Sarah is Our Newest Kid!

Alright . . . we have done blog postings about all four of our kids while we have been on this trip. Oh yeah, and we have posted MANY times about our two furry kids, Sparky and Bailey.

But guess what?

We have a new fifth kid.

Sarah has only been our daughter for about eight months (since August 2, 2008), but we knew (and loved) her for much longer than that.

And we have Matt to thank for getting us SARAH! Way to go, Matt!!

Sarah is a wonderfully kind, thoughtful, generous and loving person. Not to mention intelligent, beautiful and stylish.

And she is FUN, too.

Matt is VERY lucky. And we are all crazy about her! We are so happy she has joined our family last summer.

She and Matt were in Manila (Philippines) visiting Sarah's sister Stephanie and her husband Doddy (they were married last July) for the past week.

We hope you had a great time on your vacation and an uneventful return flight (it's a doozy -- 18 hours flight time!!!).

We have really missed ALL five of our kiddos while we have been gone.

Thank goodness for Skype or I would have gone crazy!!! If you don't know what it is, go to skype.com and check it out. It is great . . . and free!

Shield's Date Garden

Today's adventure took us to Shields Date Garden.

From their website (Shields Date Garden, Medjool, Organic and other Dates - Indio, CA): Floyd and Bess Shields came to the California desert in 1924 and started Shields Date Garden, working long and hard to build up their business and educate their customers about date culture. In the beginning, Mr. Shields would give his lecture in the garden. As the popularity of his lecture grew, Mr. Shields incorporated a slide show, then recorded his presentation in conjunction with the slide show so that the show could be run several times a day. Today, the 15-minute film Romance and Sex Life of the Date shows continuously during store hours, where you can still hear Mr. Shields talking about his favorite subject: the Date.

Floyd with the Mother Tree, its daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

Floyd was a pioneer in the date business, breeding his own varieties of dates, such as our famous "Blonde" and "Brunette" dates, that are exclusive to Shields Date Garden and grown nowhere else in the entire world. He also invented the Date Crystal®, a blend of dates turned into a dry product that can be used in cooking, on cold cerels and in everyone's favorite: date shakes. Date Crystals® do not need refrigeration and when kept in a moisture-proof container will last for many years— without preservatives.

We still grow the dates without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. There are no preservatives used on the dates--when you buy Shields' dates you are getting a healthful, natural treat that is higher in Potassium than bananas with no fat and no sodium.

Bob watched a few minutes of the movie -- Romance & Sex Life of the Date -- it is NOT as exciting as you might think!

We did share a date shake at the old-time soda fountain. There was only one size shake --pretty big -- it was good but very sweet.

Day Trip to Idyllwild, CA

Last Thursday, the temperatures in the desert were projected to be in the low 90's and so we decided to take a trip up in the mountains to Idyllwild where the temperature was going to be high 60's to low 70's.

From the website: Idyllwild CA

"Idyllwild is nestled in the San Jacinto mountains. Set among tall pines, sweet smelling cedars and Legendary rocks. The town has kept its "small town" atmosphere. Locally owned shops and restaurants are all you will find here. Come and experience the peace and quiet of Idyllwild.

If you are ready to get away from the traffic jams, or the noisy city life, this is the town for you. Idyllwild has perfect day hikes for the quick weekend hike, as well as the high country for the longer "over night" hiking journeys. Idyllwild gives way to many exciting and diverse mountain trails that provide hikers majestic views and breath-taking scenery. Offering a variety of trails enables hikers and adventurers of different skills and ages to take the opportunity to enjoy.

Rock Climbing is another favorite past time in which to enjoy Idyllwild. With many boulders and the legendary Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks, Idyllwild attracts beginners as well as seasoned professionals." It took about an hour to get there, and we watched the temperature drop as we drove up into the mountains. The closer we got to Idyllwild, the most striking thing we saw was evergreens -- so different from the desert! And were they BIG. Look closely at tree above -- Bob is hugging that BIG tree!!! Fun fact alert: Idyylwild is about 5,300 feet above sea level -- a mile high city. We continued past the town of Idyllwild to one of the areas where there are hiking trails (at this point we were about 7,000 feet above sea level). Bob thought we would hike. I thought we'd shop and go out for lunch . . . especially since I was wearing sandals! After almost 30 years of marriage, you'd think we'd discuss this ahead of time!!! We went for a VERY SHORT hike -- because of the sandals and the fact that there was still snow on the ground and the creek was running pretty fast so we couldn't cross to the other side to continue on the hiking trail! We saw all sorts of BIG wooden carvings . . . they were so cool! These would be great gateposts for the cabin Up North!!! Continuing through the downtown area we were reminded of the Door County peninsula in Wisconsin -- lots of cute little shops and restaurants in old houses along the main road through town. More scarved wooden pieces - on the roof. The Rustic Theater was a real movie theater. They were showing the movie Shopaholic. It was the tiniest theater ever!!! We stopped for lunch . . . Bob had the salmon salad sandwich I had the curry lentil soup Their bathroom had a toilet with decals in the bowl. How do you keep them stuck on? We got the biggest kick out of this gazebo and "grass" area -- lovely. But, read the sign . . . It says "No Dogs. No Smoking On Grass" -- and it's astroturf!!! "The girls" loved this place -- ARF (Animal Rescue Friends) Hadn't seen a phone booth in ages -- Bob had to make a call. A good day was had by all . . . ready for the return drive.

Crazy Desert Stormy Weather

Yesterday was a stormy day in the desert . . .

Predictions of a high temperature of only 69 degrees and gusty winds -- up to 50+ miles per hour.

Well, 50+mph is really, really, really strong!!!

Remember the 3 palm trees in our backyard?

Now there are only two!!!

And the lovely ceiling fan in the covered patio area? It used to have 5 blades. Now only three. It was whirling like a dervish during the storm and I thought it might take off at any time. Amazing the blades flew sideways and didn't strike the windows. Also, one of the sliding patio doors screen door was ripped off during the storm. Bob had to wrestle it inside to prevent it from crashing into the house/windows.

During the height of the wind, we heard numerous sirens and saw smoke in the distance behind our house. Luckily, the fire was put out fairly quickly.

Lauren's response to my storm report, "Dogs running away, trees falling down, fires....time to go home?"

Maybe she's right . . .