Is May over yet????

Yesterday found us back down in east valley....this time to take the Blakelys out to lunch at Abuelos.  They have helped Steve every month with the reconciliation between the monthly mission gas credit card bill and the monthly receipts that come in from each vehicle.  They live clear down in Chandler so everything is done by mail.   We met them face-to-face when they first started to help back in September of 2017 and Steve felt we should get together now that we are both at the end of our service.  We had a really nice visit and if we lived nearer each other, I think Irene and I could be great friends.  (she is an avid seamstress)

Still no word on our departure date.  But we did learn in a late Friday email that the Sister Franco's procedure went well and that no surgery is needed so they think they can be in Phoenix by July 1st.  But, wait!.  The Thorntons are now supposed to be the designated couple to take our place (since he knows the Vehicle Coordinator job and she knows the Baptism/Travel job) and they are supposed to come sometime in July.  I will call the Senior Missionary Department on Tuesday when offices are open again and find out what the latest news is.  It is like the Arizona Phoenix Mission is the guy who invites two girls to the prom and they both say "yes"!  

Friday night, Steve and I went to have dinner and play games with my cousin Dave Fraedrich and his wife Shelley.  They have a four-year old malti-pooh names Samson who is the cutest and most friendly little dog ever!  We instantly fell in love.  He reminded us so much of Max.  We enjoyed grilled chicken for dinner and then we played Monopoly.  I haven't played that game since Juli, Jamie Kaye and I played it as kids in El Paso.  All I really remembered about it was that it was LONG and my memory was correct.  We finally had to just call a draw between Dave and me since, even though I had all the railroads, he had all the expensive properties and I would have eventually gone bankrupt like Shelley and Steve did.  

We got a batch of new missionaries on Tuesday.  Ones from Italy, France, Australia, and South Africa and the rest from "exotic" Utah.  For Mother's Day/Father's Day, Steve and I gave ourselves a new set of car speakers and we had them installed on Friday.  No more horrible distorted sound - thankfully. 

I finished up my last batch of Days for Girls shields and delivered ninety-two of them on Saturday.  I hope to sew for a Chesterfield group once we get back to Missouri.  It is such a relaxing, fun, and rewarding activity.  

I will close with a couple of nature photos - a budding barrel cactus and a teeny weeny little praying mantis...

Mid-May

It is 7:00 Sunday morning as I write this.  We are enjoying unseasonably mild temperatures for mid-May so our windows are open.  And, there is a desert quail (a.k.sa.Gambel's quail) somewhere close by.  They are the silliest looking bird with their top knot and to watch them is like viewing a cartoon.  So their call should be goofy sounding only it isn't.  It sounds almost like a tiny wail.  

We had a potluck luncheon at the office on Monday to honor those who have recently left (Elder Baggiore) and those who will soon be leaving (Elder Wall and us).  Here we all are:

(Standing:  Jennifer and Ken Harris with Jarek Wall in-between, Tom Williams,Jerald and Jenene Poulson,  Elders Shad Johnson and Andres Hernandez, Sister and President Collins)

(Sitting:  Steve, me, Jim Baggiore).  

I had a studio recital Thursday evening here at the Seminary house in the classroom.  It was roomy (we just turned the desks to face the piano), the acoustics are really nice, and the electric Kawai is surprisingly decent to play. It lasted an hour and, for refreshments, we served sugar cookies and lemonade (from the cups and cups of frozen lemon juice we squeezed a few months back). 

 Here we all are (l-r:  me, Lottie Anderson, Scott Collins, Erik Lucas, Nathan Coons).  Scott is my piano student and the mission president's son.  I have been teaching him and Lottie and Erik since we arrived two years ago.  I picked up Nathan as a student last fall.  He's obviously older, a father of four, and he played cello through high school so it has been fun to have a more advanced student.  Although, Erik is remarkably skilled for just being twelve.  Lottie is making great progress and Scott.....well, let's just say piano is not is favorite thing in the world.  But, he played his recital pieces surprisingly well (and slow).

On Saturday, we drove down to Gilbert to have lunch with Columbia (and MTC) friends Paul and Nancy Hansen before taking in a session at the Gilbert Temple (Phoenix is closed until after Memorial Day for routine cleaning)

We stopped off to say "hi" to Jerri on our way back up to Anthem.  We had time to watch a couple of movies this weekend - "Spiderman Homecoming" on Friday night and "Christopher Robin" last night.  It has been a nice week.

Mother's Day

I am so thankful for the blessing of being a mother.  And a grandmother.  I am thankful for my own mother.   And having a day to celebrate mothers is the best.  Steve made me gluten-free pancakes.  We bought a joint Mother's/Father's day gift of a new set of speakers for our car.  The current ones are terrible.

On Saturday, we joined two other mission office couples (Poulson and Harris) and the mission president and his wife for a trip to Thatcher and the Gila Valley temple.  The Collins have an enormous and luxurious motor home so we traveled in style.  The scenery was gorgeous.  The temple was beautiful and serene.   

