12-30-15

Me: Bob & I took Kavan & Riley to the Children's Museum today. Pretty fun place with mazes, toys, towers, tunnels & tons of kiddos!

PS: We went to the new Star Wars movie tonight and…we liked it! Two thumbs up from us. May The Force be with you in 2016!

12-29-15

Me: LOL…saw this posted on FB & it sure made me laugh! Too true for us actually.

 We are now trying to rid ourselves of our December indulging habits. It was great but now it's time to clean up our diet & reach for the veggies instead of cookies. Wish us luck…it's hard! Only a couple more days to make your 2016 resolutions. What are they?

12-28-15

Martin: We ended up with a white Xmas tree this year for a change. It’s already been knocked over twice.

Me: Sunday night we went to the Desert Botanical Garden Luminaria event.

Each Christmas season the garden is decorated with thousands of luminaries but this year they also featured Bruce Munro's light art.

Many of his displays are made with plastic water bottles and somehow rigged with LED lights coiled through them. All the displays constantly change color. It was pretty fascinating!

10 groups of musicians played a variety of tunes throughout the park. Walking around with hot chocolate while enjoying the tunes & sights with family = a nice evening out.

12-27-15

Martin: Our Christmas eve lunch – before the camera acted up.

Me: Harley & I hanging out in the Wave Cave.

I have been wanting to do this hike for a few months now…ever since seeing photos of it posted on Instagram.

Kimo & Julie doing some Desert Yoga! This cave makes for some cool shots!

Kimo, Rich, Julie & Makena

Harley looking for…you guessed it…FOOD from Rich. :-)

Here's the inside of the cave. It was quite big with a sandy floor. This is my only shot looking into the cave. All other pics were looking out towards the view.

One last surf on the big wave!

And then back down the mountain. The round trip (including photos) was only 2.5 hours. The cave is in this photo… look to the rocks about mid photo and on the right 1/2 of pic. Can you see it?

Always a fun time with these friends! Julie, Makena (Kimo's daughter), Julie (Kimo's wife), Rich (our 14'er buddy).

12-26-15

Martin: Fred has been dragged out at Xmas for as long as I can remember.

Me: "Baby, it's cold outside!"

Last week was cold & this week is supposed to be too. Glad I have my new sock monkey hat to wear on Harley's walks. Thanks Pat & Bob for our fun & warm Christmas gifts (Bob got a zebra hat)!

Harley thinks it's cold too & is happy when I cover her with a blanket. She's keeping me company while Bob is away.

12-25-15

Martin: Back home and another storm front.

Me: Merry Christmas!

Last night's Christmas Eve dinner & celebration at my sister's home. 1st was 6pm candlelight service followed by a Danish tradition of eating Aebleskiver. Thanks to Paul's mom for making the Aebleskiver...Yummy! We played Charades (inspired after playing at our CA Christmas last week). It was a lovely time though we all missed Bob! Merry Christmas…hope your holiday has been filled with peace, love & joy! 

12-24-15

Martin: This mural is made up of layers of corrugated iron sheet to form a 3D image. Would probably look better with the sun shining through the layers but we couldn’t wait around for that to happen.

Me: Today I joined the 12 Climbs of Christmas ride. It's a tradition on New Year's Eve morning for this group to take a 4 hour route that includes 12 of the longest, steepest & toughest climbs in the middle of Phoenix. All were around Mummy Mtn & Camelback Mtn & I had never been on most of them.

Not gonna lie…it hurt. Not only were there 12 BIG climbs…but quite a few small & medium ones in-between that didn't count. Well, I counted them (I now call it the 30 Climbs of Christmas. ;-) I need help on my selfie skills (above pic) & hill climbing skills (tired legs).

This is on top of the 12th official climb and all the cyclists who made it. I'm in there…back row on the right wearing a white helmet & holding up a green water bottle.

Happy Christmas Eve!

12-23-15

Martin: What else but a 1947 Chevrolet truck still operating out of the mill. 

Me: Are you in on the Star Wars hype?! Have you seen the new movie yet? I borrowed the previous 6 Star Wars to have a movie marathon at home before seeing the new one. Not sure if that's necessary but  it's been so long since we've seen the original ones & I never saw the last 3. May the Force be with us to watch that many movies! ;-)

12-22-15

Martin: Nundle has possibly the last remaining operating production wool mill left in Australia.

Me: Harley wishing she could have a piece of pizza. Harley joined our Team Vitesse meeting at Nello's tonight. She actually scored some pizza when Geoff put his "To Go" box on the floor & Harley discretely got her nose inside & snagged a pepperoni piece.

12-21-15

Martin: Small gold mining town of Nundle.

Me: Bob flying Flat Stanley around the country! Bob's helping our little cousin, Anna from Pennsylvania with her school project. Anna's Flat Stanley has been traveling around the country with Pat & Bob and now Bob. He's been to California, Texas, New York & more. Anna will have a great scrapbook of Flat Stanley's travels to show her class!! :-)

12-20-15

Martin: Me next to the big guitar. Tamworth is the home of Australian country and western.

Me: Touring Christmas lights by bike!

Abbie & Mike & about 100 other friends & neighbors took part in the annual Cruisers Tour de Christmas Lights party. We started at a friend's in Ahwatukee where they served Egg Nog. From there the group slowly biked the best decorated streets. Two other homes along the route served everyone a variety of holiday drinks.

Such a perfect night for this event. Not too cold! 

This house was the final stop. They even had Santa for the kids to tell their wish list to & parents had a great photo opp.

I wore my fancy Santa Hat & Abbie was stylin' with her Elf hat.

Ho Ho Ho!! Having a Holly Jolly Christmas!

12-19-15

Martin: Ruth along with a very large Bougainvillea at the lookout over Tamworth.

Me: Took this crew with me hiking today. :-)

Nardo, Amanda, Robyn, Rich, Kata

We're in the Superstition Mountains. Kata's pointing to the top of Weaver's Needle (a prominent rock formation in the SUPES) peeking up behind the front mountains.

It's a steep 4.5 mile hike to reach Peak 5057 (the official but non-original name of this mountain). 5057 is the elevation. Nardo, Kata & Rich hiking towards the Hoodoos.

Peak 5057 is the highest point in the western Superstition Mountains. It's just a little higher than the high point above Flat Iron (Peak 5024) that we've hiked many times. Flat Iron is a favorite hike of ours in the valley (this one will be too).

Beautiful 360 degree view at the top!

Great job "Fueled by Lentil" (the team name we gave ourselves while hiking for hours).

One more pose & selfie & it was time to get off this windy peak.

Boulder hopping down through the Hoodoos.

Adios Peak 5057…it was a fun 5 hour adventure!