It's August!

Here is a photo of our house I took on our Friday morning walk....

On our Monday morning walk, I found a semi-ripened saguaro fruit on the ground so I took it home and cut it open.  Isn't it fascinating inside?  I don't know when the optimum time is to harvest a saguaro fruit.  And, I did learn that, like the cactus, the fruit is protected meaning you have to get a permit to pick it.  I hope fallen fruit doesn't fit into that category!

Monday night, we had a huge monsoon storm blow through and it took down the outdoor curtain on our back patio.  We are lucky it didn't take down any trees in our yard.  It sure wreaked havoc on a lot of other trees in the valley, though. 

This past week was a Transfer Week.  We sent 20 missionaries home on Tuesday morning (one went back to Mongolia and another to Tahiti) and we welcomed 23 missionaries later that afternoon.  This was our largest incoming group yet and they barely fit into the conference room for in-processing.  One sister is a visa-waiter.  She will ultimately go to the Philippines to serve her mission.  Two missionaries were returning - they had gone home for assorted reasons and were coming back to finish their mission.  And the other twenty were newbies.  Transfer week is always a shuffle-up-the-mission time what with closing or consolidating areas or opening new areas.  Steve and Elder Poulson, the housing coordinator have to scurry around to accommodate all these changes.  Missionaries needing bikes, new TiWi cards, cars being shuffled around the mission, apartments being closed or opened, missionaries needing beds and other furniture.  And, very importantly - keeping the supply closet stocked because the office is a flurry of missionaries all week.  Those who don't get to come very often because they serve in far-away areas like Flagstaff, Prescott, and even Buckeye come in and restock.  Transfer weeks are always a little crazy...

But, Steve and I did get to relax some.  We went to the mission home Wednesday evening to socialize at a Shake and Bake (President makes shakes, everyone brings baked goods).  We watched "The Natural" on Prime Friday night.  We visited the Musical Instrument Museum yesterday afternoon.  

I have never seen so many old and new instruments in all my life!  We were there for three and a half hours and only got to half of the museum.  Our poor bodies couldn't handle walking around the rest.  Below is a photo for my Harry Potter kids...

And here is Steve standing by the octobass.  (and he thought hauling my bass was a pain!)