Yes It Rains In Phoenix

It is monsoon season here in Arizona...which usually means that it rains really hard in the middle of the night and we see no evidence of it by the time we get up the next morning...it just absorb into that dry desert and is gone. But today we got a good downpour in the late afternoon/evening. It was loud and windy and all around lovely. It does not really cool down, it is hot even when it rains, but it looks and sounds so nice!
It was so windy that we lost 2 branches off our "pineapple tree" in the front yard...not that it grows pineapples, it just looks like a huge one itself :)

30 DELICIOUS YEARS

We were pretty entertained when we went to celebrate our 30th Anniversary at CHEESECAKE FACTORY...compliments of Austin and Laura. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

We had very delicious dinners there and an all around good time.

Braden joined us and was the entertainment of the evening. He was really in a strange mood, which means, very silly.
Scott loves to brag about all the places we have been on our anniversary over the past few years...but we are glad to be here in Phoenix for the next 2 more anniversaries. This one was lovely.

HIKING AT THUNDERBIRD REC

I had been wanting to check out a nearby recreation area in Phoenix, and having Breanna visit was a great excuse to get over there. Miraculously, it had really rained a lot the night before so it had cooled off a bit, and it was totally overcast the whole time we were out hiking...it was PERFECT! Later in the day it was hot again with no clouds in sight, so we were really blessed.We took a map with all of the trails, and chose a big loop to take for our first hike day. We met a cute 71 year old Greek fellow out hiking who took pictures of us at two overlooks.
You can see how far out we could see into the city from up here...not anything like "mountains" in Utah, but a good little hike nonetheless! I will want to come back here to explore more for sure!

TRIP TO SEDONA

While Breanna was here, we took a trip up to the Northern parts of our mission to check it out!This row of flags is in Prescott, the old capitol of Arizona. We loved the quaint downtown area of Prescott.
Up in the redrock area of Sedona, we saw some lovely wildflowers, and lots of really neat rock formations.
It reminded us a lot of parts of Utah, especially the National Parks areas that we love.
Speaking of love, Breanna was a very good hug-giver while she was here. We are entertained by the fact that with Breanna looking so young, and Braden somewhat older than he is, people think they are boyfriend and girlfriend.
Here we are at one of the scenic overlooks up by the airport in Sedona. It was a fun family outing and a good chance to be on the road and just talk!

WELCOME BACK/WELCOME TO: PHOENIX

We had our first trip to welcome someone other than missionaries at the Phoenix airport. We picked up Breanna and Braden last Wednesday for a much anticipated visit. We had been really missing Braden while he was gone...not quite ready to be empty nesters yet!!! Can you see who was happier to be here...Yup, you got it!
It was so much fun to show our new environment to Breanna. We are finding we have a lot of pride in Phoenix, our neighborhood and especially our missionaries!

Thanks Bre for coming to see us! It made our week to share time with you...we hope this is the first of many family visits to see us over the next almost 3 years!

MOST AMAZING FRUIT SALAD MEAL EVER!

I am sharing the wealth with you from a recipe I learned this week from a darling new convert to the Church when I spent the afternoon with two of our Spanish Sister Missionaries.
I call it "The Most Amazing Fruit Salad Meal Ever!" Here is what you do...

you go to the store and buy a whole bunch of fruit...whatever looks good and is all colors. I used strawberries, pineapple, bananas, apples, grapes, pears, peaches, kiwi and blueberries...did I miss anything? The mango was not ripe. You could add papaya if you like it.

Cut up the cuttable ones and leave the grapes and blueberries whole. Mix them all together and heap plates full of the mixed fruit. Here is what makes it a meal...you top it with cottage cheese, a little granola and a dried berry and nut mix for the protein. Flaxseed is good too. You can drizzle a little honey on top if you like and VOILA! You will be so full after eating this, and you do not need to feel guilty about eating a ton! Plus, it is beautiful to look at. I could hang this picture on my walls if there was room! I am really looking forward to tomorrow...because there are LEFTOVERS!

