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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

We spent last weekend in Portland as Dave had a couple of Blazer broadcasts before we caught our plane for Phoenix on Monday afternoon. So I had to get all my housework, laundry and packing done three days before we left for vacation.

We decided to drive to Lebanon on Saturday to watch Ashtin play in a basketball tournament. She has been in basketball tournaments every weekend and since this was the last weekend and we didn't want to miss the chance to see her skills, we made the three-hour round trip to watch her team play a couple of games. The first game they won and the second game they lost by three points. It is a good experience for her to play all these games but it can sure take up a lot of weekends. Of course, Paige comes to watch her big sister and the minute the team takes a time out or during half time, she is out on the court practicing her skills too. The girl is one ball of energy, believe me.

Leslie sent us a picture that was taken at the high school where she works. She is holding a pig that is going to be part of the school program, but it reminded us that it won't be long before Ashtin gets her new little piglets too. So we checked and sure enough, it will be this weekend when the new ones move to the farm. So Ashtin is finishing basketball just in time to start raising and training pigs. She will once again show them and auction them at the fair this summer.

We pretty much kicked back and relaxed on Sunday. I was reading and Dave was working on the computer when all three grandgirls came downstairs after church to visit. I think I've mentioned how much the youngest, Jordyn loves Mickey Mouse. When she started to get a little restless, Granddad fired up a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse movie on the computer. The look on her face when she realized that Granddad's computer could give her a Mickey program was priceless. Her eyes got wide and she broke into the BIGGEST smile! She spent the next half hour on his lap, totally engrossed in the cartoon.

On Monday afternoon, Lara drove us to the airport to catch our plane. Since she had a lunch appointment, we got there early. When we pulled up to the curb, it was like it was our own private airport! There was NO ONE THERE! We thought maybe the place had been evacuated or something. We walked up to curbside check in at Alaska Airlines, and the porter said we nearly had to wake him up - we were the first ones there in a half-hour! We got there around 12:30 and our plane left at 2:15, so we had plenty of time. We checked out the bookstores and bought a couple of books to read while flying. Since there was no one at the airport, we were able to just walk straight through the TSA inspection. They were even polite and joking with us! A while later, we were waiting at the gate and while we were people watching, we spotted some former neighbors from Hillsboro who we hadn't seen for a long time. They were headed for Phoenix too and on the same flight! It was nice to be able to visit with them for a little while before we boarded the plane. It so happens the neighbor man is a brother-in-law to my sister's husband. Small world.

After a turbulent flight into Phoenix (there were wind gusts of 32 mph) we finally bounced to a safe landing and were met by my sister Jeanne and her husband Bob out at the end of the concourse. We had walked with the neighbors from the plane, so there was a small reunion as all six of us were blocking the hall while remarking about the coincidence! We claimed our bags after which Bob & Jeanne took us out to dinner at one of my favorite spots here in Phoenix. After dinner, we went to their house in the Happy Valley area of north Phoenix where we are spending our week. They have had some rain this past week but we brought the sunshine with us and the weather has been pretty nice since our arrival. Not as warm as I would have liked (70 or so), but the sun feels good just the same.

Jeanne and I went shopping on Tuesday and I bought a couple of outfits. When I packed my bags, I didn't try on any of my summer clothes - I just threw them in the suitcase. When I got here, I found that since I have lost weight, everything I packed was too big. Sounds to me like a perfect excuse to go shopping! Besides, the things I can buy in Arizona right now won't be on the shelves in Oregon for another month or so.

Dave and I drove up to Sedona on Thursday to have lunch with our friends, Pat and Betty Kaufmann. We always enjoy getting together with them when we are in Arizona and Sedona is the most beautiful place to visit with all the red rocks. Both are very talented - she makes some beautiful collectable basketry that she sells and Pat is an excellent photographer with lots of his collection on display in the same gallery as her baskets. He hikes a lot and has discovered several ancient cliff dwellings in the remote areas of Arizona. He has some wonderful photographs of areas that most of us will never see. We were fascinated looking at some of his photos. They live in a beautiful home overlooking the red rocks of Sedona and it's always fun to visit with them.

We also managed to pick a few lemons and oranges to bring back home. They smell so good and everyone will enjoy these treasures back home. I brought a spare carry-on to bring the fruit back with me. There's never a problem getting fruit while we're here. Most people will almost grab you off the sidewalk if you say you're interested. Everyone seems to have an orange or grapefruit tree (or three) in their backyard and they have WAAAAY more than they can use.

We will be here until Tuesday and then it is back to reality. We plan on taking a tour boat on a lake near Phoenix on Monday and will post pictures of that next week.