Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Mesa Favorites

Its been 5 years since I've been to Mesa - the town I grew up in and called home for 20 years.

There were several things on my list of must-dos while we were visiting.



Mesa, AZ temple visitor's center



City Cemetery to visit my Mom's grave site


 Bahama Buck's - seriously just as good as I remember!



Swim time at a city pool to cool off



Visiting the ol' homestead on Lyn Rae Square
We were lucky that our childhood home is for sale right now and the realtor lives across the street. So we arranged for a walk through. Four of us kids took advantage of the opportunity. We hadn't been home for 7 or 8 years since Mom and Dad sold it.   

All the cousins certainly made themselves at home in the backyard. 

It was a very strange experience to be back home and know it isn't our home. I found my name I engraved into the metal door knob when I was 5, we cried and reminisced about our favorite parts of the house, and we took our first-day-of-school picture by the front doors. 



Dunkin' Donuts 
Krispy Kreme just doesn't compare. 



And our favorite restaurant Gecko Grill
I've been dreaming about their Southwestern Shrimp Burrito for over 5 years. Dream come true!




We had a great time staying at Tasha's new, lovely home in Mesa and visiting with them. We also got to finish the trip with a family BBQ and swimming at my sister, Gayla's house. It was a great trip, and was even worth the sweat from the heat. ;)

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Garden progress


We've been enjoying some great crops from our garden. We're learning a long the way. Like, maybe don't plant 8 cantaloupe seeds next summer. :)

Glimpse of a Summer afternoon in our backyard





Monday, July 15, 2013

Splash Party!


There were friends!

 


 There were squirt guns!

 

 There were water balloons!


There were cupcakes!


There were presents! 


There was jumping and sprinklers!


There was slip 'n sliding!


And there was much rejoicing!




Saturday, July 13, 2013

Girls Camp 2013




 I had a great time at Girls Camp this year serving with some really amazing stake leaders. 
It was a blast!