CREATURES

OK, , I have been waiting to have THREE creatures to show you to do this post and it happened today! This first creature was luckily dead...I saw it on my run one morning and marvelled at how huge it was. Bugs are just bigger here for some reason.This second creature just showed up at one of our first meetings with our missionaries... There are LOTS of lizards here, but they usually stay outside.

This last creature showed up IN OUR HOUSE!!! Our housekeeper, Argelia, asked me to come and see something...this was not what I expected! Luckily, the house had been sprayed a couple of weeks ago, and this 3 plus inch "critter" was in the throes of death. But he creeped us out! And I was barefoot!

I did some research and here is what he WAS! So...

WHEN DO YOU WANT TO COME SEE US????

Centipedes & Millipedes

Renée Lizotte

Giant desert centipede

Centipedes are arthropods that have elongated bodies with one pair of legs per segment. They range in size from less than an inch to several inches. The giant desert centipede is usually 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) long, while the common desert centipede is 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) long. The larger giant desert centipede is orange with a black head and tail. This warning coloration advertises the centipede as dangerous. The smaller, brown and tan, common desert centipede is less so. While painful, neither bite is especially dangerous to humans.

Distribution

Centipedes are found world-wide, in temperate and, more abundantly, in tropical areas. These 2 desert species are found throughout the southern United States and into Mexico.

Our First Transfer Group

SURPRISE! We sent home our first group of 13 missionaries this week. It was a wonderful, bittersweet experience! I was overwhelmed with how much I had come to love these missionaries that I had met only a couple of times for most of them.

And then equally amazed at how immediately I was in love with the new group of 15 that we welcomed into our home the very next morning.

Aren't they a sharp looking group? They come prepared and excited to serve and we are really looking forward to knowing this group as our first to come be with us their entire mission.

Part of the schedule of the day was "naptime" and it was very important! I was able to leave them resting and take Braden over to get registered at the high school. Amazing how that worked out!

The next morning, we all went over for the new missionaries to meet their trainers and to join us in our transfer meeting with all the transfers in the mission...it was quite a group!

We were exhausted when we were done...and we celebrated by taking Braden to see Harry Potter that night since we had been so crazy busy for the past week.

YAY! we survived our first of about 26 transfers while we are here :)

BROTHER TAYLOR

We have had so much fun with Braden and his name tag...

They asked us in the office if we wanted one for him and we said "Sure!"

So, he has worn it a few times and it was really fun at the airport when we went to pick up missionaries. We met two returned missionaries on that same trip that both assumed Braden was one of our current missionaries...he is looking old enough to be one and that scares me!

Austin...do you recognize his suit? You should.

He made the day of these two Elders from North Carolina at their zone activity...this is what we try to go to each Preparation Day for Braden to play with the missionaries.

This young man has been AMAZING with being dragged from his friends and home to a very new and sometimes uncomfortable lifestyle.

Keep us in your prayers. This is not an easy thing for any of us, but especially a sacrifice for Braden. We love our "Brother Taylor!"

SOME NEW HOUSE THINGS

We have moved into a beautiful home here in Peoria, Arizona. It is really a showplace, that we are trying to make into a "home" for Braden. This home has not had children living here, so it will take a little bit to make it comfortable for him.I started with the kitchen...my new motto is "LAUGH" every day! This could save my life!
Jenna, here is the tray you gave me, with some summer fruits for decoration...pretty cute in a red kitchen!
And more homey touchs with the quilted flag and the quilted potholders for the 4th of July that Jenna made for me. It makes me happy to have some things from home around me!
The next few photos are of the master bathroom. We had decided that the room needed some "pop" with adding a dark teal blue color to blend in the blue master bedroom attached. The print in the little toilet room was the inspiration for the color and looks so cute.
The James Audobon prints matted in the same blue look fantastic...this picture does not do it justice at all.
My shelf from home also was a perfect touch in there to show off the extra towels. I will post Braden's neat BYU theme room another day and other parts as I have time.