Afterwards, we drove by the boyhood home of Spencer W. Kimball in Thatcher  

On the way home, we had dinner at the Apache Prime Steakhouse located on the Apache Reservation between Thatcher and Globe.  It was so delicious. 

I didn't have to cook on Friday either.  Our down-the-street friends, George and Janet Wells, took us to dinner at a nearby Mexican food restaurant, El Encanto Dos.  Mmmmmm!

Temperatures have lately been unseasonably cool (and by "cool" I mean highs in the 70's - low 80's and overnight lows in the high 60's).  We were especially grateful for these temperatures Thursday night when we came home to a rather warm house and a dead thermostat.  Happily, all it took was a call to Facilities Maintenance and a heating-cooling technician was over in a jiffy to diagnose a non-functioning fan.  He couldn't bring a new part until Friday so we had to sleep with open windows - which we have been doing every night for over a week anyway.  

Not much else to report.  

May is here!

I am so happy May is here.  That means only six more weeks until our family reunion in California.  Which plans recently had a major upheaval ....both the location and the timing!  My sister Judy called me about a week and a half ago to say that her Church meetinghouse was no longer available!  I guess I am glad we found this out now rather than a week before the event like what happened with the Young reunion last fall.  And, at about the same time, my nephew Brent emailed me asking if we could move the start time to the afternoon to allow them time to drive over from Mesa that morning.  After some anxious days waiting for Judy and her family to find a new venue, and after consulting with some of the family who I knew would be returning home Saturday night, we finally found a place and decided on a new time and we are all systems go again...(for now)

Speaking of upheaval - our depart date is now up in the air.  For over a year, our last day has been June 4th.  Our replacements, the Francos, were to come mid-May for two weeks of training.   Then, about a month ago, we learned that Sister Franco had to have surgery scheduled for May 22nd and it was a six-week recovery followed by her doctor's clearance and then clearance by Mission Medical in Salt Lake.  New arrival date would be the first of August - maybe.  BUT, we had another senior couple in the wings that could save the day.  The Thorntons are currently live-at-home missionaries in Nampa, Idaho and serving in the mission office as Vehicle Coordinator and Travel/Baptism Secretary (same jobs as Steve and me).  The Nampa Mission is being absorbed into the Boise Mission on July 1st so they will soon be out of a job, so to speak.  They want to continue to serve and they have a daughter in north Phoenix so, about three months ago, they contacted President Collins offering their services to the Arizona Phoenix Mission.  At that time, it seemed the best idea was for them to take the Poulson's place when they left at the end of September.  Until Sister Franco's surgery.  The Thorntons would be perfect replacements for Steve and me - training would be a couple of days instead of two weeks - and the Francos could replace the Poulsons.  Only, it is not quite that simple, it seems.  First, because this is not a live-at-home mission, the Thorntons have to officially submit mission application papers to Salt Lake.  They did this supposedly May 1st.  Second, President Collins has to officially request them.  He did this a week ago.  And, now we wait.  Senior missionary applications take at least a month to process.  And, hopefully, this plan is what the Lord wants because they still have to be called by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve to the Arizona Phoenix Mission.  And, once the paperwork is done, who knows how soon they will arrive?  Will they be released from their Nampa mission before it closes?  Or will we not see them until the first or the middle of July (or even later????)  Thankfully, President Collins understands our Young and Lambson family reunion plans and we can still leave and attend both.  So, stay tuned.....

Speaking of the Poulsons, they joined us on another First Friday visit to the Phoenix Art Museum.  Elder Poulson is 80 and Sister Poulson is 75 and they are not extremely adventurous.  When I told her about our last visit, she said she would love to go but that it would never happen.  So, we brought them along with us because there were a few exhibits I still wanted to see.  We had dinner at Costa Vida and then to the musuem.  

Here is Steve with one of the works of "art" - a giant Big Mac. (I just don't get modern art)

On Saturday, we invited Elder and Sister Harris, another senior missionary couple, up to our place for lunch and a nice visit.  Then, we did baptisms at the temple and we finished our day at the movie theater watching Avengers Endgame.  Oh, my.  I just LOVED that movie.  And, Steve, who did NOT see the Infinity War, also enjoyed it.  

Elise stopped by our Columbia house this week and snapped pictures of my hybrid iris bed.  I am so delighted that they are thriving.

And, the naturalized iris lining our front walk are still going strong.

Elise and Steven drove to St. Louis yesterday for Free Comic Book Day and Emily sent me this photo.  Made my heart so happy.

The UTI I was diagnosed with mid-April returned so I am on a second round of antibiotic.  I felt pretty crummy on Thursday so I only spend a couple of hours at the mission office before going home and taking a three-hour nap.  I am feeling all right now - just my tummy hurts a little from the medicine.