One afternoon we took off for South Mountain Park and Preserve for a little hiking. Since we weren’t feeling very ambitious, and the Buick’s low fuel light had just come on, we picked a short hike near the park entrance. Although it didn’t seem like we had climbed much in elevation, after just a bit of hiking, we had a nice view of the valley and downtown Phoenix.

Silas and Jon took advantage of a lot of nephew/uncle time together. Jon gave him piano and drum lessons. We even had a cookout (in January!) Jon’s last night here.

I’ve been surprised at how many animals I’ve seen from my window. Hawks soar high in the sky, and doves walk the roof of my neighbor’s house. Lizards scamper along the walls in the spring. Cats, domestic and feral, walk the concrete walls. I love to see the moon make his nightly ascent.

Recently I’ve concluded something. Airplanes make me happy. With the Goodyear Airport just five minutes from us, and the Sky Harbor Airport downtown, I can almost always see a commercial airliner or private cessna out my kitchen window. And it makes me happy. I guess I just like to know that there are people up there, and I’m happy that there’s something to see. Seeing an airplane so far above me gives me kind of a wistful feeling. Weird, huh? I think too much sometimes.

Fall tiptoed into the Valley Monday night and made a dramatic appearance this week. Temperatures on Tuesday were still in the high 90s, but we had a furious thunderstorm and downpour. The neighborhood kids were running back and forth across the street through the rushing water near the curbs.

Yesterday and today, the sun is hot, but the air is cool with temps in the 60s and 70s. Autumn is here! AND we have cold water flowing from our faucets! Silas and I took a walk yesterday morning and met our neighbors across the street who come down from Winnipeg, Manitoba for a few weeks/months out of the year.

Hopefully we’ll get to know more of our neighbors now that the weather is so beautiful. It’s weather like this that draws so many people to retire here.

»Now I am officially certified to have a son named Silas Clark since I’ve recently finished reading Silas Marner and tasted a Clark bar for the first time. (It’s basically a Butterfinger.)

»Stephen and I had a very happy anniversary date thanks to our friend Becky who graciously spent her evening playing with Silas. Stephen took me to Pappadeaux’s a restaurant well-known for their fresh seafood. Our meal began with an alligator appetizer. Yes, you read that right—alligator! Of course with all that yummy batter, it tasted like chicken, but with a hint of “wild” to it. After gumbo, lobster, and filet mignon for dinner, we ended our date with carrot cake cheesecake. I’d never heard of such a thing before, but it was a hit!

»Last Saturday some Indiana friends were in town and met us for dinner at Garcia’s. During dinner Jamie had the unique privilege of giving Silas his first lemon slice. Silas looked worried, gave a delayed shudder, and then promptly decided he liked lemon and wanted more.»I’m constantly amazed at how far Baby can reach and how tall he can be when he’s grabbing at something. The other day he figured out how to play the piano on his own. He’s now starting to stand without holding onto anything, but only for a few seconds at a time. He now crawls on all fours (usually one knee, one foot and both hands). We’ve discovered that the little punkin’ belly boy LOVES cheese (yet again, taking after his father). The first time he tried it, he immediately began stuffing more cheese in his mouth than he could hold. Once we rescued the cheese cubes left on his tray, we realized he had cheese held tightly in both fists.

»Our piano is tuned! We had a missionary speak at church last Sunday, and he is also a piano tuner. He graciously spent hours and hours on two different days working on our piano. It took two tunings and a lot of adjustments to get the piano where it should be.»Friday night we attended a Diamondbacks game with a group from church. It was the second baseball game I’d ever been to. Silas was sporting his D-backs gear.»One of Bitty Boy’s new favorite toys is an orange baseball bat. Since the bat is so rounded, it looks like Silas is carrying around a caveman’s club ready to beat someone over the head!

So there you have it—little bits of life.

I’m thankful for our old couch, given to us by a  friend from Indiana. It has served us well for almost five years. We’ve now moved it to our front room that’s largely empty. But, let me tell you, I am so over slipcovers! Hello new sectional!

Now for some paint, curtains, end tables, an ottoman, new lamps, pictures hung on the wall…..all in due time. For now, the sectional is more than enough happiness.

The nursery makes me smile. I can only imagine how much more it will make me smile when Baby is sleeping softly in his crib.

Our nursery was painted a dusty blue this week by Pastor Ryan who used to paint houses for a living back in SC. He does excellent work, so if any of you in the Phoenix area are needing a paint job done, I would highly recommend him.  Our next nursery task is to take our crib apart so we can fit it into the room. We found a beautiful dark wood crib at Once Upon a Child for only $55. It’s just a basic crib, nothing expensive or fancy, but I love it! We also managed to purchase over $60 worth of gently used clothing for just $10 during their grab-bag event. I’m loving the little sweater vests!

This little John Deere tractor was actually part of a floral arrangement at Pop-pop’s funeral. My aunt said she wanted me to have it as our baby’s first toy.

We’ve slowly been collecting baby gear, but this past weekend, we came home with an explosion of baby stuff from a friend of mine. She passed along some great baby things—a bathtub, soothing glider, Diaper Genie, and Bumbo seat were in the mix. I’m still rebelling at the idea of having our home overrun with baby stuff, but perhaps I’m just fighting against the inevitable. My motto is: Simplicity.

Some other friends gave us a tall, narrow 6-drawer wicker dresser that we’re planning to paint white for the nursery. We’ve also purchased a ceiling fan and light fixture that needs to go up. I can’t wait for the fun to begin!

Baby has been rolling around quite a bit. He still kicks, but he rolls a lot too. Sometimes his kicks surprise and tickle me and sometimes they hurt. He’s just a growing little sweet pea.