My pictures are all out of order, but here's Nathan eating pizza...note later on about it.
I actually took this photo one morning from my bed! Nathan was already out there lounging in the morning sun and I was reading in bed, trying to decide if it was worth the effort to get up and go out there with my book or just plump up the feather pillows and think about getting up later! It was barely after 7 am, but after years of getting up with kids, anytime after 7am is sleeping in! This place was the casita of Kelly's parents. Many people have these casitas-it's a guest house, usually in the back yard or on the other side of their garage.
OH, America, the land of Guns and Loans! 
The cactus's were all in bloom! Every cactus-and these stood about 13 feet tall-had these blooms just on the top!
My pictures are all out of order, but here is one important reason for our visit: meeting the adorable Luke Taylor James Cassaday, who is now 4 months old! Noah & Luke are the boys of Heidi & Kelly-most of you know that Heidi was my next-door-neighbor & best friend all through our growing up years at Prospect Lake and now lives in Phoenix, Arizona
-We always enjoy playing with our family's favourite buddy, Baby Noah...who turned 2 this week and is not such a baby! Here's my favourite Noah story: one day I was talking to Noah when he suddenly picked up his sandal and got a little twinkle in his eye. I tried to continue what we were talking about, but he was no longer interested. He looked around, spied his target, took quick aim and fired at the cat! He's got a good arm, too! We didn't see that cat for a few hours after Noah went to bed!
-we ate out a lot and had some really fabulous food-Wow-they have great food in Arizona! We had probably the best pizza I've ever eaten (baked in a coal oven-I can't remember the name, but it was in Scottsdale)...and the best sushi (RA Sushi in Scottsdale)...and the best BBQ (the BBQ Barn or something like that)...we ate and ate! I've noticed since returning home that the food has definitely declined and the service leaves something to be desired!
-We went to Frank Lloyd Wright's home out in the desert. It was a bit of an expensive tour, but really interesting. (FLW is a famous architect who really changed the face of architecture) A crazy thing that happened while we were buying our tickets was that the lady noticed we were from Victoria and proceeded to introduce us to Mr Rattenbury-who's father designed the Empress Hotel and the Parliament buildings!
-We love visiting the galleries in Scottsdale and checking out the competition! I found a lot of amazing painters that I would love to collect paintings from. It was also exciting to see the original Dr Seuss & Norman Rockwells! The gallery owner wouldn't even tell us what an original Rockwell was worth. You sometimes have to get past the hoity-toity gallery owners...but I don't think they'd be gallery owners if they were great artists, so there!
-We found a few places to bring our kids back to-the Natural History Museum with their dinosaurs & gold panning, another Wild West place in Tucson and some fun places to eat. That's the trouble with travelling without your kids! You find places you know they'll love and wish you'd brought them along! We did have a lot of fun at the places that would have not been so fun if we had brought the kids though, and I think it was good for all of us to miss each other!
-The Catan Championship lives on...okay, Heidi mostly won every game, with Kelly winning a couple as well, but the last night, double or nothing night...Yours Truly took the trophy! Nathan's been laying low...quite unusual for him. We'll see what the next season holds!
It was a very fun trip, and good for Nathan to take a bunch of days off like that after all the stress of finishing off his last couple of projects before jumping into the next couple on his plate, but we're ready to jump back in again. I was reminded as I came home of Mole, in 'The Wind in the Willows' when he gets close to his home and is reminded of all that it means to him. It's just a shabby little place, but it's HIS place. It's good to be home!
So glad to hear you've both had some time to rest and rejuvinate - and what a wonderful place to do so. Isn't the Arizona heat so relaxing?! We're not called the Wet Coast for no reason, so here's hoping you brought a bit of that heat back w/you 'cause the weather's seemed unseasonably cool while you've been gone. Welcome home!! - Auntie Janis
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