Casa Grande

 On the way, Connor and Trevor sat on these cactuses!

Actually, they are just posing for a funny picture, but Trevor really did get some spines in his bum from our goofing around....


We went to Tucson for a weekend with Jon and Tiffany's family, and on the way there, we passed a sign for the Casa Grande ruins.  I had seen these on my mission, but I asked the boys if they would like to see some Native American ruins.  The Casa Grande ruins are stucco, built in 1350, by a tribe now known as the Hohokam, a word that means "those who are gone."

The 4 walls face North, South, East, and West, and there are various holes in the structure which exactly capture the sunlight at summer solstace, another for winter solstace, etc.  It is 4 stories high, and is believed to have been used for religious purposes.  Anyway, we found it fun and fascinating.  We certainly didn't get enough of Arizona's Native American treasures!

Staying clean at the Whiting Reunion

Staying clean at the Whiting Reunion is always a bit of a challenge!  In fact, this year, there were so many people, we were limited to one shower per weekend!  And believe me, you need that shower!  Trevor tried to get out of it.  First he hemmed and hawed, then finally he got his towel and soap, and headed off for the showers, and returned to tell us he had showered.  The amazing thing was that the dirt he got on his face AFTER the shower looked exactly like the dirt he had on his face BEFORE the shower!  We decided that if he didn't want a warm shower, we would give him a cold one.  He thought that was pretty funny until about halfway through, when he agreed to go and finish up his shower in the warm water.  Thanks for your help, Uncle Mark!

Little Gwyn also enjoyed the challenge of staying clean in the great outdoors!  Here she is laying on the air mattress that I brought that was, in fact, bigger than the tent we slept in.....

Gwynie's Blog

Many people have asked for photos...here are a few!

What I Did This Summer

Our adventure in NC started our adventure for the entire summer!  I had traveled to the US 6 weeks early to have the baby.  The boys had to finish school, Dave had a business meeting in NC, and we have friends there who we wanted to see, so it seemed to make perfect sense for me to travel there to enjoy a little vacation before taking the boys back to AZ to await the birth.

Which just goes to show how little of life can really be planned!

The day we were both supposed to jet off to different corners of the world, Gwyn decided it was time to make her dramatic entry into the world!  

We were so glad we were all together.  The boys had spent the night at their friend's house, so we were able to head directly to the hospital, using our GPS to find one!  I'll never forget walking into the ER to say that my water had broken, and, by the way, I didn't have a doctor....

I had nothing!  I had traveled there with just my carry-on!  Dave went to Target and bought everything we needed.  The doctors wouldn't let us travel at first, so I stayed with our good (now REALLY GOOD) friends for a week until I found a doctor who said it would be okay to fly.  (Ask enough doctors, you'll eventually get the answer you want....)