Joys of Arizona!

We haven't added in a long time as not much is going on in Arizona. However, we have recently found a few scorpions in our house! Jay being who he is really enjoys playing with them. He hasn't been stung..... yet!

Everything here is busy with Jay at the rail and Jaron is school. Jace and I are the only ones not to busy. Jace is looking for a full time job and I will be doing the same soon. My work is supposed to be completed at the end of this month, however, I have been extended every month since August. I found out in June that I would be laid off due to positions in Phoenix being eliminated. My last day was supposed to be in August but have been asked to extend ever since. I am just too nice sometimes because I really didn't want to go through another open enrollment. However, I agreed anyway. Open enrollment has begun! The joys of living in Arizona.

News, News, and More News!

So, since I haven't added anything in a few months does that mean no news is good news? Just food for thought of course..... Actually, a lot has happened since November. We have been busy with the Light Rail for Jay and Open Enrollment for me. It seems that December and January are always this way but this year was 10 times worse.

In December we sighted our first Scorpions since we have moved to AZ. Jace walked in his room and saw one crawling across the floor. We caught it, played with it, then they squished it. hee hee hee! That same week we saw one in the garage. We had people working on our trees around the yard so I think they got stirred up and found their way inside. I am sure the scorpions were always there, but we didn't notice. What we don't notice won't hurt us....

December also brought Christmas, of course. Jay and the boys got a salt water aquarium set up. It is actually for Jay but the boys enjoy working on it as much as Jay does. I am surpised at the amount of time they spend playing with it. We had one in Utah and really missed it when we moved here. Jay has done an amazing job with it. When it gets more of the set up done I will post a picture of it.

The end of December brought the opening of the valley Light Rail. Jay has been crazy busy, working 12 hour days, but it was worth it. The opening went off without a hitch. Normal service now has been good if you could stop all the idiot drivers from trying to turn in front of the train. There have been 11 intersection accidents since opening. Considering that the system her has 140+ intersections that really isn't bad. The good thing is the design of the train worked out perfectly and pushes the cars off the track instead of demolishing them.

In January Jay is still busy at work with all the events happening. He spends a lot of time at it while the boys and I just relax at home. Sometimes I think this is really the good life. I know the boys and I need to get over the wintertime blues and start expending energy but we haven't yet. It is a great life though.

February has so far been more relaxed. Jay is working a lot still but it is slowing down. Jay and I did see Air Force One land yesterday. We were on our way home from work and it flew right over us. We knew it was coming into town, they stop all air traffic and auto traffic around the airport for a few minutes. It was fun to see though, a much bigger plane than I thought it would be. Now we have seen the Space Shuttle and Air Force One in person. (We saw the space shuttle flew over our house in Utah years ago.)

Not much else is going on..... For Now!!!! Knock on wood!

Where has it gone?

I can't believe that we are already through half of November. Soon it will be Thanksgiving, Jace's birthday, and then December. Where has it gone? I know it feels like we are always busy but I can't say that we have done much. Jay is really pushing for the December light rail opening here in Phoenix which keeps him very busy. Being the boss isn't as easy as it looks! My work is in the middle of Medicare Open Enrollment so I spend all my days, some nights, and even weekends putting out fires. (Not literally at least.) I really didn't plan on a career managing 1200+ telephone lines and 4 call center vendors. But I do love to be busy.

Jace and Jaron are doing really good. Jace is dating off and on, no one special yet but that's ok. He is still so young. Jaron is growing like a weed. He is now over 6 foot and still going. I don't know what I am going to do with him. I can't even keep him in pants. Jace is a Huntsman in build, doesn't fit the Brenchley, or Harper side. But Jaron, now he is a Brenchley; very tall, very stocky. I just can't believe that my baby is so tall. This is the only picture I have on my laptop but I should get another. Jaron has cut his hair now. I couldn't resist though, we are on Jay's trains.

The Color White!

What is it with us and the color white? My first car ever was white... The first car Jay and I bought together was white... Technically we have only owned one car that wasn't white, but that was a fluke because the only thing I didn't like about the car was the color. We just have a thing for white.

