5-30-16

My brother, Rod walking my Mom through the Elk Horn cemetery this morning. They were visiting my dad, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles & friends who are lovingly thought of often. This was following Elk Horn's annual Memorial Day ceremony with veterans shooting off their guns & the sound of a trumpet playing Taps. This photo makes me tear up...such emotion. Thanks to Nancy (my sister-law) for taking it.

5-29-16

Happy to get our American Flag up on our home. Hope you're having a special Memorial Day weekend as we remember those we miss dearly & thank our service men & women for their service & ultimate sacrifice.

5-28-16

Though we saw the "Christmas Cactus" blooming on 4 Peaks (above 6000ft elevation) last Sunday...I was surprised to see this giant cactus yesterday in our neighborhood (1400ft). 10 big white flowers!! I thought our cacti blooming season was over. Pretty!!

5-27-16

My superman great-niece, Riley! We had fun with chalk at the park on Wednesday. :-)

"The sun will come out tomorrow!"

I'm gonna miss Smiley Riley when she moves to Iowa. She is always game to play! She wanted to jump right in the chalk picture to pose...soo cute!

I thought this was kinda cute of her looking up at the umbrella & clouds.

Bob took this pic of me getting Riley ready to take the photos. :-)

I wish we had time to do more!!

5-26-16

Saw the tiniest baby Javelina yesterday! I've seen baby javelina before but not THIS small. They looked like little bunnies! We saw about 12 total javelinas & enjoyed watching them for a while (at a safe distance though... javelinas will charge if cornered). 

And the desert is STILL blooming!

These flowers were found on our 4 Peaks hike (above 6,000 ft). I haven't seen this kind of blooming cacti before. Beautiful!

We named it the Christmas Cactus. :-)

5-25-16

Here is the finished ottoman! I really like how it turned out! It's colorful & takes me back to the days of my Grandma (& most grandmas) who would sew countess "granny squares" for projects.

Found the granny square afghan at a garage sale ($4) & the foot stool was $5 from Craig's List. I hired a friend/seamstress to figure out how to cut & attach the afghan without it raveling. She did a great job! Lucky how the squares lined up on the edges perfectly. Thanks for the original idea from my SIL Mary-Mia (through Pinterest). Now...where do I put this retro piece?!

5-24-16

April Jane jumping on the summit of 4 Peaks.

Bob following in her footsteps! :-) Nice leap of faith u 2!

April & Michael pointing to the top of 4 Peaks. This was the easy section.

And this was the hard section. Rocky & steep!

The hike was 7 miles round trip. View of Roosevelt Lake to the northeast.

And since the trail began at 5700 feet we walked in cool temps among the pine trees & greener vegetation.

We reached the top of Brown's Peak @ 7657' (the same elevation as Flagstaff). Brown's Peak is the 1st and the highest of the 4 Peaks Mountain which is always visible from Phoenix if you look east.

Peaks 2, 3 & 4 are in a row behind April & I.

 Hours on the trail = time to talk & laugh. Enjoyed getting to know Michael better. Like April, he just graduated from college & has a busy summer of work ahead. Glad we could do this adventure with them!

Funny enough...we did this adventure with Mike & Abbie two years ago. We tried to duplicate the pose...pretty close! We should have switched sides with Michael & April. :-/

A couple more goofy shots..."Don't let me fall!"

April Jane tree pose. ;-)

5-23-16

Invasion of the ladybugs!!

It's was like a horror movie. The ladybugs were everywhere & they were HUGE!

Actually...they were lovely & a sure sign of good luck! We found them on the summit of 4 Peaks today. I have never seen so many...thousands hanging out on a big rock. Pretty neat!

Summit shot on top of Browns Peak which is part of 4 Peaks Mountain.

Bob, myself, April & her boyfriend, Michael.

More pics from our fun day in tomorrow's post. 

5-22-16

Wild horses!!

Vitesse rode 45 miles near Saguaro Lake & had the treat of seeing a group of wild horses. They hang out a lot near the Salt River & it's believed there are approximately 100 in this area. The horses are just beautiful (& healthy looking). Fun to see!

5-21-16

I led the "C" group of riders from Lifetime Fitness this morning. We had over 20 riders total…but our little group broke off to ride to the end of San Juan & back. 35 miles. Bob was well enough to join us!

5-20-16

Laying low on a Friday night with Harley. Bob (who is feeling a notch better today!) is hanging out with us too. :-) Gonna see if there are any good movies to rent.

