Exploring the Apache Trail, Arizona

A few weeks ago we took a drive out on the Apache Trail with some of our dear friends to see the spring desert in bloom.

We made a quick stop at Lost Dutchman State Park to see if there were flowers in bloom there, but we were a bit too early for that area.  The Superstitions Mountians were gorgeously green though.

Spring in the desert is a beautiful thing, especially with all the rain we've had lately.

This is Canyon Lake.  We ate lunch by Apache Lake and also drove beside Roosevelt Lake.  It's surprising how much water is out there in the desert.

We made a quick stop at Tortilla Flat.  Cathy found a nice necklace in the gift shop and we picked up some drinks in the restaurant.  This is the second place I've been this year where the walls are covered with dollar bills. I think it's actually a clever way for the restaurant owners to make a few extra bucks.

Just look at these amazingly delicate flowers that bloom in the desert before it gets hot.  Wow!  Aren't they beautiful?

Then when we got out to take pictures of the flowers we came across this old rusted out can.  It's been a long time since I've seen a can that had to be opened this way, so I just had to take a picture of it.

 And look at this sea of lupines!  Wow!  The roadsides were filled with them.

There were poppies too!  Isn't this a sweet color combination?  Blue, white, and that butterscotch yellow!

Marshall had a bunch of new camera equipment that he was trying out, and I'll bet he got some great photos.

We stopped to see Roosevelt Dam (which I had never been to).  If you look down near the lower right part of the dam, you'll see two pick up trucks to give you an idea of the size of it.  It's massive!

This bridge is just beyond the dam.  Originally the road actually went over the dam, but when they had to raise the height of the it they moved the road.

And since we were running out of daylight we didn't have time to stop at Fish Creek or at Tonto National Monument, so I guess we'll have to plan another trip out there.

All in all it was a perfect day!

Have you ever been there?

Happy Easter 2010

This weekend Terry's Dad and his wife, Ginny rolled into town from North Carolina. Ginny drove the whole way 2065 miles over about 4 days.  Pretty awesome, huh? They arrived at our house early afternoon on Saturday.

We were honored that they joined us in going to church on Easter morning. And since they were staying at our house, where the Easter Bunny might not find them, I decided to make up an Easter basket for them. It was fun shopping for a few treats that they could enjoy and take along on their trip home (if the candy lasts that long).  We discovered that Terry's dad has quite a sweet tooth, which is not so great when you're diabetic. I bought low carb chocolate especially for him. (Trader Joe's is a great place to get that if you're wondering).  Plus a few regular chocolates and some Jelly Bellies for Ginny.  Turns out Dad likes Jelly Bellies too, even though he's not supposed to have them. 

We enjoyed a great turkey dinner on the back patio in the afternoon. The weather was perfect! We had slow roasted turkey, low carb stuffing, green beans and salad. We tried to keep it manageable since we're all either watching carbs or calories to some degree or another.

Then after dinner we went for a walk with Grandpa and Ginny for a few miles or so (down to Baskin Robbins for dessert, because Cold Stone was closed).

On the way home when we were just a block or so from our house, we noticed a creature on the roof of one of the houses with a little annoying mocking bird squawking at it.  At first we thought it was a big cat sitting on the roof, then we realized it was a big OWL. It just sat there on the peak of the roof right at the edge and only a few feet from the little bird. Every once in a while the owl would turn his head and hoot.  I'm sure that he must have been perched near a nest, otherwise the mockingbird wouldn't have been so aggressive.

We stood there for several minutes watching it, then all of a sudden the owl took off and flew right toward us. Wow! His wingspan was probably close to 4 feet across. This photo is a little blurry because I had to zoom in on it, but you can clearly see the owl's features. I'm not sure I've ever seen an owl in the "wild" that close up.

And I'll leave you with this sneak peek at one of our Spring flower arrangements. I'll be doing a post about it because I think the "vase" is unique and actually kind of a fun idea, especially to use for an event. I'll tell you more about it later...

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

I love my Plumbago!!!
I'm so pleased with the success so far of the Blue Plumbago that we planted in the atrium outside of our master bathroom a month or so ago. I'm looking forward to seeing it keep growing and eventually spill over the block wall so it can be seen from the back yard too.

