It has been sometime since I wrote in this blog, and much has happened... My dad had just passed away at my last writing. We couldn't have his funeral for more than a month (long story), but finally had a very nice graveside service the end of January. My husband moved to Arizona right before dad's service to start a new job in a different church, so when he left the funeral, he flew to Arizona and I went home to Oregon. Three weeks later, mom had a stroke and I headed back to Idaho for mom's surgery. She is doing great now, but what a stressful time we all went through. And between then and now we sold our house in Oregon, bought a house in Arizona, said goodbye to family and friends and packed up and moved across the country. But now it is the middle of August and we have managed to survive the summer! We have really loved being here... even with the hot summer. The church is wonderful, and Arizona is beautiful. We are learning to do things we have never had to think about before, like always carrying water, doing laundry before noon or after 7 pm, shopping early in the day to avoid the heat and pretty much staying indoors in the summer instead of the winter. I have also been able to pick oranges and grapefruit off the trees in my yard! How cool is that? I am looking forward to a little cooler time of year, but Christmas might seem mighty strange this year. I'm so used to cold snowy winter weather that it just doesn't seem right to think about serving Christmas dinner on the patio by the pool...