Quick Recap of the Week

The dogs have been having A LOT of fun together. They play and play and play and play and play! It's all we can do to get them to settle down at night. And this week, they were more active than usual. That's because Don got them a little pool to play in. But the only two who really liked playing in the water were Dixie and Ham. These pictures came from the first day that Don brought the pool home. Trooper and Mia just watched the other two go crazy playing in the water; they did not want to participate at all!

First, Dixie and Ham got in the pool and started chasing each other in circles. Then they started running in and out of the pool chasing each other and splashing water everywhere! Mia started barking, trying to get them to stop, but since they are young, they, of course, ignored her.

Then Buddy came up to see what all the barking was about and Mia, who is a very proper lady, left the chaos and the mess that "the kids" were making as if to say,"Oooo, you guys are gonna get in trouble, and I am so outta here!!"

By then, most of the water had been splashed out of the pool, and a good deal of mud had been tracked into it. But that's OK. We wanted them to have fun and I'm glad they did. The worst part was when they came running in and tracked wet paw prints all over the tile floor. HUMMM...sounds familiar. They've been doing that rather regularly!!!

I went to the garden this morning to pick a few things for dinner. Looks like tonight we will be having stuffed bell peppers, calabacitas, and zucchini bread.

Earlier in the week I picked tomatoes and hot peppers and made fresh salsa (which only lasted 2 days---it's one of Jennifer's favorite things). By the middle of next week there will be more ripe tomatoes and peppers to pick--yea! The cucumbers have been really good, and there are a couple of watermelons that will be ripe before too long. We are really enjoying the fresh produce!

Oh, fall soccer season started this week. Also, Don is doing some Boy Scout training this week so that he can officially take his boys rappelling. Consequently, I didn't see much of him this week. I think that is going to become the norm for the next couple of months.

On a sad note, I sang at another funeral at the beginning of this week. Mark Latham lost his fight with cancer. He and his wife were in our ward many years ago when we lived on the other side of town, and we were glad to see them again when we moved into this ward last year. He leaves behind children, grandchildren, and two great-grand children, the youngest of which was born last month. Our hearts go out to them.

"..and the other's gold"

I learned a little song as a child that said, "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other's gold." Yesterday I spent the afternoon with two of my friends from our old ward who drove out to see me...sisters who have been true friends for many years. It was a joy to my heart! Thanks to both of you for a wonderful afternoon!



Vieng, me, Lisa

Still Here

Yes, I'm still here...just busy! Jennifer moved back in with us over the weekend and we are so happy to have her (and her two dogs) with us for a while as she saves money to go back to school. The dogs are all very happy to be playing with each other. The two youngest, Dixie and Trooper, went out and played in the sprinklers today, and then ran back inside the house dripping water and spreading mud everywhere. They were so happy from their little adventure that I just had to laugh. Cute dogs! Fun times ahead!

The Hand of God

I stopped to watch the hand of God

At the close of day

The sunlight lingered in the sky

Then slowly slipped away

My eyes beheld in wonder

The magesty and grace

Today I saw His hand; in time

I shall behold His face

Busy With the Bats

Last week we did several jobs involving bats. One place had a maternity colony of around 1000 bats in a large attic. We will work with that site in a few months after the young have learned to fly and they are all ready to go to Mexico for the winter. Below is a picture of a few of them. Don was looking up at the ceiling.

On Saturday, Matt and Tanya and James came over to spend the day with us. They are renting our house on the east side of town, and we have enjoyed getting to know them. It was a fun day.

This week we also went out to dinner with some friends, worked out, had the missionaries over for dinner, and took care of our callings in addition to the usual around the house. I used to think that when the kids were grown and I wasn't working full time teaching school that life would slow down and I would have a lot of free time. HAHAHA And here we are starting a new week that promises to be just as busy. :-) But that's OK--life is good!

Goin' Green

I told Makayle, our 7 year old grand daughter, that I would take a few pictures of our garden for her. I blogged several weeks ago about the battle we were having with all of the rodents and birds eating our garden. Finally, we are getting some vegetables!

This is a picture from the end of the garden, similar to one taken a couple of months ago (for comparison).


Don planted corn along some of the edges of the garden, and his corn is now getting ears (look at the bottom 1/3 of the plant and you can see the ear of corn growing). Next to the corn are some cucumbers, and then there is a walnut tree. There is a grape vine is on the back side of the walnut tree.


Those are several tomato plants (which have been producing) back behind the giant pumpkin plant in the foreground (and more corn along the back edge).


These are our pepper plants (jalapeno, Anaheim, and sweet bell peppers).

This is one of the squash plants. We have gotten several zucchini and yellow crooked neck squash so far. Today I hope to make some zucchini bread (if I can find a few minutes) to give to our home teachers when they come over.

Don put the garden on a drip irrigation system so that it gets watered automatically (which has been a time saver for me). Keeping the weeds out has been a constant battle, too. But we are glad for the fresh vegetables, and glad to have enough to share with friends.

Company and Critters

This is the first time I've had a chance to download a few pictures from last week. Time is short, so I'll be brief.

Don's mom was here for a few days and spent time with each of her three sons who live in the Tucson area.

Don caught several squirrels this week. This is an antelope ground squirrel in a clear plastic jug.

This is Don getting a rattlesnake out from under some wood.

He got the snake out and on the hook, and then grabbed him by the tail and put him into the snake box.

He carried him out and released him. The snake was not very happy at all. Here he is coiled up ready to strike, rattling his tail quite loudly.

We had a great 4th of July weekend, spending Saturday with our good friends and Sunday with Don's family. Happy birthday, America!

This week I hope to catch up on some sleep and a few things around the house! I'll try to blog again in a few days.