SPECIAL VISIT TO STRAWBERRY, ARIZONA

I had a chance to escape from the valley heat and head north to join my folks at their "home away from home" in Strawberry!  It was great....I arrived early on a Thursday morning, and just missed seeing a deer who had wandered past the back of their property, munching on the tall grasses.

Instead we did get to enjoy watching the squirrels scatter the seeds that Dad puts out for the birds; they were looking for the favorite sunflower seeds! The birds gathered each afternoon for a bath...and of course I tried to capture it on my camera, but really didn't have the right equipment for a close-up!
There are at least 5 or 6 little birds in this photo!





I enjoyed seeing all their beautiful fruit trees and even found some tiny grapes growing on their grapevines.

 Looks like they'll have a big crop of apples again this year!

Before my arrival, Mom and Dad had worked their tails off moving firewood away from their house onto new firewood holders...

I had hoped to help them with a bigger project during my visit, but instead we mostly relaxed on their deck, ate too much good food that was very plentiful.  Dad and I worked on his WWII airplane jigsaw puzzle...what a challenge it has been.

I enjoyed reading in the afternoons, and Mom crocheted during the evenings.  She's adding rows of yarn to one of her own mother's rugs so that they can use it in their kitchen.  I also loved reading the second volume of a scrapbook/photo album that she has made about their Strawberry house.

We all enjoyed watching some baseball on TV in the evenings, and enjoyed a delicious pizza one night from Mama Jo's pizzeria in Strawberry!  One afternoon we had a beautiful monsoon thunderstorm...and the rain came down steadily for at least two hours!  There's nothing like thunder in the mountains!!

                                   Thanks again for your wonderful hospitality...I so appreciated the chance to spend time together with both of you!

SUMMER FUN with the GRANDKIDS!

My summer break is flying by, but I am enjoying the "gift" of extra time that it provides me so I can work on a few projects, read a few more books, visit with friends a little more often, and, of course, play a little extra with our grandchildren!

As I've said before, seeing the world through a young person's eyes is "eye-opening" for oneself.  Two year old Landon loves cars, trucks, and trains!  Mimi helped him build a road with his wooden blocks and we had a big time!

One morning, we had the fortunate opportunity to go watch Cailyn at a swim lesson.  She loves the water and is making progress in learning this important skill.

 Cailyn is the child on the far right hand side of the kickboard...she is so proud to dive for rings!

 Cailyn's Daddy was able to bring her to swim lessons on his day off...very special!

Landon loves books, so during snacktime, Mimi would read a few books...his favorites were about trucks, helicopters, and what I call "heavy equipment" vehicles!  Landon knows ALL the names of those vehicles and is teaching me!

 Landon enjoys eating, and when playing, he likes "shopping" for food at their make-believe grocery store!

He likes shopping for the "vegetables," and Mimi is hoping he learns to like eating them too! ;-)

Cailyn surprised her grandparents when she read to us for the first time this summer...Cailyn read the entire book HOP ON POP by Dr. Seuss.  

 Playing "dress up" is always FUN...Of course, big sister gets to "direct" what everyone should wear!

I have the cutest video of Cailyn "dancing" but haven't learned how to post those to a blog yet~

 Serious shopping going on here..."HOW MUCH MONEY do I owe??"

 Landon is using sign language more and more like his big sister, and they both enjoy listening to music and singing cute alphabet songs!  Some of those repetitive songs tend to get "stuck" in Mimi's head, long after I am at home again. What is nice, though, is remembering the cute expressions and smiles on their precious faces...THESE images are also "stuck" in my head AND in my heart forever, and that is wonderful!

FUN on the Fourth!

A few members of our family gathered together for a small barbecue on the 4th of July to celebrate.
                                                                   Mike and Corissa....

                                                                   Alissa and Alan....

                                           Cailyn and Landon brought Mimi flowers! So sweet....

Vince grilled some delicious hamburgers, and we had all the trimmings too.
I put together a patriotic trifle with white cake, vanilla pudding, and fresh berries.

                                      Cailyn and Landon especially liked the pudding and the cake...

Every day I try to remember to Thank God for the blessings we enjoy because we live in the United States of America.  I hope you enjoyed a Happy and Fun Fourth of July too!

Escape the Heat in the White Mountains!

At the end of June, Vince and I had an opportunity to get out of town for 3 nights.  We shared a 2 bedroom, 2 bath cabin in Pinetop with good friends, Debbie and Bob McMillan.  They are fairly new transplants from Michigan to Arizona living, and had not seen the northeastern section of our state.  We were glad to spend a few days with them.

 
Each couple brought along some snacks, beverages and lunch food to share, and we planned to eat dinner out each evening. We left Gilbert by 6:00 a.m. on June 27, and were eating breakfast at the Beeline Cafe in Payson by 8:00.  By 10:30 we were cruising the aisles of the local Safeway in Pinetop to pick up last-minute supplies before checking in at the cabin.  The cabin was clean, comfortable, and had some unique furnishings...

On Friday we headed to Lee Valley Reservoir, a favorite spot for fly-fishing in past years.  Not much luck for the guys here, but some good practice learning to fly-cast for Bob.

Stopped at Sheeps Crossing next, along the Little Colorado River...and Bob had success landing a trout here (unfortunately, the little guy escaped from the net before the picture was taken.

Saturday we headed out early to eat breakfast at Darbi's, a favorite place for Vince.  We enjoyed eating on their outdoor deck..

Found the trailhead for the Rim Trail, and had a fun "hike" and enjoying the outdoors before it was too warm...

We then headed to Greer to show them the quaintness of that area...and we all enjoyed the beauty of the area....walking along the Little Colorado enjoying the wildflowers and wildlife!

This little hummingbird entertained us at "The Rendezvous" in Greer where we stopped for a cold beverage...you can see the fire damage from a few years ago on the mountain.

Vince drove us to the Greer Lakes for our picnic lunch...and we experienced a monsoon storm; thunder, wind and rain included.  We were dry under the ramada, but were able to witness an osprey in action as it dove into the lake and came up with the prized trout for his dinner...amazing to see that up close and personal!  (No photos because I wasn't fast enough to grab the camera in time.) The storm brought such a wonderful drop in the temperature...it was in the 70's in Greer after the rain (and in the Valley, the temperature had soared to 119 on that same day!)

We enjoyed playing cards and "Sequence" on the deck in the evenings when it cooled off.  Lots of life and family stories were shared on the weekend.  It was hard to come back to the heat, but we are grateful for the short escape we did enjoy!