Some more goodbyes

The lovely Saxtons - Chris, Jo, Tia (our god-daughter) and Zoe - left for cooler climes as Chris studies at Luther Seminary on his journey to ordination. We'll miss them. Here's a photo of Zoe with Toby. Hopefully they'll be back sooner than we know.

Jerica, a friend who's helped Lizzy with Mommy & Me, also left as she's relocating to Chicago. We're really sad to see her go, she's super-gifted but we're excited about all God's going to do through her up in Illinois.

This is no goodbye, we just loved these photos of Toby at Parent's Day Out, the group he goes to on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. With him is the amazing Granny Bev (who we think Toby likes more than us!!). Bev and Lisa, who runs the group, knew about Toby's sleep patterns (i.e. he doesn't seem to need much) and bought him this top, which seems to sum up Toby and the last 8 months of our lives with him!

See how happy he is at group?!

Green Electricity - at last!!

2 years after we got here we can finally purchase green electricity! We're thrilled to have just signed up with APS, our electricity provider, for 100% of our electricity to come from renewable resources - solar and geothermal.

It will add only about $10 to our monthly bill, so is totally worth it.

For our AZ friends who use APS, click here to see the page and feel better about that AC unit going all day and night!!

School, Jeeps, Pigs, Food

Daisy has started school...and she loves it. This is her with all the school supplies we had to buy, it took us two hours to interpret the list- a true cultural experience!

The girls were given a jeep last week from their friend Megan who had outgrown it, they think it is amazing, and are planning their trips to the park and shops in it!

Toby is not sure of the pink!

On Friday we had an unexpected visitor, a Javelina. I was too scared to take a photo when it was in our front yard but when it ran off I took this rather terible photo to prove it!

This is a classic Toby face when we are feeding him...

Our Holiday in Mexico

We have just returned from a vacation at a place called Rocky Point in Mexico - it was very touristy but perfect for what we needed as a family - lots of swiming, exploring the markets & pot shops, reading, eating great Mexican food, & drinking nice wine (well I did, Gareth is not allowed as he is on strong stuff for the Valley fever). It has given myself and Gareth a little taster & we both would love to return & see more of Mexico... When we did travel out of the tourist areas we were struck by the sheer poverty, it reminded me of the extreme poor & rich divide in Rio when I worked with the street children in Brazil. So it also sparked lots of discussion about how we should respond, as we have so much and saw those with so little.

The views from our balcony.

Toby eating the sand.

Gareth & the girls.