40 Days Kickoff

Tuesday night we joined a couple hundred people at our church to kick off the 40 Days for Life Campaign.  The clinic that is the focus of the prayerful campaign is at 32nd St. and Indian School and was recently featured in Phoenix Magazine as a comfortable, private place to murder babies.  There was some nice music, a speech by our pastor, and testimonial from a young woman who had an abortion at age 18 before we walked in a solemn procession to the clinic, about 1.5 miles away.

        

      

A near monsoon couldn't stop us, but the wind did damper the candles.  A number of police officers served as escorts, which was nice since it was dark.  We were the only ones to ride bikes.  We stopped at Toxic Hell on the way home for dinner.

Yard Work

With Coach here, I was able to get some nice work done in the yard.  We moved the wood pile and cleaned up the area next to the shed.  Coach also trimmed the mulberry and sissoo trees, and bagged all the trimmings, which was a huge help.

       

I had also been wanting to put our old flagstone in as steps in the south side of the backyard for a while, to make it easier to walk on the rocks.  Especially after we put in the compost, which I have the pleasure of going to from the kitchen after dinner usually barefoot.  I had a nice 8' foot 2x6 from the old storage on the north side of the patio and decided to make a little bridge over the sump pump.  Maybe the girls will have some fun with it.  It doesn't compare to my cousin's in OK, but in the city without a creek this is what you do.

                      

          

I'm also real pleased with how the north side storage turned out.  (Yes, dad, I put some screws in the shelving unit.)

Bye High Chair

Time for JoJo to go to a regular seat.  Bye bye high chair.

      

              

I, for one, am thrilled not to have to clean the tray, at least for a while.

Head Wound

Friday night we did our annual artsy photo shoot (new blog photo soon), then ate at Red Devil.  There's a funny story about that involving Bobbins' cousin Pip.  But we came home stuffed and were getting ready for baths when MM tripped running in our bedroom and fell onto the corner of one of our nightstands.  It cut a nice little gash in the middle of the top of her forehead, almost like a Harry Potter scar.  Like all head wounds, it bled good, freaking out Bobbins and my mom.

      

We headed for Phoenix Childrens Hospital, thankfully only five minutes away.  I wasn't convinced we needed to go to the ER, but better safe than sorry.  It being a kids hospital, the wait wasn't too bad, although you could tell there were just sick kids without insurance there.  We were put on a gurney in the hallway and got a very attractive 26-year-old doc right out of medical school, under the supervision of an Indian guy.  They originally thought she might need a couple stitches, then decided to just glue it up after cleaning it and seeing the actual gash.

        

       

         

       

It only took about an hour and a half and we were out.  Probably the hardest part was holding her down while they put the glue on.  We'll see what the bill comes out to be.

Two Pro-Life Stories

I keep fairly abreast of pro-life news in the US, but haven't read much about non-English-speaking countries.  Here is an article about a fledgling effort in Paris:
Riot police called to protect pro-life protesters in France

A number of these stories are coming out over the last few years, but this one was remarkable, and heartbreaking:
An abortion worker’s ‘ah-ha’ moment: when a surrogate mother was paid to abort a Down syndrome baby

End of DADT

This article makes a nice point -- the end of the DADT policy isn't really about ending 'persecution' but 'celebrating' a lifestyle and political choice, the consequences be damned.
We didn’t ask but they’re telling anyway

The New York Times, to its credit, had a nice article that didn't shy away from the obvious ridiculousness of the Marines recruiting lesbians in Tulsa.  Sigh.
Marines Hit the Ground Running in Seeking Recruits at Gay Center

Smoothie Party

Sunday Bobbins made up some quick fruit smoothies for lunch, before naps.  She even broke out the special green glasses.

       

       

Outdoor Projects

After a somewhat promising start, the garden floundered big time this year.  Better luck next year, hopefully.

Last weekend my dad and I built a new shelving unit to stand next to the workbench.  We also hung one of our three big strollers from the rafters.  This opened up room in the shed to store our hiking packs and the green bike seat.

Clifford

MM's and JoJo's new Clifford books arrived recently, courtesy of Grandma Jay.  They dived right in.

Clifford was my favorite bed-time reading at my Grandma's back in the day.  Pretty neat my own girls love it so much.  Of course, one of the front/backs of these brand new books is already torn off.

Research

This book mostly goes over the science of conception and how the timing can play a role in the sex of the child.  To have a boy, you have to get your strong swimming Ys in there right before ovulation.  The funniest tips were to drink some caffeine and copulate in a certain position.  We'll see how it works.

The Dog's Birthday

This week was the dog's fifth birthday, as best we can reckon.  And what better way to celebrate it (and his recovery) than with cake?  Not sure he was too thrilled by the candles, though.

        

Prescott Picnic

We took the back way home, south of Williams on a two-lane road that eventually ran out of pavement.  A dirt road took us 10 miles west, right past the Drake Cement Plant to Highway 89, which we took down to Prescott.  It being lunch time, we stopped in a little green area off of 169, just south of the Costco.  Yeah, there's a Costco in Prescott now.

       

       

       

            

        

Cabin Porch

After the exhausting Saturday, we spent Sunday just lazin' about, including on the porch swing.  Bobbins and I polished off a couple bottles of wine.

Humphreys Hike: Movie

Humphreys Hike: Way Down

We made our descent

JoJo was able to down this whole thing and get several cat naps in.

This is the sign that tells you to stay on the trail, and marks the altitude at 11,400ft.

Celly enjoying our rest stop.  This was also her potty stop.

Little Moses leads her mom to the promised land known as the Sequoia.


It was about 6pm at this point.  We took the long way home (180 up to 64, instead of through Flag over to 17).