We have been without AC in 1/2 the house for the past 4 days as temperatures have soared to 117 with significant humidity. But, we are doing fine. Utah is a good preparation for desert climate.

FIRST "Family P-DAY"

We received some timely counsel from the apostles at our New Mission President Seminar about how to conduct ourselves on our Preparation days and specifically when we go out as a family or on dates. We were told to "blend in with the crowd" so we did just that.We first drove past the temple site for the Phoenix temple that is just beginning construction, and then over to Mesa to the beautiful temple there. This was the hottest day of the summer so far...about 117 degrees, but the temple was just beautiful and we really enjoyed it.
We are so grateful to have Braden with us on this mission! He has been a really good sport to go with us on all our preparations and to dinners with ward members and area leaders. What an amazing young man to "go and do the things the Lord commands" at such a young age!

We were excited to see a couple of our missionaries over at the visitor center with some new members...they looked sharp and had no idea who we were in our street clothes...pretty exciting to see them in action! (Elders Whitlock and Anhder)

Arizona Phoenix Mission / Taylors: PROVO MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTER

Arizona Phoenix Mission / Taylors: PROVO MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTER:

CLICK ON THE TITLE TO GO TO OUR MISSION BLOG TO SEE THIS POST

"PHOENIX...HERE WE COME! We could not resist the traditional photo in front of 'the map' in the MTC. President Taylor and I entered the MTC ..."

MOVING OUT AND MOVING IN

We have a lot of STUFF! And if you don't believe it, I will show you the invoice from the movers that came last week. They actually labeled a lot of our box contents as "stuff" and rightfully so.
Last to go in, after the "stuff" were the bikes. Yup, we could take sort of whatever we wanted up to a weight limit...and we are crossing our fingers that we did not have too much! Sadly, our house does not look like we even took anything out of it...in fact, it looks better! Yes, this says that we had TOO MUCH STUFF! But we have been living out of suitcases for a week now and we are surviving just fine.
The great thing about moving things out was that now we had room to MOVE THINGS IN...important things like BABY CRIBS! For FHE last week we put together baby ??? crib in the new and improved preschool room.
Laura had chosen the cutest fabric for her baby quilt and curtain and dust ruffle and now it looks like a really cute room. We will have them post pictures once they get their boxes put away and have it looking like they want. We are so grateful to them for coming into our house to care for it and be there for Breanna so she does not have to be alone! We can't wait for this sweet baby to join our family and are so glad she will have this sweet room to call home.

SET APART TO SERVE!

Wow! Here we go! June 14 we were set apart by President Boyd K. Packer and Elder Costa of the Seventy. They were personable and encouraging. President Packer has background in the Park Valley/ Grouse Creek/ Almo/ Malta area so there were some fun conversations and memories of that area. He shared with us his experience of helping with one of the presidential elections in that area where they actually used HOMING PIDGEONS to send in the poll results from these little ranch towns! It was a wonderful experience to meet with these faithful men.

The Taylor family headed to Phoenix!

Presidente and Hermana Taylor

John and Carole Olsen

Lori Taylor

Syd and Carolyn James

Breanna and Braden

Austin and Laura Taylor

Thanks to Austin for being our photographer...and for all the family for coming with us and for your support over the years! WE LOVE YOU!

Birthday for Scottie!

Does this photo tell you what we did for Scott's birthday! Yes, we ATE A TON of homemade Cafe Rio pork dinner salads! YUM!I love this photo that Austin took I think...or Laura? But I love it.
We had an intimate dinner and present opening and game night and then dessert...Yup, it is great to get old when you have family to celebrate with! We invite you all to come to Phoenix next June 13 to celebrate with us! We will take earlier or later visits as well...it will all seem like a party!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!