tucson, AZ

i write today from tucson, arizona. it's been awhile since i updated, and we have undergone another move since! i am sitting in a beautiful, expansive old ranch-style house with cool air flowing down on me from a cooler vent, and babies sleeping soundly in one of the bedrooms. i can walk around this house naked if i want! yes, just our family in this huge space! what a luxury. we are house sitting for the summer, for friends my family has known for years from wycliffe. the same neighborhood where my parents' old house is, though that's sold now, and i haven't even been to look at it in the almost-week since we've been here.

we felt that God was not opening the doors in san francisco as of yet, and made the decision on the 18th of may to come to tucson, after everything job-and housing-wise had come together in a matter of days. then we acted like tourists for two weeks, getting as much city fun experience as we could, knowing we'd be going to a simpler, slower life. on may 31st we bade goodbye to uncle al, who has been so good to us, and drove to santa barbara, where we stayed for a day (2 nights) with our lovely friends the dillons and loaded all our stuff from storage to a u-haul truck (and by "we" i mean thomas did all the work single handedly... i am watching babies, of course, and too pregnant to be much help!). we did have to get rid of some more furniture, incl. our beloved wedding couch... but it is good to get lighter, and in the end all we needed fit into the truck! june 2nd we drove, via much traffic in LA and a terrible attempted restroom stop in long beach, to san diego to spend the night with our friends the hadidians and their baby grey (almost the same age as golden). thursday, the 3rd was our official drive to tucson day, but it was going to be a hot one (94 in tucson--ok, not THAT hot for tucson! but still hot enough to be very uncomfortable in a car with no AC!). we stayed the morning in san diego and went to the beach with crystal and grey, our last goodbye to the ocean!! even got to see thomas' good friend sam and his new adopted son. we left sd around 4:30 pm, and were rolling into calm, slow tucson around midnight, just as expected. it DID get a little too hot near the edge of california, but soon enough the sun went down and the rest of the journey was pleasant. 75-mph speed limits in AZ really make you feel like you're cruising! we managed to get the whole 400-mile trip done with only one stop! yuma, AZ, the hottest place on earth. we stopped there around sunset and spent most of it in the air-conditioned carl's junior with play structure. it was a one-hour stop; such is life when toddlers must go poop!

we are settling in in a lovely, leisurely way. days are hot, up to 108 or so currently. (the girls have yet to get used to that. "too 'ot!" golden says when we step outside, and sparrow too...) neighbors are familiar and friendly (one of my best friends and her whole family still lives here. their children are about the same age as ours). rabbits, deer, and gila monsters roam our driveway. beware of kissing bugs and scorpions to be found in the house... it is SUMMER in the desert, stores and parks are far away, life is slow. pray for summer employment when you think of us; thomas' dance teaching job doesn't start til august! God has always been good.