5-19-16

Bob had to call in sick for work today. :-( On a good note…he hasn't had a cold or been ill since last July. On a bad note…it's not fun being sick. Here are a few pics from his last trip.

Leaving Seattle he saw Mt. Ranier (14,409 ft).

A little further south of Mt. Ranier is Mt. Adams (12,280 ft). In the distant background is Mt. Hood outside Portland.

And on his departure from Phoenix to Kansas City Bob took this photo of 4 Peaks with Lake Roosevelt in the background. It's a great shot with the sun lighting up the peaks! Bob, Abbie, Mike, Rich & a couple of Abbie's co-workers did this hike a while back. This coming Monday Bob & I are taking April & her boyfriend, Michael for their 1st trek to the top of 4 Peaks.

5-18-16

Party prep - the backyard is ready. Tonight we hosted a farewell party for our awesome friends, Kimo & Julie. They are leaving their Phoenix home & moving to Boulder, CO . They also have a home in Minneapolis where Julie has family & near Lifetime Fitness headquarters. Kimo & Julie both work for Lifetime but there is a new office location in CO…thus the relocation to Boulder.

The party was so much fun! We had a nice cool evening with many old & new friends gathered to visit with Kimo & Julie. I didn't take any pics at the party (surprise) so I stole this recent shot of Julie & Kimo when they hiked the Grand Canyon. Good people, great couple!! We'll connect with them in August when we're in Leadville to cheer on Kimo & other friends in that crazy 100 mile race. :-)

5-17-16

My new piano!!

Well, it's my used piano with a rejuvenated finish. :-)

Sometime in the last 4 years this piano started looking horrible (wish I had before photos). It had an odd white film all over it (from some bad reaction to a cleaner). I couldn't get it off & had given up…until yesterday. I used steel wool to scrub it off - even at the risk of scratching because anything was better than how it was looking! 

With a good bit of scrubbing, washing & scrubbing some more...it came off. Then with a coat of Old English it smoothed out the finish & covered up any evidence of scratches. It really looks lovely & I am so happy!

The piano bench top was severely worn so did a complete sanding & restraining. Lucky we had a matching stain in the garage cabinet.

Speaking of stain, projects & garage cabinets…I tackled organizing our stain, paint & lawn supplies this week. I ditched a lot of old cans & put some order to what remained. PS: I may have a Paint Problem in addition to my Pyrex Problem. :-/

5-16-16

Girls and their pedicures!!

Sunday afternoon with my nieces Abbie & Janna before Janna & her family move back to Iowa! Her crew will be packing up in June & setting up home in Sioux Center, Iowa. Andrew will be teaching Jr. High & High School art. They're excited & we're excited for them too! They'll be living just 20 minutes from 2 of Janna's brothers and their families, 1.5 hours from her sister & family & 2.5 hours from her folks & youngest brother & his wife (who farm in my hometown of Elk Horn). We'll for sure miss them in Arizona…especially those camel rides with Riley!! :-) We've had 18 years with Janna living near us in Arizona so it's also saying good-bye to some old memories of volleyball & hiking adventures together. :-(  Great things await them in IOWA…& we wish them the best!! Xoxo

Back to the pedicures…we all enjoyed the paraffin wax treatment making our feet feel amazing! Keelan & Riley tagged along with their mommy…Riley even got her nails & toes painted. :-) Not sure if the pampering was that relaxing for Janna. haha!! It was a very nice afternoon with my nieces & great- niece & great-nephew.

PS: Abbie gave Bob & I this surprise gift (as a thank you for throwing her baby shower & for taking some pregnancy photos). I have to show off her creativeness because it's such a cute box full of sunshine!! Little yellow gifts; fun & useful. Thanks, Abbie & Mike!!

5-15-16

"Mom, why are all my toys in the dryer?!" :-(

Unhappy Harley when I took her toys to wash them. She just didn't understand why they were all in this white machine! She kills me with her expressions. #loveher 

5-14-16

The shower tile is being installed!! Ariel is doing a GREAT job...

...and after so many delays it's nice to see progress!

I really like the tile! Phew. :-)

Inside the niche will be small square glass tiles.

We'll also have the square glass tiles running up & down the corner (left side of pic). Ariel will be back on Monday so maybe we'll have a complete shower by Friday!!! (minus the clear glass panel we'll order to have installed on the front side). Excited!