March 31

Rod loves his GPS. I have never seen anyone enjoy a toy more than he enjoys this. Saturday, when we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens, we decided to grab a bite to eat after we finished. We were not familiar with that area, but that did not matter! He clicked on his GPS, found us an Applebees that was only about 2 miles away, and we drove straight to it without any hitches. We have done stuff like this many times because he can find this stuff with his GPS.

March 30

I wore my new dress and shoes to church today. I have never had so many complements on a new outfit, and from totally random people! It was kind of fun. I was totally the polka dot wonder today.

March 29

Today, we went to the Desert Botannical Gardens. They have a special feature right now called the Butterfly Pavillion. As we walked in I was so amazed at all the movement - literally hundreds of butterflies actively flitting from one flower to another, all over the ceiling, all over the plants, all over the whole pavillion! It was so incredible! In the photo above, the butterfiles are the orange on the lavendar flowers. There were just so many that the picture doesn't really do it justice.


I took several shots of the butterflies on different flowers. This one is my favorite.

March 28

Bird's eye view of my very cute new shoes and dress. Rod was so sweet when we went out for our Friday night date and took me shopping. I had picked this dress out a couple of weeks ago shopping with a friend and he took me back to the Dress Barn to get it. I also found these shoes at Famous Footwear that are such a cute match to the polka dots. I have always loved shoes!

March 27

Tonight we had our enrichment meeting for the Birthday celebration of the Relief Society. We had a wonderful dinner with soups and salads. Each sister was asked to think of a service she would donate. We then had an exchange, sort of like a white elephant exchange. I am so excited about the service I got! Cyndee is going to do 10 pieces of ironing for me! Yea!

Cyndee is the one holding the book. This picture was really taken on Saturday, the 29th at our book club meeting. But what the heck. I haven't posted a picture since Sunday. I'm just a cheater and a blog slacker this week! I sure love this book club. These are some very amazing, intellectual, and spiritual women (fun,too!). I am privileged to be in their midst. We are reading "the Good Earth" by Pearl Buck for our next meeting. It is one of my most favorite books.

March 26

This is Becca on the teacups at Disneyland. She did NOT want me to take her picture so she would not give me a dazzling smile with happy eyebrows. I took her to the airport last night to go to Utah during her spring break. I really miss her, so I thought I post this delightful picture of her. Isn't she funny? I mean how could any child of any age put on such a crusty face when your mom is going on your favorite ride with you at Disneyland? C'mon!

March 25

Aren't I a lucky girl? My honey gave me flowers!

March 24

It was very hard to go back to work today after a wonderful, fun filled week off. These beautiful irises did cheer me as I walked to the door. Not only are they beautiful, but they smell sweet! Flowers always lift my spirit.

March 23

Stuffed potatoes + stuffed eggs + asparagus + salad = stuffed people

I don't know why, but I guess I just felt like scraping stuff out, mashing it up, seasoning it, and then putting it back in where to came from today.

March 22

Ah, yes! Coloring eggs...

March 21

Waiting in the first of MANY lines today.

March 20

A Pre-historic pit stop on our way to Anaheim. The wind was blowing really hard!

March 19

Rod and I enjoyed a trip to the Mesa Temple today.

March 18

We bought a brand new car today! Only had 5 miles on it. It is a Malibu. Love the body, and the color "pewter." We will take it to CA on Thursday. Very fun day!

March 17

Happy St. Paddy's Day! We had the sister missionaries join us for dinner. We are sad that Sister Butler (left) will be leaving a week from tomorrow. She has been here 6 months and we have grown quite attached to her! They gave us a really great lesson on the Savior, and encouraged us to think about him during this Easter Season.

March 16

I found this beautiful photo on a Google search. (I hope it is not copyrighted.) It is the photo I wanted to take today from the tree that hangs over our back fence, but it is just too windy. We have a cold front coming in. It is actually chilly outside, and the wind is howling.

For the last few nights as we have gone on our evening walk, the air has been so sweet. It is heavy with the scent of the citrus blooms. They are everywhere! and will continue to sweeten the neighborhoods for the next couple of weeks. The first time I ever smelled this heady fragrance was more than 30 years ago with my first descent into the San Joaquin Valley of California in March. There were acres and acres of orange groves, as far as I could see. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I was thrilled when I knew I would experience this springtime treat in Phoenix! I just know this is what heaven will smell like.

March 15

A new Wii game: Super Smash Bros Brawl. Yes they are intent on the competition and having so much fun!

March 14

I have cheated some days this week on photos because I just haven't taken any pictures. But today is a GREAT day because when I get home from work it is the start of my Spring Break! Rod has the whole next week off, too, so we will be having some wonderful and well-earned down time. Hikes, movies, lunch (salads), temple day, and take the kids to Disneyland on Thursday when Becca gets out of school. Can't wait!

Rod and I went to one of our favorite places for our date: Sweet Tomato. We had some really delicious salads and some fragrant french onion soup. Did not over eat, but was very happy!

March 13

I am so missing these guys today!

March 12

Today I joined Weight Watcher's Online. Katie took this photo of me cooking a few days ago. (At least it is a salad being shown!) But just know that I did NOT eat any of the Mrs. Field's cookies that I baked yesterday because I am determined to drop a few lbs. I am excited and I hope to be reporting some success.

