the blocks and when we reached number 8 and then 9 with no park in sight, I got nervous pulled out my cell phone and called Loren at work. He pulled up the site and then Mapquest. The website was WRONG, the park they listed as 0.5 miles from us was really 3 miles away according to Mapquest. Oh boy, mutiny was starting among the natives! We decide to head toward the other park which meant heading further east and backtracking a couple blocks. Loren suggested heading to a further park which was another 4 blocks away and crossing a major road, NO WAY with 4 kids. I'm asking myself, Why in the world didn't I just get the van out of the garage, having to fold the mirrors in so the van doesn't scrape the door of the garage seems minor now.
We reached the other park which was at a school and guess what, there is a camp going on and every exit we find is locked. I have some very unhappy children. Rebecca, who's been happily sleeping in her sling, wakes up and is hungry, we finally find a shaded picnic table, we rest and have our snack and I nurse Rebecca. We continue around the school and the last exit is unlocked, I let the children play for 10-15 minutes, but it is now 11:00 and we have a long walk home. I promised Popsicles when we got home. It took 30 minutes to walk home, with lots of stops in the shade for water. Cynthia keeps reminding me that next time we go exploring we need to take the van. I agree.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
We've arrived in Arizona
Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated this, so much for good intentions of writing everyday.
We have embarked on a new adventure for the summer and are living in Arizona. It truly is a different heat than Mississippi. I couldn't believe we were outside at sunset and 92 felt like the 70's.
I'll be posting pictures or links to albums as we explore our new city and as our new addition grows. (Blogger image upload is not working for me right now.)
I can hardly believe Rebecca is 7 weeks today. She is grinning and responding in such cute ways right now. Rebecca was born April 19, 2007 and weighed 8 lb 10 oz and was 20 inches long. She was born at home, we had a birth pool and Loren was the one who caught her. The midwife was right there too of course. This home birth was the most amazing experience, I kept thinking this really isn't labor, it's too easy. There was a time at the end that I wanted to go to the hospital but my support group talked me through it and then I called my mom. Rebecca was born with the next set of contractions. Afterwards I told Loren it felt like I was Goldilocks trying out different positions and rooms trying to find the just right spot.
Try this link to see pictures or email me. http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6anu5un.2vgochuf&x=0&y=-dthump
