We will warn you... Tucson is different! First of all, it's the desert. There are no trees. There is very little grass. "Yards" are typically dirt or gravel, with a few cactus thrown in for decoration. People say that within a few years you fall in love with the desert and never want to leave. We're waiting. So far we've sort of fallen in "like" with the desert, but we're not ready to commit (the 70 degree sunny winter days are helping though!).



Welcome to our new house! This is what we've been keeping super busy with - we've repainted about half of the rooms in our house (some more than once... don't ask!) Sam's been a great help!


As you might expect, Sam's made the fastest and happiest adjustment to life in Tucson!


He still misses his friends and family - but now that he sometimes talks on the phone, he's learning how to reach out and touch someone! Can you hear him now?



Grandma, Poppa and Uncle David were our first official visitors to Tucson!


Sam had a great time playing with Grandma...


...but Poppa had some clever ways of winning Sam's heart!


Sam thought Poppa's slippers were VERY fashionable!


We've been exploring all that Tucson has to offer. Here Sam is with his friend Gabe at the pumpkin patch (yep, even in the desert!). Check out the white pumpkins!


This year we moved beyond our theme of things that roar. Sam went trick or treating for the first time! He would shyly knock on a neighbor's door and whisper happy halloween. Then, with all his might, he yelled "I'm a yellow duck! Quack, quack, quack!"


Our first posse visitor - Steve Cha! And our first hike in Tucson. Here we are in front of the forest of cactus! (Don't believe us? Come see for yourself!)


This is how kids in the desert play dress-up. "I wonder what it's like to wear a sweater and hat?!?" they say. Did we mention the weather already?


Yep, this is the kind of "parks" Sam will be playing in... actually the park right near our house has grass, so we're not too worried about (horti)culture shock when we travel back east.

Somehow we've also found the time to travel since arriving here in Tucson...


Sam got to celebrate Great Grandma's 90th (shhhhh!) birthday. He'll travel for any event that includes cake!


Happy Birthday Great Grandma!


Sam also made it to LA to wish Aunt Jill and Uncle Brian congratulations on their engagement.


And, of course, we're now only an hour away (by air) from Vegas, so Sam and I cruised the strip while mom was busy at a conference. To call Las Vegas a zoo is an accurate description - we saw lions and tigers and flamingos and sharks and dolphins and even penguins! Sam loved it! Coming soon... pictures of our house!