11-29-12

Martin: This contrail looked like a comet just before sunset.

Me: We're doing minimal Christmas decorating this year since we'll be gone from December 19th to January 4th. One of the few things I unpacked was our ceramic Christmas tree. It's just like the one my Grandma Jacobsen used to have.

Here's a closer look at our hanging entry way light! Still lov'n it. :-)

11-28-12

Martin: Just before the sun was swallowed up by a storm.

Me: James and Bob hanging our new entry light. It looks good and it's nice to have some light in this area now. Mom and I found this light last week at where else?...a garage sale! :-) $10.00. Fun!

11-27-12

Martin: Had the place to ourselves, being a weekday.

Me: This photo is from yesterday but I wanted to post it because it's a pic of mom. I love that she's smiling and finding joy in watching Kavan. Mom flew back to Iowa today. We are very thankful that she was in Arizona for over a month, dividing her stay among 3 daughters. She also had time with Curt, Nancy and their whole family, her Arizona son-in-laws, grandchildren and great grandchild. We'll miss having mom around for walks with Harley, garage sale shopping, and just hanging out.

Love you, Mom!

11-26-12

Martin: Time to do a bit of panning. Still a fair bit of water flowing even though there hasn't been that much rainfall. Not that many specks this time but good to get away from the city.

Me: Watching Kavan this evening. He has a splint on his arm now from a green twig break over the weekend. Poor little guy. Despite his injury he's still on the go & happy.

11-25-12

Me: We've been working on getting our rental property up and running for vacation renters. We had the floors professionally cleaned last week, installed new carpet in the bedrooms, and painted the living room and kitchen. Went shopping today for kitchen supplies, comforters, shower curtains, rugs, + more. We were very happy to find these two couches on Craigs list for $150. More work to do but it's coming together nicely.

11-24-12

Me: Six of us went mountain biking in the McDowell Mountains this morning. 3 laps of the Pemberton Trail in preparation for a race we're doing next Saturday.

11-23-12

Me: I didn't get a photo taken today but this one from Australia makes me smile. 

We had a lazy day except for braving Fry's Electronics on Black Friday. It wasn't too crazy. Mom is staying with us again. Had a nice walk and watched Mary Poppins.

11-22-12

Me: 7:00am Thanksgiving ride to the towers. At 9:30am we popped the turkey in the oven and once it was ready we headed to Mike and Abbie's for Thanksgiving festivities.

The turkey came out great! Moist and delicious.

 Dean carved the turkey & the ladies set up the buffet line. So much yummy food!

After we stuffed ourselves Paul, Carol, David and April arrived bringing 3 pies for dessert! 

 Relaxing outside, enjoying the beautiful day.

Bean bag game: April & Mom vs Mom and I.

Team Mom/April won with a last minute shot by mom.

April, Abbie, Joan, Bob and I went on an evening stroll to make room for pumpkin pie!

After our hike David played the guitar as we sat around the campfire. We all sang a few songs and shared what we were grateful for. It was wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

PS: I'm thankful for much; Bob, family, friends, health, home, and faith.

11-21-12

Me: Turkey cleaned...check.

Bob and I are in charge of the turkey this year. Interesting since we're rookies. Thanks so much to Bob's mom who was our turkey hotline. We'll be getting all of the Arizonans together at Mike and Abbie's tomorrow. Agenda: dinner, dessert, hiking, football, leftovers, movie.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

11-20-12

Me: Sunset at the Mini Mansion. We've been working over there today, getting ready for a vacation renter checking in on Thursday.

11-19-12

Me: Bob and I took Kavan and my mom to visit Joan and Dean today. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed a nice lunch on their patio. Mom is staying with them at Superstition Mountain until Thanksgiving.

11-18-12

Me: Harley and I chatting about our day...

I told Harley about the good ride Bob and I had this morning. Harley said she saw two bunnies in the desert. I expressed it was fun to spend the afternoon with my mom at the Scottsdale Art Festival. Harley exclaimed that she really enjoyed her dinner & loves treats. I confessed that Bob, Mom & I ate a whole pound of See's chocolate this evening. 

It was a nice talk!

11-17-12

Martin: Adrian and Ruth at Adrian's high school graduation.

Me: It was a good game but The Phoenix Suns lost to the Miami Heat.

Troy treated Jimmy, Bob and I to dinner at the Blue Moon Club and awesome seats! Up close to see all the players including superstar, Lebron James.

11-16-12

Me: Rare for me to wear a suit but a graduation is worth the effort.

Me: Bob painting the trim on our house. I like it much better than the peach it's been. Not sure what color (or when) we'll paint the whole house. It will likely be a light tan/cream. 

Today's highlights:

Garage sales - found some good things!

Lunch with Mom and Joan at The Farm; a cute outdoor cafe where you eat on picnic tables under big shade trees. Fun!

New placemats! Pat sent us beautiful placemats (sewn by her). So cute, thank you!

11-15-12

Me: Corn on the cob for lunch! Tasty.

Placemats and corn trays from garage sale this morning.

11-14-12

Me: Painting some stone animals to put in our yard. The free garage sale bunny and frogs were paint chipped and faded. I think they'll look cute in our garden!

11-13-12

Me: Watched Kavan today and we had perfect weather to play outside.

11-12-12

Martin: Here's a pic of a passionfruit flower Ruth picked from the side of the pathway on the way home from the train station yesterday afternoon. I played around with it a bit using the basic tools that come with the camera program.

Me: We have 4 new wrought iron chairs! Joan brought them to us yesterday. Her friend was going to take them to Goodwill but Joan thought they'd look nice in our yard. They are heavy -  love 'em. They also have outdoor seat cushions. Thanks, Madrid. 

11-11-12

Martin: Here's a pic from over at the fish markets the other day. These boys or girls are well fed and they don't have to put much of an effort in to get a meal.

 Me: Bob, Mom, Joan and I spent the afternoon in Fountain Hills at their annual Festival of Arts and Crafts. It was a PERFECT day to walk around the numerous booths of creative gadgets, clothes, paintings, pottery and more. Live music and food to boot. We bought a few things and had a great time!

11-10-12

Martin: There is a lot of rain in those clouds. Each one that comes over, dumps quite a few buckets worth. 

Me: We had a FULL day! Was up way too early (2:30am) and stayed up. Lifetime Fitness ride with Bob and others at 7am. Mom, Bob and I held a garage sale at our rental house from 10 to 1; it went well. Shopped at the local church boutique (cute crafts), dropped off several boxes at Goodwill and then to the dumpster. Grocery store, a visit with a girlfriend, 5:30pm church service followed by dinner at Curt & Nancy's. Curt and Jake are heading home to Des Moines tomorrow, Matt and Kim left yesterday for Colorado but Nancy is staying an extra week to do some organizing in their new home. They all had a great week - a special time of being together. Glad we could have fun with them too! 

PS: Happy Birthday to my awesome friend, Marsha in Oregon! Today was a big one. :-) xoxo!

Photo: Mom and I in sweaters! & Harley in her fur coat. It was much cooler today and we loved it.