Look what a little (okay...a lot of) sunshine can do.....

February 2008 - landscaping was just put in......

September 30, 2008....February 2008

September 2008

February 2008
September 2008While this landscaping is nothing like what I am used to in the Pacific Northwest, I can readily find the beauty in it....even the gravel. It took a while to get used to the look of the gravel but no time at all to get used to not having to mow twice a week!!! The landscape we chose is called xeriscaping which means - uses little water. The first year we need to water frequently (daily in the summer) and after that these plants are all draught tolerant. The drip water system is very efficient for conserving on precious water. There are many, many beautiful plants that thrive here in the desert. I will be experimenting with more as I tackle landscaping the backyard. First the drip system will go in and then the plants. I hope to have some citrus trees so we can have fresh fruit much of the year.

Our Weekend in the Pacific Northwest....

Our whirlwind weekend started Saturday morning with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Portland Temple with Jacob. This was his first visit and it was incredible! The whole morning was so perfect and enjoyable. We are so blessed!

Amy, Matthew, and Nana had to take time to be WiiFit! Hate those gut busters but it was fun to have company while doing them!
"A kiss for luck and we're on our way.....we've only just begun....!!! And Saturday afternoon we were again blessed when Trent and Janel were married! Welcome to the family Janel and Aleana! Aloha!

The bride and groom cutting the wedding cake.

Aleana and Jacob (with Grandma Gwen watching) sharing the wedding cake!

Aleana concentrating on her cake.

Jacob and Aleana sharing a quiet moment. Notice the clouds in the background? Not one drop of rain fell on us! That was a miracle!

Guess who got most of the cake!

The food was just outstanding. Here is Ben and his buddy (and lots of curious onlookers) taking the pork out of the pit. After 10 hours in the pit the pork was just delicious! In addition we ate lots of different kinds of salads, rolls, beans baked to perfection by Debbie McBride, and chicken. What a feast to celebrate Trent and Janel's wedding!

A Rose by Any Other Name.....

Cool Facts
The Osprey readily builds its nest on man-made structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.

Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once, but instead the first chick hatches out up to five days before the last one. The older chick dominates its younger siblings, and can monopolize the food brought by the parents. If food is abundant, little aggression is seen amongst the chicks, but if food is limited, the younger chicks often starve.

The Osprey is a fish-eating specialist, with live fish accounting for about 99% of its diet. Barbed pads on the soles of its feet help it grip slippery fish. When an Osprey takes a large fish to its nest, it carries the fish headfirst to make it as aerodynamic as possible.

Sources:

Poole, A. F., R. O. Bierregaard, and M. S. Martell. 2002. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). In

The Birds of North America, No. 683 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Wikipedia notes that Osprey are also known colloquially as bayhawk, seahawk, fish hawk or fish eagle. I thought this was interesting after coming from the Pacific Northwest and having the Seattle Seahawks in our midst. Funny I never thought about it when I lived there! So would the Seattle Seahawks seem so fearless if they had been the Seattle Osprey instead? Not a chance!

This Osprey nest was found right in the middle of small town America next to a feed store. The Ospreys didn't seem to mind one bit. Nope, not one bit at all. In fact they seemed to flourish in this nest constructed on this "man-made structure".

(This is for Max, Jayden, Lee, Collin, Than, Amanda, Carrie, Brent, & Candy: CDEDBDIs???)

Adventures in Farmland......

My comfy little bed was actually a chair! (See the next photo). Much better than trying to sleep on a regular chair!

See?











Good people to take care of Candy's needs. So much appreciated by all! Farewell!


















Candy at home - at last!















Exploring the back 40 with Collin, Jayden, Lee, & Amanda





Jayden in the corn maze and high on a hill with clouds and blue sky to welcome us!

Collin was our cheerful pack horse - carrying the water bottles, first aid kit, binoculars, and other miscellaneous "stuff". Thanks Collin!

Amanda & Collin trying to get the tractor started - okay, not really!

Collin, Jayden, & Lee wishing their raft still had water underneath it instead of weeds growing up between the boards! Another day the raft will rise and float again - those winter snows will surely come and fill up this little pond in no time!

Roots that give you wings

I have to admit that I have a passion for genealogy. I can get lost researching for hours and hours at a time. As I think back to when this all began I realized that it has truly been a lifelong effort. I can remember going to visit relatives in Everett, Washington when I was five or six years old and being put to bed in the living room on the floor. I would stay awake as long as I could to listen to my parents telling stories with Dad's cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandfather about their earlier years. Even though I don't remember the stories, I remember the feelings I had about my family and how important they were and are to me. On one of those visits I remember asking my great grandfather if he came west in a covered wagon. He was born in 1866 and laughed when I asked that question. He said he didn't. My grandmother (his daughter) entrusted her genealogy records to me when I was just 16 years old. I am not sure why she felt I should have them but they have been treasured by me ever since.

I have spent countless hours working at putting our family history together. Along the way I was able to gather pictures here and there.

