Hit The Ground Running- Part 2

Alisha says: One thing I've always wanted to do before we left Tucson was to go visit the San Xavier del Bac Mission that is located south of town. It is often called the Dove of the Desert and was built in the 1700's. It was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino. The church's interior is filled with painting after painting and statue after statue. It is amazing how much artwork they fit with not one inch of space being wasted. Because it was hard to communicate with local natives they depicted the story of Christ in artwork. The church has been through a lot, including a time when people lived and built fires in it so that the soot covered all the artwork. Everything has had to be cleaned and restored very carefully and is an ongoing process.

We decided to go to a University of Arizona hockey game one night which actually turned out to be really fun. I found it a little funny that the U of A even has a hockey team because we live in the desert. We had really good seats that put us right in front of the action. It is an intense sport as we saw several body checks against the boards and even a few players were sent to the penalty box for various reasons.

The highlight of January had to be the premier screening of Half The Road: The Passion, Pitfalls and Power of Women's Professional Cycling at the Loft. It was directed by good friend and Tucson local Kathryn Bertine. It is a documentary about most of the issues in women's cycling today including equality and was really powerful. I helped Kathryn gather some of the photos that were used in the film and was also featured for a moment telling a story during an interview. It was amazing to be a part of and I am super proud of Kathryn and all she has done.

Hit The Ground Running- Part 1

Alisha says: So there was no easing into the new year, it felt like we hit the ground running and now it's almost February. My pro cycling friend Lauren has been staying with us to do some training in the great Tucson weather so I have been having fun getting out a lot and enjoying my last winter here of riding in the sunny warm desert :(.

Dave has been substituting for the early morning seminary class for about two months now. It is a bit hard to get up early but he is a great teacher and gives some really good lessons. They are studying the Book of Mormon this year. We have a small group of 10 students that come regularly. They are fun kids and Dave has fun thinking of different challenges for them to do while learning scripture mastery. We have had some good games that include trash can basketball.

Speaking of basketball... The University of Arizona is currently undefeated (21-0) and ranked as the number 1 team in the nation!! Lauren and I were treated to get to go to a game with Kathryn, George, and Peter (Kathryn's Dad) where the U of A crushed in state rival Arizona State. Go Wildcats!!

A weekend adventure included traveling to Phoenix and going on a nice day hike with Tom in the Superstitions. This hike included a little bit of everything, trail, walking up a dry stream bed, scrambling, and bush whacking while trying to avoid all the cactus. We really enjoyed a beautiful day hiking around.

The next day of our weekend to Phoenix we met the youth from our ward (Dave is in the Young Men's presidency) at the Mesa Temple to do some baptisms.

After that and some pizza for lunch we went through the open house of the newly completed Gilbert Temple. It is really beautiful both inside and out.