The Goatpacking Trip

Well, we're still in the process of getting settled in Tucson. We closed on the house on June 19th and have been working the last week to make some changes and unpack boxes. This has involved scraping off 1500 square feet of popcorn ceiling texture from the vaulted ceilings in the great rooms of the house. Priming and painting took another day or two. Fortunately my brother Doug and his wife Alisha came to help us. Now we're working on getting things out of boxes and organized in our smaller home.

Goat Packing

The long rumored goat packing trip was a riot. I can't imagine a better distraction for hiking with children than a few goats. Rachel, our 4 year old, walked the entire 6 miles to Amethyst Basin. It was amazing. And having the goats help to carry all of that stuff was a great bonus.

Here are a few highlights of the trip:

The Sabeys

We love doing things with the Sabeys. Mark and the boys are constantly thinking of ways to make everything more exciting. For instance, on our hike down the mountain, they decided we should each pick a goat who we thought would be leading the goat pack most of the way to the trailhead. They awarded points to a goat and his pickers each time he crossed a stream as the lead goat. Of course along the way there were whimsically heated discussions about the minimum requirements for a "stream", bantering when a goat would pass, and cheering for their favorite goat. Lisa tries to fulfull her divine role as family safety monitor, but has had some setbacks recently as Cubby broke both his wrist and his opposite elbow. Rachel Sabey is so sweet with the girls. They love being dressed up and made up when they see her. And now the princess book she gave them is a highlight.

The Goodnatured Goats

Grace liked the goats and they provided hours of free entertainment.

to be continued. . . . .