These are my great grandparents (on my mom's side) Christian Joachim Christopher Dau and Frederica Christine Johanna Giese who were married 28 Nov 1860 in Germany. Until I started my quest to find out exactly where they came from in Germany I did not know that they had twin daughters who died at six months and 18 months - before they came to America in 1866. They came to America with their two surviving children, Mary and August. They went on to have six more children - my grandfather being one of them.

The second picture is of six of their sons. My grandfather is William - seated second from left.

Here is my great, great grandfather (on my dad's side of the family) Amandus Theodor Behlers who married Marie Elizabeth Schwemer on 7 Mar 1866 in Chicago, Illinois. They both came from Germany - he in 1862 and she about 1864. I have never found out if they met in the United States or knew each other in Germany. I couldn't find a picture of Marie but here is a picture of their daughter Emma Fredericka Dorathea Behlers. (She was married to my great grandfather that I asked if he came west in a covered wagon.) She died 36 years before he did and he never remarried.

Bobble Head City

It all started out so innocently...a sweet birthday gift for an even sweeter sixteen-year old. A gift that was more than expected from this boyfriend of only one week, but a treasure to be sure. These cute little bobble head dolls made by Enesco do show signs of wear and tear but then so do their owners. Life has been interesting for this little duo. They have seen the sights of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, and now Arizona. They have been good traveling companions along the way. They have even watched the five children in the house grow up and move on to have families of their own. Life was going along quite smoothly until the day of the explosion! They didn't even see it coming. It happened overnight it seemed! How could this have happened to such a nice couple? No one had an answer for that. (In fact, I'm still wondering myself!)

When the explosion happened (population explosion, that is) boxes and boxes of bobble heads of all shapes, sizes, and colors invaded their once peaceful lifestyle. Now they had to share their home with bobble heads like Ichiro, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner not to mention Betty Boop in her red dress or her nursing uniform or her mermaid costume. Or how about those PEZ bobble heads? Where did they come from? Then there's Bozo the Clown and Little Lulu not to mention Tony the Tiger. Will it never end?

And then to make matters worse they have to INVENTORY those guys! Out in the garage!!! And they couldn't do it when the weather cooled down. Nope, they had to do it today. Yep, they could have gotten up at 5:30 a.m. to get an early start but they decided to wait until 7:30 a.m. when the temp was really starting to climb.

You may be wondering what the "kids" were doing while the inventory was taking place so here are the actual pictures catching them right in the act - sleeping. Where ever and when ever they like!

By 11 a.m. the former sweet sixteen-year old said it was time to quit for the day. (She is now wise beyond her years doncha know!) And the boyfriend, now husband, of more than a week agreed. (He is now wise beyond his years also!!) Visit his website: bobbleheadcity.com

In the good old summertime.....

We do a LOT of indoor stuff! Today I washed clothes and dried most of them outside. Did you know I can dry clothes faster hanging them outside than I can drying them in the clothes dryer (and cheaper, too!)? Here's a picture of the load I just hung out - at 10:30 p.m. Doesn't matter...they will still dry fast. It's probably 105 degrees out there. (I am truly grateful for air conditioning!)

My friend Ethel loves to iron. I don't. Well, I didn't but I am readjusting my attitude so that I can find joy in everything and I think I just might be starting to like ironing!!! I wear a lot of white these days - I remember that 20-year phase when I didn't wear any white because of the kids. Now that they are all taller than my kneecaps I can safely wear white again. You can see that everything I ironed today was white. That's mainly because I didn't wash the colored clothes until this evening.The reason I washed clothes so late was because we are on a new electric meter system. It is less expensive to use electricity after 9 pm and before 9 am on this new system. I put in a load of whites before we went garage saleing (still looking for dining room furniture) and hung them out to dry when we got home shortly after 9 am. So the other two loads had to wait until after 9 pm. I am still not used to this new schedule so I set my timer to remind me to run the dishwasher, etc.

Also on today's agenda was my Wii Fit routine. Here's my latest result. I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get the larger version mainly because I wasn't expecting that I would ever get below 31 years. Here's proof that I did. I don't know how but Larry said I should probably stop now before I end up too much younger. I think he's afraid he'll be accused of robbing the cradle! :)Did I mention that Lady is completely deaf? I'm sure she reads lips (well, at least when her eyes focus properly and when she wants to!). And I think she's having trouble seeing as well as she used to. She thinks anything in our hands is a treat. She is really obsessed with them. She's never stolen food before but she was sure tempted by these treats. Can you just see the brainwaves working? She managed to focus her eyes on her most favorite treats!!! She is such a sweet dog. Being deaf has its benefits....she didn't know it was the 4th of July this year. Oh, thunder doesn't bother her either!

One last picture for the day. Here is the new cookware Larry bought for us!! He found it on EBay of course! We decided on just a small set for now. They arrived just in time for me to cook dinner for our wonderful friends Carol & Eddie who came down from Glendale to visit us way out here in the boonies. I even made a cake in a pan on the stove so I didn't have to use the oven. (Guess I could have set the cake outside and I know it would have baked in no time.) Anyway, I took a picture tonight of dinner on the stove. Yep, all four burners going!!! See the little flames? I love gas stoves/ovens!