I had been extremely hesitant to plant anything in this hot Arizona sun, thinking that it wouldn't survive, but I've been pleasantly surprised and even encouraged by what I've seen lately.

Yesterday, Terry and I also took a drive around a few neighborhoods to get some ideas of what kinds of plants we'd like to try in our front yard when the landscape project is ready for planting. Even though we're planning to do low water/low maintenance plants as much as possible, I'm excited about the possibilities for flowers and color and even shade! I can't wait to get things going and see how it all turns out.

(Ignore the flaws due to the photographer-taking pics thru the window of the car) but check out these Plumbago in the front yard of this house. I like it!

We're hoping to put in some flower boxes under our front windows and I'm thinking of trying these plants in the window boxes. Let me know your thoughts or if you have other ideas. We're also considering lantana (not sure what color) or those gorgeous fushia colored bougainvillea as well.

The Plumbago may be too pale against the pale sage of the house. Let me know what you think.

Happy Mother's Day to all!
We're having a busy weekend so I'll have lots of pics to post as the week goes along, but wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day.

As is the custom in our home, I woke up to a delicious breakfast of steak, eggs, toast, fresh fruit, juice and coffee. Before today, I asked Terry to cut back on the size of the meal because I can never finish it. So he didn't make hash browns. :-)

Notice that Shredder is sitting in my chair. We were debating about whether she thought it was HER Mother's Day breakfast or she was guarding it until I was ready to sit down. In any case, she moved over to her own chair and I gave her a few treats since she is a mother too after all.

I love my gifts too! I got hydrangeas which are my favorite flower in the whole world. I wish they would grow here. Does anyone have any tips on keeping them alive in the desert? I also got dark chocolate, mmmmm. And although we don't normally do "real gifts" on Mother's Day, Terry got me a gift card for Christopher & Banks. What an amazing husband I have! He spoils me rotten.

Kevin just emailed a bit ago to say that the phones at the base are all backed up so he'll have to call later. It was good to hear from him and we'll look forward to talking to him soon. Amy just called and we got to visit a little too. I love my kids and am privileged to call them mine.

So we're off to Hope & Steve's for the Perkins family Mother's Day gathering. Of course, I'll have more pics from that gathering too, so watch for more to come soon...

Enjoy your day moms and pamper your wives and mothers, guys.

Chris & Christina's Wedding Shower
Last Saturday we helped with a wedding shower for Chris and his fiance, Christina. Chris is the son of two of our favorite friends and we have known him since he was born. It's been so much fun watching the kids that we've known since birth grow up to be amazing adults. It's exciting to see them take steps like going to college, joining the workforce, searching for their path in life, traveling, falling in love, getting married and even beginning to have families of their own. It's always a blessing to see where the Lord is leading them in these early days of their adult lives.

Jay and Sharon hosted the shower at their beautiful home for some of our closest friends, and a few Thrush family members. It's interesting that this group of our closest friends all met around the same age that our kids are now (or even younger). We cherish these friendships that are taking us thru all seasons of life. It's amazing that we've all known each other for nearly 30 years. Wow!

It was a beautiful spring evening here in Arizona. Perfect weather! Jay served 3 of his homemade salsas with chips, grilled up some delicious chicken and we enjoyed lots of other salads, sides, homemade rolls & brownies and other goodies as well.

We got to watch them open some gifts, then loved listening to them share how they met and fell in love. What a beautiful story!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the evening. If you want to see more, you can watch the slideshow here.

Spring Flowers

This spring we were blessed with a new surprise. Along with the gorgeous orange African Daisies that cover the front yard for a month or so every year, God has added to our front yard garden these lovely purple spires, which I believe are Desert Lupine.

If you look closely at the base of them, you'll also see a dainty little blue flower peeking out as well.

What a wonderful gift that we look forward to each new year.

I only hope that we can recreate this after our new landscaping is finished. Good news is that I save some seeds from last year and will gather more of the Lupines hopefully this season.

A belated Happy Valentine's Day to All!
As always, it's been a busy weekend! I even had today off to spend with my hubby! Yea!