FYI: The cookie deliveries were successful tonight, and no one slammed the door or dammed the church this month!

March 11

Time for the monthly birthday visits. It is my turn to do the gift. I really got on a tangent and decided to bake "Mrs Field's Chocolate Chip Cookies" - the original recipe. I haven't made these for months and months because it takes HOURS to bake all the cookies. I made 10 dozen cookies! Each sister we visit will receive 6 cookies, the recipe, and one of the beautiful cards hand made by Peggy. I did have fun doing the baking and I hope the sisters like their cookies. Truly made with love!

March 10

My trusty hair dryer that I have had for like 10 years quite working. I had to go buy a new one. I found this new kind that is especially for curly hair. Hmmmmm. Thought I better give it a try. It is like just having and diffuser. It is way different than any hair dryer I have ever had. Hope it works out!

March 9th

We thought it would be fun to see what Luka would look like with hair. He is such a little "Cabbage Patch" baby with is bald head and big smile. This photo was taken yesterday when we went to a Spring Training Game at the Peoria Sports complex. This morning, I took Katie, Ryan and kids to the airport to return home. There is a big empty spot in my heart today.

March 8

Cooper wanted to watch a movie today. The kids were watching TV so I told him he could watch a movie in my room. He did NOT want to do that, but once I set up a special "movie fort" on my bed for him with popcorn and a drink he was very happy to settle in and watch "A Bug's Life." This is actually one he has never seen before. I told Katie I'm a good briber. You should have seen his eyes light up!

March 7

Becca had to do a "project" visual aid for her book report. The book was Getting Near to Baby. She had to have a parent (me) help her and sign that she got help on the project. We made a little house out of a shoe box. She glued Popsicle sticks on to the front. I made the "shake" roof. We glued on a little dormer window made out of a cream carton. We bought some Polly Pocket dolls for the characters that sit on the roof. It turned out great! It was fun to do this project with Becca. Everyone oooooohed and aaaaaaaed when she took her project to school today.

March 6

This is really from yesterday, but what the heck. It is so cute!




This picture was taken Wednesday, too, but oh well. It was a very busy day from making the french toast for breakfast, to mini golfing with Rondaleen, to playing more paper dolls. The kids love playing with the Little House on the Prairie paper dolls. It is quite an adventure in using the imagination. They are always wanting me to help them "dress" their characters. I taught them how to "speak" for their characters in special voices, and with the prairie accent. It is so much fun! And you should hear Cooper when he is "Pa." He uses a very soft voice, but he does get the accent down. Savannah is a great little activities director, assigning out who will be which dolls, and making sure all the right outfits go with the characters.

March 5

This morning, Cooper helped make French Toast. He is a great helper in the kitchen!

March 4

No More Braces!

As you can see, this is one delighted teenager. The braces came off this AM. As we were leaving, they gave Nick a big bag of the "forbidden foods" that he could now munch on: chips, popcorn, chewy candies. He was very excited to dig in to all that stuff!

March 3

Today was absolutely the most beautiful day we have had all year long! And with a PERFECT breeze for kite flying. I have been known to keep a kite in my trunk for such amazing days. We so enjoyed the blue sky and the warm sun. I even got two kites going! I loved this day!

Cooper was excited to fly the kite. He lasted just a short time on the end of that string, though, and we wedged it in a tree so I could get the other kite flying.Once again, Savannah is a great poser for a picture. She is so delightful!

March 2

Look who's here! Katie and Ryan and the kids flew in Saturday night. Their flight was extremely delayed, and we were all so glad to get home and settle in. It was so fun to have these guys come to church today, and to spend the day with them. We played paper-dolls after dinner. We went to the park where I took some really cute pictures. See my other blog for some of those!
Dave and Kelly are here visiting, too. They came to church and had Sunday dinner with us. Kelly is holding Luka. Isn't he just so darling? Dave introduced himself in Sunday School as my younger, more intelligent, and better looking brother. What a crock! it was so much fun to have them come and visit!

March 1

Becca, Nick and I were up bright and early (5:30 AM!) for a Saturday so we could travel to Avondale and help as volunteers to clean up an area of the Gila River. We picked up TONS of trash. I was in the river knee-deep in murky, dead fishy, stinky water picking up beer bottles, cans, Styrofoam cups, shoes, and all kinds of trash. It was cold before the sun came up, and I wrapped my big old trash bag around my shoulders to keep warm before we got started working. Once we were moving, it wasn't so cold.
These are the ward members that came for our cleanup project. We won the trophy for the group that actually cleaned up the MOST trash. We came up with tires, carpeting, rotten clothes, metal fence posts, traffic barriers, and all kinds of gross, rotting and disgusting items. Becca and 'Kayla made good tire toters.
Dallas and Brother Beeson decided to make our own "Trash-Man" out of some of the unusual pieces we found. It was cute and all, but very STINKY!

In spite of the early hour, the chilly air, and the prospect of cleaning up the garbage left by other human beings, it was a great experience. We got to watch then release to Red-tailed hawks back into the wild after being rehabilitated from injuries. And we know that the area we cleaned will be much more enjoyable to those who attend the Tres Rios Project. We actually did something that will impact the environment for the better!