Catch Up

A couple of weeks ago I said I would post pictures of Jennifer's new purple glasses and Nicole's new purple and green art studio (which in our upstairs office). Today I'm finally going to get around to doing that!

I was also going to post pictures from our little jaunt to the Renaissance Festival, but that's not going to happen. When we got there last Monday, the line of cars on the highway trying to get into the several-acre-large parking lot (which was already nearly full) was more than a mile long. Don (who hates crowds and hanging out in long lines) was not very enthusiastic, so we came back home and went to a movie and out to dinner instead. Maybe next year!

Another Good Week!

I'm sorry that I didn't get any pictures taken this week. It seems like we ran a hundred miles an hour all week long and really enjoyed ourselves, but I never managed to make everyone sit still long enough to take pictures. Oh well. I'll try to do better this coming week.

Highlights: we had friends over Monday night for dinner and Family Home Evening which was very enjoyable. He also played soccer two nights (they won their game this week), and worked on trapping a little spotted skunk in someone's house. I went to lunch with Carol (a good friend that I haven't seen in months). It was so good to catch up on her life and that of her family. We're glad to report that the University of Arizona basketball team beat both USC and UCLA this weekend--yea! Don had Boy Scouts and scout committee meetings this week, and took his scouts on an 11 mile hike yesterday morning. We had a fun Valentine's Day (dinner, movie, and dessert), and are looking forward to getting the garden planted next weekend. Tomorrow we plan to go to the Renaissance Festival which is up between Florence Junction and Gold Canyon since Don has the day off.

Hope you all had a good week, too!

Happy Birthday to My Mom and Nicole

Today we had the family over (all of them, that is, that live in Pima County) for my mother's 81st birthday and Nicole's 22nd birthday. We had a good dinner together and had a fun time. I'll post a few pictures below.

I went to lunch this week with my friend Valerie and her husband. It was the half way point between our two birthdays (which are 3 weeks apart). It was good to visit and catch up with each other.

And on the critter front, we handled a couple of calls: skunks and ringtail cats. It's been warm this week...up to 79 degrees F., and next it's supposed to snow again (twice in one winter--that's pretty unusual for us). We'll see if it actually happens!

Day by Day

We've had another fun but busy week. We had friends over Monday whose company we always enjoy. Tuesday was Boy Scouts, Wednesday was Soccer, Thursday I sang at a Visiting Teaching Convention, Friday was another soccer game, and somewhere in the middle of all of that we worked, got critters, and took care of other responsibilities. On Saturday we went to the temple in Mesa. I was grateful for the peace and a chance to step out of the noise of the world for a while. On our way home we found an interesting sign on the roadside...I'll put a picture below for you to see. We also saw both girls. Nicole, who is now using our upstairs office space for an art studio, got her things moved in Friday night, and we got new glasses for Jennifer on Saturday. I'll try to remember to get pictures of both. Yes, a busy week, but we loved every minute of it. Life is good!

Birthday!

It's been quite a birthday weekend! Don and I went out to dinner last night after he got home from work, and then we got up and went hiking today in the mountain canyon just east of the house. It was beautiful! The stream was running (which the dogs loved) and there was a gentle breeze. I love all the boulders and the plant life. Then my mom, Jennifer, and Nicole came over for dinner and games (which included watching the Arizona Wildcats win their basketball game-yea!). It's been a full, really fun few days. Thanks, sweet family, for a great week of time together, good food, and great memories!


I put a slide show to the right of some of the pictures we took while hiking today. Hope you enjoy them!

Good Week!

This week began last Monday with removing packrats from an attic space in a home in the foothills, and will finish this Monday with removing raccoons from another family's attic. In between we played soccer Wednesday night, Don had a soccer game Friday night, My mom and sister, Susan, took me to lunch at Olive Garden for an early birthday (yummy), and the Collins family came over to spend the day with us Saturday. It was fun to see them again and have some time to spend with them.


The keeper!



Lunch at Olive Garden


Kerri, Chase, Don and Pat (being silly), and Aurora



Badminton and horse shoe playing area

Resolution Time

Since this is the time of year that everyone makes resolutions, one of mine is going to be "remember to take the camera with you every place you go and take pictures for the blog"!!!! We have had a fun couple of weeks, but the only time I remembered to take pictures was yesterday (and Don ended up taking them). Oh well. I've got a whole new year in front of me to improve!


We had a fun New Year's Eve with my cousins, Roger and Jean, and then spent New Year's Day getting some exercise (soccer and walking) once we woke up. Don did a 15.3 mile hike two days later with the Boy Scouts, went to a couple of soccer practices during the week, and played goal keeper during the first game (last Friday night). It was really fun for him. I stayed on the sidelines and tried to stay warm as I cheered. The games will now be every Friday night.


This weekend there was a big 3-day horse event at the equestrian center here in the park that Don was involved with. Below are a couple of pictures from yesterday...ahh...Tucson in the winter! So beautiful!










The biggest thing that happened over the last two weeks (in my mind) was that the Stake Presidency redrew the boundary lines in our part of the stake so our ward will now be bigger. Everyone will have only one calling from now on...I wonder which of our 5 callings we will be released from...hmmm...we should know in the next couple of weeks. We are looking forward to meeting more people in our "new" ward.


Tomorrow we start another week of critter gittering with some packrats that are making themselves at home in someone's attic space. It's also a week of working on the needs of the HOA in our old neighborhood, since I am still the President. Hopefully, we will be able to hold new elections at our March meeting, and I will be relieved of that responsibility. The kids and grandkids are doing well in Germany...we get to talk to them via the internet with the webcam...it's so good to see them. We miss them! The girls keep in touch almost everyday, for which we are grateful. We love our little family!