So have I told you lately how much I LOVE flowers? They just make me so happy. And it doesn't have to be anything really expensive like roses or calla lilies or something. I love most any kind of flower. For Valentine's Day, Terry sent me a bouquet of red tulips and purple iris'. They arrived on Thursday all tightly closed but opened up beautifully over the last few days. They even look better today! I just love them! I have probably taken 100 or so pics of just the flowers in different settings and lighting and looks. Aren't they gorgeous? I LOVE them!

I also received some of my favorite chocolate (the Lindt Intense Orange - Dark Chocolate bars) Mmmmmm!
Saturday we had a quiet day at home and at night we made a nice dinner.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Melting Pot Restaurant which was really nice and a delicious meal. For those who have never been, it's all fondue and you basically prepare your meal yourself. Cheese fondue for dipping veggies, breads, etc. Hot savory vegetable broth for cooking your meats and seafood, then chocolate fondue for dipping all kinds of sweets. They are generally out of our price range, but we had a gift card which helped a lot.

Yes all those desserts were for just the two of us! We had a great meal!

Friday night we went to visit our friend, John Heath play at a local club nearby. We had dinner with him and our other friends, the Brunners before the concert too. I took a few pics and hope to post them soon.

Last night I was working on a new Hawaii photo book and worked on it until 3:30 am, which is unheard of for me. I just really wanted to get it finished so I could submit it for printing. Unfortunately, the program is having some issues right now and I can't seem to complete the process. I submitted the info to technical support, so let's pray that it all gets fixed tomorrow and that the whole thing wasn't lost. This one was over 90 pages, so I will just give up on it if it's lost.

Today Terry and I cleaned the garage. Not the most fun on a holiday, but we are certainly pleased that it is mostly finished and we can actually walk from one side of the space to the other without tripping over various obstacles. It's looking so much better! I'll try to post a before and after soon too. Oh, and I was doing a bit of sorting and came across some great old memorabilia, vintage coffee mugs, and special treasures from when the kids were little that I will also post soon. Just a little more to add to my growing list of pending posts.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Let me know what you did.

FLOWERS MAKE ME FEEL LOVED...

I know that there are probably very few people left who check my blog, since I've been so bad at posting. Hopefully it will get better. Flowers have been a big part of my life over the last few weeks and just I LOVE IT!!!
I love seeing flowers of any kind and feel truly blessed when I get the chance to enjoy them at home or in nature. They remind me of how much God loves us because He gives us gorgeous gifts like this that are here today and gone tomorrow. How much more must He love us since we're created in His image? Here are just a few of the ways that I was blessed by God's creation over the last few weeks.

The first two pics are of our front yard. Normally this is "desert landscaping" which is lots of rocks, some cacti and a few other plants. This time of year these gorgeous daisy-like flowers bloom and there are more and more every year. This year we also have several other kinds of purple flowers. It's amazing and we don't have to do anything to get them to grow!

The next 3 pictures of the blue succulent, fuchsia ice plant and orange flowers are from two weekends ago when Terry's dad (Terry) and his wife, Ginny came to visit from North Carolina. While they were here we took them to Boyce Thompson Arboretum and Lost Dutchman State Park near the Superstition mountains. It was too early for most of the flowers but there were a few nice ones and the base of the mountains was covered with a gorgeous carpet of green .

This past weekend we drove up to Lake Pleasant with some friends and hiked about 4 miles on the Pipeline Canyon Trail. The poppies were outstanding! Here are just a few photos that don't do it justice. You just had to be there. The last one has the reflection of the water from a creek below in the background...kinda artsy. I like it.

I also had one more unexpected encounter with flowers last week. On my first day of work at my new job, in the middle of the afternoon I had a delivery from the florist! It was this adorable bouquet of spring flowers in a big coffee cup and it came from Bruce, my boss at my previous job, and from the whole Catalyst team there wishing me all the best. How sweet is that!!!! It makes me smile just thinking about it. They are all so precious to me. I do miss them. Sad thing is that I took pictures of the bouquet and now I can't find the pictures. I need to keep looking and I'll post when I find them. I felt very loved.