April means birthdays, lots of birthdays.....

We really didn't have any April birthdays until our kids started marrying and having kids. Now we celebrate Matthew's birthday April 2nd, Tierra & Taunie's April 9th, Kirsten April 12th, Joyce April 15th, and Melissa April 23rd. HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!!!! WE ARE FAMILY!!!!

Welcome to the family.......

It's official!!!! Jacob and Mandi are getting married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 2nd!!! They will be sealed for all time and eternity!!!! That means FOREVER!!!





I took this picture last 4th of July at Ty & Karen's home in Vancouver, WA. Most of our immediate family was there and we had a wonderful time! Mandi fit right in and the kids couldn't get enough of her! What a wonderful "first impression" she made on the family!







This picture was purloined from Mandi's facebook photos! As were the rest of the photos!





How cute are they????

Welcome to the family Mandi - it wouldn't have been complete without YOU!!!!

Spring has sprung......

Duchess and I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and changed our normal route from Pacana Park to Walmart! We clocked 3+ miles on the odometer and had a great ride/run. Walmart is scheduled to open in about 6 weeks and you can see that it will be a beautiful addition to our little city.




Here is the sign that faces the Casa Grande Highway. The store is the first in a new shopping center called "The Wells". Evidently Maricopa Wells was an old stage coach and then train stop that was popular because it was one of the only watering holes this side of Phoenix. Here's a little bit of the history: "A 1694 journal entry by Father Euseblo Francisco Kino records a description of what would become Maricopa Wells. He noted an established agricultural community populated by friendly Native Americans who were established traders.In the Mid-1800's, when everything south of the Gila River was still part of Mexico, Maricopa Wells was a dependable source of water along the Gila Trail. It became an important and famous stage stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail Line that stretched from San Antonio to San Diego.The 1870's brought the railroad south of the wells and the ever-adaptable people of the area moved to meet the needs of progress. Phoenix was little more than a tiny village on the Salt River but growing political influence led to building of a spur line from Maricopa to Phoenix. Today's Maricopa Road (John Wayne Parkway) lays over the top of that old rail line." (This information was taken from www.cityofmaricopa.net)

As Duchess and I came off the side street I took this photo. You can see that there is space for another building that is sure to come soon now that Walmart is almost finished.

I took the following two pictures at The Duke Golf Course. We had dinner there and as we were walking in we noticed how impressive these flowers were. The agave in the foreground sends flowers shooting out on this spike that can reach up to 18 feet high!!! The bougainvillea plants show off their red flowery blooms and have always impressed me with their beauty. They are very stunning! I would love to have them in my yard but, as with most green things in the desert, they are very thorny and messy!

Here's Larry with another agave. Another impressive plant! ....and husband!

Duchess has claimed this soft space where she can be close to Larry and have a bird's-eye view of her surroundings. What a way to end the day!

Duchess is already five, months, that is....

Here's her official five-month portrait. I've been wanting to take this for two weeks now but time just seems to pass so quickly. (Guess the new job has something to do with that. Just aren't enough hours in the day anymore!) What is really, really nice is that Larry has dinner ready for me when I get home - one of the perks of him working at home! I try to take Duchess on a 2 mile run every day after work. Doesn't always happen because of, well, other things! She is learning and growing and, while still a handful at times, is turning into a wonderful dog! Only a year or so more and she should be just about perfect!!!!

A Walk in the Past......

Yesterday we had the Maricopa Stake Relief Society and Fashion Show and Luncheon. It was fun to participate. Here Sandi and I model clothes from the 1930's. Wearing hats, gloves, and pearls was a real treat. Mainly because they were out of style by the time I was a teenager so I never got a chance to wear them.

It was fun to be part of the "behind-the-scenes" group! Before each model walked to the stage there were narratives read about the era and special musical numbers were inserted periodically. The clothes we modeled were from the 1830's to the present. After the fashion show we sat down to a wonderful lunch of chili, Boston Market's recipe for cornbread (I know this because I made one - the recipe included two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix, one box of yellow butter recipe cake mix, five eggs, milk and butter. Try adding up all those calories!!!), dessert of apple, cherry, or strawberry/peach cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream. Ummmmmmmmm.

Team Unity

Today was our team-building activity. Alison is our employee event planner and she did a wonderful job coming up with this activity. Twelve of us participated and were divided into two teams. The first thing we did was eat all the Mexican food we wanted!!! What a sport!

Next we bowled. I was pretty confident in my bowling skills - I polished my game with the Wii. Well, turns out it was crazy bowling.....bowling granny style, bowling as if you are hiking a football, bowling with the opposite hand, bowling with your arms intertwined with someone else's, bowling through someone's legs...you get the idea. It was fun and I even got one of the only two strikes!!!! And that was because I was lucky enough to get the "regular bowl" assignment!

After bowling we played the arcade games to earn points and see which team won. Then a quick game of pool - with no rules, just fun - to see who could get the most points based on the total number of balls in the pockets and their value. It took us 45 minutes to play the game but it was fun.

Our team won the bowling and pool games so we were declared the champions. WoooooHoooooooooooo!!!!!!

Back in the saddle again.....

After 11 months of "vacation" I am once again gainfully employed! I truly have been blessed to find a job in times like these. And to find a job with full benefits and good people to work for and with is a huge bonus. Of course I have to make it through the first 90 days of probation before benefits begin but the biggest benefit now is that I am learning the routine fairly quickly. I'd like to know and remember everything instantly but that's just not the case! Maybe next week! This picture was taken last year (I'm assuming) because some of the faces have changed and mine isn't in it! We now have four dentists until July when one leaves to open his own office.

You may be wondering how poor Duchess, Lady, Snickers, and Larry are faring while I am gone all day. They seem to be doing just fine. Larry has had dinner ready everyday and the girls are always excited to see me when I get home. I still manage to take Duchess for her runs every day - a good two miles! She is beginning to calm down as she is getting older. She is now five months old! She got a new collar for her birthday - size 14-18". Yep, we had to retire the collar we bought for her the day we first took her home. Sad but true.