Reflections on 2008....

Reflections of 2008 remind me of what I am thankful for. Here are some of those things:


First I must say that I am thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. He has paid the price I could not pay to return to my Father in Heaven and live with my loved ones for eternity. He has shown his love for me in ways I am not yet able to comprehend. What an example!

Old friends

New friends in Maricopa.

Larry's mom still being with us. She's the last of our parents.

Spending time with family. It's always the best!

Thankful for our girls.... Snickers, Lady, & Duchess

For a temple marriage that makes us....

an eternal family.

Grandkids are the best:

Tierra

Taunie

Tenajha

Taleah

Matthew, Kirsten, Amy

Marty

DavidMelissa

Aleana









and Callen (of whom I don't have a current photo).

Getting together with extended family...

Keeping up with Duchess....

And her name is................

Naming this puppy was by far harder than naming our children.....go figure. Todd was named while Larry & I were still dating. Ty was named in the hospital the day after he was born. Serina was named before we got her (good thing - could we have ever come up with a girl's name????). Trent was named while in the hospital by the second day. Jacob named himself when he was six days old - long story, maybe you've heard it??? Anyway, back to the pup, we tried out lots of names including: Peaches, Patches, Princess, LT for Little Trouble, Arizona (AZ for short), Hoover or Kirby because she sucks up her food like a vacuum cleaner, and others I can't remember. None of them seemed to work for both Larry & I. Then came her name - no input from Larry as I ended up being the one taking 99.9% care of her even though it was Larry's idea to get a puppy. No wonder - he knew his share of the deal was only .01% of the care. So I decided I should have 99.9% input on her name! Anyway, I was visualizing what she would look like as an adult dog and the name that really seemed to fit was ....... Duchess! Now don't you think that goes well with Lady? Thanks for all the suggestions we received! Here are some new pictures of Duchess and Lady:

Duchess has found out how to get on the bed so Lady has no where to hide now. She has her calm moments more now than ever before! Duchess is almost three months old and weighs about 15 lbs. She should be about 40 lbs when fully grown. The way she would like to eat would put her at twice that weight!

Duchess posing to her left

Duchess posing to her right!

December in the desert....

Dale, Carol, and their younger son Austin came to visit for a few days. We took them to Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale to see the palm, fig, & citrus trees as well as the rose garden. It was a beautiful day - 78 degrees and blue skies. We spent an hour or so here enjoying the trees, plants, and birds.

Austin taking some great shots with his camera. He has a great eye for detail and can produce the most wonderful pictures! What talent!

Figs.

There are hundreds of rose varieties at the Sahuaro Ranch! These are some of my favorites. Roses are absolutely my favorite flower!

I was quite impressed with this rooster. He was quite friendly (unlike Zach in Wisconsin) and came fairly close to where I was sitting. Guess they are used to a lot of people in the park and at the library next door where they hang out occasionally. It's especially fun to see the hens and their chicks whenever going to or from the library!

Here's a picture of the pup (notice I didn't say her name - still doesn't have an official name - this week we're considering Patches but because of her two spots on her back I am thinking of calling her Deucey). She loves her Care Bears - all four of them. This one talks when you press its arm and so the pup kept pulling and the Care Bear kept talking. It was fun to watch!

We put up our Christmas decorations the other day. Not as many as some in our area but it is always fun to come home at night and see the lights welcoming us!