Our Toyota Tundra was a lease, and the contract was up this month. We had a choice to refinance and keep it, or buy a new one. We decided in early October to buy a new one but there wasn't a single white Tundra Crew Cab in all of Arizona. We seriously looked at a silver one and even looked at GMC's instead but we wanted a White Tundra. My husband, being the amazing man that he is, found one in Las Vegas. Now, it is funny to me that we would go to this length but last weekend Jay flew to Las Vegas and bought a Tundra. Sunday he drove it home. It was so funny. Neither of us really wanted to deal with the whole process of buying a car right now but we had to. I still can't believe Jay was so resourceful, and tenacious to go all that way to get it. It really is funny, but I do love the truck. And being Jay of course, he negiotiated better than anyone I know to get it. Sometimes I really am lucky to have him.

Other than the truck we have all just been hanging on around here. I had a major melt down on my computer at work this last month. It has taken the last two weeks to try and get things up and running again. I still don't have Instand Messenger up yet. This is the busy ramp up for us at work so it was just the most perfect timing to lose my machine.

We got Jaron's school pictures back. I have to find a way to scan them to publish. I mentioned before that Jaron's hair was down to the middle of his shoulder blades. It was all one length and really long. It was also blond. We got the pictures back and two days later Jaron cut it all off. Jay calls him a Qtip. It is so thick that it stands up straight when it is this short. But the funny thing is it is also back to brown because he cut off all the color. Two weeks later I am still trying to get used to seeing him with it that short. It looks so different. At 6.0 foot and short hair he looks so grown up.

Jace is just Jace right now. His big thing is he wants to find a job. I think he is ready to settle down and just work for a while. We will see if he changes his mind again this time. hee hee hee

October..... BOOO!!!!!

I can't believe it is October already. I only wrote in my blog once last month. Where did the time go. I do like this time of year though. At work this is the beginning of our "SALES" period so I am extremely busy ramping up all the partners. At home we have been working on getting our new yard lights installed in the back. Of course, the pool got a clog in it and had to be repaired so the bad evens out with the new lights.

Yesterday Jay thought it would be funny to measure us all to see how tall we were.... I was glad to know I haven't shrunk yet. Without shoes on I am still 5'7" tall. It made me laugh. Of course, without shoes Jay is still 6'3" tall. At least there isn't a foot difference between us like my parents were. Jace left his shoes on and was 5'11". My guess is he would be 5'10". See Gregory, he takes after you! Now the kicker. Without shoes on Jaron is 5'11 1/2". I would say he is 6'. WOW..... Where did the time go, how did he catch up. And better yet- who decided it was ok for me to be so short!

Just call me shrimpy!!!!!

Monsoon!

We have been saying for days that this was such a mild Monsoon season. We didn't have any microbursts that caused damage. As usual we spoke too soon! This is the aftermath of a wild storm that went through this last Thursday. It was truly wild. The lightning was so thick it looked like a lazer light show. There wasn't even any break in the thunder, just a constant rumbling. It really was cool but with the 79-100 mph winds going through downtown, damage to the new rail line kept Jay busy: support beam broken on the rail wires, stations with missing levelors, etc. It was a real mess downtown on Friday and 50,000 people were without power for most of Friday. The local news showed rows of power poles laying out on the ground in some parts of Phoenix. That is bad with our heat. Makes me thankful for underground electrical used where we are.

Salsa!

Jay and I like salsa. We have been making salsa for years. In Utah we would wait until the tomatoes come on the end of September and make at least 30 pints of canned salsa. Since we have moved to Arizona getting tomatoes by the bushel is very difficult. Therefore we are stuck with making fresh salsa by the batch. I love Jay's salsa and the fresh uncooked is so good. It is different than what we used to can but is still delicious. The only problem, I am allergic to fresh tomatoes. As I sit here looking at the big batch of salsa Jay is making I know I will eat a good amount of it and end up with a mouth full of cancors for it...... Ok, there are two problems, I also have no self control when it comes to Jay's salsa. I could eat the whole batch before the kids get back from shopping. I better not or they might throw me in the pool.

Salsa always reminds me of Fall in Utah. The cool crisp air, smell of falling leaves on the ground, and the frequent breeze blowing through Pleasant Grove. In Arizona we can have salsa all year round but it isn't the same. Makes me kind of home sick.

As for what's going on.... Jay just got back from San Francisco for business and will be heading out for Portland Oregon in the next week. At least they are only day trips or over a single night. Jace starts college back up this week. He is only taking the standard English, Math type classes with the exception of Japanese. He is really excited for that class. Got to take something fun to make it through each semester.